GLEN JEAN, W.Va (WOAY) – At the World Scout Jamboree, scouts from all over the world are not just wearing their patches and neckerchiefs but trading them at certain tables and even spontaneously in the middle of the pathways.
“Neckerchief for neckerchief. Patch set for patch set. Just a whole bunch of trading, international trading,” Missouri Life Scout Noah Yeager said. “A lot of people are here from the U.S. because they’ve learned in previous years that a lot of the trading is right here.”
It’s been a tradition in scouts for years teaching them how to make fair trades and teaching them the unique scouts etiquette that comes with it including a left-handed handshake. For those who made the long trip to the United States, bringing along these tradeable items was a must.
“So I had to sort through them because I obviously had a weight limit as well, so I brought like a kilogram and a half of trading gear,” Billy Elliot, a scout from England, said.
And for some, trading is not only a scout tradition but a family one.
“I went to an event with my dad, my uncle, and my older brother and we come home with all of the patches we had and we’ll go and lay them out and say, ‘Hey, I got this,'” Abby Barton, a Venture Scout from South Carolina, said.
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