Thanks for your many emails and calls about our safety in the aftermath of the Salt Lake City tornado.

The good news was that our Publisher, Terry Howerton was already in Provo, Utah, meeting with one of our suppliers and I was on a plane that had not yet touched down in the city.

Coming from Kansas City, Tornadoes are nothing new to us, but it is as rare for Salt Lake City to get a Tornado as it is for the Florida High Adventure Sea Base to get snow. When I arrived, the Outdoor Retailer Show was hard it, as was the Delta Center (Basketball Stadium), Wyndam Garden Hotel, and a major part of the city. One person was killed and many were injured. The OR show was delayed a day before opening (they even considered canceling the event).

As with all crises, there is the opportunity for goodness. This time, Scouting was at its best. There were so many examples of Scouting values & attitudes that I observed during the crisis that I'm certain I can not do it justice now, but here are a few examples of things I observed.

Within an hour of the devastation, several Salt Lake City Troops had already organized Scouts to begin sweeping the streets and removing downed trees from blocked roads. Other volunteers began to help the exhibitors recover what they could of their camping gear, so it could be moved into the Salt Palace.

Many camping equipment manufacturers who normally are keen competitors were offering part of their own exhibit space to their competitors. I learned that many of the CEO's of these firms are Eagle Scouts.

As you might expect, many of the Outdoor Retailer exhibitors had a Scouting background (I would love to find out how many people in the Outdoor Camping industry had their first exposure to an overnight campout or canoe trip as a part of a Scout Troop). With dozens of injured people, some seriously bleeding it was the Eagle Scouts at the show and in the city who began rendering First Aid - skills learned in Boy Scouts.

The average daily crime rate for the city actually FELL the day the storm hit. How many of us could say the same thing about our cities? A power outage or natural disaster is usually a cart blanche to begin looting in many places. In this (very clean) downtown, it was a call for both the citizens of the city and the many current & former members of the BSA who where at the show, either as exhibitors or retailers, to come together in service and in aid to each other.

As I left Salt Lake City last night the news media was already discussing how the many local Scout Troops would likely play a major part in replacing the thousands of downed trees across the city.