Boy Scout Jamboree to host hundreds of girls

GLEN JEAN, W.Va. – Make room, guys. The girls are coming to the Boy Scouts of America’s national jamboree.

Hundreds of female participants will be among the more than 40,000 Scouts and leaders attending the national gathering that occurs every four years. The jamboree runs July 15 to 24 at the Summit outdoor adventure site in southern West Virginia.

The girls are part of the Scouts’ youth development program called Venturing. It started in 1998 and involves members of both sexes ages 14 to 20. Many of their activities involve physical challenges and travel, attracting older teens.

While girls attended past jamborees in limited numbers, organizers say this year is the first time they’ve widely allowed female Venturers. About 2,000 Venturers are signed up this year, and National Jamboree director Larry Pritchard estimates about half of them are females.

“Yes, it’s a big deal,” said John R. McGhee Jr., a Charleston attorney and local council board member. “It brings a whole new segment of the population into the program.”

Letting them in was “just the right thing for us to do,” Pritchard said. “This was just the next logical step for us to take, to give those members of our program an opportunity to enjoy what we have here as well, to drink the Kool-Aid and spread the word to the others who are in Venturing.”