Jamboree Alumni Day – A Post From Our CEO!
It’s nice to see many aspects of the Jamboree haven’t changed since I attended as a scout many Jamboree’s ago. Just looking around you could tell that the Scouts were still having a great time, you could see it in their faces. They had been there for days tolerating the heat and dodging torrential rainstorms – and they were all still smiling.
The Jamboree spirit of pride, fellowship and common loyalty is just as alive today as it always has been.
Many of the Scouts still traded patches on a makeshift trading table, a towel or blanket, by the side of the trails, just as I had done. For those of you who have never experienced Jamboree patch trading, it’s just like the stock market, where the value of any particular patch changes day by day. Many of these “traders” are likely to be learning worthwhile lessons that will help them later in life.
The troop campsites had not changed at all, except that some of the tents seem to have gotten pretty high-tech. The gateways to each camp were an expression of the pride for each troop’s area, like the Utah troops having dinosaur and desert pioneer themes. Many troops had obviously put in a lot of time designing and building some very impressive gateways.
The lines at the concession stands were long, as I remember. If I had more time I would have waited in line for my Jamboree favorite of french fries with nacho cheese and jalapenos.
But it wasn’t all the same as I remember it. There were some things that were simply bigger and better than at previous Jamboree’s.
One thing was very new to me, and a welcome upgrade to the Jamboree experience. They had terrific 3G coverage from AT&T, so I was able to use my phone to navigate and write this post in the same spot where I used to lay my own patch trading blanket. The wireless coverage also alleviated the anxiety of many-a-parent, as the boys could call or text their parents every day.
Merit badge midway was moved to a much larger area, closer to the visitors point of entry. This gave every merit badge the extra room needed to really do a good job instructing the Scouts.
I also thought that the Venturing area was very impressive. In fact, most of the action areas were dramatically upgraded from my day. They had huge rappelling towers, mountain bike tracks and archery and shotgun ranges. Scouts were even snorkeling and learning scuba in many huge pools found throughout the Jamboree site.
It was great to find the Scouts having such a great time, knowing that they were all making memories that will last their entire lives. And while things may be a little bigger and a little better with each passing Jamboree, the core values and camaraderie remain the key, underlying qualities of the event.
The day was amazing! We saw scores of Scouts wearing shirts from ClassB. At one point I was trying to count as I walked through the crowd, but I gave up – the numbers were staggering! I stopped to talk to the first dozen or so and everyone was very pleased with their shirts. My t-shirt had our ClassB logo on it and many people recognized the company right away.
I walked away from this year’s Jamboree feeling like ClassB was a part of the Scouting movement, and I really want to thank our customers.
The Jamboree was very well run and I was hugely impressed just how much BSA had done for the event.
The Jamboree spirit of pride, fellowship and common loyalty is just as alive today as it always has been.
Many of the Scouts still traded patches on a makeshift trading table, a towel or blanket, by the side of the trails, just as I had done. For those of you who have never experienced Jamboree patch trading, it’s just like the stock market, where the value of any particular patch changes day by day. Many of these “traders” are likely to be learning worthwhile lessons that will help them later in life.
The troop campsites had not changed at all, except that some of the tents seem to have gotten pretty high-tech. The gateways to each camp were an expression of the pride for each troop’s area, like the Utah troops having dinosaur and desert pioneer themes. Many troops had obviously put in a lot of time designing and building some very impressive gateways.
The lines at the concession stands were long, as I remember. If I had more time I would have waited in line for my Jamboree favorite of french fries with nacho cheese and jalapenos.
But it wasn’t all the same as I remember it. There were some things that were simply bigger and better than at previous Jamboree’s.
One thing was very new to me, and a welcome upgrade to the Jamboree experience. They had terrific 3G coverage from AT&T, so I was able to use my phone to navigate and write this post in the same spot where I used to lay my own patch trading blanket. The wireless coverage also alleviated the anxiety of many-a-parent, as the boys could call or text their parents every day.
Merit badge midway was moved to a much larger area, closer to the visitors point of entry. This gave every merit badge the extra room needed to really do a good job instructing the Scouts.
I also thought that the Venturing area was very impressive. In fact, most of the action areas were dramatically upgraded from my day. They had huge rappelling towers, mountain bike tracks and archery and shotgun ranges. Scouts were even snorkeling and learning scuba in many huge pools found throughout the Jamboree site.
It was great to find the Scouts having such a great time, knowing that they were all making memories that will last their entire lives. And while things may be a little bigger and a little better with each passing Jamboree, the core values and camaraderie remain the key, underlying qualities of the event.
The day was amazing! We saw scores of Scouts wearing shirts from ClassB. At one point I was trying to count as I walked through the crowd, but I gave up – the numbers were staggering! I stopped to talk to the first dozen or so and everyone was very pleased with their shirts. My t-shirt had our ClassB logo on it and many people recognized the company right away.
I walked away from this year’s Jamboree feeling like ClassB was a part of the Scouting movement, and I really want to thank our customers.
The Jamboree was very well run and I was hugely impressed just how much BSA had done for the event.