Photo: Scouts gather for a worship service during a 2005 jamboree

FORT A.P. HILL, Va.––Some 43,000 Scouts and leaders will build a city on 3,000 acres of this 76,000 acre facility July 26-Aug. 4, 2010.

The jamboree will teach scouting skills including physical fitness, environmental conservation, our national heritage, and the true spirit of scouting.

Scouts may choose rappelling, scuba diving, kayaking, rafting, and sailing. They may also participate in trap shooting, archery, bikeathlons, buckskin games, confidence courses, and hikes on a conservation trail.

Opening and closing arena shows of the jamboree will be unforgettable. The closing will by a professional entertainment company will focus on the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.

Larry Coppock, director of scouting for the General Commission on UM Men, will be in attendance along with 20 UM chaplains he has recruited. The chaplains will be trained by the Rev. Greg Godwin and the Rev. Don Scandrol, who will serve as headquarter chaplains. Eleven of the 20 chaplains are Eagle Scouts, two are women, and one is African American. Four of the UM chaplains are in the military, and two recently served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Coppock will also lead an 11-member team manning a UM scouting ministry exhibit.

Scandrol is in charge of planning the Sunday, Aug. 1, UM worship service. Pittsburg Area Bishop Thomas Bickerton, national spokesman for the Nothing But Nets campaign, will be preach at the service. The offering will go to that national campaign to provide treated mosquito bed nets to protect African families from malaria. .

Some 370,000 young people are involved in 12,000 Cub Scout Packs, Boy and Girl Scout troops and Venturing crews sponsored by 7,000 UM congregations making the UMC, the second larges sponsor of BSA units in the world.

West Virginia will be the new site

This will be the last time the national jamboree will be held at Fort A.P. Hill. Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense increased its use of the facility for extensive military training. That, coupled with the Boy Scout’s desire to invest in a permanent infrastructure, sparked the search for a long-term jamboree home.

In October, the BSA National Executive Board approved the purchase of more than 10,000 acres in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia. “This is an area that offers some of the best rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and mountain biking anywhere in the country,” said Scout Executive Robert Mazzuca. “It is a perfect site for the full complement of activities we intend to offer at our new facility: extreme sports, leadership training, camping, high adventure-anything you can imagine doing in the great outdoors, and, of course, the national jamboree.”

Following a $50 million grant from the Bechtel Foundation, the new site will be called the Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve. BSA plans to spend an additional $300 million on the project. At least 80 full-time jobs will be created and another 1,200 seasonal workers will be hired.