You can share your jamboree story by calling the Jamboree Fireside Story Line at 786-7-JAMBO-7. You can also record it on the Summit’s SoundCloud channel, or upload a pre-recorded audio file there.

Here’s one Scout’s story:

I am Joshua Gathright and I’m from Andover, Kansas. I attended the 2010 National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, with the Istrouma Area Council out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My biggest memory about the jamboree was my troop — Troop 1532 — had a contingent of Saudi Arabian Scouts staying with us and I just enjoyed for the entire time we were at the jamboree, and even the pre- and post-tours, getting to know foreign Scouts and how they lived and what sport they were in, just getting to know foreigners. And that’s what sticks out to me. Never mind the fact that there were other probably better things to do there.

But if you’re looking to go to the jamboree, and if you’re looking to meet foreigners, it is definitely the place to do it.

So, what’s your jamboree story? Give us a call and share the story you love to tell around the campfire!

- Are we really having a Jamboree at the Summit?

I’m surprised that at this point we still have people asking this question. I’ll state it as clearly as I can: “Absolutely!”.  Here’s why I say that:

Site Construction Is Well Along

• Roads are in place.
• The base camps where you will live are well under way; fixed shower houses (362 of them) and kybos (look it up) are under construction.
• The utilities (power, water, sewage) are in the works, including 70 miles of electrical conduit.

Program Areas Are Coming to Life

• Climbing walls
• Mountain bike trails
• Zip lines
• Canopy tours

The dams to create our lakes are in final construction (we start filling the lakes this fall).

The Jamboree Executive Committee and Their Staffs Are Finalizing Their Plans

There will be elements similar to past jamborees like stadium shows, merit badges, exhibits, and, dare I say, patch trading; but the real excitement is on the entirely redesigned challenge areas that will define the Summit and this first jamboree in our new home.

Simply stated, rather than one size fits all, the challenge areas will have multiple skill level courses so everyone can participate at the level at which they are comfortable (kind of like a ski resort).

Over 500 people have visited the site to date—representatives from well over half of our councils nationwide—and they have all walked away in awe of what has been and is being accomplished. But you don’t have to take their word for it. I was on the site recently and have posted some pictures in a secret location.

In order to unlock these photos, you need to share this post with your social networks using the links in the gray Unlock Content box located at the beginning (top right) of this post.

Bottom line: If you don’t make it to this jamboree, you’ll be missing a historic event. There’s still room for participants and staff. Sign up at bsajamboree.org.

See you there!

Dan

The staff of this first-ever national jamboree at its new, permanent home in West Virginia will be history makers — they’ll be setting the stage for the next hundred years of Scouting.

And that’s especially true for the staff at the Summit’s stadium!

This stadium is going to be spectacular: a natural amphitheater, with space for 80,000 spectators, and a stage with the Summit’s lakes as a scenic backdrop. And, it won’t just be speakers and entertainers going on there.

Check out these five stadium staff positions for all the activities that will be going on there:

1. Stadium Daily Programs — We’ll have stuff going on every day at the stadium. We need staffers who will assist in conducting those programs.
2. Stadium Events and Ceremonies — Jambo-Palooza is going to be the biggest, daylong Scouting party you’ve ever attended. There are staff jobs to help with this and other big stadium ceremonies.
3. Stadium Shows — We’re going to have some big-time shows in the evening. These staff jobs will help make it happen.
4. Jamboree Band — Got major musical chops? The jamboree band blows serious brass to get the crowd psyched at stadium program events. The younger the better for these staffers (although there’s no age limit for those of you seasoned jamboree veterans who are interested).
5. Patch Trading — So you can get the most out of patch trading, we’re organizing it! We’ll be bringing the best in BSA patch commerce together in the same place at the same times. And, we’ll need help from staff to make it all work.

Oh, and don’t forget: For the first time ever, some staff positions can be worked for just half the jamboree — at half the price.

Are you registered for the jamboree? Do you want to work on staff? Let us know if there’s a staff job you’re interested in that isn’t described here.

You can share your jamboree story by calling the Jamboree Fireside Story Line at 786-7-JAMBO-7. You can also record it on the Summit’s SoundCloud channel, or upload a pre-recorded audio file there.

Here’s one Scouter’s story:

This is Bob Cheek from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, Glacier’s Edge Council out of Madison, Wisconsin. I’ve got a number of jamboree stories — jamborees are just a great thing as far as I’m concerned.

Back in 1973, I was on the staff of “Jamboree East.” That year we had a jamboree at Moraine State Park in Pennsylvania and one in Idaho, at the very same time, one day apart. In fact I remember the opening ceremony went from one place to the other and had the exact same ceremony.

I was on the program staff and just had a great time — great staff members — and they had one of the biggest jamborees ever in ’73. The situation I was going to mention was at the closing ceremony:

They thought that since the program staff had orange pith helmets that we should line the bottom of the arena because President Nixon was possibly going to come and speak. So, I guess I was like a temporary Secret Service person.

Well, President Nixon didn’t show up but it was a great closing ceremony. The fireworks were unbelievable. But, just a funny story about that closing ceremony:

Red berets were brand new at that jamboree, and that was the jamboree headwear that everybody wore. It ended up that sometime during the jamboree towards the close, one person threw their beret up like a Frisbee and caught it. Then the 20 people around them thought that was pretty cool and they threw their beret up and caught it. And then pretty soon 150 people around them threw their berets up and caught them, and then pretty soon there were thousands of berets being thrown up in the air and caught.

It was quite an exciting experience.

Well, other jamborees that I’ve attended: I attended the ’83 jamboree, the 75th anniversary of Scouting, and that was great. With the family, attended the closing ceremony and heard the Oak Ridge Boys and Nancy Reagan speak.

Then with a group of Scouters from Bay Lakes Council out of Appleton, Wisconsin, we took a van in for a weekend and hit the ’89 jamboree. Again all of these, the last two, they were in Fort A.P. Hill.

Also attended a Fort A.P. Hill jamboree in 2005 with a Scouter from Sinnissippi Council out of Janesville.

Then just this last one, 2010, attended with a group of Scouters from Glacier’s Edge Council in Madison. We went out for the weekend and helped celebrate the 100th anniversary.

So, what’s your jamboree story? Give us a call and share the story you love to tell around the campfire!

Sustainability is all about preserving our environment for future generations. As Scouts, that’s something we should all take seriously. Our Leave No Trace program is a sustainability initiative. At the Summit, we are kicking it up a notch and integrating sustainability practices on a much broader scale.

What does that have to do with hot showers? It’s simple, really: Not having hot showers allows us to save water (over 7.5 million gallons during the jamboree) and reduce our energy consumption—two key sustainability objectives.

By using ambient temperature, reduction in water and energy use is substantial. We estimate the use of tepid water will cut the average water use per Scout by 50 percent—and no, it’s not because they’ll take fewer showers; it’s because they won’t be standing under a constant stream of hot water when they do shower. In addition, by not heating water for showers, we expect to save as much energy as it takes to support nine households for a month.

I encourage you to learn more about sustainability. Here’s one place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability 

You’ll hear more about our sustainability efforts at the Summit in future blogs. Want more information on the showers? Check out this post about how our sustainability practices are being integrated.

Good Scouting!

Dan

That’s the challenge for all the bright minds that are designing and building the Summit Bechtel Reserve, permanent home of Scouting’s biggest event, the national jamboree.

It’s a pretty big puzzle, but they’re doing it by approaching every road, every building, every high-adventure activity — even every bathroom! — with pillars of sustainability in mind.

The jamboree is going to be more than green; it’s going to be deep green.

What Guides Sustainable Thinking at the Summit?

For just about anything at the jamboree, considering these pillars in planning and building will help ensure the Summit is an awesome experience for generations to come:

1. Design for Scouts, not cars or trucks.
2. Minimize impacts to areas that have already been disturbed.
3. Generate on-site renewable energy.
4. Recycle water, clean it passively, and return it to the watershed.
5. Conserve energy and water.
6. Choose materials that are healthy for people and the environment.
7. Treat wastes as resources and find ways to use and recover them.
8. Measure the progress by these pillars.

Check out some of the ways you’ll be able to see sustainability in action at the 2013 jamboree in our previous post.

How do you practice sustainability in your troop or crew? Let us know in the comments!

It takes Scouts and Venturers to tell the stories, and we need staff to help them spread the word. And there are a lot of different ways to make headlines at the jamboree.

Check out these five opportunities for staff (and Scouts!):

• Hometown News — This program gives youth a chance to write articles sharing the jamboree excitement for the publications back home.
• Jamboree Radio — QBSA broadcasts 24 hours a day at the national jamboree, pumping out tunes and news to provide a soundtrack to your jamboree experience.
• Jamboree Today — The daily newspaper at the jamboree is an incredible experience in journalism. Join the staff of reporters, photographers, and editors to cover the top stories at the Summit.
• K2BSA — The K2BSA Amateur Radio Association covers the short waves of the radio spectrum, broadcasting and conversing with Scouting enthusiasts from around the world.
• Leaders’ Update — Plans adapt and schedules adjust, and it takes a publishing staff to make sure leaders get the news they need every day at the jamboree.

Many of these jobs require previous technical experience, but there are also support positions in each of these operations. We also want to encourage Scouts and Venturers to get exposed to these jobs as much as possible.

Are you a newshound? Do you love to get the word out? Sign up to join the jamboree staff today!

Who Is This Guy?

A little about myself (very little). While the BSA officially formed the Summit Group on April 1 of this year and hired me as its director, my association with Scouting and the Summit began much earlier than that. I joined Scouting as a Cub Scout in, well, let’s just say it was over a half-century ago. I’ve been active in Scouting ever since, having served at the unit, district, council, regional and national levels.

While a volunteer Scouter, I completed a career in the U.S. Navy as a Supply Corps officer after which I spent a few years as a logistics consultant.  While doing so, I served Scouting in 10 councils (some multiple times) and all 4 regions. So, I have Scouting friends, both volunteer and professional, all across the country (including Hawaii).

In April 2007, I was invited to serve as a member of the site selection team for BSA’s new national jamboree site. That call began a process which led to BSA’s selection of the Summit as our new home for the national jamboree. The rest, as they say, is history.

Stay Tuned Weekly

Well enough about me — as I said at the outset, this blog is intended to focus on the Summit. This will be a weekly blog feature we will run on Wednesday of each week. Watch for it!

Good Scouting!
Dan

Up and down the gorge in the neighborhood of the Summit, cyclists of all stripes come to exercise their pedal power.

In this video, local biking pro and bike shop owner Adam Stephens explains why the trails of West Virginia keep him coming back for more and more.

3 Different Kinds of Biking at the Jamboree

Did you know the adventure areas at the Summit will offer three different kinds of biking? You’ll be able to try:

• Downhill mountain biking — The area you’ll come to know as “High Gear” features intense downhill runs.
• Cross-country mountain biking — “Low Gear” includes 27 miles of MTB trail for you to explore. Check out the pump track!
• BMX — Over at Mayhem Mountain, park-style and trick-oriented bikers will have plenty of room to play, too.

The biking at the jamboree will be open to all, too. The top-notch designers who are building all of these facilities are making sure there are trails for every ability level, whether you like to go big, go fast, or just go for a cruise.

What kind of biking suits your style? Let us know in the comments below.

It’s how we end the Scout Law, and let’s face it: After the adventure, fellowship, and connection with a beautiful place like the Summit, we’re all going to want to spend some time in reflection.

Worship services are an important part of the national jamboree, and it takes volunteers just like you to staff the Chaplain Corps to put it all together.

We’ll need two types of staff:

• Chaplains — They’ll do all the scheduling, arranging, and officiating of the formal worship services. They’re also at the jamboree to provide counseling and peform other assignments in case of emergency. In addition, chaplain staff help uphold the spiritual ethos at Scout campsites, leading by example.
• Support Staff — The chaplains can’t do it alone, and these non-clergy staff help with all of the above.

If you’re interested in joining the Chaplain Corps at the 2013 jamboree, be sure to check out the staff application.

Got a question? Post in the comments below!