FORT A.P. HILL, Va. — Scouting's Pied Piper has returned to the National Jamboree, whittling knife in hand.
Orem's Bill Burch hasn't missed the Boy Scouts of America's quadrennial event since the 1950s and, despite being in his 88th year, made yet another trip this week to Fort A.P. Hill to the delight of countless Scouts.
Burch, as Scouters across the globe know well, is a wood carver. But don't ask him to whittle a bird or fashion a stool. This mustachioed grandpa carves bolo ties — those corded neckties favored by cowboys and Texas politicians.
He began carving wooden bolo tie slides in the early 1960s and never stopped. He's crafted more than 48,000 bolos (he numbers the back of each one) and almost all have ended up hanging around the neck of a young Scout or a dedicated leader who, in exchange for the gift, makes a lifelong pledge to live the Scout Oath and Law.
There are too many Scouts at the jamboree for everyone to get a bolo tie, so he keeps a discerning eye out for, say, that young man who looks a little timid or homesick or in need of a new friend. Then Burch will surprise the boy with a bolo of his own.
It's easy to find Burch at Scouting events — just look for the crowd. Scouts of all ages huddle deep around his whittling chair while he crafts yet another bolo slide and imparts plenty of scoutmaster wisdom. The bolo tie slides embody their creator's sense of humor. They are instantly recognizable — cartoonish faces with wacky expressions who sport football helmets, Viking horns or, maybe, a sailor's cap. The bolo Burch often sports looks a lot like, well, Bill Burch.
Burch said Wednesday that this year's Jamboree would likely be his last. No one would have begrudged his absence if he had stopped attending a decade ago. But the World War II vet still enjoys watching young men — scions of an impatient, high-tech world — become mesmerized at the sight of an elderly man working deliberately with a simple knife and a small block of wood.
"I'm back to touch the lives of kids," he said Wednesday.
Those "kids" remember Burch and his bolos even after they have a few kids of their own. Counted among the scores who gathered around Burch's carving tent Wednesday was Jeff Hattrick of Atlanta. Hattrick was presented a Bill Burch bolo tie (wood carving #4514) at the 1973 National Jamboree in Idaho. Now Hattrick's a Scout leader and was excited to introduce Burch to his own Scout son, Brandon.
Burch doesn't work alone. For more than a decade he's had a partner-in-carving, his good friend and apprentice Gary Dollar. An Alpine resident, Dollar has followed Burch to countless Scout encampments and jamborees. He's carved some 8,600 bolo ties himself and shares his mentor's gift of gab. As they whittle at opposite ends of their tent, they talk to the young men about being good Scouts and serving others.
Prior to the jamboree, both carvers were called as service missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But they have long functioned as whittling ambassadors for their church and Scouting.
"Each bolo tie," said Dollar, "is a token of a commitment that a boy or leader makes to live up to the principles of Scouting."
e-mail: jswensen@desnews.com