Can they break the the "618 spinning dreidels" record? Scouts and Venturers will try tomorrow at 3 p.m. at an event hosted by the National Jewish Committee. All jamboree participants and visitors are invited to join the attempt to break the record.
The current record is held by Yeshiva University, with 618 people spinning dreidels. Every participant helping break the record at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree will receive a chance to win one of four Kindles offered by the committee.
"Let's embrace the technology," said Randall Stephenson at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree opening show. "Post photos and videos. I want the world to understand what is truly going on here," said the jamboree chairman, who is also CEO and chairman of AT&T, Inc.
Following this lead, Scouts and Venturers, are snapping images and snagging video on their smartphones and tablets. A few years ago, charging those devices at the Summit Bechtel Reserve would have been a problem. This place is prime West Virginia wilderness. No longer. Cell phone charging stations and large orange power panels with outlets have been installed across the jamboree site.
It's one of the shaded, and therefore coolest, places at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree: The Conservation Trail.
"We don't have signs to the Conservation Trail yet," says Clark D. Guy, co-chair of nature fishing conservation areas, "but I do hope people will come down and visit. It's well worth the while."
Read more: Conservation Trail Offers Merit Badges, Patches... and Shade
"Some volunteer staff people are in the dining hall as early as two in the morning," says Connie Walker, manager for the staff dining facility in Base Camp E.
"Crews keep running until midnight. It's a big process" at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree, she says.
Although nearly everyone at the jamboree enjoys the meals, not many stop to think about the effort needed to prepare them for the 6,000 staff members who make the jamboree possible for the 30,000 Scouts and Venturers in attendance. Most of those staff members eat in the Base Camp E dining area and are offered three dinner entree choices. The dining staff works tirelessly throughout each day to prepare meals to accomplish the monumental task of feeding thousands.
"Technology is evolving, and becoming more and more important, says Danny Womack, a volunteer with Groundspeak. "The Cloud [activity area] shows off lots of that tech."
The 2013 National Scout Jamboree is showcasing new products not yet released to the public, a simulated crime scene investigation set up by the state of West Virginia, multiple exhibits by NASA and several geocaching courses. All are presented to Scouts and Venturers at the Cloud, which is located atop the Mountain, down the road from the Park. The area is also known as Technology Quest.