Sri Lanka, India, Texas and Ohio were just some of the many flags from around the world to fly on Highway 51 in Gillette, while motorcycle convoys rolled by.
It’s a busy week for the northeast Wyoming city: The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is taking place at the same time as the International Pathfinders Camporee.
Camporee is a weeklong festival organized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This year, nearly 55,000 attendees, volunteers and staff from around the country and the world stay in Gillette for a week, making the city the largest population in the state by far – at least temporarily.
The city of Gillette had been anticipating this day since 2021, when the International Pathfinders announced Gillette would replace their usual location in Wisconsin. Investments in the Cam-plex were made in 2021. The city has been navigating legal objectives and talking with the public since the Pathfinders made the decision to try a new location for their every-fifth-year event.
The calm before the crowd
The weekend prior to the start of the camporee saw hundreds of RV’s, golf carts, pickup trucks, sedans and some heavy machinery turn an empty field into a quickly growing community. Across the street from the campgrounds, a massive stage accented with Egyptian themes was set up for events such as a baptism and worship ceremonies later on in the week.
The first to arrive at the event were the leadership of Pathfinders groups. They arrived early to set up and help prepare for the arrival of mostly younger campers. One Pathfinder group, the Lake Union Conference, expects they’ll bring about 5,000 Pathfinders to the event. Additionally, they’ve set up a mini lighthouse to backdrop their temporary broadcasting studio. The lighthouse features paintings of fellow Pathfinders from previous events, blocks representing each state in the region and a working, spinning light.
Other chapters brought their own flags, mini stages, cooking sites or large community tents.
The one thing that every chapter brought was pins. Each chapter has their own custom pins, and some past Camporees have commemorative pins as well. Pathfinders look to “trade, exchange or negotiate” for pins in a similar way to trading cards or challenge coins, according to Sophia Borba, coordinator for Nevada-Utah Conference and Pacific Union Conference.
“We love pin trading, it is one common experience every pathfinder gets to experience. You really get your negotiation skills down to a T.” said Borba.
Later on, the pre-Camporee festival hosted a special event called Night At The Camporee, which acts as one of the Pathfinder’s ways of saying “thank you” to Gillette for hosting them. The public were given free parking and free attendance to the event stage. The Pathfinders then put on a show, featuring a musical performance, a play about the life of young Moses and the unveiling of a statue of Moses sculpted by Victor Issa. Once the main show ended, the cast and crew brought out the mayor of Gillette and other city officials to thank them for helping to sponsor the event and taking special interest in the event.
Most attendees and townsfolk are expecting 60,000 Pathfinders to be in Gillette, although ticket sales show the number to be closer to 55,000 currently.
Reactions from residents
As for residents of Gillette, townsfolk had a mostly positive take on the hectic week. Casey Mills, owner of Teacher’s Corner Kids Mart, said she’s been looking forward to the event.
“We’re excited to see everybody. We love meeting people and we have a map up here so everybody can put where they're from on the map,” said Mills.
Mills wasn’t sure what to expect, but so far had not seen an increase in foot traffic. However, she expects more people to check out parts of Gillette as the week moves forward.
On the other hand, Michelle Sarah, owner of Hands-On-Pottery, has brought her business to the campers. She set up a booth in the Camplex for pathfinders to paint commemorative art piece keepsakes. Sarah says it’s a popular craft, and she had to increase the seating in her business to accommodate how many people signed up for classes later in the week.
“People have signed up for the off site, which is here at our studio. [And] that is already full,” she said.
Not all residents of Gillette are as excited with the extra people. Lonny Flack with Black Hills Trucking said “three times the residents means three times the ruckus,” which causes delays for his business.
“It's just a rat race when more people show up to town. Kind of messes up your schedule, so I'm not a fan of disruption,” said Flack.
Monica Mittleider, who was picking up cookies, said she’s heard “good and bad” things from around town.
“It feels like there's more people in town, but it doesn't feel overcrowded,” said Mittleider. “I hope it goes well”.
Jeremy Polk, another Gillette resident, shares the hope that the city will ultimately come to appreciate the event.
“I've definitely seen more traffic. It hasn't seemed to disrupt much,” Polk said. “It's great to have this kind of thing coming into the community and hopefully the rest of Gillette can get on board and welcome everybody that comes.”
The Wyoming-City
The majority of traffic, both on the road and walking, has centered around the campground. Some other locations in town were busier than normal.
The Albertsons and local Walmart were both frequented by Pathfinders, Sturgis bikers passing through and locals. The Walmart hung a sign welcoming Pathfinders above the entrance, and the checkout line was packed as the majority of Camporee goers arrived on Monday. Shelves were fully stocked, extra boxes of fruits were placed outside of their normal areas and the parking lot was stop-and-go as a continuous stream of shoppers entered and left the store. Other areas featuring unique-to-Wyoming restaurants, as well as gas stations, were also more active then normal.
As Monday closed out, the Gillette Cam-plex became a high point of interaction, as Pathfinders checked in, traded pins and set up sections for shops, clubs and studies. Unique to the event are temporary classes referred to as “Honors.” These events will give campers the opportunity to learn from other knowledgeable Pathfinders about archeology, mountain biking, medical knowledge and more.
While the economic impact of the Camporee is still to be determined, Gillette will at least receive volunteer service hours from younger campers. Youth attendees will pick up parks and paint a few murals as another “thank you” to the city of Gillette.
Regardless, city officials hope the success of managing a temporary double-sized city will put Gillette on the map for other popular gatherings and events in the future.
On Tuesday, Camporee faced some severe weather and a few hundred camp-goers had to be relocated. However, the Camporee plans to continue the event to its completion on Sunday with the support of Gillette residents and government.
