We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

The Scouter Digest Staff

Outdoor Ethics Chair Emeritus Receives Distinguished Service Award

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The NCAC Outdoor Ethics Committee congratulates Victor Bieniek, NCAC Outdoor Ethics Committee Chair Emeritus, for being awarded the BSA Outdoor Ethics Distinguished Service Award during the National Outdoor Ethics Virtual Conference held November 14 & 15, 2020. This award is presented by the BSA Outdoor Ethics Subcommittee to an individual or organization who has provided distinguished service and leadership in support of outdoor ethics in the Scouting program. Fewer than 20 people or organizations have ever received this award.

Speech about Victor
Victor has distinguished himself as a leader in Outdoor Ethics in the North East region as well as in his home council. As the Council Outdoor Ethics Advocate for the National Capital Area Council, Victor heads the Council Outdoor Ethics Committee and is responsible managing and mentoring over 20 active Master Educators and 200 active Trainers within his council. Trainer Courses and workshops facilitated by the NCAC team reach over 1500 Scouts and Scouters directly through outdoor ethics training and impacts thousands more indirectly. Victor has ensured quality outdoor ethics training has been incorporated into all applicable leader training the council conducts such as IOLS, BALOO, and Back Country Outdoor Leader Skills.
Each year since 2015, Victor has coordinated a Mid Atlantic Outdoor Ethics conference bringing in keynote speakers who are leaders in their field to discuss outdoor ethics. These conferences attract 40-50 Scouters each year from several councils throughout the area, keeping them involved and current on outdoor ethics issues.
Victor has assisted the OE National Sub-Committee in ensuring quality training opportunities continue to be offered through Covid by serving with the development team for the Virtual OE Train the Trainer course and has led four Virtual Leave No Trace Trainer Courses. He has also served as co-instructor for multiple ME courses and is on the LID track. Victor not only ensures outdoor ethics is in the forefront within his own council but also assists other councils and COEA’s throughout the region and BSA. Please join me in congratulating Victor for receiving the Outdoor Ethics Distinguished Service Award.

Determination of “Distinguished” Service:
The nominee must have provided service and leadership to outdoor ethics in the Scouting program above and beyond the basic responsibilities outlined in their job description. Although this award is intended to recognize service with a scope of responsibility beyond the council level, exceptional service as a Council Outdoor Ethics Advocate can be considered. The award should not be given solely for tenure in a given role, but effective service for multiple years in a given role should be considered. Contributions for more than one aspect of outdoor ethics in the Scouting program – leadership in operations (council support); training (leading/coordinating courses); program materials development; and events leadership/staffing should be given particular consideration.

Please join the NCAC Outdoor Ethics Committee in congratulating Victor for this incredibly prestigious and well-deserved, national-level recognition for distinguished service in outdoor ethics.

Maritime Exploring

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Maritime Exploring is a special program for girls and boys in grades 6-8 to experience water-based Scouting adventures alongside NCAC’s Sea Scout Ships! When the US Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGAUX) partnered with Sea Scouts BSA, Sea Scouts became the official youth program for the USCGAUX. This partnership has opened even more doors for our Sea Scouts.

Sea Scouts is a BSA program that wraps all the necessary life-long skills learned in other Scouting programs within the trappings of fun, water-based activities. Sea Scouts can go sailing or SCUBA diving and end up challenging themselves to grow and lead. Like other BSA programs, Sea Scouts are recognized and rewarded for their accomplishments and discoveries. They learn valuable lessons in boating safety and have the opportunity to earn other certifications such as lifesaving, SCUBA, and CPR/First Aid all while throwing their sheets into the wind and sailing.

Although Sea Scouts is only for youth ages 14 to 20, Maritime Exploring Clubs allow younger youth (ages 10-14) to participate with Sea Scouts for age-appropriate maritime activities!

NCAC has 14 Sea Scout Ships across the waters throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia and every Ship would welcome a Maritime Explorer Club to partner with!

Know a youth who is interested in Maritime Exploring? Send us an email at:

Jeff Schweiger, NCAC Exploring Commissioner: scouter.jeff@earthlink.net
Lorrie Hartwell, NCAC Commodore: jlkplus4@aol.com
Council Contact Number: 240.395.0601

Troop 1577 Makes the Most of Autumn Weather

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This week, Troop 1577 did a 5 mile hike in north Reston, and a few days later, hosted a Scout leadership training outside.

Almost thirty people attended the hike, which started at the Lake Anne Picnic Pavilion. Three Scouts worked on their Cooking merit badge requirement 6. This requires Scouts to cook on a hike. These Scouts cooked for their families – breakfast before the hike and lunch after, with snacks during the hike. By cooking only for their families, this meant there were no concerns about COVID. One family made a lightweight stove from a metal can with a Sterno inside.

Along the hike, we observed erosion management projects. This was to inspire Scouts to work on their Soil and Water Conservation merit badge. We looked at the features of two large projects – Wiehle South and Lake Anne West. You can learn more about these projects at http://reston.wetlandstudies.info/. Scouts also worked on compass and map skills.

A few days later, eleven Scouts participated in leadership training. This training is called ILST or Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops. We do this training when new patrol leaders are elected. The training was held outside. We had to adapt the recommended curriculum to remove activities that would not work with social distancing and substitute them with activities that could be done at a distance and outside in windy weather.

For example, one of the recommended activities is to write responsibilities on balloons and demonstrate how it is impossible for one Scout to keep all the balloons in the air. He needs to ask for help. We knew the balloons would quickly float away in the wind, so we wrote the responsibilities on tennis balls.

One of the favorite leadership activities was called Minefield. The Scouts worked as a team to move each Scout one-by-one through a grid. We drew a giant grid on the ground 8 squares by 8 squares. An adult had a safe route marked on a piece of paper and would shout “Boom!” when the Scouts stepped on an unsafe square. It took each team of Scouts about 25 minutes to solve.

The Scouts enjoyed a game called Sock Ball which involved putting a tennis ball in a long sock. You had to catch the Sock Ball by the sock, not the ball. It took practice!

The Scouts discussed the stages of team development – Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. The Scouts shared stories of how they got themselves or their teams through the difficult stage of Storming and how it is normal for teams to have those moments.

We drew an enormous org chart on the parking lot in chalk where each Scout found his spot on the chart. They discussed who does what in the troop. We described scenarios and the Scouts decided who they would go to for help. We did a role play of a Patrol Leaders’ Council meeting where a director would “freeze” the action to ask what was happening and what could be done better.

Running leadership training activities outside has its challenges. Besides adapting the activities, we had to to push the leadership training one day later due to a wind advisory and cold temperatures. It takes more creativity and flexibility to run these activities, but in many cases, the results are actually more fun.

Bikes for the World

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Dhruv S. of Troop 1983 in Oakton, VA, is an avid biker. He knows how great a bike can be not only for leisure but also for practical uses such as transportation. So when Dhruv heard Bikes for the World was looking for volunteers, he jumped at the opportunity. Bikes for the World is an organization that collects, refurbishes, and ships bikes to impoverished communities around the world. He loved volunteering at their warehouse and seeing the pictures of people enjoying the bikes they had received. Dhruv wanted to contribute more to that happiness when people received their bikes, so for his Eagle Scout project, he decided to hold a bike drive with a goal to collect 50 bikes.

Dhruv began by designing flyers to reach out to his community about the collection drive. He posted them throughout his town and in nearby shopping centers. He also shared a digital version of the poster on Nextdoor and Facebook to reach even more people. Then Dhruv began to receive messages. Some people were able to drop off their bikes during the scheduled collection time. For those who couldn’t, he picked up their bikes ahead of time and stored them in his garage. On the day of the drive, Dhruv and some friends transported the bikes from the garage to the site at Vale United Methodist Church, his troop’s sponsoring organization, and the bike drive officially began. It lasted for five hours, and Dhruv managed to collect 130 bikes! They collected so many bikes that the truck that came to pick them up couldn’t contain them all. Dhruv quickly taught his volunteers how to disassemble the bikes so they could fit in the truck.

Having completed his project and sent these bikes to their new homes, Dhruv said, “ I enjoyed leading and teaching my friends how to disassemble the bikes, and I heard from them that it was a rewarding and satisfying process. I learned the value of time management by setting timelines and schedules for myself to make sure I was on track. I also learned the value of good communication through teaching my volunteers effectively how to prep the bikes. All in all, I think it was a successful project!”

RECHARTERING NOW OPEN!

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The annual unit rechartering process has begun!

Rechartering is an important part of a unit’s annual process. It helps ensure that your member rosters and contact info are up to date. It is also a good opportunity to review your unit’s volunteer leadership and make plans for the future.

Recharter applications are to be submitted in November 2020. To help with this process, the Internet Recharter application is now available online. Further information can be obtained from http://www.ncacbsa.org/recharter.