We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Eagle of the Week

Fencing for SPIRIT

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The task seemed daunting at first. Breaking the earth for my Eagle Scout project was no easy feat. I wanted to construct the front fence of the start of a new equestrian park for a local non-profit horse equine-assisted therapy organization. Driving out to the property, parking on the side of the road, I tried to peer in to see what I was working with. I shook my head in disbelief; from the road, I could not walk even ten feet into the property. It was overgrown, trees lining the front of the property, and bugs swarming my every step. How was I supposed to build a fence where I couldn’t even see the ground? However, I chose to help the organization; helping the therapy center made me feel meaning in my work, and the knowledge that less fortunate children could benefit from it only convinced me more to take this project on.
There were many, many preconditions that I had to deal with before even beginning my fence. The grasses loomed over my knees. The thickened brush scratched at my feet. I started planning the phases like it was the procedure for a chemistry experiment. After countless hours of research and writing it to paper, I created a specific project plan that ranged from the purchase of lumber to the cleanup of the property after completion. There were times when I wanted to scrap it all up, try something else, but I pushed through and I finally set the plan in action.

On the day of the project, after all the preparation, laying out the construction flags, measuring the fence distance, and renting equipment, I thought a fence cannot be that difficult to construct right? I was wrong. Off the bat, I faced even more obstacles. Drilling holes in the ground proved to be a pain in the ass, brittle, rocky earth testing my paper plan. After all the work I put in, I was not going to be stopped by a faulty power auger. My perfect plan was put to a halt in its tracks. As I pondered the possibility of working well into the night, it dawned on me that I should implement Plan B, one that just sprung into my mind. Keeping the workers focused and not idle became a new priority as the other parts of my old plan finished. I diverted my resources to help drill holes. Through the beating sun, we finally managed to finish the project after seven hours of hard labor, in front of me was a completed 300-foot fence. I would have never thought I would transform the wilderness into an orderly, pretty fence, a trailblazer for the equestrian park.

I learned many things from my Eagle Scout project. It gave me the confidence to tackle large, complex projects and taught me perseverance. By splitting up the project into stages and planning it all out, it started to look more straightforward. It really showed how hard work pays off and that planning is a necessity with projects of this scale. But I also learned that even the most-detailed, seemingly perfect plans have plenty of opportunities to face flaws.

Girl’s Troop 987 is proud to announce their first Eagle Scout!!!

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On Thursday morning at 7am EDT, Vienna, VA resident, Katie Hunter, completed her Eagle Board of Review, the final requirement for the rank of Eagle Scout. Eagle Scout is the highest achievement attainable in the Scouts BSA program. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank. While in the history of Scouting, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over 2.5 million youth, this candidate is particularly special, because October 1, 2020 is the first day that American girls are eligible to complete Scouting’s highest rank.

Katie Hunter is a 13-year old student at Thoreau Middle School. She joined Scouting in February 2019 as one of the founders of Girls Troop 987, sister Troop of Boys Troop 987, sponsored by Emmanuel Lutheran Church. She and four other area girls, Sarah Johnson, Annelise Sienknecht, Abby Elkowitz, and Victoria Spafford were among the first in the United States to share in Scouting’s adventure. The sister of two other Eagle Scouts, Jeffrey and Jack Hunter, Katie was ready for the challenge. She completed the arduous requirements for the Eagle Rank in 20 months, the minimum possible time, an extraordinary and rare achievement. With the successful completion of the Board of Review, an intensive interview with adult members of the Troop Committee and a District Representative, Katie is poised to be inaugurated as part of the first class of female Eagle Scouts in the country in February 2021.

The Eagle Rank has many requirements, including earning at least 21 merit badges, serving in positions of leadership in the Troop, and the completion of an extensive service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads, and manages. The Eagle Scout must also demonstrate Scout Spirit, an ideal attitude based upon the Scout Oath and Law, service, and leadership. Katie earned 26 merit badges, served at the Senior Patrol Leader of Girls Troop 987 (the highest Scout rank in a Troop), and designed and led a service project at Bailey’s Elementary School in Falls Church, VA, where her mother teaches. With over 285 total hours of effort from the community over two days of work, she led a team of 50 Scouts and adults to beautify the campus by installing 36 planter boxes on the school grounds. Katie supervised construction and placement of 37 garden boxes for Bailey’s Elementary School in Falls Church. They’ll be used for teaching the butterfly and plant lifecycles. It totaled more than 280 hours and three days of volunteers.

Chris Hunter, Katie’s father and the Scoutmaster of Girls Troop 987, said “I am very proud of all of our girls. They have not only founded a new Troop, but they have created a template and a culture for the generations of girls that follow.” He went on to say, “Of course, I’m particularly proud of my daughter, Katie, for this singularly remarkable achievement.”

As to what’s next for Katie, she still has many years of Scouting in front of her, since Scouts are eligible to continue in the program until they turn 18. She plans to complete a trek at the Philmont Scout Ranch, Scouting BSA’s premiere High Adventure Base. Moreover, she hopes that her achievements inspire other girls to follow her example and that some of those girls will join her at Girls Troop 987 (www.troop987.us).

A New Home for A Turtle

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For my Eagle Project, I built a turtle enclosure at Rust Sanctuary, a nature sanctuary in Leesburg, VA. I’ve always loved animals especially after previous work with Rust. I had done a service project for their nature trail a couple of years back and so I asked if they help with something I could do for an Eagle project, and luckily they had a turtle who needed a new habitat.

My first step was to take a look at the old habitat and decide whether to build in the same place or find a new spot. I eventually decided to tear down the old one and build it in the same spot because of the natural light angle. I then created a virtual model of the habitat on Sketchup, a 3-D modeling app. Then I made a list of the materials we would need and bought them. Finally, I built the habitat and planted turtle-friendly plants.

Now looking back on this project, I found the most difficult aspect was trying to find volunteers as many could not help due to the pandemic. But it was all worth it in the end, to look at the structure I had built after months of hard work.

Eagle of the Week – Jack Doty!

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Did you know over 2,000 youth are homeless or in poverty in Fairfax County? When Life Scout Jack D. of Troop 118 in Alexandria, Virginia, learned that he decided it was time to take action. He learned that many of these teenagers lack personal hygiene products; the ability to keep themselves feeling clean would allow them to have more confidence in going to school and participating in community activities.

Jack decided he would hold a personal hygiene drive for his Eagle Scout Service Project. First, he had to reach out to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and Coordinated Service Planning (CPS) Department and coordinate with his Troop’s leadership to create the plan. Unfortunately, just as his plan was being finalized the COVID-19 pandemic reached Fairfax. Being the resilient Scout he is, Jack adjusted his plan to reduce social interaction. With the power of social media, Jack alerted all those he knew, informing them the drop-off locations were.

Through his efforts and with the help of his Troop and his community, the drive was a success with about 1,000 items donated! While Jack found it rather difficult to hold this drive during a pandemic, looking back he stated, “I was doing something crucial for my community, especially in a time where every person’s health means safety and comfort in a stressful time.”

Creating A Fire Pit for My Church

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The Church of Christ at Manor Woods in Rockville, Maryland, is where I began my Scouting adventure as a Cub Scout, and where I received my Arrow of Light. I knew I wanted to do a project that benefited the place where my journey as a Scout began. So I decided to help maintain and build seats for a fire pit at my church. My first step was to get approval for my project, but due to COVID-19, I had to get through lots of emails for approval. Then I had to figure out a way to get troop assistance for the project while abiding by social distancing regulations. Social distancing guidelines meant only a limited amount of people were allowed to be on-site at a time, which became the biggest obstacle. We set the project to be done over a three day period and have two families arrive every day for a two-hour block. Fortunately for me, I already began with strong numbers as my immediate family has six members who all wanted to help.

After completing this project I can say my favorite part would have to be finishing the initial pillars for the benches. I was also able to learn a lot about planning. COVID-19 required a lot of planning ahead for the project, knowing how to get materials to the site, what families would be on-site at a given time so they could social distance, and the amount of time the entire project would take. All these steps taught me a lot about the importance of creating a plan and doing your best to stick to it.

Building Bridges

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When Jacob of Troop 673 in Great Falls, VA, heard that a Girl Scout camp at a church near his house needed a bridge, he knew he wanted to help them out. So Jacob got to planning; he spoke to the Pastor and the groundskeeper and decided to build the bridge just above several wells that created a small pond behind the church. There were already a few bridges there, so they decided to relocate one of them to another stream and to replace it with a new one.

Unfortunately, like many of his fellow Eagle Scouts, COVID-19 delayed his plans. For a while, his supplies had been delayed in the mail. Then Jacob had to develop an entirely new plan to fit health and safety guidelines. Once his plan was good to go, Jacob got to work on the bridge. He enlisted the help Pack of 673 to build several birdhouses, and he received help from community volunteers and members of Troop 7 from Hendron, VA, which his sister is part of.

Now looking back at the project, Jacob told us, “I learned how to be a better leader and how to overcome setbacks and challenges. I had to interact with a lot of adults and fellow Scouts. I wasn’t confident in my ability to do that at first, but as the day went on, I felt more and more able to lead everyone.”