Three local scouts attended the 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree. Ellison Rourke (Eagle Scout Troop 761), John Rourke (Troop 761) and Tanner Williams (Troop 763) made the inaugural event at the Summit Bechtl Reserve in West Virginia.
They were among 36 scouts chosen from the Pee Dee Area to attend the jamboree. Ellison was selected to be the Assistant Patrol Leader for the entire troop.
The Jamboree takes place every four years excluding the 100th Anniversary in which Ellison attended in 2010 which was held at Fort AP Hill for the retirement of that location.
The scouts formed a separate troop with area scouts from all over the Pee Dee area (B310). While at the Jamboree, they enjoyed a live stadium show featuring Three Doors Down and various guests incuding Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs.
The boys took him literally when speaking of the dirt patrol and formed their own “Dirt Patrol”. The weather helped intice a muddy slip and slide of which they should have earned a merit badge. The Scoutmaster informed us that due to all the rain they were going to master the Ark Building merit badge. Despite severe storms that forced the scouts to stay in tents a large majority of the time they still had an experience of a lifetime at the first ever Jamboree held at BSR.
In total their were 50,000 in attendance from all over the United States and some visitors from as far away as Russia and Japan. During their two week stay they patch traded with other scouts from around the world. Tanner said “patches are like gold up here!”
Each Patrol from our troop B310 earned a patch for working on a service project at the Summit.
There were numerous events to chose from such as BMX (scars to prove this one), zip line, skateboarding, scuba diving, white water rafting, and many others.
The next National Jamboree will be in 2017 followed by the World Jamboree in 2019. Both of these events will take place at Summit Bechtl Reserve in West Virginia.
If you know someone interested in joining the Boy Scouts of America please contact the Pee Dee Area Council 843-662-6306.
