Heard from the folks at Scouts on Stamps Society International (SOSSI) that the design for the Celebrate Scouting Stamp will be unveiled November 12, 2009 at the Smithsonian Postal Museum. We’ll get it posted here after its released. I figured, and am glad, that this is in progress for Scouting’s 100th anniversary in this country.

New Scouting stamp

Frankly, now that the design is out my first reaction is - this is pathetic. Have we become so “politically correct” in this country that we can not salute the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America? The above stamp design does not give me the sense of recognition of this achievement. Here’s the link to the formal press release from the USPS.

There is nothing on the stamp that says we’re celebrating Scouting. There is nothing on the stamp that says we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of the BSA. There’s nothing on the stamp that talks about the contributions of Scouting to this country. The BSA professional leadership is doing a ‘make nice’, IMHO, but if they’re satisfied with this, then I hope the Executive Board pulls them aside and replaces them. I can’t quite get to the point that this is a slap in the face but that’s the first thought that comes to mind. I’ll see if I can post what has been done in the past when we got some respect.

The first day of issue will be at the 2010 Jamboree. Forget about it.

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Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca is out with the following announcement regarding the Jamboree site for 2013 and forward. This is after the aborted effort to acquire and develop Goshen Reservation. The problem with this is as I see it is location. The Goshen site, or something on the eastern seaboard, gave the potential for troop tie-ins with Washington, D.C.. This location won’t. Its probably real pretty but its also likely to be VERY hilly. I could be wrong. We’ll be hopeful. I’m sure there will be good high-adventure tie-ins. Its certainly closer to Michigan but I still see it as being out of the way.

Here’s what the Chief had to say:

BSA Must Read: National Executive Board News

I am writing to share some exciting news. Today, our National Executive Board took another significant step toward establishing a permanent home for future national jamborees and creating another premier outdoor adventure Scouting site. The board approved the purchase of more than 10,000 acres of some of the most spectacular land you’ve ever seen. It’s located in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia-an area that offers some of the best rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and mountain biking anywhere in the country. It is a perfect site for the full complement of activities we intend to offer at our new facility: extreme sports, leadership training, camping, high adventure-anything you can imagine doing in the great outdoors, and, of course, the national jamboree.

We still have a lot of work to do, but under Jack Furst’s tremendous leadership, we are well on our way toward going from vision to reality. As Jack said to board members, “We are only limited by our own creativity and ingenuity.” And as we know, with Jack at the helm, that means there are no limits to what we can accomplish through this effort.

Stay tuned for further details and a formal unveiling of our plans in November. Until then, my sincerest thanks to the team for its tireless efforts in bringing this exceptional opportunity to our Scouting family. It is, truly, one of the best investments we will make in serving Scouts for the next 100 years.

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Scouting Magazine has started a new column called “This Old Patch”, sort of a take off on the PBS series “This old house.” Collector Kelly Williams of Krelman Co. provided them with an interesting patch, the JSP for the 1960 contingent from Yosemite Area Council, CA. Kelly just sent me an e-mail that was sent to him with the pictures below asking, tongue in cheek, if I’d seen them. Its amazing what Photoshop can do.

This is for the part of the story that shortly after this patch came out, the tree had fallen over (actually as I understand it the top came down, the tunnel remained.)

The article made mention that the tree was in Yellowstone Park which it was not.

These did cause a bit of a double-take for me but they were doctored images. Cute.

It looks like it will be an interesting column. They contacted me about some ideas and material for future columns and we’ll be helping them out. I see it as being good for the hobby as Scouting Magazine goes out to nearly a million registered Scouters. If you have some ideas for what you’d like to see, pass them on to me.

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Robert just passed this on. From National Capital Area Council’s web-site:

National Scout Jamboree Site Selection Withdrawn

We regret to inform you that the Boy Scouts of America has decided to withdraw its interest in Goshen Scout Reservation as the permanent site for the National Scout Jamboree. The BSA identified too many potential obstacles in developing the Goshen site to its fullest and is pursuing other venues.

The National Capital Area Council will continue to support the outstanding outdoor programs offered at Goshen Scout Reservation. This process has identified many areas that offer great potential in strengthening our service to youth. Goshen Scout Reservation will continue to serve as our council’s classroom for character far into the future.

We appreciate your support during this long and interesting process.

While at pre-NOAC I heard from several of my contacts about the problems the Scouts were having getting local zoning approval for the development of Goshen. The numbered varied from different folks but what I was hearing was that about 100 community members were against the development. They like their rustic area and felt the influx of that many Scouts would disrupt their community. Actually, they may have been right in that some were saying this would be every four years but others were pointing out that once we have the camp, it would make sense to use it every year. Others have pointed out that it is not a flat area. Thus our traditional vision of a jamboree being fields of sub-camps with tent cities would need to change (and it well could IMHO.)

So, it must be back to the drawing board. I heard that everything with the West Virginia selection was proceeding and the state was/is wide-open to the development. Actually, the WV site is likely to become an eastern high adventure base.

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The national BSA office has completed the purchase of Goshen Scout Reservation from National Capital Area Council to be developed into a permanent site for the National Jamboree. Goshen is one of the major east coast camps although I don’t know much about the specifics. I’m sure readers can fill us in. The 2013 jamboree will be held at Goshen.

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I heard in December that the next National Jamboree was set for 2013 but the location was still under review (Arkansas, West Virginia, and eastern mid-Atlantic states were in the final round). A press release is now out with the following confirming a site in the mid-Atlantic, likely Camp Goshen of National Capital Area Council. This puts us back to what would be the standard four-year rotation (i.e., we should have had a Jamboree this year and then again in 2013).  Although this requires a new site and thus a lot to do which made some some sense for the 2015 date, my guess is National wants the money they raise from the Jamboree and thus are pulling the date ahead. Unfortunately this also impacts the scheduling of National Order of the Arrow Conferences as a normal progression would have been 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015.

DALLAS, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ — As on outgrowth of an 18-month process aimed at establishing a permanent home for its iconic event, the national Scout jamboree, the Boy Scouts of America announced today that it will enter negotiations with sites in Virginia and West Virginia to explore the vision of a National Scouting Center. The National Scouting Center will comprise three major areas of focus: the permanent home for the national Scout jamboree, a new high-adventure base, and expanded opportunities for national leadership and outdoor skills training. The vision for a National Scouting Center evolved from an intensive, highly competitive site selection process that drew 80 proposals from 28 states.

The site selection process, referred to as Project Arrow, was overseen by a committee that narrowed submissions to three outstanding finalist proposals from Virginia, West Virginia, and Arkansas. Today, after serious and thorough consideration, the BSA’s National Executive Board took action to proceed with further investigation and negotiations with Virginia and West Virginia. Plans call for placement of the permanent home for the BSA’s national jamboree in Goshen, Rockbridge County, Virginia, and the new high-adventure base in Fayette and Raleigh counties, West Virginia.

“This new vision of a National Scouting Center represents an incredible opportunity for the BSA, our Scouts, and the nation. In its entirety, the center will offer a new American landmark-a multipurpose, year-round destination for Scouting activities that will become the epicenter for the best that Scouting has to offer,” said Jack D. Furst, chairman of the Project Arrow Committee and retired partner of the private equity firm HM Capital Partners. “It will be a dynamic place where people from all over this country and the world come together to share their common values, partake in America’s best leadership programs, and challenge themselves through rigorous outdoor activities.”

Furst noted that although an important step has been taken, there is still much work to be done. “We are moving from vision to reality, and there is still much process to go through.”

“Serving as the home for the Boy Scouts’ national Scout jamboree is a great honor for the commonwealth of Virginia,” said Patrick O. Gottschalk, Virginia secretary of commerce and trade. “We are committed to this process and know that we have a tremendous amount to offer in the long term to this time-honored celebration and the organizational goals of the Boy Scouts.”

Kelley Goes, cabinet secretary of the West Virginia Department of Commerce, says her state is eager to continue progress with the BSA. “We appreciate the Boy Scouts’ recognition of what our land has to offer with its spectacular and diverse topography. There are opportunities to bring new adventure outlets to Scouts, and we look forward to continuing this discussion.”

Experiential learning activities, such as the ones offered at BSA high- adventure bases and the national jamboree, are a core element to fulfilling the BSA’s mission of serving America’s youth with character-building opportunities. Both the jamboree and high-adventure bases reflect the skills and values of Scouting — appreciation for the outdoors, physical fitness, environmental conservation, and understanding our national heritage.

Every four years, the BSA hosts a 10-day jamboree celebration that draws more than 240,000 Scouts, volunteers, vendors, and visitors. Annually, the BSA’s three existing high-adventure bases, Philmont, Northern Tier, and Florida Sea Base, serve more than 50,000 youth — with 20,000 more wait- listed. The new proposed adventure base would complement the existing three and help meet the demand for high-adventure activities with completely new programs not offered elsewhere.

Furst says the BSA extends its sincere thanks to the jamboree site finalist in Saline County, Arkansas. “We are so grateful to Governor Beebe and the officials of Arkansas for providing us such a compelling option, and showcasing their state’s great leadership. Their incredible site had many outstanding elements,” Furst said.

Among other criteria that were considered, potential jamboree sites were
to:
*  Have spectacular natural beauty
*  Have water for recreational activities
*  Be at least 5,000 acres and available for donation, long-term lease
(100-plus years), or sale
*  Be within 25 miles of an interstate or a four-lane divided highway
*  Be within 150 miles of a commercial service airport with medium or
large hub status
*  Be in an area with adequate medical services
*  Be accessible year-round via standard modes of transportation

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We just had a visitor in that passed on some interesting “news.” I’m calling it that until I get confirmation. It seems incredibly dumb but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. The news is that after 2010 the next jamboree is now set for 2015. The reason for the change either from 2014 or even 2013 that I’ve heard was the Scouts’ need for a new jamboree site. The reason this is dumb is that’s the 100th anniversary of the OA.

The short list of sites are ending up with a target location of the mid-Atlantic region. This makes a lot of sense. It is closest to the population centers. There will remain the substantial side tour potentials that don’t exist in other parts of the country. That is, contingents can plan tours to Civil War battlegrounds, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, historical sites in New York and the New England area, sites in Virginia. The list goes on and on. There had been some speculation that the new jamboree site could be in Texas. I’m sure the state has land and that the Scouts have benefactors to support it but it would be out of the way. But, as one Scout Exec. from Houston pointed out to me at a Philmont training session, “Who wants to camp in Texas in the summer?”

Anyone else able to refute this news or confirm? Inquiring minds want to know.

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Coming from “patch–world” of Lingen, Germany on eBay we now have fakes of camp patches. This one is for the Transatlantic Council Camp Mohawk, their summer camp based in England, for 1957. Design is close but not close enough. Of course the description makes no mention that this was recently made, not 50 years ago.

We’re having trouble keeping up with all of the fakes coming out. We’re posting more of this guy’s fakes. No where in the titles of any of these does he indicate they are fakes or re-makes or private issues.

These include the 2000 Philmont staff arrowhead, 1953 National Jamboree jacket patch, region8 patch, 428 R1, 383 Tahosa dance team patch, 146 Tichora event first flap. The list is long and dubious.

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Seller Wishingtree07 has popped up on eBay with many brand new fakes of Scout patches, mostly OA. Here’s a PDF of his offerings.

New ‘Faker’ out of Malaysia on eBay

His descriptions do mention that they are brand new patches and have a heat seal back. Frankly, not sure how he chose the designs to make. For some, the original issue is cheaper than what he’s charging for the fake. You make your own decision as to whether to buy or not, although if you don’t buy then there will be fewer offered in the future.

Update 4/22/08 - More to this story - now seeing these items under a new seller id: YCPATCH as well. I went back and Wishingtree07 is still listing but NONE of their Boy Scout fakes have sold over the past two weeks. That’s a sure way to get this to end. These guys are paying less than $1 a patch. They are hoping for unsuspecting buyers. That hurts us all if they pull it off.

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