"The 2013 National Jamboree was truly a historic event," says Chief Scout Executive Wayne Brock. "There had never been a Jamboree like this one – partly because there had never before been a Jamboree site like the Summit Bechtel Reserve."
The Boy Scouts of America recently announced the 2013 National Jamboree yearbook. In photographs and text this volume provides a taste of the excitement and activities that Scouts and Venturers experienced at the jamboree earlier this year.
Read more: New Book Keeps Memories of the 2013 Jamboree Forever
Not long ago, the Summit Bechtel Reserve was little more than an abandoned coal mine and sawmill — and lots of pristine wilderness. No grand lakes, no canopy tours and no shooting ranges. Certainly no Scouts or Venturers.
Enter Jack Furst.
This is the life-long Scouter is the person who oversaw this property's metamorphosis into a site for a Boy Scouts of America high adventure base that would host both national and world jamborees.
"We are the soundtrack of the jamboree," says Michael J. Thorp, chairman, general manager and program director of QBSA Jamboree Radio.Thorp, who has been a radio program director outside of Scouting for 40 years, organizes QBSA's daily programs.
"We give each Scout who wants to be on the air a 15-minute show," says Thorp. Througout the jamboree, Scouts and Venturers have enjoyed the opportunity to host a 15-minute show after a 30-minute class on what to report and how to run their show.
The 2013 National Scout Jamboree had a lot of remarkable people in attendance. His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, a life long Scout. TV host Mike Rowe, an Eagle Scout. There were corporate CEOs and philanthropists, teachers and scientists, artists and Olympians. All contributing to a great jamboree.
But how many had been in attendance at the 1937 National Scout Jamboree, the very first gathering of Scouts from across America?
Just one: Anthony DiSalvo.
Read more: Counting Jamborees? Start With 1937 and Anthony DiSalvo