We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

At Camp

Goshen 2021: Save the Dates

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Save the dates for Summer Camp 2021 at Goshen Scout Reservation!

Next summer, we’ll be offering five weeks of summer camp at all our Webelos and Scouts BSA/Venturing resident camps and four weeks of backpacking program and river trekking program at Lenhok’sin High Adventure.

Week 1: June 27 – July 3, 2021
Week 2: July 4 – July 10, 2021
Week 3: July 11 – July 17, 2021
Week 4: July 18 – July 24, 2021
Week 5: July 25 – July 31, 2021

Unit registration opens September 8th. Mark your calendars!

Due to COVID-19, all Goshen camps will be in deposit phase until March 1, 2021. To reserve your unit’s spot, you’ll need to register and pay for one youth. Spaces for your unit will be reserved based on the number of spots you request during registration. Beginning March 1, units will be able to add and pay for their other youth and adult campers. Provisional scouts – individual Scouts BSA and Venturers (not Webelos) attending without their unit as part of the Provisional Camp program – will also be able to sign up beginning March 1, 2021.

Learn more about Goshen’s Webelos camps, Scouts BSA/Venturing camps, Lenhok’sin High Adventure, the Provisional Camp program, and Summer Camp 2021 at www.gotogoshen.org.

One More Opportunity for Camp Snyder Family Camping!

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If your family was not able to participate in Family Camping during July, you have a special opportunity to do so! We’ve just added a 5th week of Family Camping at Camp Snyder for the weekend of August 7-9. Some families have already registered, so don’t wait long to sign up!

Want to shoot a BB gun, climb the Scouterhorn, fly a drone, make a tool box or bird house or create Foam Gnomes with STEM? Then this weekend is for you! Check out the Camp Snyder Program Activities Catalog! Plus, you can hike the nature trail, bike all over Camp Snyder, fish in a well-stocked lake, discover Geocaches, roast marsh mellows over your own campfire or look at nature up close with the foldable microscope every youth receives.

Register by August 5th to reserve your place at Camp Snyder!

Ashburn Troop 997 Holds Mini-Camp

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Like many, Ashburn Troop 997’s summer camp plans were put on hold due to COVID closures. But that didn’t stop the Troop from providing a high-quality summer experience for their Scouts while following all BSA, CBC and state rules and guidance. The Troop set up a campsite at the Hidden Meadow group campsite maintained by the Willowsford Conservancy.

Led by Scoutmaster Terry Kolb and his adult team of volunteers, ASMs and Merit Badge Counselors, the Troop put together a mini-camp (five days of ‘day camp’ plus one night camping out) allowing the Scouts to earn a number of outdoor-oriented merit badges, including Pioneering, Soil & Water Conservation, Golf, Fishing, Astronomy and Search & Rescue. The Troop’s new Scouts also had the opportunity to work on early rank requirements. Highlights of the week included bridge-building, a search dog rescue demonstration, model-rocket launching, hiking at Manassas and biking around the Willowsford Farm community. Mid-week, the Troop gathered for an evening event, including the infamous Scoutmaster Campfire Extravaganza, an outdoor movie and an astronomy star party.

As the camp closed, the Scouts headed offsite to do trail maintenance for the Conservancy. In their newsletter, the Willowsford Conservancy complemented the Troop and the Leave No Trace principles of Scouting:

Last week, a troop of young scouts chose the Hidden Meadow Event Field as the site for their week-long scout mini-camp. We were excited to offer residents the ability to host camp at Willowsford, and delighted by the feedback from other residents about the care the scouts displayed toward nature and toward our community’s resources; true to the Scouts’ principles of “Leave no Trace.” They can be applied anywhere, at any time.

Putting Adventure in STEM!

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Who said STEM NOVA projects can’t be fun? Not Life Scout Austin from Troop 447 in Rockville Maryland. Austin combined doing his “Up & Away” NOVA project requirements with a COPE rock wall climbing adventure, check out the video here. I asked Austin to explain what he had to do and why he decided to do it the way he did:

“For the NOVA award requirement 3C I had to design a way to deliver rescue supplies to an area hit by a natural disaster, so with some scrap wood I had I built a box to hold a small bottle of water, a granola bar and a (empty) medicine bottle. Then I had to design a parachute to hang the supplies from. I asked my dad to cut and sew a ripped hammock we had into the parachute I designed and them I attached lines to it. There were 16 lines, so I grouped them into 4 groups so they would get tangled so much. On each group I put a leader line that I attached to each corner of the wooden box.

So then I had to test it, but I didn’t know any high buildings or bridges that I could use. So then Ms. Trisha told me perhaps I could do it from the COPE wall at Camp Snyder and I said YES PLEASE! On Saturday we drove to Camp Snyder in Haymarket, Virginia and Ms. Trisha asked Mr. Waisanen, the NCAC COPE & Climbing Chair, if I could do my project and he said yes. We had to figure out how to drop it and how to collect the data I needed for the requirements. There was another adult, Mr. Lesko, who talked to me about how to throw or drop the parachute from the 24’ high tower. I chose static drop, because that was easier and more reliable for deploying and collecting data. I also had to figure out how to pull the parachute back up after each drop and how to stay at the top of the climbing tower and still be able to use my hands. The COPE teachers showed me how I could put my feet against the wall so I could use my hands. That was really cool! I had a looped cord all the way down that they tied the parachute on, so I could pull it up every time and I dropped the parachute 3 times. My mom took the hang time with a stopwatch and my friend Keefer checked the box to make sure it wasn’t damaged and to check the supplies inside. The box was still good after 3 drops, so my experiment was successful. After that I climbed down and we had to clean all the equipment we used with soap and water to make it safe for the next person to use.”

Austin made a fun STEM project into an exciting adventure and put his own spin to a requirement. He is one step closer to earning one of the many BSA Nova Awards.

To learn more about BSA Nova Awards, visit https://www.scouting.org/stem-nova-awards/ or http://www.ncacbsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/stem-nova_program_overview.pdf .

To learn more about all the cool adventures at Camp William B. Snyder click here.

A big THANK YOU to Camp William B. Snyder, National Capital Area Council, Director of STEM & Exploring Ms. Trisha, PM COPE Mr. Tony Waisanen and NOVA advice from Mr. John Lesko.

Going, Going, Gone — To Camp Snyder!

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Hey Scout Families, the temperature is warm at Camp Snyder but the program activities are HOT! However, there is plenty of shade and cool showers any time of the day!

The second weekend of family camping just finished at maximum capacity under the COVID-19 precautions we’ve put in place. The additional benefit of limiting the number of families for any particular weekend is that the camp doesn’t seem full. But it is busy, because there is plenty to do, whether it is program activities or adventures you do on your own, like biking, fishing, geocaching, walking the nature trail or building your own campfire.

Families are rating their overall experience a 9 out of 10, so sign up to join us for one of the two last weekends of family camping. You are sure to have FUN!