After a final count, it's official: 43,434 people attended the 2010 National Scout Jamboree, making it the most-attended jamboree since 1973. As many of you may remember, the '73 event was held on separate sites, one in Idaho and one in Pennsylvania, which helped boost the numbers.

That means this year's celebration was the most-attended single-site jamboree since 1964. That year's edition of the event, held in Valley Forge, Pa., had 50,960 attendees.

The final attendance number includes 30,867 youth participants, 3,726 adult leaders, and 8,841 staff members. Day visitors aren't part of the attendance count.

Beginning with the 1977 jamboree at Pennsylvania's Moraine State Park, jamboree attendance numbers have risen at each event. This year's total topped the attendance number from 2005 by just 127 people.

In all, there have been a total of 708,485 attendees at the BSA's 17 jamborees throughout history. For totals from each event, follow the jump.

Continue reading »

Even amid the chaos of more than 4,000 people visiting its shores each day, there was something peaceful about Fish Hook Lake, the spot at the jamboree for amateur anglers to get their fix.

Scouts, Scouters, and visitors lined the lake, casting their lines into the calm water while hoping to snag a catfish, bass, or panfish.

The event was made possible thanks to sponsorship from Shakespeare, the fishing tackle company. At the end of the week, Shakespeare helped Scouts catch a total of nearly 5,000 fish.

The average catch was 1.2 pounds, but the grand prize for the jamboree's biggest catch went to Troop 728's Jonathon Dawes, who caught a 5-pound, 1-ounce catfish.

Fish Hook Lake was stocked with 10,000 pounds of fish, and Scouts had access to 90,000 worms for bait. There were 600 regular rods and 100 more for fly fishing.

Most of the fish were too small, meaning two-thirds of them had to be released back into the lake. But the ones that were big enough to keep were cleaned and cooked on the spot, letting the guys get a true taste for how much fun fishing can be.

(Photo by M.P. King. Copyright Boy Scouts of America.)

Scouts pull a patrolmate into the air on the “Flying Squirrel.”

A leader watches a confident climber on the “Caterpillar.”

At the Boys’ Life exhibit, Pedro enjoys an afternoon snack.

Scouts learn to breathe underwater at the Discover Scuba event.

Mike Rowe knows a thing or two about uncomfortable situations. But speaking in front of 70,000 fellow Scouts at the jamboree apparently isn’t one of them.

The host of “Dirty Jobs” has often squirmed while trying some of the country’s least-desirable professions. But Rowe was right in his element Saturday night as he addressed an attentive, massive crowd at the “Shining Light” arena show.

Rowe, an Eagle Scout, had a simple message that you should share with the members of your pack, troop, or crew: A Scout should be clean but not afraid to get dirty.

Scouts, he says, are unique because they try things that make them uncomfortable. As Scout leaders or parents, you know that taking a Scout out of his element often offers the greatest opportunity for growth.

That, Rowe said, is why Scouting is so great. Scouts thrive in situations that others try to avoid. While many people despise hiking, camping, service, and hard work, those activities define Scouting.

It was a message that resonated with the crowd at the arena show, helping make this self-proclaimed “Ambassador of Dirt” an excellent ambassador for Scouting, as well.

Gretchen Bleiler, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist in snowboard halfpipe, visited the mountain boarding event on Saturday at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree.

She answered questions from a large crowd and signed autographs for hundreds of Scouts. Also, as seen above, Bleiler did an interview with QBSA, the jamboree’s radio station.

Housed inside a secure location at Fort A.P. Hill is a building that few get to enter.

It's not on any map, and most staff, participants, and visitors don't even know it exists.

But behind a tall, barbed-wire fence and inside a nondescript white building is a communications nerve center. It's a network of military, state, local, and BSA personnel who keep their fingers on the pulse of the jamboree.

Its official title is the Joint Multi-Agency Operational Command Center, or JMAOCC (pronounced "jah-mohk"). To enter, you either need to be "on the list" or have a military escort. Once you get past the checkpoint, it's like a scene from "Apollo 13." To your left, video monitors show dozens of security cameras steadily panning across the jamboree site. In front of you is a satellite image of Fort A.P. Hill, a weather radar, and a communications chat log. Another giant projection screen to the right shows Fox News.

Everywhere you look, people are at work. Representatives from each branch of the armed forces talk on their cell phones or busily type on their laptop computers. BSA officials, Virginia state police, and emergency medical personnel review the minute-by-minute schedule posted on the wall. They're ready for any crisis that might arise.

Even though the place was nearly full, it wasn't noisy. You get the feeling that everyone is calm but prepared.

Col. Vic Dallin leads the operation. He's part of the U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, which coordinates multi-agency events such as this one. Col. Dallin has worked at a G-20 summit, a presidential inauguration, a Republican National Convention, and a Democratic National Convention.

That made him more than qualified to lead the jamboree, where hundreds of thousands of participants, staff, and visitors have descended on Fort A.P. Hill over the past week.

By housing all critical units under one roof, each agency can respond to a medical, weather, or security crisis immediately.

The 2010 National Scout Jamboree is just the latest example of a strong relationship between the BSA and the branches of the U.S. armed forces, Col. Dallin said.

"The Scouting organization and the military have principles and ideas that are very much aligned," he said. 

Thanks to the largely invisible efforts of those working in the JMAOCC, this event can live up to organizers' promises to make it the safest jamboree yet.