GLEN JEAN, W.Va. — The high flying adventure at the Summit Bechtel Reserve comes to a close Wednesday as the Boy Scouts head back home.
Over 40,000 Boy Scouts and their leaders from across the country will get back on the buses and return home after a ten day adventure at the 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree in Fayette County.
“From adrenaline rush, heart rate going up and an appreciation for West Virginia,” said Jamboree Director Larry Pritchard.
That is what Pritchard hoped Scouts got out of this Jamboree.
Scout Ethan Buegel from Oklahoma was sold.
“It was a whole lot of fun and I’m really glad I came here,” he said about the Jamboree.
Scout William Skipworth from Texas also found himself immersed in everything the Summit had to offer during the Jamboree, but he also loved the view.
“It’s beautiful. I mean the drive up here, all the valleys and mountains, it’s just great,” he said. “A site to see.”
From whitewater rafting to zip-lining, Boy Scouts got to take in everything the Summit Bechtel Reserve had to offer.
For Scout John McGurn from Indiana, whitewater rafting was the icing on the cake for him.
“I’ve never went whitewater rafting and I’ve always wanted to and I was in the front of the raft so it was really fun,” said McGurn.
Even with all the excitement, the Jamboree did come with some blemishes. The weather didn’t always cooperate during the event with warm temperatures in the beginning and plenty of rain in the end.
However, Pritchard said Scouts are use to camping in various weather conditions and still had fun.
“You can’t dampen the spirits of somebody whose come across the country to be here,” he said. “They’re going to get it all and do it all.”
And that’s exactly what they did. But the Jamboree was more than just about having fun, it was also about building friendship which is what Scout David Boschwitz from Minnesota enjoyed the most.
“I really liked the whole experience where you come out here and you are put into troops with people you don’t necessarily know so the entire experience and getting to know everyone,” said Boschwitz.
Pritchard said that is why they mixed the groups up so the boys could build friendships and get to know people from other parts of the country and even the world.
In addition to having fun and meeting new people, Boy Scouts also took part in one of the largest community service efforts in the nation. Over the nine day event, the 40,000 Scouts conducted around 300,000 hours of community work in nine southern counties.
Pritchard said the Jamboree has been a success and believes the Scouts will feel the same way.
“I think that we will hear when they go back that expectations were exceeded because they heard about our physical plant, but you have to see it to believe it,” he said.
Now all that is left to do, once the Scouts leave the Summit, is to clean up and begin planning for the next National Boy Scout Jamboree slated for 2017.