Tiger Scout collecting food for Scouting for Food from members of Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church
RECHARTERING NOW OPEN!
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.
A Brand New Gaga
David W. of Troop 291 in Gaithersburg, MD, has always loved playing Gaga, a type of dodgeball game. He especially enjoyed playing at Westleigh pool, but when he heard that they were losing members, he wanted to help improve the facility to help attract new members. So after consulting some board members David began work on creating a new Gaga pit.
Just as David was about to begin, COVID-19 struck and he had to put his plans on hold. So David and his dad decided to prep some of the work needed for the pit, doing as much as they were able to in their garage. Once he could back out to the pool, he was able to touch up the paint on the wood for the pit and begin digging and filling holes to place the sixteen posts that would outline the pit. Unfortunately, once they got near the end three of the posts did not line up. He had to adjust all three beams so they’d be aligned properly.
Once the entire project was completed, David was glad to see everything fall into place and to have had the chance to work with all his volunteers. He felt as if he learned quite a bit, saying, “I learned I am a lot more equipped from my time at Scouting than I thought. Leading up to it, I was very nervous, but once Scouts arrived and we began working, everything fell into place and was extremely rewarding.”
Maryland Teen Joins First Female Inaugural Class of Eagles
On October 28th 2020, BSA Troop 1268 of New Market, MD celebrated its first female Eagle Scout. Ashlyn Cooper of New Market, MD became one of the first class of female Eagle Scouts in the country after successfully completing her Eagle Scout board of review. She joined BSA the very first day that BSA opened up their Scouting program to female youth in February 2019 and completed her Eagle rank work in Sept 2020. She has embraced the program with 100% passion, having logged 48 camping nights, 160 miles of hiking, 200 service hours, 39 merit badges, 5 summer camps, serving as the troop’s first Senior Patrol Leader, attending and then joining staff for the BSA’s National Youth Leadership Training, and being inducted into the Order of the Arrow. Through all of this, Ashlyn’s excitement about sScouting only continues to grow and become infectious to others in the troop. This journey for Ashlyn is not over at Eagle. She plans to continue to earn Eagle Palms, having already earned 3 and has a goal of 60 merit badges by the time she turns 18. She will also now be taking on a bigger role within the Troop as a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, and will be encouraged to become an even stronger leader.
Ashlyn comes from a long lineage of Scouting. Her grandmother was the first female leader for her uncle’s BSA Troop many years ago when he was in Scouts, her grandfather was a Sea Scout leader, her father is Scout Master of the Scouts BSA troop 268 linked to her Scouts BSA Troop 1268G and her older brother is also an Eagle Scout.
We congratulate Ashlyn on all she has achieved and will continue to help her to achieve more.
For more information on our program, please visit www.troop1268.org.
Eli Glickman’s Eagle Project for the Library of Congress
Eli Glickman’s Eagle Project is so innovative and interesting that I wanted to submit it to Scouter Digest so others could hear about it. Here is Eli’s own description of his project:
“Personal stories are a treasure trove of information, they offer perspective, reflection, and first-person experience. That’s ultimately why I selected oral history as the background for my Eagle project. I had heard about another project done in my Troop by a Scout who has since graduated, Scott Burns, where he interviewed World War II veterans about their experiences in the War. I wanted to focus less on actual wartime and more on the process of returning home that veterans undergo. I felt that this was part of most veterans’ stories that is seldom discussed in society and that it deserved attention. I then got in touch with the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress which was the ultimate beneficiary for my project. After that a group of Scouts and I reached out to several veterans whose contact info we received through Troop connections; I later reached out to the American Legion to get a complete 10 veterans to interview, their help in coordinating and establishing these contacts was tremendously beneficial to the success of my project. After that the Scouts and I coordinated a plan to conduct the interviews, focusing on hearing as much of each veteran’s story as possible and learning about their reflections on their experiences. The result of the project was incredibly rewarding, the Scouts and I learned not only stories from these veterans but how to better empathize and interact with veterans we see on a daily basis.”
DES Pride
For Jack R. of Troop 1094, Darnestown Elementary school brings up many fond memories for him as he attended it from kindergarten to fifth grade. Now being a bit older, Jack wanted to help out his former elementary school. He decided for his Eagle Scout Project that he could provide the school with a more beautiful front.
Unfortunately, after getting his project approved, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Yet being a good Scout, Jack adjusted his plans to fit safety guidelines, and he began his work in July. Jack and his volunteers started by getting rid of any stumps, weeds, and dead plants near the mulch beds in front of the school. He then trimmed the bushes and trees before planting some more bushes and grass. Jack then created a “DES” sign (Darnestown Elementary school), which was then placed at the front.
After completing this project, Jack felt satisfied with the results. He was also incredibly proud of how hard the work he and the volunteers put into helping Darnestown Elementary School.