We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

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Pack 572 Leaves No Trace

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Last month the theme for our pack meeting was Leave No Trace. Ms. Holtz came to our meeting and taught us about the Outdoor Code and the Leave No Trace Principles. She showed us how to be safe in the outdoors, and what we can do as Scouts to keep the environment clean.

We also got to play some fun games where we learned about how long different types of trash take to break down. Let’s just say that styrofoam never goes away!

I never thought about what she called ‘micro trash’ before. That’s what happens when you just peel off a corner of a granola bar and it gets lost in the leaves on the ground. It’s easy to lose and not good for the environment.

Everyone had a great time and learned a lot. Thank you, Ms. Holtz!

Scout Odin Apsey
Pack 572
Den 2

For more information on the NCAC Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award for Cubs vistit: http://www.ncacbsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/New-NCAC-Outdoor-Ethics-Awareness-award.pdf

Troops 111, 439, 647 Tops at Orienteering!

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NCAC tied their own record of nine of the top twelve troops at the 43rd Annual Maryland Scout Orienteering Championships on Nov. 2, led by Chain Bridge District’s Troop 111 from Arlington, Potomac District’s Troop 439 in Kensington (teamed with a Howard County unit), and Arlington’s Troop 647.

The super-competitive Advanced competition was won with a time of 42:12 by Nate Beardmore of Western Shores Troop 347 in Prince Frederick, the fifth overall unit (teamed with Chesapeake Beach Troop 429.) Not far behind were Rockville Troop 944 teamed with Patriot District Venture Crew 1345 from Burke, and La Plata Troop 1321. Nate edged out Jeremy Bloom from Rockville Troop 1450 by two minutes, 111’s Thomas Sullivan, and 1321’s Christian Decker.

Over 775 attended this map training and competition event at Broad Creek Scout Res. north of Baltimore, including over 60 girls. Amongst 110 teams in the Older category, 111’s Houston Burnside and Jon Hales plus Owen Caputo and Kaden Carpenter were the top NCAC teams, with Milo Engel and Keni McBee from Venture Crew 1130, McLean. Topping the Younger competition’s100 teams from NCAC were 111’s Andrew Hales and Michael Corso, 647’s Connor Jones and Aiden Madden, and Charlie Conroy and Felix Shareno from DC’s Troop 1946.

For Troop 111, it was a record tenth time finishing in the top two troops at this event. Everyone completed several beginner to intermediate map training courses, then competed on two orienteering courses. As with the past few years, the top 14 places in the Older category were captured by twelve different troops, and eight different troops nabbed the top nine in the Younger competition! Troops from NJ, DE, PA, MD, DC, and VA took part.

On March 21, 2020, Jim Chaplin’s 15th Annual NCAC Scout Orienteering Day will be at Pohick Bay; reach Jim at jhchaplin@comcast.net. In 2020 the 44th Annual MD Scout Orienteering Day will be at Patuxent River Park near Upper Marlboro October 24; you’ll find more details (and full results from 2019) at BaltimoreBSA.org/orienteering, plus information via qocweb.org for good orienteering events suitable for scouts on most winter and spring weekends.

Photos by: Stan Turk

Neighborhood Impact of Scouting for Food in Brookland by Pack and Troop 98

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Over the first two weekends of November, Scouts of St. Anthony of Padua’s Church of Pack and Troop 98 in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C. were busy participating in the annual “Scouting for Food” service project.

On the first day, the Scouts collected over 1,350 pounds of food donations for the St. Anthony’s Bread/St. Vincent de Paul Emergency Food Pantry. Check out these great before and after photos from Saturday morning.

If you want to learn more about scouting at St. Anthony’s visit www.bsa98dc.org

Hornaday Badge Project “Evicting the Invaders”

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Approximately 5000 sq ft of invasive plant on the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail.

Every Saturday and Sunday in October, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, college students, and neighborhood homeowners pulled invasive plants, primarily, pachysandra, from a section of the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail off Miller Heights Road in Oakton. Eli Edwards, a Scout in BSA Troop 987 led the project with support from Hornaday advisor Sara Holtz and sponsor Fairfax County Park Authority’s Invasive Management Area (IMA) program. Invasive plants are non-native, aggressive plants that cause ecological or economic harm and degrade our natural ecosystem.

99 volunteers worked 210 hours to remove 85 bags of invasive plants from the park land. The goal was to replace the pachysandra with native plants and trees. Volunteers planted white wood aster, hairy bush clover, American alumroot, trailing bush clover, dwarf cinquefoil, pussytoes, arrowleaf violet, common wood rush, Pennsylvania sedge, bluestem,

Replace invasive plant with 110 native plants and trees.

goldenrod, arrowwood viburnum, witch hazel, hazelnut trees, ironwood trees, and redbud trees. Eli created the plan for this project in order to earn the BSA Hornaday Badge. This award was created by Dr. William T. Hornaday who was a conservationist and is a prestigious award that requires a Scout to lead a conservation project, complete several merit badges, and meet rank requirements. By successfully completing this project he is one step closer to earning the Boy Scout Hornaday Badge. Eli encourages homeowners to remove any invasive plants in your yard and replace with native plants (see list above).

– Eli Edwards

Duty to God Interfaith Brunch Brings all Together

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On November 3rd, 2019 many gathered for the the Duty to God Interfaith Brunch, at the newly refreshed John Mosby Russell Interfaith Chapel at Camp Snyder to celebrate Scout Fellowship and Interfaith diagloue. The free event began with a model Interfaith Campfire Worship Service humbly led by Scouts. The brunch included a “Duty to God” youth seminar, presentations of youth and adult awards, the “A Scout is Reverent” midway featuring local faith-based sponsors of Scouting programs and special words from Keynote Speaker Brig. Gen. Ron Harvell, USAF, Deputy Chief of USAF Chaplains.

ADAMS Center Youth Choir singing “America the Beautiful” to participants at the brunch.
Scout Executive Craig Poland and Forrest Horton present Brig. Gen. Ron Harvell with Camp Snyder Hiking Staff for serving as keynote speaker 3.

Brig. Gen. Ron Harvell, USAF, Deputy Chief of USAF Chaplains, serving as Keynote Speaker for NCAC Duty to God Brunch.
Eagle Scout Mikaeel Martinez- Jaka addressing participants at Duty to God Interfaith Youth Seminar.

An “A-Neigh-Zing” Eagle Project!

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Check out this “a-neigh-zing” Eagle project! Bryce Treichel constructed an ADA Compliant Disability ramp for horse riders! He and his team of volunteers designed and constructed the massive structure to allow those with disabilities to be able to ride horses. His wheelchair accessible ramp allowed anyone who had trouble walking or climbing stairs to be able to mount a horse. The equestrian field he built it for offers special therapeutic horse riding sessions for those with disabilities. Bryce loved leading the project, he found that when “Everyone as a team successfully accomplished something under my supervision,” he “felt extraordinary.” Bryce’s eagle project helped give those with mobility issues and disabilities the ability to ride horses. Who will your eagle project serve?