There were supposed to hold the National Scout Jamboree in 2021 until COVID brought the world to a standstill… and director of national & outdoor events, Tom Pendleton said they are happy to be back live and in person in 2023.
“I just want kids to make lifelong friendships… some of my very best friends I’ve made through the Boy Scouts of America,” he said.
The Jamboree brings together some 15,000 scouts from all over the country to West Virginia and Pendleton says they get to showcase West Virginia in all it’s beauty.
“They’ll have opportunities to do things like merit badges, they’ll have some stem opportunities, they’ll have opportunities to do all of our high adventure programs, our BMX biking, our ziplining,” said the national director.
And they also have some leadership based programs.
“Boy Scouts of America — our four aims are character, citizenship, fitness and leadership,” Pendleton said. “We’re going to talk to them and teach them about leadership.”
The national director himself has been in scouting since the age of six; the Eagle Scout calls scouting a huge part of his life and his career for the past 20 years.
“We do this for days like today, when all these scouts come in and get off the bus, their smiles are big and they’re just excited about the adventure that’s in front of them,” he said.
