The national Jamboree takes place every four years, and is a gathering of Boy Scouts from all over the country. The Jamboree has been held at different locations over the years, with the last several being at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. After a generous donation from the Bechtel family ($50.000,000.00) the BSA is in the midst of building a spectacular new high adventure base in West Virginia. This base will be the home of all future Jamborees. Bechtel Summit will be located in the New River Gorge, and feature a lot of exciting activities like white water rafting, rock climbing, zip lining, and traditional scout activities like archery, rifle, etc.
The Jamboree is a ten day event beginning July 15, 2013. We do not go as a troop. Individual scouts sign up, and contingent troops will be formed with scouts in the Chester County Council. Troops will consist of 36 boys and 4 leaders. All boys in Troop 158 that sign up will most likely be put in the same contingent troop. These troops will be placed in camping "villages" with troops from all over the country.
In order to qualify for the Jamboree, scouts must be at least 12 years old, but not yet 18 at the time of the Jamboree. They must also be at least 1st Class in rank. Any boy currently in our troop that was born after July 25th 1995 will be eligible. Younger scouts will certainly be able to attain 1st Class rank by 2013. Scouts attending Jamboree will also be required to attend a training weekend. This would involve a weekend camping trip with all the scouts in the contingent troop to allow everyone to get to know one another and work together prior to the trip. Another qualification is that all scouts must have a BMI of under 30. We do not currently have any scouts that will have a problem with this, but I recommend that all boys attending Jamboree be in good physical shape to get the most out of their experience.
The total cost for Jamboree is $1300.00. If you sign up before January 31st, 2012 the council is offering a $100.00 discount, bringing your cost to $1200.00. A deposit of $150.00 is due upon signing up, and then a fee schedule will be set up to pay off the rest of the cost. The cost includes everything from food, tents, equipment, bus ride, etc. After March of 2012, there is not a guarantee that you will be able to attend.
Sign up is done on the national website at the link below. The scout must set up an account, and then enter all the information requested. The parent must then set up their own account, and link it to the scout's account. This signifies parental consent to register. At that point, a button opens up that allows you to print out a form. You fill that form out and send it along with a check for $150.00 to Chester County Council. The registration process is a bit cumbersome. I have completed it for my son, so if you have any questions about it, feel free to contact me and I can help walk you through it. The link is: https://summit.scouting.org/en/Jamboree2013 /Pages/default.aspx
