By PORTSIA SMITH
fredericksburg.com

Just because some Scouts couldn't attend the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill doesn't mean they can't enjoy tonight's big arena show.

Anyone with high-speed Internet can take part in the historic worldwide broadcast of "A Shining Light Across America," said Boy Scouts of America spokeswoman Renee Fairrer.

The live broadcast will be available via satellite and via webcast starting with the Jamboree Arena Pre-show festivities at 5:30 p.m.

The pre-show will kick off with a fly-over of F-16 jets. There will also be Native American dancing, stunts and lots of Scout participation.

The main show will begin at 8 p.m. and features Christian Rock band Switchfoot, Miss USA Rima Fakih and Discovery Channel host Mike Rowe of the hit show "Dirty Jobs."

The show will originate at the Caroline County Army post, but entertainers like Ted Nugent and others based in New York City, Raleigh, N.C., Jacksonville, Fla., Rapid City S.D., and Fort Wayne, Ind. will also participate in the BSA centennial celebration via two-way satellite link to the jamboree stage, Fairrer said.

President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are expected to make video appearances.

Obama had been invited to Wednesday's arena show with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but Fairrer said his schedule did not allow for him to make it.

"We wish he would have been able to attend but we understand that as president he has other responsibilities, and there will be other opportunities during his term where he can meet with Scouts," Fairrer said yesterday.

"I'm really ecstatic about it," said Karen Stone, a committee member for Troop 631 in Kansas City, Mo. She was one of the many Scouters who posted on the BSA's Facebook page about how eager she and other members of her council are to see the show. "It's something the BSA has never done before, and I wouldn't miss it."

This is expected to be the most attended arena show at Fort A.P. Hill's arena area, which can hold about 80,000 people.

Fairrer said scouting councils and supporters all over are expected to watch the Web cast, and many BSA local councils are hosting their own Shining Light event veiwing parties.

"It will be an awe-inspiring celebration of our first century and our first step into the adventure of our second," said BSA's Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca. "This celebration has been a hundred years in the making, and I'm just honored to be able to share it with the millions of members of the Scouting family."

A fireworks show, the largest pyrotechnics ever hosted on a military base, will start at 10 p.m. and conclude the event.

Anyone with a high-speed Internet connection can see the Shining Light activities at www.ustream.tv/shininglight or on the Shining Light section of the BSA's Facebook page.

BYU-TV, available in most basic cable packages, will broadcast the event and stream it on the website, www.byutv.org.