We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

The Scouter Digest Staff

Winter WFA Courses at Camp Snyder

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Get Wilderness First Aid Certified with the NCAC’s own Outdoor Preparedness Initiative (OPI)! Be prepared for a BSA national or local high adventure, your own trip, or just outdoor adventure in general.

OPI’s winter WFA course dates have been set. Check out the dates and register on www.ncacbsa.org/opi-wfa.

 

OPI provides certification from the American Red Cross and offers courses at Camp Snyder in Haymarket, VA. The training is for adults and youth, ages 14 and up.

Make sure to sign up soon, since course sizes are strictly limited due to COVID-19!

Check out some of the pictures, below, from our fall courses!

 

 

Awesomeness Wanted: Camp Staff 2021

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Do you like camping and the outdoors? Do you miss camp? So do we! Join our awesome group of camp staff and work at one of the coolest summer jobs you could ever have!

Ready to Sa-TURN a Cub Scout’s summer into something stellar? Apply to work at Camp Snyder, where the 2021 Camp Theme – A Space Adventure – is carried through archery, nature, crafts, swimming, boating, and all camp activities as Cub Scouts and their leaders have fun outdoors.

Want to escape to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains for the summer? Apply to work at one of seven Goshen Scout Reservation Camps! Join our energetic and goofy staff at our Webelos Camps – Camp PMI and Camp Ross. Want to teach your favorite Merit Badge? Choose one of our three Scouts BSA/Venturing camps – Camp Bowman, Camp Olmsted, or Camp Marriott. Looking for adventure? Become part of our elite staff at Lenhok’sin High Adventure Base. Want to support camps in retail or in emergency medicine? Our administration camp – Camp Post – might be the place for you.

Staff must be 15 years or older to be an instructor and 16 or older to work at Goshen’s Lenhok’sin High Adventure. Not yet 15? If you’re 14, you can be a Counselor-in-Training at any of our Cub Scout, Webelos, or Scouts BSA/Venturing Resident Camps. We’re also on the lookout for those 18 years of age or older to take on leadership positions.

Have friends or family that love the outdoors, but aren’t in Scouting? Tell them about it! Prior experience with the Boy Scouts of America is not required.

Employment dates are from June 12 to August 3, 2021 for Goshen Camps and June 21 to July 30, 2021 for Camp Snyder.

We’re coming up on hiring season! Interviews, via phone or video call, start January 2. Submit your application by January 19th to get a January interview date.

Apply online and get more information on our websites. Visit www.gotogoshen.org/staff for Goshen Camps and www.gotosnyder.org/work for Camp Snyder.

Save the Date: College of Commissioner Service 2021

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Save the dates!

NCAC’s College of Commissioner Service 2021 will be held virtually via Zoom on March 13 and 14, 2021. The program on Saturday, March 13 will consist of six class periods plus a Keynote Speaker. The Sunday program will consist of three class periods. Our Keynote Speaker is (tentatively) Roger Mosby, CEO and President of the Boy Scouts of America!

Registration will open in February. Watch this site for more news as it breaks!

What Is the Arrow of Light?

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The Arrow of Light is both a rank and an award. It is the highest achievement in Cub Scouting, and the only Cub Scout Award that can still be worn once a scout enters ScoutsBSA. Adult leaders who earned the Arrow of Light Award may show their achievement by wearing a special square knot on their uniform.

The award design is a yellow arrow with a rising sun. There are seven rays in the sun that represent wisdom, courage, self-control, justice, faith, hope, and love. The symbolism of the award peaks to the heart of scouting – like an arrow, scouts travel a straight path. Achieving the award is not an end, but like a new day is just a beginning. The values represented by the sun are those that form a well-rounded person. Other interpretations of the badge say that like the sun, Cub Scouts should be a light for those around them. Also, the seven rays of the sun represent the days of the week, and serves as a reminder that Scouts should do their best every day.

Very often a Webelos earns the award at the end of their time in the pack, so the awarding of the AOL coincides with the crossover to a troop. These crossover, or bridging ceremonies, recognize the Scouts commencing a journey into Scouts BSA.

No matter how you interpret the award, it is worthy of its own ceremony. There are many different ceremonies developed over the years by different packs. Each is tailored to meet the time of year, and the needs of the pack. My favorite ceremonies have featured campfires, candles, and a reflection on what it took each scout to get to that point. It is a recognition of a lot of hard work, both from the scouts, and the leaders and parents that helped them get there.

Ashburn Troop 997 Ups the Ante with Scouting for Food

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Last summer, Troop 997 Scouts came together to collect food in their neighborhoods to help restock the depleted shelves at the Dulles South Food Pantry. Forty Scouts, parents and siblings worked to collect nearly 1400 pounds of donated food and accrued 100 service hours across the Troop.

Seeking to help restock again after the Thanksgiving holiday, newly elected SPL Martin M. and his ASPLs Andy J. and Joe W. led Troop 997 in their own Scouting for Food effort, gathering over 2600 pounds of food last Sunday for the Dulles South Food Pantry, with Scouts and adults hanging door tags, collecting food, sorting and delivering. “It was great seeing both old faces again and new faces for the first time all working for a good cause, regardless of our unique circumstances”, said SPL Martin M.

Troop 997 has most recently been conducting Troop meetings via Zoom, but remains committed to a monthly, safe outdoor program. Recent activities include a hike to Sky Meadow, a day trip to the Sandy Spring Adventure Park, a day hike at Gettysburg, a better-late-than-never New Scout campout in rural Vermont and an Arrow of Light Invitational field day. Upcoming events include a December ten-miler along the Potomac River, and a ski/sled/tubing day trip in January. Troop 997 meets on Thursday nights, at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Ashburn when safety permits, and over Zoom when weather or health conditions require. Arrow of Light Scouts interested in more information or a Troop visit should contact Scoutmaster Terry Kolb at 703-624-0794 or tkolb118@gmail.com.

Weekly Pow Wow Webinars Week 5

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Join us for our last and final Pow Wow webinar, Duty to God on Monday, December 21 at 7:30 pm.

Learn how to organize a Religious Emblems program in your pack.

NCAC Cub Scout Leader Pow Wow is a supplemental, action-packed training event for adult Cub Scout Leaders and all other adults interested in learning more about the Boy Scouts’ Cub Scout program. In the Pow Wow Webinars you will learn new ideas and concepts that will enhance your ability to deliver and support a fun-filled, exciting program to Cub Scouts.

Webinars will include relevant topics for every Cub Scout position and are designed to help you make their Cub Scout programs more fun for the Cub Scouts … and for the leaders too!!!

This 45-60 minutes session is offer by Zoom©. Link to registration: https://ncacbsa-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJErdeyqrzgvHdF0hesqVg2ArFDEibXEJ0iG