At Camp

Register for the Outdoor Ethics Leave No Trace Trainer Course!

March 5, 2020 by The Scouter Digest Staff

What is the purpose of this class?

The Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Varsity Scout, Venturing, and Sea Scout programs all include outdoor stewardship, care for the environment, and Leave No Trace as part of their programs. This course is offered to train adults as Leave No Trace Trainers and youth aged 14+ to serve their units as Outdoor Ethics Guides. Every Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Varsity Scout, Venturing, and Sea Scout unit should have at least one individual fully trained in Leave No Trace.

We recommend that youth complete this course before serving as in the troop Outdoor Ethics Guide position.

Who should attend?

Venturers, Sea Scouts, Varsity Scouts, and Scouts BSA aged 14+; adult Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Varsity, Venturing, and Sea Scout leaders; and District and Council leaders and trainers.

What will I learn?

This course is designed to enhance your understanding of Leave No Trace practices and outdoor ethics, and to increase your level of expertise and confidence in teaching Leave No Trace skills. This class is both active and highly interactive. You will be introduced to concepts and methods that will advance your knowledge of Leave No Trace issues in both developed and high adventure environments, expand your repertoire of low-impact skills, and increase your effectiveness in teaching these important skills to others. You will be qualified to lead a unit in completing the last requirement for the BSA Outdoor Ethics Awareness award and the NCAC Outdoor Ethics Awareness award for Cubs.

On completion of this course, participants will be registered as Leave No Trace Trainers with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and with the BSA. Students will receive Leave No Trace teaching materials, a certificate of course completion, a Leave No Trace Trainer lapel pin and patch, and a BSA Leave No Trace Trainer card.

This course is instructed by nationally designated Leave No Trace Master Educators and Trainers. Attendance for the entire duration of the training is required.

(Campsite location, equipment list, and other course details will be emailed to participants a few weeks prior to the course. Each participant will have an assignment to prepare for the training.) Please remember this course is taught entirely in the outdoors and we will camp out Saturday evening.

To register for March 28-29, 2020 at Camp Snyder visit https://scoutingevent.com/082-NV1, for April 18-19, 2020 at Izaak Walton League in Gaithersburg please visit https://scoutingevent.com/082-MD1# or June 6-7, 2020 in Southern Maryland visit https://scoutingevent.com/082-SMD.

Help Celebrate NCAC Camping Centennial at Camp Snyder’s Work Days for All

March 5, 2020 by Craig Weston

Celebrate 100 years of NCAC summer camping by helping Camp Snyder get ready for the summer! Earn service hours and a free Camping Centennial patch for working on projects.

Open to all Scouts, Cubs through Venturers, and Families. Projects for all skill levels, which may include building and installing bird houses, splitting and stacking logs, staining and painting, digging and installing sign posts, assembling traffic barriers.

Be sure to bring work gloves, lunch, water, sunscreen and insect repellant. Check for ticks when departing. And, wear old clothing that can get dirty or stained with paint. No scout uniforms and no open toed shoes or sandals. Check In/Out at the Admin Building at the Camp Entrance.

Join us on Saturday, April 4th and/or Sunday, May 17th, from 9am to 4 pm. Come for the day or just part of the day!

Free registration at https://scoutingevent.com/082-35883

See you on April 4th and/or May 17th!

Cub Scouts Build Their Own Tool Boxes!

February 24, 2020 by Dave Schneeman

On February 9, Two Dens from Pack 1601, Powhatan District, attended their own Pack session in Michael’s Woodshop to work on a tool box project. During the process, the Cub Scouts received a shop safety briefing and were able to learn and apply many basic woodworking skills. They were instructed and guided in the use of a tape measure, hand saw, drill press, hammer, nail punch and sanding block. Parents in attendance were able to assist during the process making this an excellent parent/Cub Scout experience. At the end of their session, each Cub Scout had completed the project and went home with a sense of accomplishment and their very own tool box!

Michael’s Woodshop is the perfect place to work on Baloo the Builder or Webelos Build-It activities or to organize a great hands-on Pack or Den activity. Units may reserve the wood shop to hold their events. The experienced group of volunteer Shop Stewards in Michael’s Woodshop can assist you with selecting or designing an activity that is tailored to meet the needs of your group. They will also attend your session to help ensure you have a successful wood shop event.

Michael’s Woodshop was designed to be a hands-on work space for use by Scouts of all ages to learn and create. For information about shop capabilities, upcoming events or reserving the shop, please visit the Camp Snyder website. For shop information, just click on the Michael’s Woodshop link located on the Camp Snyder main page.

Troop 648 earns the National Outdoor Challenge Unit Award!

February 20, 2020 by Carey Johnston

Troop 648 had a great year of outdoor adventures in 2019. We participated in many Chain Bridge District events (Camporee, Klondike Derby, Projectoree), local camping trips, and three high adventure trips (two crews to Seabase and another crew sent to Philmont). Scouts also earned many outdoor related merit badges and conducted a Leave No Trace program.

The Troop memorialized all these activities by earning the National Outdoor Challenge Unit Award for 2019. See: https://www.scouting.org/awards/awards-central/national-outdoor-challenge/ This is an easy award to earn if your Troop has an active outdoor program and good record-keeping. You can fill out the application and send it to Craig Weston, Chair, Camping and Outdoor Program Committee. See: https://www.ncacbsa.org/council-committees/outdoor-adventuring/camping/. After you earn the award you can purchase a nice ribbon for the Troop.

Second Annual Pinewood Derby Days a Great Success!

February 20, 2020 by Dave Schneeman

Michael’s Woodshop at Camp William B. Snyder just completed its second annual series of Pinewood Derby Days. During the 2019-20 season, Michael’s Woodshop held 13 Pack Sessions, 3 Den Sessions and 5 Open Registration Sessions during which Cub Scouts, Siblings (and a few parents) built 376 cars!

For those who have never attended one of these events, they are certainly a great experience. Pinewood Derby Days are supervised shop sessions that use a well-defined process to walk Cub Scouts through each step to build their car. The sessions begin with a safety briefing which is then followed by a series of work stations; re-drilling axel holes (if permitted), designing/design templates, cutting, sanding and adjusting the car weight. All necessary tools are provided and the work is supervised by a group of volunteer Shop Stewards. At the end of their work session, Cub Scouts leave the shop with paint-ready cars, axel polishing kits and huge smiles!

To get a better understanding of this event, please see the “View our Process” link on the Pinewood Derby Days webpage which has many good photos of Cub Scouts in action. As you will see, these sessions are engaging and are great fun for Cub Scouts, parents (and volunteers). We are already looking forward to the 2020-21 season!

While the Pinewood Derby Days series is the largest program hosted by Michael’s Woodshop, there are many other ways to use the shop. Michael’s Woodshop holds monthly Woodwork Merit Badge Sessions and a monthly Woodworking 101 Class, which is now open up to both Scouts and adults. The shop may also be reserved for Unit activities, District events, Eagle Scout projects and many other Scouting activities. The volunteer Shop Stewards are experienced woodworkers and are available to help you plan and carry out a successful event. For information about shop capabilities, upcoming events, reserving the shop or to learn more about volunteering, please visit the Camp Snyder website or email us at MichaelsWoodshop.CWBS@gmail.com

Where to find information
Camp Snyder website: https://www.gotosnyder.org/
The Michael’s Woodshop page can be found in the Year-Round Events section

Meet your 2020 Goshen Camp Directors!

February 4, 2020 by Goshen Scout Reservation

We are pleased to announce the team of Camp Directors for Goshen Scout Reservation 2020! If you ever have any questions about camp or the programs we provide, please visit www.GoToGoshen.org to get in touch with your camp director.

Phil Barbash, Goshen Scout Reservation Director

Phil is excited to begin his 18th summer working on staff at Goshen Scout Reservation. It will also be his 5th year as the Director of Operations. Beforehand, he worked 10 summers at Camp Bowman, with the last three as the Camp Director. He has served in various positions including Ecology Instructor, First Year Camper Director, and Camp Commissioner. He currently serves as NCAC’s Director of Camping with oversight over Goshen, Camp Snyder, Camp Airy, and Camp Wall.

Carl Trocki, Camp Bowman Director

This will be Carl’s 19th summer as a Goshen staff member, and 14th summer at Camp Bowman. Carl has experience in many different areas of camp, including: Camp Director at Bowman and Lenhok’sin, a myriad of program staff positions and even as an NCAC District Executive. When not at Goshen, Carl lives in Australia, working as a high school teacher/administrator/outdoor educator, and runs a successful watersports business at the beach. Carl is excited to return to Bowman as Camp Director for another summer, and hopes to help maintain the many traditions which have made Camp Bowman such a powerful and positive influence on so many young people.

Chris Warner, Camp Marriott Director

Chris is going on his tenth year working at Goshen. He started coming as a scout to Camp Bowman in 2008. He worked on staff at Bowman in Scoutcraft, Aquatics, and Facilities. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2015. Chris is very excited to be continuing the tremendous program that Camp Marriott offers. In the months outside of summer camp, he attends the Business school at Salisbury University.

Tom Van Patten, Camp Olmsted Director

This summer will be Tom’s 9th year on the Goshen staff and his first at Camp Olmsted! Tom previously worked at Camp Bowman as the Program Director. He also worked in several areas including Nature and Scoutcraft. He has also served on the National Camping School Ecology staff. Outside of Scouting, Tom is a recent graduate of Lycoming College and an avid birder. He resides in Montgomery County, MD and works as a cabinetmaker. Working with scouts is a deeply gratifying experience for Tom and he looks forward to positively impacting the lives of young people this summer through the methods of Scouting.

Michael Filmonchik, Camp PMI Director

This will be Michael’s 4th summer at Goshen Scout Reservation and his first as Camp Director. He has worked in areas such as scoutcraft and shooting sports and is excited to be PMI’s Camp Director this summer. He loves Goshen Scout Reservation and values the everlasting experience it provides to scouts. When Michael is not at Goshen he is enrolled in the Masters of Teaching program at VCU. Michael attended PMI as a scout and is very excited to continue the legacy that made him fall in love with Scouting.

Richard Holtslander, Camp Ross Director

Richard attended Ross as a scout, and joined the Camp Ross Staff as early as he could. Since Richard’s first Summer in 2011 he has worked in various positions at camp, learning what it means to be part of the Ross Staff. This will be Richard’s tenth Summer working at Ross and first Summer as Camp Director. When Richard is not at camp he attends Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and is studying for a Bachelors in Mathematics with a Minor in Environmental Science. Richard is excited for the new challenges the position will bring, and is looking forward to working with Scouts to have a great Summer and introduction to Scouting!

Griffin Linehan, Lenhok’sin High Adventure Director

This will be Griff’s 3rd year at Lenhok’sin. He has worked at BSA camps of all sorts since he was 13 years old. He has specifically worked at a lot of trek based camps and interpretive camps in leadership roles. Outside of camp, Griff teaches seventh grade enriched science. He is currently working on his Doctorate for Educational Policy, Measurement, & Evaluation. He is looking forward to working hard with the staff and providing a quality program this summer.

Learn more about our two Webelos Camps, three Scouts BSA & Venturing Camps, and Lenhok’sin High Adventure and all the adventures they have to offer on our website at www.gotogoshen.org.