We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

The Scouter Digest Staff

2018 Spring Endowment Celebration and Donor Recognition

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Our four youth speakers share the moment.

Our Council’s financial destiny is dependent on the legacy of a strong Endowment program and management of those funds. On May 19, National Capital Area Council acknowledged our many Endowment donors who support our Council’s long-term investment accounts and to recognize all endowment and major gift donors. NCAC proudly honored 92 James E. West recipients, 14 NCAC Fellows and 5 Second Century recipients. Thanks to them, our Endowment provided 173 camperships, sponsored 478 Out Reach youth and several camp projects.

The morning began with a welcoming reception, then an inspirational program featuring four of our local Scouts who make a difference daily in our Council! Our keynote Speaker was National Outstanding Eagle Scout recipient and President of Dean & Robert Kramer School of Law at George Washington University Law School, Dr. Blake D. Morant. Dr. Morant shared his many life stories of how Scouting helped to develop his character and impacted his career. The festivities concluded with our youth speakers cutting our Eagle cake with a Ceremonial Navy Sword.

Troop 7369 from Chantilly, VA present the colors.

To learn how you can make a difference and build your Scouting Legacy contact Sr. Development Director Geoffrey Thomas ( 301-214-9110 , Geoffrey.Thomas@Scouting.org) or Endowment Chair Forrest Horton (703-919-4636,  Forrest.Horton@Verizon.net).

Colonial Recognizes 20 Year Volunteers; Eagles Earn Scholarships

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From left: Dominick Caridi, Linda Hill, Paul MacDonald, Joe Pallone, and Terry Gigure.

This spring, Colonial leaders, volunteers, and their families joined together for the annual volunteer award recognition dinner. This was an opportunity for all of us to join together and say, “thank you!” to the women and men who volunteer countless hours to make Scouting possible in our units and across the entire Colonial District.

In addition to recognizing Colonial’s volunteer leaders for their contributions, the highlight of the evening was the recognition of volunteers who have served Colonial for more than twenty years. In 1998, the Colonial District was formed when the former George Washington District was split into three other districts — Colonial, Patriot, and Chain Bridge. In those twenty years, Colonial has been privileged to have a number of volunteers grow and strengthen the Scouting program for our area youth. Those volunteers who have graciously donated twenty years of service are Dominick Caridi, Terry Gigure, Linda Hill, Paul MacDonald, Joe Pallone, and Demi Pulas.

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Two Colonial Eagles were recently honored by the Rotary Club of Alexandria for their community service and academic accomplishments. For its inaugural year, Eagles Owen Biesada and Ian Peverall each received a $1,500 scholarship to continue their education this fall.

Owen is an Eagle Scout from Troop 129 chartered by Westminster Presbyterian Church in Alexandria. He will graduate from T.C. Williams High School and will attend Texas Christian University. For his Eagle Scout project, Owen spearheaded an effort to repair and maintain trails, picnic tables and facilities at Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Annandale.

During the event, the Alexandria Rotary honored Bill Vosbeck, a local Alexandria businessman, Marine Corps veteran, and Eagle Scout. Photo courtesy of Alexandria Rotary.

Ian is an Eagle Scout in Troop 4077 chartered by St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. He will graduate from Mt. Vernon High School and attend the College of William and Mary. For his Eagle Scout project, Ian led the effort to fund, manufacture and deliver 35 blankets to Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. The blankets are used to comfort the children as they receive treatment at Shriners Hospital.

Congratulations to Owen and Ian for being the first Colonial Eagles to earn these awards from the Alexandria Rotary. We wish them the very best as the embark on the next chapter in their lives.

FUN – The Name of the Game at George Mason District Twilight Camp

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George Mason kicked off the Cub Scout Day Camp season on June 18 with Twilight Camp at Izaak Walton League-Centreville. With six different program stations to rotate through, there was never a dull moment all week.

At Archery, Range Officer Matt Smith and Archery Program Aide Noah Canody highlighted bow and arrow safety, skill building techniques, proper stance, and follow through. At the completion of camp, Scouts will have earned their archery recognition items–the belt loop and sports pin—and be well on their way to obtaining their Cub Scout Shooting Sports Award Certificate. Scouts were delighted when their arrows hit the target with more and more frequency, cheering with each improvement.

BB Range Officer Kate Schenaker, shared her love of shooting sports through emphasis on proper range safety practices, safe shooting techniques, and proper shooting stances. Scouts learned how to score their own targets, and were surprised and pleased to see how much their scores improved as they practiced throughout the week. Cheers could be heard quite regularly across the pond as Scouts grew steadily more proficient—all while having fun!

No doubt fish stories abound after a successful day fishing the pond at IWL. Scouts found that fishing can be fun, even if you don’t bring home a catch every time you cast. Among other topics, Fishing Director Tom Canody helped Scouts understand local fishing regulations and discussed different area fish then gave the Scouts the opportunity to drop lines in the water. Scouts took home “ribbon” fish to show “just how big was the one that got away.”

Nature Crafts director, Roy DeLauder made certain Scouts were acquainted with local flora and fauna before setting out on their nature hike, Scouts covered practical safety in the woods, discussed the high tick population what they look like and how to remove them. Scouts also learned to identify poison ivy, Virginia Creeper and a variety of various animals one would expect to see in the local area.

STEM station director, Jim Ashe caught everyone’s attention with his hands-on science experiments. On Day One, campers focused on learning about simple tools—pulleys, levers and wheels with each day progressing on to higher concepts of science like water density and volcanic activity.

The week in the woods ended with the annual flameless Campfire Closing program where the Scouts entertained their parents and invited guests with skits, songs, run-ons and lots of laughter.

Scouters Take on Challenge of New BALOO Overnight Training Component

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Nineteen Cub Leaders from Aquia, Patriot, Old Dominion, Bull Run and Occoquan Districts attended the new BALOO course, led by Sharon Patrick of Aquia District, on 18 and 19 May at Curtis Park. The new BALOO course is a combination of the old BALOO and OLSWL course and requires an overnight experience. It prepares Cub Scout Leaders to be able to oversee their Pack Family camping experience and is required for Webelos Leaders to take their Dens camping. Although it rained on Friday night, Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day as the rain cleared out.

The next course being taught in Aquia District will be on the 14th and 15th of September. For more information, NCAC Scouters can contact Sharon Patrick at sharon4Scouts@cox.net.

Sully’s Cub Scout Twighlight Camp Another Success

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The Sully District held Twilight Camp for Cub Scouts during the last week of June at the Arlington-Fairfax Chapter of the Izaak Walton League in Centerville, VA. Scouts had the opportunity to participate in STEM activities, Archery, Crafts, Fishing, and BB guns. Thank you to all of the volunteers that helped to put it on, and we look forward to having everyone out again next year.

Troop 1959 from Fort Washington, MD A Bike Ride to Remember: A Scouts View

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by Kawbena McGaneyOsei,
Senior Patrol Leader

June 29th, 2018; The beginning of our terrifying yet thrilling adventure. Today is the day that Troop 1959 from Fort Washington, MD would embark on a 90-mile bike ride to Whiteford, MD. A trip that is only 5 miles from the border of Pennsylvania, a total of 10 hours, spread across 3 days. A year ago, Troop 1959 attended Goshen Summer Camp, where we came across another troop who had biked to California and back. Immediately my Scoutmaster envisioned the same for us. From the birth of the idea to days beforehand, Troop 1959 had been training. Once a month we would gear up and prep ourselves for a ride. We would practice 5 miles here, 10 miles there, eventually all leading up to our 50 mile finale. We also needed to make sure our diets were ready. We switched the chips and soda for fresh fruit and water.  All the prep would make it worth it in the end.

The first day, our ride was enjoyable! We were able to keep up a reasonable pace and distance. Day two was a different story, the heat and hills were almost unbearable. Our strength, and endurance was definitely tested. Day two was without a doubt the hardest leg of the trip. The final day wasn’t a breeze, but nothing compared to the dreaded day before. Luckily this day gave us downward hills and cooler temperatures. One of my favorite parts of this trip was the hotel nights, after a long day of biking. We were able to make a lot of memories and bond with one another. The trip allowed me to discover my strengths and weaknesses, it gave me a roadmap for how to do even better on our next adventure! I never thought I would do this in a million years. I’m sure a lot of us, didn’t think we would make it (especially on day two). But with every pedal we believed in ourselves! Plus, a great 80s playlist for motivation is a big help!