We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Scouting Programs

Pack 1530 earns Hornaday Unit Award

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by Sara Holtz, Hornaday Adviser

Pack 1530 in Powhatan District earned the prestigious William T. Hornaday Unit Award, one of several awards that honor William T. Hornaday, the head taxidermist at the Smithsonian who helped establish the National Zoo, and was the first Director of what is today known as the Bronx Zoo. He is widely credited with saving the American bison from extinction.

Units earn the Hornaday Unit award when at least 60% of registered youth participate in a substantial conservation project that meets the rigorous standards of the Hornaday program.

Pack 1530 participated in an invasive species control project led by Boy Scout John H. of Troop 159, who is working towards the coveted Hornaday Badge. The project address the growth of Japanese stiltgrass as an invasive species at Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon, Virginia. Japanese stiltgrass is considered a highly invasive plant because it is not native, spreads aggressively, and crowds out native plants. John’s project aims to manually remove stiltgrass from an area identified by Frying Pan Farm Park staff, planting of native grasses and plants in their place, and future use of that area for educational purposes with youth visitors to the Park.

“Unusual prizes are won only by unusual service”
-Dr. William T. Hornaday

Pack 1530’s Cub Scouts, parents, siblings, and alumni participated in 5 work days in August and September at the Park to pull Japanese stiltgrass. Pack 1530 also helped educate the public about the project and about invasive plant control by having a booth at their school’s Open House in August. They will continue to participate in this project by volunteering in subsequent phases to replace invasive stiltgrass with native species, which will help ensure sustainability of the project.

For more information about William T. Hornaday awards in NCAC, go to www.NCACBSA.org/Hornaday. Our council’s Conservation Committee includes more than  20 Hornaday Advisers who are ready to assist Scouts and units in pursuing significant conservation projects to earn Hornaday awards.

Don’t see an adviser in your District? Contact Conservation Committee Chair Will Rodger through the webpage and he’ll help you find someone!

Summer at Sea

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Summer 2019 brought high adventure on the high seas for a number of Sea Scouts and their Scouts BSA brothers who came along for the fun.

First out of the harbor were Ships 100, 125, and 7916, joined by guests from Troop 884 in NCAC and Troop 75 from Piedmont Council in North Carolina.  They traveled to the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands to conduct a week of extreme sailing in the best sailing waters of the world, explore the reefs, and conduct a research project on an invasive reef grass species known as halophila stipulacea.

Departing in the afternoon of Day 1, they launched a 43ft 2017 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey, a 45ft 2016 Beneteau Oceanis, and a 48ft 2018 Beneteau Oceanis.  The experience of the boats alone was enough to make the trip, as these were some of the nicest boats available – with folding swim platforms that raised and lowered for easy access off the back of the boat, in-port airconditioning, and bright, clean bathrooms – or “heads” as they’re known. 

The week took them from Tortola, to Norman Island where the story “Treasure Island” was supposedly based and where Blackbeard hid his treasure over two centuries ago.  Much to the scouts’ dismay, locals long since found (and distributed) the remains of all Pirate Treasure.  The next morning they explored by swimming in the shallow caves at the southern tip of the island.  Thankfully for the adults, the caves were not so deep as to risk anyone getting lost.  From Norman Island, they circled around Peter Island, carefully crossing 8ft waves with reefed sails and 25kt winds. 

By day three they had arrived at “The Baths” a natural rock formation off the southern tip of Virgin Gorda which makes for amazing hikes and swimming.  They anchored off the cost of Prickly Pear Island and watched the sun set over the western Caribbean.  From Virgin Gorda, they turned west toward Great Caminoe Island and the famous Marina Cay.  Here they discovered the best snorkeling of the week at Diamond Cay.  Despite the immense damage done to the reefs from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, this secluded reef was still very much vibrant with tangs, wrasses, damsels, gobys, angels and other fish.  The fan corals had recovered and there were signs of growth amongst the brain coral.  They celebrated mid week with a dinner at Pussers Marina Cay.

Day 4 brought the Dominion Regatta where all 3 boats were to sail from Great Camanoe to Jost Van Dyke.  Separated by PHRF (Performance Handicap Racing Formulas) the sail was a test of teamwork with three different yachts under the command of three different youth captains.  (But carefully supervised by the prescribed adults.  These are $300,000 boats after all!)

After a tiring week, they pulled into home port, turned over the helm to their fleet and headed back to U.S. waters.

But the adventure was not over!  As these scouts arrived back safely on US ground, the next group departed for a week around the Chesapeake Bay.  Ships 1927, 548, 100, as well as Troops 1188 and 1182 cast off the bowlines at Maryland Yacht Club.  Sailing the Sea Scout flagship SSTV der Pelikan, a 46ft Morgan Ketch, they headed to Baltimore Inner Harbor where the scouts explored the historic port, home to the USS Constellation – a fully rigged 18th Century sailing barque.  From there they turned southward to Annapolis, picking up a mooring ball for the night and going in to experience the night sounds and experiences in one of America’s premier sailing towns, as well as home to the US Naval Academy.  Despite torrential rains, they turned west and headed to St. Michaels and the Eastern Shore.  By the end of a tiring week, 8 wobbly scouts returned to Pasadena, Maryland to find their land legs again.  Each scout had completed their “Boaters License” as it is colloquially named – the Boater Training Certificate from the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, which allows them to legally operate a boat in the United States.

Long Cruise is a 7-14 day maritime experience, and serves as “summer camp” for Sea Scouts.  It is an important part of the Sea Scout program and provides leadership and maritime skills which last a lifetime.

For more information on Sea Scouting in the NCAC, email ncac@seascout.org.

Recruit More Scouts: Cancel Your Troop Open House

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Want to recruit more youth to your troop? Don’t hold a “troop open house.” Sure, it is one of the three key recruiting methods – But, I say don’t do it.

Why? Put yourself in the shoes of a 10-year old child. The words “open house” represent that night each year when mom or dad head to school to talk to their teachers. And, the last thing most youth want to do after six hours enclosed in the cinderblock walls of learning is to volunteer themselves for another 90-minutes of anything that sounds remotely like school.

So now what? Hold an event and call it anything other than an open house. Be creative and tap into the talents of your troop. Do something that will excite your membership – current and future – so you can showcase the energy of all of your unit membership.

Be wary of static displays that provide nothing for the Webelos to do. Punch up “Ye olde campsite display” with well-done campfire program and you have the beginning of a successful not-a-troop-open-house. Add some hands-on Dutch oven cobbler preparation and you’ll have an event that makes me, um, I mean my Webelos want to join your troop!

Lima Scouts Sojourn to Camp Olmstead

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A contingent of Scouts and leaders from Troop 5 in Lima, Peru attended Camp Olmsted this past summer. Scouts and leaders traveled from 4 different countries to enjoy a week at summer camp during their winter break in the US before going back to school. Highlights of the week were rifle and shot gun shooting, sailing on Lake Merriweather and the Olmsted Olympics. The contingent enjoyed meet-ing Scouts from the US, Scouts with ties to Peru living in the US, and Zack our Staff Guide from Bogota Columbia. The three Scouts earned 16 merit badges and one attended the Trailhead Program. Plans are being made for a larger contingent next summer and a return to Camp Olmsted.

 

Pack 196 Hosts Cookout

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Piedmont Pack 196, chartered by St. Lukes Lutheran Church and School, is a family pack out of Culpeper, VA, and started their year off with an amazing cook out! This is a yearly event, in August, that welcomes returning and new families with plenty of fun activities and food. The Cub Scouts built and decorated raingutter regatta boats and rockets and then had a blast racing their boats against one another and shooting rockets with a compressed air launcher. All the youth had a great time getting to know their new den leaders and members and even welcomed their first girl dens!

Post 1010 Competes in Engineering Challenge

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Explorer Post 1010 annually competes in four engineering challenges – FIRST Tech Robotics (FTC), Team America Rocketry (TARC), Botball Robotics, and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). This year, all four teams did well in local and regional events, making it to the highest level tournaments in their respective competition. In April, the FTC team travelled to the world championship in Detroit, Michigan. The TARC teams competed in the national championship in May in The Plains, Virginia. In July the Botball team travelled to Indian Wells, California to compete in the global Botball tournament. And finally in August, the drone team competed in the national UAS competition in Muncie, Indiana. It was a great year for growth, opportunity, and fun. Many of the leaders went off to college in September, so it looks like 2019 will be a rebuilding year. See more at their website: http://post1010.org.