Forget going out with a bang. At this year's jamboree, a new event has come in with one.

Camp Thunder, sponsored by the National Rifle Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation, gives boys the chance to shoot clay targets and teaches them about responsible gun safety and techniques.

When we visited today, Camp Thunder was wrapping up a day in which a whopping 750 boys went through. At 10 shots per boy, that's a lot of Federal shotgun shells for the boys to take home as souvenirs of their experience. And it makes for a lot of stories to tell friends and troopmates later that day.

It's the message of Camp Thunder that makes it different from most shotgun ranges. At Camp Thunder, boys are given the opportunity to succeed at shooting successfully. Organizers shortened the distance that the clays travel. They're on hand to help show the boys the proper way to position their bodies and their Beretta 3901 shotguns while shooting.

And there's strategy instruction, too. Follow the clay and shoot just a bit in front of it. Don't wait for the clay to come into your sight because it's much tougher to hit it that way.

The boys are catching on. Rarely does a boy leave without hitting a single clay. In fact, a few have even impressed the range volunteers by connecting on seven or eight of their 10 shots.

Camp Thunder holds worthwhile lessons for any shooting sport, whether it's at summer camp or a unit outing. Encouraging the Scouts and working within their level of skill can produce worthwhile results.

James Patterson, author of the bestselling Alex Cross thriller series, is no stranger to the adults who have been buying his books for years.

But when he visited the 2010 National Scout Jamboree today, he was there to address a much younger audience: kids. One of his stops was at Hometown News, where budding reporters asked questions of the author of the young-adult series “Maximum Ride,” “Witch and Wizard,” and his newest, “Daniel X.”

His message to young adults is simple: “If you don’t read, you won’t do well in life.” And he should know. An avid reader of the James Bond books as a kid, his passion for writing started at an early age. That’s probably how he managed to get his first book published at age 26, quite young for a writer.

As the father of a teenage son, Patterson knows that parents play an important role in interesting their children, especially their boys, in reading.

“When our son was 8 years old, my wife and I said, ‘You need to read every day, and we’re going to find something you like to read,’ ” he said.

The first summer, Patterson said, his son whined about the task. But by the second summer, the kid was hooked. At age 9, Patterson’s son read 12 books that summer, including “Huck Finn,” a book typically read by much older children.

He said it’s about more than just telling a child to read, though. It’s partially the parents’ responsibility to help their children find books that they’ll actually enjoy reading.

In other words, it’s your job to help your son find the same “I-can’t-put-this-down” feeling you get when reading, well, a James Patterson novel.

At the Technology Quest exhibit, a Scout learns that mixing corn starch and water creates a liquid substance that isn’t solid but is firm enough to run across.

Creating a BSA logo out of Lego pieces is a painstaking, but rewarding, process.

The famous Philmont Scout Ranch brand is always a popular souvenir item.

Scouts take a virtual reality tour of The Summit: Bechtel Family Scout Reserve in West Virginia, home of the 2013 jamboree.

By the time you’re 100 feet below the surface, have squeezed through a narrow cave, and are getting rained on as you cross a monkey bridge in a lush rainforest, it’s pretty clear that you’re in uncharted territory.

That’s the idea behind more than just the innovative Venturing exhibit at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree. In fact, says Venturing National President Jennifer Lowe, the Venturing program itself takes its participants into uncharted territory.

Boys and girls between the ages of 14 (or 13 if they’ve completed the eighth grade) and 21 enter the program because of the promise of high-adventure activities across the country and around the world.

But at the jamboree, the mine is what gets them in the door. Once the Scouts are there, Lowe and her fellow Venturers use the opportunity to explain the program.

This display is just the latest example of a successful venture for Venturing. As was the case in 2001 and 2005, the Venturing exhibit is getting a lot of positive buzz around the jamboree.

This year, the Venturing team chose to combine what worked best from the 2001 rainforest exhibit and 2005 mine exhibit. The result is a “greatest hits” display that really hits the mark.

The staff of 96 Venturers created the entire structure from the ground up, hammering in every nail and simulating a deep underground cave and rainforest. They also work from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day running the exhibit and entertaining guests. The reward is getting to see the faces of nearly 400 Scouts per day who go through the interactive activities and always emerge with smiles, Lowe said.

Once the jamboree is over, the mine will be shut down, but its impact will live on. All of the wood used in the exhibit will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, which is planning to use it toward a future project.

Even if your guys can’t visit the mine, you can still encourage those adventure-seeking Scouts to investigate the uncharted territory of the Venturing program.

The Order of the Arrow’s attraction at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree is so secret that we were only given a very limited tour. To keep the mystery and intrigue, half of the content of the “Mysterium Compass” show is shrouded in secrecy and only open to Jamboree participants under the age of 18.

Up to 108 Scouts over 20 daily sessions get to participate in the augmented reality game. Organizers describe it as “a live-action adventure combining elements of video gaming with theme park-style immersion, actors, and theatrical settings.”

But it isn’t just some interactive play. “Mysterium Compass” is all about teaching boys to make the right decisions in life, even when faced with challenges along the way.

There are six stages to the adventure. Like we said, we can’t show you stages one, two, or three because we weren’t allowed inside. But stage four is the giant obstacle course shown below. It’s meant to symbolize life’s obstacles and challenge the guys to find a way up, over, and around them.

The final photo below and the picture above both depict stage five. That’s when all of the pieces come together for the Scouts, and the celebration begins. The celebration continues with a thrilling exclamation point as stage six sends everyone back outside to splash down a 40-foot waterside.

There are so many world records that are extremely dangerous (longest distance jumped by motorcycle; deepest scuba dive) that it’s nice to see one that’s for saving lives instead of endangering them.

That was the goal behind today’s attempt at breaking the record for CPR and AED training taking place at one time. Thousands of Scouts, Scouters, and visitors took an hourlong course on CPR and the proper use of an Automated External Defibrillator, or AED.

While Scouts and Scouters counted to 30 chest compressions on their training mannequins, event organizers counted Scouts and Scouters, checking to see how close to the world record they had come.

Results weren’t yet available, but one thing is for sure: sending thousands of boys and adults home with the knowledge about how to save a life was a winning situation for everyone involved.

Before one of the day’s courses, representatives from Cardiac Science awarded four lucky troops with two free AEDs.

These troops submitted winning entries in a video contest. Entrants needed to create a short video telling why AEDs were so important. Below you’ll see representatives from two of the winning troops. The first, Jose Lepervanche, didn’t work on his troop’s video, but he shared an inspirational story. He’s a Scouter from Jacksonville, Fla., and he shared the story about how an AED saved his life.

While at a council camp, he suddenly collapsed. Scouts rushed to his side and tried to revive him after calling 911. But fortunately for Lepervanche, the camp had purchased an AED and used it to save his life. He was there to tell his story because his camp was prepared, he said.

Because the troops got two AEDs each, they can keep one and give the other to a worthy community group, such as a school, church, or other organization.

Today we saw Scouts testing out a radio-controlled pirate ship, world-famous author Michael Scott answering questions from Scout reporters at the Hometown News tent, and participants leaving their handprints on giant blocks that will have an important meaning later in the jamboree.

The jamboree officially began on Monday, but Wednesday’s opening arena show made it feel like the party was just getting started.

This morning’s show at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree boasted an impressive guest list, great entertainment, and a spirit of patriotism. It all took place on a 395-foot-wide stage outfitted with three huge screens, dozens of lights, and powerful sound.

After a welcome by Anthony Thomas, the 2 millionth Eagle Scout, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates took the stage. Gates, a Distinguished Eagle Scout and past president of the National Eagle Scout Association, told about serving as a troop leader and director of the CIA at the same time.

That had its challenges, said Gates, pictured above addressing the crowd.

“I think the edge gets taken off the wilderness experience when 100 yards away there are three large black vans, a satellite dish, and armed security guards,” he said, drawing a laugh from the massive crowd. “It’s a challenge no scoutmaster ever anticipated.”

Gates said he’s thankful for the Boy Scouts of America for guiding him through his career’s early stages.

“When I joined the CIA at age 22, I had no connections and didn’t know a soul,” he said. “The only thing in my life that led me to believe I could make it was my Eagle Scout badge. It was the only thing that distinguished me from most high school kids.”

Gates was hardly the only noteworthy name in attendance at the arena show. Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca addressed the crowd, telling a story about how traveling in his BSA uniform led him to meet so many interesting current and former Scouts and Scouters.

Before Mazzuca’s speech, the show opened with a tandem of reality TV stars: Alex Boylan, winner of the second season of “The Amazing Race,” and Burton Roberts, who was a popular contestant on the Pearl Islands season of “Survivor.” Boylan and Roberts kept the Scouts entertained while the arena quickly filled with people.

Later, the crowd got pumped up by members of the WWE, sponsored by the National Guard. Included among the WWE personalities was Sgt. Slaughter, who offered this advice to the boys: “As you go through life, never, ever let your enemy eat your breakfast.”

The Scouts and Scouters also offered a warm welcome to Bob McDonnell, the governor of Virginia, and Caressa Cameron, the current Miss America. Cameron offered some high praise to the BSA, speaking on behalf of her fellow Miss America contestants.

“You guys are the type of men in this world that we are looking for,” she said. “There might be a future husband of a Miss America in this crowd.”

Now that the jamboree has officially begun, more excitement awaits. Stay tuned. In the meantime, check out some photos from the show and the walk to it.

It’ll now be even easier to check out Saturday’s closing arena show at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree.

Thanks to BYU-TV, the big Shining Light event will be available live on your television. You can watch the 5:30 pm ET pre-show and 8 pm ET official broadcast. It’ll also be available at http://www.byutv.org.

BYU-TV is available in the basic packages of most cable and satellite providers. Check your channel lineup for the channel number.

There’s also good news for people who will miss the live show. If you miss the live broadcast, BYU-TV will rebroadcast at 9:30 pm ET Aug. 3 and 7 pm ET Aug. 7.