Eagle Scout To Serve As Hometown News Correspondent
By Ryan Mortensen

National Jamboree Hometown News Correspondent

(Mission Times Courier, San Diego, CA) - In 1910, an American businessman wandered lost on the foggy streets of London, England until a boy found him and helped him get to his destination. When the businessman offered the boy money for his deed, he declined saying, "I'm just doing my good turn for the day." The man was stunned by the boy's polite nature and asked locals until he discovered that the boy was one of Britain's Boy Scouts. The businessman took the idea back to America where he later founded what was to become the Boy Scouts of America.

For 100 years, scouts have grown continually spreading to every state in America, providing millions of hours of cheerful community service to a host of local and national agencies.

To celebrate 100 years of service, the BSA is holding a 100th anniversary celebration jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia with over 45,000 scouts and adult scouters expected to be in attendance. Fort A.P. Hill will be transformed into the seventh largest city in the state for the event. More than 30 local scouts will depart for Fort A.P. Hill this month as part of the Troop 701 contingent for this 10-day anniversary celebration.

The Scouts of Troop 701 have spent the past several months preparing for their cross-country expedition, with a series of fundraisers to help offset the cost of the trip. Participants have also attended a series of lectures from emergency first aid and CPR to the proper method for escaping from a city bus. Should the time come, the scouts of Troop 701 will be able to handle most emergencies that could present themselves during the jamboree.

As July 26th, the first day of the jamboree, draws closer, Troop 701 will be prepared to proudly represent San Diego County alongside scouts from every county nationwide.

Editor's note: The Mission Times Courier is proud to be a media sponsor of Troop 701's trip to the BSA National Jamboree. Eagle Scout, Ryan Mortensen, will be serving as our Hometown News Correspondent. The 17-year-old scout will be writing articles about scouts' experiences during the jamboree. Stories will be posted on our web site at www.MissionTimesCourier.com during the jamboree, which starts July 26th. We'll also be publishing highlights of Ryan's coverage in the August issue of the Mission Times Courier. We look forward to your reports, Ryan!

Ryan Mortensen’s Scouting Career

Cub Scout for 6 months, recipient of The Arrow of Light Award, spring 2004

Member of Boy Scout Troop 801, Fall 2004-present

Elected Senior Patrol Leader of Troop 801 two consecutive terms, Fall 2007-Fall 2008

Inducted into Order of the Arrow, 2006
Received Leadership in Service Award from Order of the Arrow for work as Allohak Chapter Secretary

Attended Arrow Corp5’s Manti La Sal Utah service project, where 600 Arrowmen and myself removed 33 miles of an invasive plant species known an salt sedar in the Manti La Sal National Forest in one week. This was one of five project sites across the nation, comprising the largest service project ever undertaken by a scout agency since the clothing drive of WWII June 14-21, 2008

Order of the Arrow Tiwahe Lodge Youth Activities Chair, January 2009-present

Awarded Eagle Scout on March 30, 2009; earned a total of 52 merit badges to date. For my Eagle Project, I built DVD display racks and a bench for storing puzzles for the Coronado Public Library Children’s Section out of commercial grade lumber, which including the planning, fundraising, and carrying out of the project involving over 200 hours by various people

Awarded Bronze, Gold, and Silver Eagle Palms, 2009-2010

Attended National Order of the Arrow conference at Indiana University and served as a member of their Press Corp., Summer 2009

Inducted into the Order of the Arrow’s Vigil Honor Society as one of the 12 scouts selected from a lodge of over 1,200, February 12, 2010

Attending National Scout Jamboree as Hometown Correspondent for Troop 701 summer 2010