Leaders

Check Out This Inspiring Eagle Scout!

December 17, 2019 by Ana Schobitz

Meet Noah Harmon, an animal lover with a passion for his religion. For Noah’s Eagle project, he built an entire rosary garden for the St. Jude Catholic Church in Fredericksburg, VA. This huge task took Noah and his team of 62 volunteers almost six months to complete! The first steps of his project was the fundraising.

Noah raised $3,291.13 from selling mulch, popcorn, having two car washes, and from receiving several private donations. With the help of all his fundraising, Noah began his task of leading the physical labor. He had to dig about six inches into the ground and get rid of the many roots in the area. After clearing the area completely, Noah created the cement path, making religious shapes and phrases in a circle around the garden space.

The rosary garden included a large statue, several benches and a great deal of plants which were donated to Noah’s project. In a total of 345.5 hours, Noah and his team successfully built his rosary garden. Noah found that by “having confidence in [himself], and working hard,” he was able to create a beautiful, livable space for the church to enjoy.

Troop 159 Earned the Hornaday Unit Award

December 10, 2019 by The Scouter Digest Staff

Written by Scouts Corbett and Kendall

Troop 159 of Herndon, Virginia earned the prestigious Hornaday Unit Award by supporting a combined Hornaday Badge/Eagle project called START, led by a Scout in our Troop. We helped pull an invasive plant known as the Japanese stiltgrass from Frying Pan Farm Park, a local park in Herndon, near the place where our Troop meets.

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After 10 sessions of removal events that spanned 14 months, we replanted native species to help restore the park land. We also helped educate the public about the invasive stiltgrass, as well as the proper ways to remove and dispose of it.

Hornaday Awards are prestigious conservation awards named in honor of William T. Hornaday, a taxidermist at the Smithsonian who is credited with saving the American bison from extinction. The Hornaday Unit award requires 60% of the registered youth scouts of a unit to participate in a single, sustainable conservation project that addresses and remedies a well-defined environmental problem. Our participation was in support of John Foong’s project at Frying Pan Farm Park. The project was a combination of teaching the public about non-native, invasive plants and how to remove them from our community, as well as actively working to remove the plant, Japanese stiltgrass, from an area in the Park. This project was conducted in partnership with Fairfax County Park Authority’s Invasive Management Area (FCPA IMA) program.

For more information about Hornaday awards, https://www.ncacbsa.org/advancement/awards-and-recognition/hornaday/

Hornaday Project Earns Eagle Scout the County’s Most Prestigious Environmental Award

November 27, 2019 by Sara Holtz

Scout John Foong of Troop 159 in Powhatan District received the prestigious Sally Ormsby Environmental Stewardship Award from Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) for his outstanding environmental leadership while working toward his Hornaday Badge/Eagle project. He single-handedly orchestrated 9 work days over a two-year period during which approximately 310 volunteers worked more than 540 hours to pull about 250 bags of invasive plant Japanese stiltgrass from Frying Pan Farm Park. He also planted over 100 native plants in their place.

His volunteers came from 10 Fairfax County Public Schools, BSA, Girl Scouts, and Fairfax and Loudoun counties, and ranged in age from 5 to 80. He also educated the public at 13 public events including the park’s annual Farm Day, the county’s annual SpringFest, farmers markets, and his town’s monthly art events. These efforts earned him a BSA Hornaday Badge. Hornaday Awards were created to recognize those that have made significant contributions to conservation.

US Congressman Gerry Connolly presented the award to John at a ceremony attended by several Fairfax County Supervisors, members of the FCPA Board, members of the Fairfax County Park Foundation board, FCPA staff, local conservationists and environmentalists, and FCPA volunteers.

John’s project by the numbers:
13 education events
9 work days
~250 bags of stiltgrass
~310 volunteers
~540 service hours

John partnered with Fairfax County Park Authority’s Invasive Management Area (IMA) program, a community-based project designed to reduce invasive plants on our parklands. This program gives volunteers an opportunity to connect with like-minded people while taking care of natural resources.

The Sally Ormsby Environmental Stewardship Award was established by the Park Authority Board on November 14, 2007, in recognition of Sally B. Ormsby’s many years of service as a citizen steward. Her actions promoted the responsible and sustainable management of natural resources. These precious assets are entrusted to the Park Authority’s care by the residents of this community. Through stewardship we protect these treasures now and for generations to come. This award recognizes individuals and organizations whose actions embody the spirit and values of stewardship and result in tangible environmental benefits. The Sally Ormsby Environmental Stewardship Award is open to individuals and groups whose actions embody the spirit of environmental stewardship and provide tangible environmental benefits to Fairfax County parks.

Congratulations to John for this incredible achievement!

Photographer- Sara Holtz

Neighborhood Impact of Scouting for Food in Brookland by Pack and Troop 98

November 14, 2019 by Bryan Martin Firvida

Over the first two weekends of November, Scouts of St. Anthony of Padua’s Church of Pack and Troop 98 in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C. were busy participating in the annual “Scouting for Food” service project.

On the first day, the Scouts collected over 1,350 pounds of food donations for the St. Anthony’s Bread/St. Vincent de Paul Emergency Food Pantry. Check out these great before and after photos from Saturday morning.

If you want to learn more about scouting at St. Anthony’s visit www.bsa98dc.org

Hornaday Badge Project “Evicting the Invaders”

November 12, 2019 by Sara Holtz

Approximately 5000 sq ft of invasive plant on the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail.

Every Saturday and Sunday in October, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, college students, and neighborhood homeowners pulled invasive plants, primarily, pachysandra, from a section of the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail off Miller Heights Road in Oakton. Eli Edwards, a Scout in BSA Troop 987 led the project with support from Hornaday advisor Sara Holtz and sponsor Fairfax County Park Authority’s Invasive Management Area (IMA) program. Invasive plants are non-native, aggressive plants that cause ecological or economic harm and degrade our natural ecosystem.

99 volunteers worked 210 hours to remove 85 bags of invasive plants from the park land. The goal was to replace the pachysandra with native plants and trees. Volunteers planted white wood aster, hairy bush clover, American alumroot, trailing bush clover, dwarf cinquefoil, pussytoes, arrowleaf violet, common wood rush, Pennsylvania sedge, bluestem,

Replace invasive plant with 110 native plants and trees.

goldenrod, arrowwood viburnum, witch hazel, hazelnut trees, ironwood trees, and redbud trees. Eli created the plan for this project in order to earn the BSA Hornaday Badge. This award was created by Dr. William T. Hornaday who was a conservationist and is a prestigious award that requires a Scout to lead a conservation project, complete several merit badges, and meet rank requirements. By successfully completing this project he is one step closer to earning the Boy Scout Hornaday Badge. Eli encourages homeowners to remove any invasive plants in your yard and replace with native plants (see list above).

– Eli Edwards

Duty to God Interfaith Brunch Brings all Together

November 7, 2019 by The Scouter Digest Staff

On November 3rd, 2019 many gathered for the the Duty to God Interfaith Brunch, at the newly refreshed John Mosby Russell Interfaith Chapel at Camp Snyder to celebrate Scout Fellowship and Interfaith diagloue. The free event began with a model Interfaith Campfire Worship Service humbly led by Scouts. The brunch included a “Duty to God” youth seminar, presentations of youth and adult awards, the “A Scout is Reverent” midway featuring local faith-based sponsors of Scouting programs and special words from Keynote Speaker Brig. Gen. Ron Harvell, USAF, Deputy Chief of USAF Chaplains.