RIPLEY - Five Boy Scouts from Troop 38 in Ripley will have an opportunity to attend the 2010 National Boy Scout Jamboree as recipients of the Andy Fortier Memorial Eagle Scout Scholarship sponsored by the Fortier Foundation.

Hunter Wooley, Brandon Grant, Kyle May, Carl Hoard, and Robert Dowdy accepted the scholarships at a Court of Honor last week.

"Attending a Jamboree is a once-in-a-lifetime event that would not have been possible for these Scouts without these scholarships." said Scoutmaster Donnie Grant.

The five will join 62 other Scouts from North Mississippi and more than 36,000 Scouts from across the country to celebrate Scouting’s 100th Anniversary at the national Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill in northern Virginia.

The 15-day trip beginning July 21 will take the Scouts from Tupelo to Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg before taking the Scouts to the Jamboree.

The Scholarship was created by businessman Fred Fortier to encourage Eagle Scouts in Boy Scout Troop 38 to remain active in the troop after they receive their Eagle Scout Award.

The first scholarship was awarded in 2008 to Chase Hall who attended Northeast Mississippi Community College.

However, in 2009, there were no Eagle Scouts from Troop 38 who were eligible, so the Fortier Foundation used the $5,000 award to pay half the cost for the five Scouts to attend this year’s Jamboree.

Eagle Scout Craig Chunn received the 2010 Scholarship.