Note: This a first of a series of articles from Christopher Guerra who is a member of La Mirada Boy Scouts Troop 919. Christopher will be sharing experiences with us as he attends the BSA 2010 National Scout Jamboree in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia-which is celebrating 100 years of scouting.  

One hundred years ago, Lord Baden Powell's scouting program arrived in America. On February 8, 1910, a few scouts and their leaders gathered together to teach principles of patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and other kindred values. Today, it has grown into the largest youth organization in the United States with over four million active participants. 

On July 23, 2010 over 44,000 scouts from across the nation will arrive at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia turning it into the third largest city in the state, complete with street lights, wi-fi, buses, a hospital and fully functional post office. Their mission: To celebrate the founding of a program whose values are just as relevant today as they were one hundred years ago. 

Hello readers of La Mirada Blog.  My name is Christopher Guerra and I am a Life Scout from Boy Scout troop 919 chartered through La Mirada Presbyterian Church. I would like to thank Mr. Aiello for allowing me to post my experiences and adventures in scouting and the BSA National Jamboree. 

 A few months ago I was very fortunate to be selected to attend the 2010 National Scout Jamboree celebrating the 100-year anniversary of scouting. Scouts from various troops throughout the Los Angeles area were put together to create four new Jamboree troops. Each troop is made up of 36 scouts, three adult leaders and one youth leader. I was put into Troop 826. Our leaders are Chris Gardea, Wes Romberger, Kathleen Wood, and youth leader Nick Mercurio . Various LA area sports teams generously granted permission for us to use their team names and logos as part of our troop designations.  My troop 826 displays the Dodger logo. Other troops display the Galaxy, Kings, and Lakers logos. 

Since March 2009, troop 826 has met monthly to discuss plans and preparations for the event. We split up into four patrols, the Terminators, the Wookie Warriors, the Flaming Fu Fu Kittens, and my patrol, the Star Destroyers.   To make sure that we were prepared, we camped out together so that we could learn to work as a team. We participated in various outdoor activities, created patrol yells and ultimately got to know each other a lot better. This was extremely important because for Jamboree we would all be together for sixteen days. It was on this first outing we made our soon to be famous troop yell:

Who are we?

8-2-6!  WE ARE THE BEST!

THE BEST IN THE WEST!

B-E-S-T

B-E-S-T

WHOOOO!

In April 2010, our troop participated in the Orange County Jamboree Shakedown event where we joined up with all the Orange County Jamboree troops. This event gave us a preview to what life would be like at Fort A.P. Our leaders told us that this was a good sample of what to expect but nowhere near the atmosphere of the real thing. This only fueled my excitement for the Jamboree even more. 

On July 14, we dropped off our fully packed duffel bags and troop equipment at a truck loading area. Our gear along with the gear belonging to the other three Los Angeles troops was loaded into a trailer that will be sent ahead of us in order to arrive at the Jamboree at the same time as us.   

On July 21, we take off for a tour of historical sites in Philadelphia, Virginia, and Washington D.C. I look forward to seeing the places that I learned about in school and have seen in movies and on T.V. Thanks to our leaders and eighteen months of planning; we are truly following the scout motto:   "Be prepared". 

The clock is winding down. The adventure of a lifetime is almost upon us, and I look forward to sharing my experiences.