The Jamboree returned to its permanent home at The Summitt in West Virginia. This was the fourth Jamboree at the Summitt. The location has proven to be terrific, infrastructure is in place, roads completed. The huge investment made by the BSA and benefactors has been well worth it. The Jamboree was smaller than previous events, reflecting decreased membership, total attendance is reported to be about 12,000 A generation of Scouts have come to know the Summitt as the home of Jamboree. Thirteen years of successful Jamborees have almost erased memories of other places, themes and events. The theme for the Jamboree is ELEVATE, the totem is a “garden” Gnome. I’m puzzled by the name and logo. The 2023 theme Forward seemed odd, but the official badge had Scouts and the Consol Energy bridge. The 2026 badge says ELEVATE with a red “thing” that was later identified as a Gnome’s hat. I don’t remember a Gnome ever being affiliated with Scouting. Elevate or even Forward is a far cry from earlier Jamboree themes; Onward for God and My Country, Forward on Liberty’s Team, Live Scouting Adventure, Strong Values, Strong Leaders, Character Counts, etc. But, it’s a new era in Scouting. President Trump did not attend. Few dignitaries from Washington, DC were present, although all that patriotism and flag waving might have kept quite a few away.   I covered this Jamboree in real time, capturing images off social media and various websites. Since this is the fourth Jamboree at the Summitt I wasn’t going to repeat many things that I posted in 2017 and 2023, but 2026 attendees want to see what happened in 2026 even though things weren't much different. There was a huge effort for fund raising, Diamond & Platinum Clubs, NESA, OA Endowment, etc.

The first thing that most people see is the signs for West Virginia and the Summitt. Then the Welcome Center. Unfortunately many contingents don’t enter the Welcome Center itself. It’s a shame because there is an excellent display of Scouting history, mostly from Russell Smart’s extensive collection.

No matter how you travel rail, or plane you ultimately end up on a bus. Simi-local units might come by school bus. Others by motor coach and others that flew into Washington by motor coach.

In early April there was trainig for staff members who could visit the Summitt.

Many contingents, following a long time Jamboree tradition,and visited historic sites in and around Washington.

Some staff members and local contingents stopped at the World Scouting Museum in Charleston. Dr Horne moved his museum from Las Vegas to Charleston in 2023. It’s on the way to the Summitt from the north. It’s one of the finest displays of Scouting history in the country or in the world.

Staff started arriving a few days before the opening, although some had come earlier. I read on Facebook how some repeat staff members enjoyed seeing old friends from previous Jamborees as well as making new acquaintances that would become friends. The Chat n Chew was a favorite meeting place. Overhead fans cooled things, there was live music and the food was great. Every Jamboree I praise the volunteers, it’s wonderful to see people give up vacation time and pay for the experience to help Scouting. There are so manybades and neckerchiefs, many people only try to collect the official items. I am showing the official items. At this point I havent identifies prototypes although believe they exist.  As I get more information I'll update.

About the Gnome I write elsewhere that I was puzzled by the Gnome as a logo but there is an interesting story behind it. As the design for the badge was developed the red point (pointing north), looked to some people like a Gnome’s hat. The Gnome was adopted as a Jamboree logo. Gnome the Gnome will become an integral part of the Jamboree experience.   For more information web search Boy Scout Gnome.

What's Happened between 2003 and 2006 in Scouting?

Young women are embracing the Scouting Program in increasing numbers. Some Councils have been more successful than others, but everyone can see the interest and enthusiasm that girls bring to Scouting is strong and growing. Modern young women love the out of doors, camping, hiking etc. Some girls are attracted to the advancement program with a higher percentage earning Eagle. In a July report from Section CTS-15 (mid-Atlantic states) reportr that the 19 Councils in that area have female diversity as low as 11.96% and as high as 23.94% with an average of of about 18% to 20% female paticipation. Diversity programs have been implemented on most levels of Scouting. Most professional staffs are at least 50% female and many three quarters. Although I don’t believe Scouting was necessarily trying to recruit more women. National level volunteers and some professional positions are obviously ethnic. The only place diversity hasn’t been fully implemented is on the Council level. I was nominating chair (for the Executive Board). We recruited quality women, but minorities in Northern Indiana were a difficulty. In the fall of 2025, there were rumors that the US Military might end its affiliation with Scouting America. The Trump administration was dismantling most, if not all, of the DEI (Diversity, Equality & Inclusion) programs of the previous administrations. The BSA had been falling in line with the previous policies. (see 2023 Jamboree Diversity section). The Citizenship in Society merit badge seemed to personify why many traditional Scouters were upset. The badge was discontinued. According to Wikipedia Scouting America has dropped all DEI programs. Losing the support of the US Military would be catastrophic. There are 335 military bases in the USA and another 800+ around the world. There are no membership records that I could access, but a high percentage of these installations have Scouting units. The Military preforms tens of thousands of hours of service to Scout camps and at regional and national events. There were rumors that Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth might sever all ties with Scouting America over it’s DEI use. Losing the support of the US military would affect membership and the assistance Scouting receives. It would be an embarrassment if the U S Military no longer recognized Scouting as a source of good for the country. After losing the Mormons (LDS Church), and some mainline churches, potentially losing the military seemed to cause the end of the diversity outreach that Scouting had been embracing for the past dozen years. Scouting had done everything its critics had asked but never received anything in the way of support from those who criticized it. The BSA even changed its purpose statement from being an organization that fostered Citizenship and Character Building to an organization That Helped Young People Make the Right Decisions. The children of gay and lesbian couples didn’t seem to be attracted to Scouting. In my opinion these critics desire wasn’t to change Scouting but to eliminate it. There were no Diversity displays at the 2026 Jamboree, unlike 2023.

After the BSA recognized Gay’s (2013) some fundamentalist churches discontinued supporting the BSA. Scouting has had more conservative competition for years in the AWANA movement. Trail Life incorporated in 2014 but recently seem more aggressive. Trail Life, and Awana, have uniforms and awards based on Scouting themes. Wikipedia reports membership at about 60,00. Trail Life, Awana and others can’t compare to the cache built up over a 100+ years. Nothing compares to a Scout that has earned the Eagle Award.

Paul Myers Goshen, Indiana gimogash@comcast.net