I’m starting to hear about some of the operations plans for the 2013 National Jamboree. Some of these include:
- There won’t be a Merit Badge midway
- There won’t be an Exhibits area other than in the Action Centers
- Staff will have to pass the Philmont trek physical
- All staff will stay in tents that might, or might not, have electricity or a floor or netting,
- Target number of participants is 13,000 – 15,000, less than 1/2 the last jamboree.
Now, inquiring minds might ask why is this so? Well, its because the place hasn’t been built yet. The BSA needs to bring in little things like water, electricity, waste treatment, roads, trails, etc.. Let alone the creation of buildings. There is, I’ve been told, an excellent amphitheater area that could hold 10’s of thousands so that’s certainly a plus.
The next question is why don’t we go back to A.P. Hill, excuse me, the military facility in Caroline County? The public answer is that the base is being re-activated and active duty personnel will be there by 2013. Maybe. And not to confuse the discussion that the base has 76,000 acres and most of the Scout activities are in wide-open fields and that creation of the Jamboree provides an excellent logistical training opportunity for the military. What the BSA needs is to have the Summit used twice for two national events in order to be eligible to host the World Jamboree. Also, it does create a motivation for getting donors to offer up resources now that there’s a pressing timeline and need.
I’ve been predicting for over 10 years that the next jamboree will have fewer JSPs than the last. I based this on the knowledge that there would be fewer councils. Well, I’m likely to be eventually correct but for different reasons.
What will be the impact on collecting? Harder to tell. There will be swapping but this may well be the smallest Jamboree ever (I’ll have to look up the numbers for 1969). Collecting I guess will be fine. Most important is that the event provides a great experience for the Scouts. It just that there will be fewer of them at this next one.
