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Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

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Productive Fall Work Weekends at Goshen

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This fall has been a productive one for Goshen Scout Reservation! We hosted two work weekends in October – one run by the Goshen Staff Alumni Association (GSAA) and one open to youth and adult volunteers.

The GSAA accomplished a number of projects, including:

  • Clearing a tremendous amount of brush at the Olmsted Chapel
  • Building new and resurfacing 17 picnic tables
  • Preparing the Marriott Administration building for an upcoming renovation project
  • Distributing previously built tent platforms and the aforementioned picnic tables to camps around the lake
  • Creating plans for chuck box construction in preparation for the Spring Weekend

The Volunteer Work Weekend projects included:

  • Repainting the Olmsted Shower House and Quartermaster/Trading Post facade
  • Replacing split rail fence at various program areas at Camp Olmsted, Camp Bowman, and Camp Marriott
  • Brush clearing throughout Camp Marriott OJ Corral
  • Counting and mapping all the buildings and shelters at Goshen to support the Goshen Admin staff with an updated inventory for insurance

Thank you to all the Scouting volunteers, alumni, and current camp staff who attended and for all their service to Goshen Scout Reservation! We hope to see them and others at future weekends.

 

Be sure to save the dates for the Spring Work Weekends:

  • GSAA Spring Service Weekend: April 28 – 30, 2023
    • Open to current and past Goshen camp staff, ages 18+. See old friends, meet alumni from across the decades, and work on camp projects.
  • Goshen Spring Volunteer Work Weekend: May 12 – 14, 2023 (tentative)
    • Open to youth and adult volunteers. Come down to Goshen for a weekend of service, camping, beautiful mountains, and fun!

Cub Scout Leader Training on Nov 19 – CANCELLED

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Akela’s Trail is a leadership training for Cub Scout leaders has been cancelled. It is a great way to learn the basics of Cub Scouting or take more advanced trainings to help the Pack and program grow. Akela’s Trail has something to offer everyone. Being held virtually in the comfort of your home on November 19, 2022 from 8:30am-Noon. Click the registration link for more information and the course descriptions.

Earning Silver Medals in STEM in Scouting

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I don’t think I ever truly knew what STEM really was until I discovered NOVA awards and did my first one. It was much more difficult than I expected, taking a lot of time, energy, and creativity. The more I worked on it, the more I learned and became interested in the world of STEM. Specifically I loved the aerospace and engineering parts of it, having watched several rocket launches for activities and building a fan powered car out of a gatorade bottle and some bottle caps. After completing four of these NOVA awards, I set my sights on the biggest challenge yet – the Supernova.

It took months to complete all of the requirements and challenges for this award, but even though at times I wanted to drop it all together, I pushed through. My favorite activities were the coding project I did, shadowing a heliophysicist, and teaching cub scouts how to make a fan powered car. Especially during the shadowing, I learned so much about what it’s like to work at NASA, and so much on recent projects and interesting things happening in the world of engineering right now.

When I finished my first Supernova award, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue and do another one. But with spare time on my hands, and a growing interest in STEM I began it. My favorite activities were creating the Electroscope for the nuclear science merit badge, running a meeting with different science experiments, and writing an essay on the history of nuclear power.

I think the Thomas Edison Supernova opened the door to my interest in nuclear sciences, beginning with the all day merit badge course which I really enjoyed – going in depth on atoms and fission which I found particularly interesting. While doing the essay on nuclear power I felt myself getting really intrigued with each piece of information I found, causing me to write out the 1,500 words in only an hour. Everything about it made me nervous, how such tiny things could explode cities and have so much power, but it also excited me to think that was possible.

After completing it I was really proud, but also very glad for all the opportunities it provided me with. I got to meet some fantastic people, and learn a lot about myself and the STEM world.

 

Sydney is pictured above (right) along with Lauren (left) who also earned the Edison Supernova, and Mr. Bruce Donlin (center), the Supernova Mentor for both scouts. As Sydney and Lauren display their Supernova medals, Mr. Donlin displays the Silver Pyramid, a STEM Award he was presented for creating a Council-wide, large scale, sustainable STEM event!

 

Local Scouts Help Alleviate Food Insecurity with Annual Food Drive

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Local Scouts Help Alleviate Food Insecurity with Annual Food Drive

One in Three Residents Struggle as Scouts Begin 36th Annual Food Drive

NOVEMBER 4, 2022, WASHINGTON, DC— Local Scouts will be kicking off the 33rd annual Scouting for Food this month. Scouts will post notes, distribute flyers, and advertise virtually to homes throughout the DC metro area on the first weekend of November, then return to collect non-perishable food items on the second weekend, primarily Saturday, November 12, 2022.

Scouting for Food is one of the largest annual food drives in the metropolitan area. Scouts of all ages, from 6 to 21 years old, will participate in Scouting for Food.

“”Last year our scouts collected over 667,000 pounds of food for needy families across our Council territory and that’s about the loaded weight of a Boeing 747 as it’s getting ready to take off,” said Craig Poland, CEO and Scout Executive of the National Capital Area Council, BSA. “Through our Scouting for Food effort we provide the opportunity for scouts to learn the impact possible when they directly help the community.”

According to the Capital Area Food Bank’s 2022 Hunger Report, food insecurity affects approximately 33 percent of people in the Washington, D.C. area. High food and fuel prices have impacted family budgets and contributed to a greater and more desperate need for regular access to nutritious food.

Scouting for Food is held every fall prior to Thanksgiving. Local food banks rely on the efforts of the Scouts to stock their shelves for the upcoming holiday months when food demands are the highest. Items needed include canned protein (tuna, salmon, chicken, peanut butter); soups and stews (beef stew, chili, meat-based soups); 100% fruit juices (all sizes); grains (pasta, whole grain pasta, rice, brown rice, boxed macaroni and cheese); cereals (multi-grain, low sugar cereals, oatmeal); canned vegetables; and canned fruits.

In an effort to promote sustainability and further the Scouting’s tradition of conservation, the Scouting for Food event has eliminated the distribution of plastic bags from its program and will instead use self-adhesive posts, fliers, and door hangs. Community members are asked to provide bags or boxes with their donations to aid in the collection process.

Scouting for Food is co-sponsored by the Safeway Foundation.

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About Scouts, BSA and the National Capital Area Council

Scouts, BSA provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life. ™ The Scouting organization is composed of 2.6 million youth members between the ages of 6 and 21 and more than a million volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more, please visit www.Scouting.org.

National Capital Area Council was organized in 1911 and today stands as one of the oldest and largest councils in America. Scouts from the NCAC do over 400,000 hours of community service each year. The Council territory includes the District of Columbia; Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland; and in Virginia the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Stafford and Culpeper as well as the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg in Virginia; and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information, please visit www.NCACBSA.org.

Colonial District’s Fall Skilled Trades Camporee

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The Colonial District’s Fall Camporee theme this year was SKILLED TRADES What’s in your Tool Box? We had Trade Union Apprentice School Instructors on hand to work with the Scouts in learning more about career opportunities as a skilled trades person and to do hands on take home projects.

The electricians’ Union IBEW Local 26, Plumbers’ Union Local 5, Carpenters’ Union Local 107 and the Sheet Metal Worker SMART Local 100 were all on hand. We also had a Penn State Architectural Engineer graduate and Junior Engineer with Bala Consulting Engineers delivering a Site Layout Challenge Station.

The Scouts had to draw a foundation plan at quarter scale and then layout out at full scale. The Scouts had a great time bending electrical conduit, building wooden tool boxes, making a plaque with their Troop number made out of copper plumbing pipe, cutting out sheeting metal and riveting it to make movable shapes and forms and making a camping boot rack out of PVC pipe. The Unions were all very appreciative of the opportunity to show off their particular skills and work with the youth.

 

 

 

Camp Catoctin BSA 2023

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Camp Catoctin BSA is one of only a few all-volunteer, nationally accredited BSA camps in the United States. Over our 60 year history, Camp Catoctin BSA has evolved from a small weekend camp-out to a week-long resident camp serving over 200 youth. Camp Catoctin staff are local volunteers, trained professionals, and represent generations of Scouts.

Why Camp Catoctin BSA?

Exciting Program
Close out the summer with a bang! Camp Catoctin BSA offers more than 40 merit badges to choose from, including many not offered at traditional scout camps. Whether you’re looking for natural face rock climbing, sailing around the lake, taking a stab at hatchet throwing, building a survival shelter, or learning to make gourmet meals in the woods we’ve got it.

Local Staff
Volunteer staff serve year-round in District, Council, and National positions. We’re often involved in local programming and we’re always around to help finish a badge or lend a hand.

New Scout Program
Our Acorn program is designed to guide youth through the advancement process and teach all the necessary skills for the new scout. Our small staff ratios allow our Acorn staff to get to know your youth and spend the extra time to ensure they succeed.

Older Scout Program
Looking for something new and different? Climb on over to our climbing program where you’ll have the opportunity to climb and rappel natural rock faces. Bear Grylls your inspiration? Wilderness survival will give you the opportunity to practice those firestarting skills and learn to build a shelter.

Not Just for Youth!
Don’t just let your scouts have the fun. Join our daily CampTalks geared for Scouters on various topics ranging from how to teach EDGE Method) to scouting history.