We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Archives for June 2021

Aquia District’s Pack 142 Ceremony Celebrates Scouts’ Advancements

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There is a long-standing Spring tradition when Cub Scouts advance to their new rank after they have spent the past year fulfilling all the requirements and earning all their achievements to do so. It typically aligns with the school year and is often celebrated as a large Pack event with friends and family attending to share in the celebration too!

Pack 142 of the Aquia District in the National Capital Area Council (NCAC) carried out this tradition on Thursday, May 27, 2021 on the grounds of Izaak Walton League of America’s Alexandria Chapter in Stafford, VA, the Pack’s chartering organization. It was a beautiful evening that began with the presentation of our Nation’s colors and Pack 142 flag by some of the older Scouts, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and Scout Oath.

The guest speaker for the evening, Crystal Vanuch, then opened the advancement ceremony with kind words and inspiration to the Cub Scouts and their families. Crystal Vanuch is the Chairman of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and elected to serve the Rock Hill District. Following her opening speech, she offered an opportunity for Scouts to ask her questions about her job or being an elected official. The best question of the night went to Jasen A. (Age 7) who asked her “Now that you explained your job, what do you actually do?” The audience and speaker were thoroughly amused by his candid nature!

Pack leaders then proceeded to recognize each Cub Scout’s accomplishments along with a neckerchief for their new rank. Pack 142 advanced all 12 active Scouts in the Pack to their new ranks and there was much celebration and many smiles. These achievements represented the great dedication and commitment from every Cub Scout, their Scout leaders, and their families. Scouting is a family affair, after all!

Lucas M. advanced from Lion to Tiger and Ambrose O., Asher C., Bryson D., and Jasen A. from Tiger to Wolf. There were two Wolves who moved up to Bear, Caleb L. and Drew M. and Justin C. and Payce B. from Bears to Webelos. Lastly, Webelos Anthony C., Brooks B., and Justin W. earned their Webelos rank moving towards their Arrow of Light award.

Cub Scouting is a program of Boy Scouts of America (BSA), whose overall mission is to help young people build character, learn citizenship, and develop personal fitness and leadership. While the BSA serves youth from ages 5 through 20, Cub Scouting focuses on kindergarten through fifth grade.

Pack 142 started a new year of Scouting on 1 June and would like to invite all families interested to contact us at ncac.pack142@gmail.com.

Pack 278 NOVA Adventure

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Pack 278 in Braddock Heights, Maryland started to develop a NOVA program prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a brief hiatus, Leaders worked hard to get the program back on track. This Spring, the Pack held a 3-Day NOVA program for the Science Everywhere NOVA Award. On Day 1, Scouts learned about the scientific method by testing water bottle rockets. They each created different fins and nose cones to see how differently they flew with and without them. On Day 2, Scouts learned about Earth’s magnetic field by investigating how a compass works. After making their own compass with a magnet and paper clip, they used a compass to set bearings and solve a compass course.

On Day 3, Scouts took a field trip to Hunting Creek Fishery in Thurmont, Maryland. Hunting Creek Fishery is a family owned Koi and Ornamental Goldfish hatchery that farms and ships fish all over the country. Scouts learned how science is used to spawn and raise fish from eggs in their multiple indoor and outdoor ponds. Leaders of Pack 278 have had success building a strong NOVA program even through the difficulty of the pandemic and hope to engage our youth in STEM activities that will inspire them as they continue in Scouts.

Meet 2021 NOESA Honoree Craig Burkhardt

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Craig Burkhardt is an attorney and capital partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP.   He has focused on the representation of clients before the Executive and Legislative agencies of the United States and Illinois State governments for 37 years.  His clients have spanned from individuals, statewide and national business and industrial associations, businesses from technology start-ups, Fortune 500 corporations, to ambassadors, legislative leaders and chief executives of foreign nations.  He also practices election law, and has twice served as president of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and as chief counsel for the Republican leader of the Illinois House of Representatives and general counsel of the Illinois Republican Party. He regularly provides legal and political advice to federal and state Republican candidates and organizations.

His legal career started in 1984 in Springfield, Illinois, where he practiced for 20 years.  Following terrorist attacks on the United States, Craig was appointed by the White House to serve as Chief Counsel for Technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce, leading the legal staff responsible for providing advice to federal technology-related agencies. In that role, he supervised the legal team investigating the New York World Trade Center building and fire safety disaster, for which he was presented a federal gold medal for distinguished scientific and engineering achievement. He also headed the department’s Office of the Chief Counsel for Industry and Security, leading the legal staff responsible for preventing export of dangerous commercial goods to unauthorized entities and providing export administration and enforcement advice to the Bureau of Industry and Security.  In 2006, Craig resumed private legal practice at his firm’s Washington, DC office.  He concentrates on representing companies and foreign countries in their interactions with the United States Government.

Craig has been a leader at the local and national levels of the Boy Scouts of America for 35 years.  His leadership activities have included service as District Chair, Council President, Area President, Region Vice President (Membership), National Venturing Vice-Chair, National BSA Foundation Trustee, National Second Century Society Co-Chair, and Member of the National Advisory Council.  A favorite service was as founding Council President of the Chicago-headquartered Pathway to Adventure Council, which combined four predecessor councils.  This included the council of his youth, where he earned Arrow of Light, Eagle Scout and Quartermaster Sea Scout and was a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow.  He is Scoutmaster of Scouts BSA Troop 248 for Girls in the District of Columbia, which he founded with Barbara, his wife of 35 years, and First Class Scout Gloria Burkhardt.

Congratulations to Craig and his fellow 2021 NOESA Honorees! Eagle alums, let’s stay connected. Join NESA DC today! www.ncacbsa.org/national-eagle-scout-association/

Pack 1014 Celebrates National Trails Day

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Pack 1014 celebrates National Trails Day by donating 13 Blue Bird Nest Boxes to Clearwater Nature Center and hitting the trails at Cosca Regional Park, in Prince George’s County!

Eight of our Scouts represented Pack 1014 during National Trails Day on June 5, 2021. We started the day with donating our 13 Blue Bird Nest Boxes, a tradition we started three years ago to help Clearwater Nature Center have a steady stock of nest boxes as they work on the recovery of the Blue Bird population in Cosca Regional Park. These houses help Cub Scouts complete Baloo the Builder requirements, plus give an opportunity for them to see their impact towards conservation. We updated our design from two-years ago to allow for easier maintenance for the conservation team from Clearwater. The Classic F22 Side opening design we use is here:

As we prepared for our hike, with the help of a member from Troop 2421, a review of the Leave No Trace principles was conducted. Then, we took a 1.5 mile hike to discuss the needs of conservation and trash pick-up. There were many turtle and Canada Goose sightings, plus a beaver dam! Despite the heat that afternoon, all of the Cub Scouts enjoyed being outdoors plus seeing the birds of prey at the Nature Center.

This was a great way to kick off the summer!

#summerofservice #summertimepack #sideopeners

 

Meet 2021 NOESA Honoree Michael Gates

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Michael W. Gates, Ph.D. is a Research Entomologist and Research Leader in the Systematic Entomology Laboratory (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service), Beltsville, MD.  He was born in Michigan but spent his formative years in Conway, Arkansas.  He received his B.A. in Biology from Hendrix College, Conway, AR, his M.S. in Entomology from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK and Ph.D. in Systematic Entomology from the University of California, Riverside.  Dr. Gates served as a postdoctoral researcher with began his career with the USDA in 2003 as a Support Scientist with the Systematic Entomology Laboratory in Beltsville, MD.

In 2004, he was hired as the USDA’s national parasitic Hymenoptera specialist where his assignment includes research, service identifications, and curation of the Smithsonian’s Chalcidoidea collection (>750,000 specimens). Dr. Gates internationally recognized in Chalcidoidea (superfamily of parasitic wasps) systematics and is a leading expert on the family Eurytomidae.  He has published over 90 manuscripts, including over 70 peer-reviewed papers and 3 book chapters.  His 25+ years of entomological research include investigations within 7 families of Hymenoptera, comprising over 20 genera (two new to science), and over 1,000 species (over 100 new to science).  Among his notable new genera is a Neotropical taxon that lives inside arboreal ant nests and parasitizes an obligate myrmecophilous fly species.  His publications are considered as authoritative and have served as the premise for related research.  His reputation has led to numerous requests where he has organized, moderated, or given invitational or submitted over 50 presentations at the national and international meetings.  He has made more than 5,000 determinations (representing over 25,000 insect specimens) as part of taxonomic services responsibilities at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory.  These determinations are used by federal government agencies for regulatory/trade issues and provide a critical role in protecting the U.S. agriculture.

His was a co-recipient of USDA Beltsville Area Technology Transfer Award, “for extraordinary assistance to APHIS/PPQ at ports in the U.S. and around the world,” 2006.  He has won over $350,000 in extramural grants as principal/co-principal investigator to work on parasitic wasps attacking invasive species (emerald ash borer) or to make web accessible collection holdings in the form of specimen images and label data. He has served as an instructor for the Fairfax County (Virginia) Master Naturalist program since 2014.  He was honored with four patronyms including a new genus, Gatesina colombiana, and three new species: Euplectrus mikegatesi, Mikeius gatesi, and Eurytoma gatesi.   Dr. Gates served as a key person (in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution) in implementing an intern program in the Systematic Entomology Laboratory where volunteers gain educational experiences with the entomology collections. Since 2014, the program hosted over 500 individuals (including underserved and minorities) for nearly 300,000 volunteer hours.

Dr. Gates has been involved in Scouting as a youth (Eagle Scout) and as an adult Scouter serving at the unit level.  He currently is serving as an Assistant Scoutmaster and has attended Philmont twice, once per son. He has served on staff of at 2 National Jamborees (2013 & 2017) teaching the Insect Study merit badge and most recently (2019) as a co-coordinator of the Food Program at the World Scout Jamboree (developing program teaching about food production/security and related topics).

Congratulations to Michael and his fellow 2021 NOESA Honorees! Eagle alums, let’s stay connected. Join NESA DC today! www.ncacbsa.org/national-eagle-scout-association/

Laptops for the Needy

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My name is Matthew, and I’m from Troop 17. I’ve been in Scouting since 3rd grade, and I’ve stuck with it ever since. I’m currently a Life Scout, and I’ve decided to start my Eagle Scout Project.

My Eagle Scout Project is called Laptops for the Needy. It’s about refurbishing old laptops so those in need can use them. I wanted to do this project because I noticed that a lot of good jobs require some form of computer work, and a lot of jobs require applicants to fill out online forms to apply. I want to give everyone a good, even chance at securing those jobs, and if someone can’t afford a computer, they’re already at a disadvantage. Plus, these computers can be used for educational purposes, as well as entertainment.

We will be taking any old laptops we get, cleaning off any data, reloading Windows, adding an antivirus, and placing them in laptop bags with instructions in English and Spanish. All laptops will come with an AC adaptor and a mouse.

Currently, I am looking for corporations that may need to dispose of or recycle older equipment that could possibly be used. Laptops with or without hard drives would be perfect.

I appreciate any support that you can offer. If you have anything that could help our efforts, please contact me at laptops4needyEP@gmail.com (which goes to an adult for YPT purposes). Thank you!