Seven young Eastern Kentuckians - six from Pike County and one from Johnson County - are planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Chelmsford, England, this summer to attend the 21st World Scout Jamboree, celebrating 100 years of Scouting with 40,000 from around the world.

Although he has accompanied Boy Scouts to national events before, Scoutmaster Barry Goff, of Pikeville, said to the best of his, or any other local Scout's knowledge, no group or single Scout has left the country for a Scouting event since 1963.

However, the seven Boy Scouts from the Lonesome Pine District have joined others from the state's three councils - Lexington's Blue Grass, Owensboro's Shawnee Trail and Louisville's Lincoln Heritage - to make the trek as Troop 211 to the birthplace of Scouting, born a century ago through Sir Robert Baden-Powell, whose first experiment was an encampment on Brownsea Island in 1907 with 22 Scouts from the London area.

“It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said excited 15-year-old Alex Hill, of Staffordsville, adding it took him nearly a year to talk his parents into letting him go on the 16-day trip, costing $3,975 a person.

“He badgered us, and badgered us, and I guess he did a good job, because he's going,” said Tom Hill, who was a Boy Scout from 1966 to 1968. “It's such a great program for young men.”

The other six of the local Scouts who will be visiting Chelmsford, from July 23 to Aug. 8, are Pikeville's William Goff, 13; Devan Allara, 14; Andy Smith, 16; William Hogg, 16; Don Combs, 16; and Viet Pham, 14.

As one of the four chaperones to the World Jamboree, which occurs every four years, the Boy Scouts require an adult who is still young enough to relate to the boys, said Barry Goff, adding Stephen Burke of Pikeville will serve in that capacity as he will be 18 by the time they leave.

While William Goff may be the youngest Boy Scout of America to go, as he is eligible to go by two days, five of the boys are Eagle Scouts and the other two are expected to be by July, Barry Goff said.

“Only two of 100 Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts,” said Goff, as the boys must attain 21 merit badges and complete 12 core assignments, among other requirements.

This elite group of Eastern Kentuckians will meet with 29 others from Kentucky and what the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) reports as 3,200 Americans invited, to join what is expected to be 40,000 Scouts from several countries for the event themed “One World, One Promise.”

“It is going to be the biggest thing in most of these kids' life,” Goff said, adding the cultural differences encountered through such a meeting make the adventure life-changing.

However, Goff said the group will share certain Scouting values, which he summed up as “duty to God, country, and self.”

“This is the big one,” Tom Hill said, stating the next national jamboree will be in 2010 and will celebrate the 100th year of Scouting in the United States.

Besides the Scouting program based on the eight World Objectives as agreed upon by the World Scout Conference, Scouts will get a guided tour of London including a visit to Windsor Castle, the oldest continually inhabited castle in the world, having been lived in by kings and queens for almost 1,000 years.