Permanent "National Jamboree" site?

[Scouter. 15]

Ok...I have thought that Boy Scouts across the Us have been at a disadvantage since the BSA planted the National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill and never moved it.

 

Now that the next and all future NJs will be at the summit (which is @ 300 front the Atlantic Ocean), I'm personally not a fan.

 

Could the East coast use a high adventure base?

 

Sure can.

 

Do I understand the logistics and infrastructure needed to support a Jamboree.

 

Sure can.

 

Do I like the fact the a huge amount of scouts have to pay out a lot of money and travel quite a ways to get there (not to mention lots of other thoughts...) ?

 

Nope I don't.

 

Is it going to change?

 

No. Not likely ever.

 

Just ranting is all. I think it sucks to have a NJ site permanently located almost slack dab on the eastern seaboard.

[OldGreyEagle 5]

the way I understood it is that Summitt is 12 hours by car from 60-70% of the Countries population. Glen Jean West Virginia is hardly the Eastern Seaboard

[Scouter. 15]

Not eastern seaboard?

 

It's 300 miles it.

 

I think it's stupid to have the NJ in the same place every year.

 

National must agree or they would not hip hop the National Executive Meeting all over the country.

 

For kids within your 60% or so range...they might be able to go, but kids on the west coast...not so affordable for them though.

 

I know it's not going to change...I just think it sucks.

 

 

[qwazse 4342]

And it stinks that all of those beautiful Rocky Mountains are 19+ hours away! Not just because Philmont's over there. I have three lovely nieces and a great niece who are so far away!

 

I do think there's a market for some type of western region BSA event. LA, Portland, or Seattle would be a big draw. Maybe if we pull this internet stuff off, we can do a coast-to-coast festival.

 

It might be decades away, but start putting the bugs in our youth's ears. They're the ones who will make it happen if they really care.

[OldGreyEagle 5]

Perhaps the best plan is to find the Geographical center of the Country and puchase land there. Better yet, have someone donate the land. You do get to name it whatever you want.

 

So, if you don't like where its going to be, devise a way to buy better land and give it to the BSA. That way the east coast gets a High Adventure camp and the National Jamboree site is centered in the country. Everbody wins. All you have to do is buy the land.

 

As Vizzini once said, Well, I'm waiting

[Scouter. 15]

My sincere apologies at expressing my opinion.

 

It was simply that. For that I apologize.(This message has been edited by Scouter.)

[skeptic 993]

"Gentlemen"!?? Even the internet has a "tone". Perhaps we need to take it down a little?(This message has been edited by skeptic)

[KC9DDI 11]

Well, normally the discussions here don't take this kind of turn until page 3, at the earliest.

 

To me it seems like a decision for "cost effective for the BSA as a business" vs. "cost effective for the BSA's members." Naturally, the BSA, as a business, is going to look at the most cost effective option for itself. I believe that owning and operating a high adventure base, while probably having a higher initial cost, will be the most cost effective long term. I also like to see land set aside just for Scouting - in short, this is the kind of thing I LIKE to see the BSA spend money on.

 

But I also get the point that a fixed location makes the Jamboree consistently accessible to a small cross section of the BSA's membership, and consistently inaccessible to a much larger portion of the country. And travel costs are only going to continue to climb year after year.

 

I dunno. I think there's a lot more infrastructure and preparation that needs to go into a Jamboree site than a generic Executive Meeting, so I don't think that's an apples-to-apples comparison. And I'm sure there's some benefit to not having to worry about identifying locations, building infrastructure, coordinating with local authorities, potentially PAYING for use of the facility, and cleaning everything up afterwards - for each and every Jambo.

 

[skeptic 993]

While I realize that one of the elements of consideration for location is transportation and supply access, wonder if that element might be a "work around" for a secondary site at Philmont. They have the space, and of course the basic infrastructure is already there for the regular use. One day of busing or train to Raton or Cimmeron could play into the cost for those units coming into large airports, and would not need to add too much to the cost, especially if coordinated on a National level. In 1960, scouts came into Denver from all over, then came mostly in buses to Colorado Springs. We had 57,000 there, so not like it was a small undertaking.

 

Then they could rotate them from East to West (sort of). Still a long trip for the Pacific coast people, especially in the north. But better than 3,000+, and lots of things to see and do on a trip if done on the ground.

 

 

[KitCarson 10]

They already own at least one alternate site large enough for a NJ.

 

It's called Philmont.

[OldGreyEagle 5]

Could Philmont and the surrounding area absorb the 50-60 thousand or so participants and related staff without changing its charactor?

 

I don't know if the Summitt can either, then again it doesnt have a charctor to destroy.

 

[SR540Beaver 116]

I remember just a few short years ago when the BSA was soliciting suggestions of places to purchase as a permanent home for the Jamboree. Having attended two of them at Fort AP Hill, I had my opinions of where it should move. For me, Virginia was just too dang humid and the heat was one notch this side of hell.....and I live in Oklahoma! Once you started sweating, you sweat until its time to come home. I was thinking somewhere like Colorado. Nice scenery, nice dry air, cool tempertures. Not to mention, Colorado borders Oklahoma, so it's an easy trip for us. Then the Bechtel's had to go and donate the largest gift ever given to BSA and the rest is history. One doesn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

Bottom line, anywhere you place the Jambo is always going to be a burden to someone. It always going to be close to some and far away for others. Even putting it in the middle of the country (which I would have loved) would have been a trip for folks from the four corners of the nation.

[Engineer61 19]

Ah the internet....

 

the geographic center of the mainland of the US is someplace near Lebanon, KS.

 

 

[DLChris71 10]

Nothing is ever permanent. I love West Virginia but you never know what will happen over the next 10 years. Who knows what goodies will be endowed to BSA, giving them an incentive to move major events around.

 

 

[KitCarson 10]

"Could Philmont and the surrounding area absorb the 50-60 thousand or so participants and related staff without changing its charactor? "

 

Philmont covers 137,500 acres, the National Scout Reserve a mere 10,000 acres.