We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Adventure

Troop 1518 Heads to Scuba Jam

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The adults and scouts from Troop 1518 are getting ready to drive to Lake Phoenix in Rawlings, VA for an exciting long weekend of Scuba diving at Scuba Jam. Held every Labor Day for the past 10 years, youth from all over Virginia, DC, and Maryland come to dive, win prizes, and have a fun weekend of camping before the demands of school get in the way.

This will be the third Scuba Jam for Troop 1518. The troop had several members certified to Scuba dive at BSA Sea Base in 2017 and found this annual camp a great way to do some local diving and keep skills sharp. This year even more boys from the troop have earned their certification and will be attending.

The Saturday and Sunday are when the diving related events happen. Troops and crews divide into buddy teams and compete in underwater events ranging from treasure hunts to putting plastic crabs in a bucket using a fly swatter. On land these are trivial tasks, but doing them underwater requires good control of buoyancy, communication with your buddy, and pre-dive planning. Here, the team needed to find a very specific combination of tokens underwater and return to the dock on time, so put one member in charge of holding the tokens and another on monitoring time.

When not diving for competition, teams go out and explore the sunken attractions around the quarry. Below one of the boys poses with a submerged Blackhawk helicopter that they just explored.
The quarry also has a school bus, airplane, and several boats and cars, not to mention a campsite complete with hot tub that you can sit in. The favorite activity by far is the underwater basketball court, complete with bowling balls which sink slowly in water.

The weekend isn’t all about diving. Scouts can finish their Scuba diving merit badge, too. Below is one of our troop members practicing CPR on a dummy.

Sunday night is the closing activity with a big dinner and prizes. Local dive stores and manufacturers donate both gear and scholarship money and everyone walks away with at least something. One of our troop won a very nice underwater camera set in 2017 and returned in 2018 to take videos and pictures. Others have won scholarships they can use at a local dive center to buy gear or more training.

We’d love to see more people come to Scuba Jam. Head over to http://www.scubajam-va.org/ to read important messages about what’s required to participate and find a local dive center sponsoring the event. They all offer special gear rental packages for the weekend and can help you get registered. Food, camping, and air fills are provided as part of the registration so all you need to do is show up!

Test Your Orienteering Skills!

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All troops & Ventuing crews are challenged to test (and hone) their map skills at the 43rd Annual Maryland Scout Orienteering Day!

Last year’s event had 480 Scouts and Venturers, plus 160 adult orienteering participants. #myNCAC Scouts had their best year ever, receiving 15 of the top 22 individual awards and ten of the top 13 troop awards! Troop 1946 from Washington, D.C., was the 2018 champion.

This year’s event will be November 2 at Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation. Register online at www.BaltimoreBSA.org/orienteering by October 28. Come for the day, or camp one or two nights. Our self-guided map courses are designed for beginners to this forest navigation map sport, with intermediate and advanced levels available as well.

Florida Sea Base Scuba Adventure

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If you’ve ever thought about scuba diving, we highly recommend it! It’s the perfect way to explore shipwrecks and see the abundant wildlife on our coral reefs.

…The ability to breathe underwater is pretty awesome too.

Scuba Adventure troop 1548 from Fairfax, VA–blowing bubbles and posing next to Alligator Reef light!

Visitors From Sweden!

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Check out these super cool Swedish Scouts from Regalskeppet VASA! Erik and Nichlas are visiting our Scout Center as their last stop before returning to Sweden! They were touring America after their trip to the World Scouting Jamboree!

Summer Camp Fun in Michael’s Woodshop

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Webelos attending summer camp at Camp William B. Snyder in July had the opportunity to create their own marble tic tac toe board in Michael’s Woodshop. Scouts received a safety briefing, donned their safety glasses and were given a “blank” to begin their work. The Webelos rotated through three primary work stations “Sanding”, “Drilling” and “Cutting” and had the opportunity to use a variety of hand tools. They were supervised/assisted by camp staff in using the drill press. All Webelos in attendance followed the safety guidelines, completed their project and best of all – they all had fun!

Would your group enjoy this activity? Have another project in mind? Michael’s Woodshop may be reserved for Unit activities (all ages), District events, Eagle Scout projects and other Scouting activities. Our group of volunteer Shop Stewards can help you organize an event, can provide training and can attend your event to provide guidance and assistance to carry out a safe and enjoyable activity. In addition, Michael’s Woodshop offers monthly Woodwork Merit Badge and Woodworking 101 classes. We are also looking forward to our second season of Pinewood Derby Days beginning later in the year.

Michael’s Woodshop was designed, constructed and is operated by volunteers. In addition, a significant amount of the tools, equipment and building materials were acquired through donations from the local Scouting community. For information about shop capabilities, event registration, reserving the shop or to learn more about volunteering or supporting the shop, please visit the Michael’s Woodshop page on the Camp Snyder website or email Camp Snyder at Camp.Snyder@Scouting.Org

Assistant Council Commissioner (Exploring/Web), NCAC

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July 20, 2019 marked the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission’s landing on the Moon – the landing of the lunar module Eagle in the southwestern corner of the Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) on the Moon and the establishment of Tranquility Base.

The first two men to set foot on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were Scouts – the first, Neil Armstrong was an Eagle Scout. If you were alive then, do you remember where you were at that moment in history? I was attending the 1969 National Jamboree in Farragut State Park, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I and 34,000 of my closest friends (all wearing red jackets!) watched as the telecast of the landing was projected on to giant screens. As I recall, there was a lot of cheering (as one might expect). Earlier in the Apollo 11 mission, on July 18, 1969, while flying toward the moon inside the command module Columbia, Eagle Scout Armstrong sent the following greeting to the Jamboree: “I’d like to say hello to all my fellow Scouts and Scouters at Farragut State Park in Idaho having a National Jamboree there this week.” Armstrong carried with him on the voyage, a World Scout Badge. All told, of the 12 Apollo astronauts to have walked on the moon, 11 were Scouts and two of them (Armstrong and Charles Duke of Apollo 16) were Eagle Scouts.

I’m sure the event we commemorate on its 50th anniversary caused me to get ‘stars in my eyes’ and want to be an astronaut. While that dream was never fulfilled, it did set me on a path to get a degree in astronautics and aeronautics and to pursue a career in Naval Aviation. Scouting and the Moon Landing molded my life. It’s exciting to think about what events will inspire the youth we serve today for the future.

Yours in Commissioner Service,

Jeff Schweiger

Unit and Assistant District Commissioner, Colonial District, NCAC
Assistant Council Commissioner (Exploring/Web), National Capital Area Council