We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

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Take Me Out to the Ballgame – FredNats’ Scout Night

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Our local Fredericksburg Nationals (FredNats) baseball team invited all Northern Virginia BSA Scouting units to a special “Scout Night” on July 15th at FredNats Park. All Scout leaders and Scouting Families were able to buy discounted tickets (some packages included food and a commemorative patch) to a great baseball game. Our Scouts responded with enthusiasm! Many thanks to Brian Lehman, FredNats Ticket Sales Account Executive and Wendy Latella, a local Scout Leader, for coordinating this event.

Over 500 tickets were sold to Troops and Packs from Fredericksburg, Locust Grove, Stafford, Springfield, Spotsylvania, Woodbridge, Alexandria, King George, Dalghren & Dumfries. Represented were: Cub Scout Packs 22, 26, 28, 38, 46, 57, 199, 320, 802, 907, 1373, 1777 & 2220 and Scouts BSA Troops 165, 197, 218, 317, 1777 & 1889.

For the pre-game Scout Parade, all attending Scouts and Scout leaders paraded from near the home outfield bullpen, around the warning track to behind home plate. Scouts also had the opportunity to campout in the outfield after the game and watch a post-game movie, but this was unfortunately moved to August 5th because a thunderstorm ended the evening early on July 15th.

Part of the pre-game Scouting highlights including first pitch honors for a local Aquia District Scout leader. Richard “Dick” Haas, is affectionately known in the National Capital Area Council as “The Ancient One” (or “TAO” for short), and not just because this WWII Navy Veteran is 96, but because he’s been continuously Scouting for over 86 years! TAO actually shook the hand of Scouting’s Founder, Robert Baden-Powell, at the World’s Fair in Queens, NY in 1939. TAO earned lifesaving awards in 1964 for rescuing 2 fellow bus crash victims from drowning in the Harlem River – the only 3 survivors. A Scoutmaster in New York in the 1960s & 80s, TAO remains an active Scouter in Virginia today and is the proud patriarch of 4 generations of active Aquia District BSA Scouts & Scouters who joined him on the field – great grandsons Stellan & Ronin and their parents Ben & Heather from Pack 242 and his son, Mike, a retired Marine and Aquia Scouter, who got to throw out the first pitch in TAO’s honor. A great Scout Night indeed! Go FredNats!

To join BSA, please go to www.beascout.org to find a BSA Scout unit near you – Cub Scouting serves families with children in Kindergarten through 5th Grade; Scouts BSA serves families with children ages 11-18. There are BSA programs for families with older Youths, ages 14 – 20, including Venturing, Exploring or Sea Scouting.

The mission of the BSA is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling the values of the Scout Oath and Law. Aquia District includes Stafford County and Marine Corps Base Quantico. For more information on Scouting in Stafford/Fredericksburg area, including how to donate, join or volunteer, contact Kristy Freeman, Aquia District Executive, at Kristy.Freeman@Scouting.org or (540)287-3866.

NCAC Life Scout Awarded Medal of Merit by the Boy Scouts of America

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Life Scout TJ D., 14, has been awarded the Medal of Merit by the Boy Scouts of America for using the skills he has learned through scouting to save the life of his grandmother. 

In April 2022, TJ found his grandmother passed out on the floor of her home in Franconia, Virginia. She was delirious and unable to get herself up off the floor of her living room. She didn’t remember falling. Eventually, she pieced everything together and realized that she had fallen from her couch and been stuck between a table and the sofa since the early morning. TJ found her about eight hours after she fell, weak and unable to move. Doctors later diagnosed a kidney stone that she didn’t know she had. She had become extremely septic from it being lodged. Her muscles had also started breaking down because of laying on the floor for so long. Doctors said that if TJ had not found her, started first aid and eventually alerted his parents, his grandmother might not have made it. She was in the hospital for about two weeks recovering from not only the sepsis, but also the kidney stone and muscle weakness.

TJ was awarded the Medal of Merit for his efforts in July and was presented with the medal, uniform knot and certificate during a Court of Honor at Troop 1107 on Aug. 28.

TJ is a very active Life Scout who has been working toward Eagle in Troop 1107 — chartered by St. John’s Lutheran Church in Franconia — since 2020, rarely missing a meeting, camp or service project. He joined scouting as a Tiger Cub with Pack 867 — also chartered by St. John’s —  in 2015. He has attended SeaBase (2022) and National Jamboree (2023) and plans on going on a Northern Tier Trek (2024) as well as Summit Bechtel Reserve (2025) to get the High Adventure Triple Crown. He has also taken ILST and plans to participate in NYLT this January, since he has served his troop as Patrol Quartermaster, APL, PL, Chaplain’s Aide, Bugler, Instructor and ASPL. He is currently the Troop Guide and Assistant Patrol Leader.

He is a freshman at Hayfield Secondary School. When not participating in Scouts or in class, he played Little League Baseball with Central Springfield Little League and is a new member of Springfield’s Babe Ruth League. He is also a member of the Hayfield cross country team and is a novice black belt in taekwondo at Capital Martial Arts Academy.

Aquia Scouts BSA Troops 199’s Philmont Trek Adventure 2023

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Troop 199B & 199G formed a crew that participated in a Philmont 7-day backpacking trek at the Philmont Scout Ranch. We had 5 adults (Glenna B, Lisa L, Skip S & Chris T), Trip Wiggins being the Lead Advisor, and the following 6 Scouts: Cameron B, Natalie G, Dots L, Alex S, Kaitlyn T and John W. John was the Crew Leader, Kaitlyn the Chaplain’s Aide and Dots the Wilderness Pledge Guia.

The crew headed to Philmont on ‘planes, trains, and automobiles’ arriving on July 13. We completed Check-In and immediately started with training and logistical support for our trek (tents, fly, bear bags, cooking pots, food, water purification tablets, etc.) guided by our Philmont Ranger, Yahir Olvera who accompanied us on our first two nights on the trail.

We hit the trail on July 14th and the training continued with map & compass/navigation, crew dynamics/positions, weather, backcountry cooking and cleanup, and bear bag use. Our daily camps, in order, were Heck Meadow (dry camp), Clark’s Ford (staff camp), Schaefer’s Pass (dry camp), Miner’s Park (staff camp), and Abreu (staff camp). We ended the trek at Rayado trailhead with a bus ride back to base camp. At Clark’s Fork and Abreu the crew enjoyed a staff Chuckwagon & Mexican dinner, respectively.

Notable aspects of the trek: Climbing the iconic Tooth of Time peak (9,000 feet MSL) and doing three hours of trail building work to assist future trekkers. More fun activities included horseback riding, climbing wall, getting hats branded with the Philmont brands, visiting a New Mexico homestead, the Kit Carson Museum, tomahawk throwing and at the end, visiting the National BSA Museum. Oh, and members of the crew spotted one black bear and 2 rattlesnakes to make the trek even more memorable!

The printed guidebook noted that our trek would cover some 37 miles – but, with side trips, actual miles logged was closer to 70! (Just ask our feet [NO blisters] and shoulders as we acclimated to the mountain desert climate.) The Base Camp elevation was 6,500 ft and we topped out at nearly 9,500 ft, with a 3,400 ft elevation gain on our 3rd day on the trail.

We noted lightning and thunder in the distance throughout the week, but our trek was rain free and the humidity in the 20-40% range – enviable to any Virginian.
At the end, we were all hot, dirty and tired – but a quick poll indicated that the Crew wanted to COME BACK TO Philmont! Yes, we all had FUN!

For any questions about Philmont – please contact Trip at tripwig@cox.net. He’s been there twice as Lead Advisor and has a dozen 50-Mile backpacking trips under his belt.

 

 

Test Your Orienteering Skills Oct. 28

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On October 28 troops & Venture crews are challenged to test (and learn!) map skills at the 47th Annual Maryland Scout Orienteering Day, a fun event at Patuxent River Park near Upper Marlboro. The event cost is $4.00 (patch, 3 new color maps, more) plus $2/person/night if camping (about half of our usual ~50 units camp one or both nights.)

Come for the day, or camp on site. No Cubs, no Webelos. Self-guided map instruction starts off the day, designed for beginners to this forest navigation map sport. Register at BaltimoreBSA.org/orienteering by Oct. 22. Questions?…. contact event chair DaveLinthicum@earthlink.net

Last year NCAC had the usual 50% of attendees and most of the award winners, led by Arlington’s Troop 111 from Chain Bridge District and Kensington’s 439 from Potomac District…. For more, see https://weownadventure.com/troops-111-and-439-tops-at-orienteering/

Troop 3228 Conducts Flag Ceremony at the 2023 National Jamboree

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The Scouts of Troop 3228 under the guidance of Scoutmaster Troy O’Donnell conducted a reverent and solemn flag ceremony on day four of the National Jamboree. The Scouts first lowered the flags of the visiting foreign Scout Associations, and then retired the flags of the Summit Reservation, the State of West Virginia, and the Flag of the United States. The Jamboree coordinator commended the Scouts on their service, saying that they conducted the best ceremony by far.

#myNCAC #nationaljamboree #NatJamboree23

 

NCAC Scouts Featured in The Washington Post

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NCAC Scouts are featured on the front page of The Washington Post Style section today in an article about the 2023 National Jamboree and how Scouting benefits girls. The writer, Anne Branigin, followed Audrey Perez, daughter of NCAC Scout Executive Mario Perez, Mia Strouder, and Lucy Hurd as they “flew down zip lines, played one-armed volleyball, shot laser guns, ate pizza and posed with Regis, a 17-year-old bald eagle with a busted wing” among a whole lot of other experiences!

Noting that the past three years had been a downer for all of the girls, the article explains, “Scouting, a 113-year-old rite of passage for generations of American boys, helped save the girls from total boredom and staved off loneliness in the pandemic years. They know the myriad opportunities being a Scout affords them, benefits adults extolled all the time: the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout; a network they can lean on; an edge during the competitive college application process; life and leadership skills.”

Read the full article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/08/10/girlhood-boy-scouts-jamboree/

The BSA has licensed the recent Washington Post article about Scouting, and a copy of the article is available in the BSA Brand Center for download and additional use. Download the article from the BSA Brand Center here: https://scouting.webdamdb.com/bp/#/folder/4731610/152075105