Published: November 18, 2009 01:29 pm      

Fayette named permanent home of Jamboree

GLEN JEAN — The Boy Scouts of America announced yesterday that Fayette County will become the permanent home for the National Scout Jamboree.

Scouts officials and Gov. Joe Manchin announced plans Wednesday for a camp to be built on a 10,600-acre tract in Fayette County between Glen Jean, Prince and Mount Hope. The site had previously been announced as the BSA’s fourth High Adventure Base. High adventure bases already exist in New Mexico, Florida and Minnesota.

To be known as “The Summit: Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve,” the camp is made possible, in part, by a $50 million gift from the San Francisco-based S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation.

The first national jamboree at the site will be in 2013.

It was also revealed that efforts are under way to bring the 2019 World Scout Jamboree to Fayette County.

The 2010 jamboree, to be held at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, is expected to be populated by 18,000 tents, 3,600 “patrol kitchens,” and 43,000 scouts and leaders.

For a more complete story, see the Monday edition of The Fayette Tribune, or The Register-Herald.