The Summit: October 22, 2010 to July 15, 2013

What a difference two and one-half years make

In under 60 days our contingent will start down I77 from Summit County Ohio to The Summit Bechtel Reserve. We will move from the shadows of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to the edge of the New River Gorge National Park; from our current home in Akron, OH to Steve's boyhood home in Mount Hope WV.

Join us there at the 2013 National Jamboree.

I signed in and let my heritage be known.	The sun and colors and excitement of that day will remain with me forever.
I met Jack Furst and he told me how important Mount Hope Mayor Michael Martin, my first SPL in Troop 91, had been to getting to October 22, 2010	Something shiny.  Wonder if they got to keep these or are they in a case at the National Scouting museum?
Governor Manchin, Steve McGowan, Jack Furst, Bob Mazucca, the Adj General and more in the ground breaking party.	As a boy growing up in Mount Hope, it thrills me that The SBR as we now know it calls Mount Hope home too.  My Scoutmaster Mr. Joe Bragg would be so proud.

More about Mount Hope and my Scoutmaster Joe Bragg -- click here

Here are more pictures of that ground breaking day:

See you at the Summit

Steve (Toop B326) and Kimberly (Foxtrot Venturing Commissioner staff)

Preparing for the 2013 National Jamboree (video)

Last night Steve met with the scouts and parents of Great Trail Council's National Jamboree Troop B326 and elected our final leaders (the Patrol Leaders, the Senior Patrol Leader was elected back in September).  Lots of preparation by the adult and youth staff was evidenced as we covered so much of what they can expect.

One highlight if the meeting was the presentation by our youth quartermaster the following video on what to bring and what will be provided at the Jamboree.  Classy editing of footage shot at the Summit Shakedown and information from the Council Jamboree Guide leads to a perfectly well done video.  Watch and enjoy.




Scouts and Scouters are limited to what they can pack in a Jamboree Edition Osprey Transporter BSA duffel and a day pack. Here is a update of the duffel (including links to the scouting magazine announcement) and ideas about what must be in your day pack.(hint -- the 10 essentials).

Stop by and introduce yourself to us at the 2013 National Jamboree in Mount Hope WV
Steve and Kimberly (Troop B326 and Crew F610)

Area 4 Conference for Central Region BSA - What's in Store for Venturing?

Update: May 23, 2013 The Venturing program Announcement is official at the BSA Annual Meetings (see scouting.org/venturing).

On October 6, 2012 we attended the Area 4 Training Conference (Central Region, BSA) and spent time in the morning learning about recommended changes to the Venturing Program from a member of the task force recommending the changes.  Those of us in attendance got to also talk about and share the issues and challenges we each face.

Venturing will look different (probably starting in 2015) and we liked much of what we heard.  Much of the program we love will stay intact, but the recognition system seems like it will be much more ordered and easier to comprehend.  (read more after the following jump)

Post Summit Shakedown thoughts (and Photos)

Last month, July 13-17, 2012, we were lucky enough to take 8 Venturers to the Summit Bechtel Reserve.  This fabulous new high-adventure base and permanent home to the BSA National jamborees (and host of the 2019 World Scout Jamboree) is over 10,000 acres of wild wonderful West Virginia in Steve's hometown of Mount Hope.  We got an awesome peek at parts of the plans for the 2013 Jamboree and got to pay for the privilege of being test subjects for their processes and plans.  Some when as planned, some didn't, but the 2013 National Jamboree will be so much better since we were there.  With about 2,000 attendees we saw and participated in camping at subcamp C, hiking to Action Point, Adventure Valley and Garden Ground mountain.  At Action point there was canopy tours, zip lines, challenge rope courses, climbing towers, skate boarding, BMX biking and more.  At Adventure Valley at low gear and high gear there was mountain biking.  On the last day the Venturers and Scouts went whitewater rafting. We were paired with new friends from Kansas and Virginia and nightly heard from the folks at the top of the great enterprise that SBR represents.  You can see much of this in our pictures below. 

Enjoy these photos taken on our trip to SBR


Clicking on the above photos should take you to the Picasa Album.