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Our History

2001 National Jamboree


2001 National Scout Jamboree - Major OA Involvement

The 2001 National Scout Jamboree was held at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, from July 23 to August 1 with the theme “Strong Values, Strong Leaders . . . Character Counts”. 42,002 Scouts participated in the Jamboree. The OA conducted five programs at the Jamboree: OA Service Corps, Youth Staff Services Camp, The Outdoor Adventure Place (TOAP), the American Indian Village, and Scoutopia.

The OA Service Corps had 136 members providing more than 18,000 hours of service to the various areas at the Jamboree. The official theme for the Service Corps was "Getting our sash dirty." The Order organized the youth into troops with commissioners to help coordinate all activities such as fishing, boating, Venturing and scuba. Each night, the OA staffed the recreation tent with movies, games and snacks. Every day, new requests would come in for help in different areas. No two days had quite the same projects.

TOAP had 18,700 attendees visit the exhibit area. Almost 3,000 people attended a one-hour Leave No Trace course, and more than 11,100 toured the conservation site. TOAP included such activities as a climbing wall, pioneering tower and outdoor cooking area, as well as many items from the BSA catalog in use and on display.

The American Indian Village offered the Indian Lore merit badge, with 162 badges earned and 49 partials completed. Ron Bell, an American Indian specialist from the National OA Committee, was appointed the new leader of the American Indian Village and the village continued to expand. The village also conducted craft training sessions, dance instructions, and two Pow Wows.

The Order’s Scoutopia production was created to provide an entertaining, thoughtful and meaningful experience for all Scouts at the Jamboree. All sets were original and based on the Scout Oath and Law with an OA version of the famous Blue Man Group. Scoutopia was one of the highlights at the Jamboree, with 53 shows and 32,077 attendees during the 10-day run. After the success of Odyssey of the Law in 1997, which was funded by the OA, the BSA’s Jamboree leadership built the cost of Scoutopia into the budget, along with strong support from the U.S. Marine Corps.