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Reflections on a Scouting Legacy

October 30, 2018 by The Scouter Digest Staff

Our outgoing Scout Executive Les Baron helped grow Scouting in many ways, but one of his strongest legacies is in his work to grow our Council’s endowment. In January 2014 our Council was awarded a matching grant from the Cecil and Irene Hylton Foundation, $2.5M of which was earmarked for our endowment fund. Les immediately took the precaution of meeting with the Endowment Team over blueberry pancakes to lay out our plan of attack and to mobilize members – his inspiration and experience were everywhere and he always kept a steady hand on the helm!

Fast forward 4 ½ years. By April of this year Les had already led us to achieve several milestones – the endowment matching grant was completed 8 months early; the endowment fund more than doubled, reaching $13M; over 170 Camperships and 400 Scoutreach Scholarships were awarded in each of the past three years; and over $160K was earmarked for top-priority camp maintenance from endowment fund interest…oh, yes, and a debt-free Council!

Les’ impact reaches far beyond donors and checks – he taught us that Endowment isn’t just fundraising, but maintaining genuine long term relationships with all our Supporters–with Scouts, Scouters, parents, colleagues, professionals and friends. He knows that 1,520 Eagle Scout Awards earned annually make a powerful force for citizenship and leadership in our communities, and that Family Scouting today puts our Nation in capable hands tomorrow. Les understands that making Scouts “Prepared. For Life” with sound values, moral compasses, and training to make ethical decisions is the best investment we can ever make in our youth!

Across his career in Scouting, Les built his solid Legacy for future generations and we know we are better citizens because of his leadership! Thanks, Les, for showing us how to make the perfect cast, to lead those clay pigeons and to keep our priorities straight!

Godspeed, Les and Kim!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Endowment

Troop 544 Honors Five Eagle Scouts

October 30, 2018 by The Scouter Digest Staff

Scouts from left to right: Campbell James Wilson, Elmer Douglass Ellis, Jr., Columbus Jared Giles, James Omar Dorman, and Ian Groom

At the end of July, Troop 544, chartered by Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., hosted an Eagle Court of Honor to jointly recognize the accomplishments of five of their Scouts who had recently completed the journey to earning the rank of Eagle Scout.

“Troop 544 is honored to recognize five distinguished Scouts who have recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout,” said Robert Simpson, Scoutmaster of Troop 544. “Their accomplishments highlight Troop 544’s proud lineage of Eagle Scouts which now stands at 49. As one of the first African American Boy Scout Troops in the country, with over 86 years in Scouting at Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ, we are proud to celebrate this historic event.”

Columbus “Jared” Giles became an Eagle Scout in February 2016, with Bronze, Gold, and Silver Eagle Palms, and is a member of the Order of the Arrow. He recently graduated from Blyth-Templeton Academy in Washington, D.C. and this fall began his studies to become a clinical psychologist.

For his Eagle Scout service project, Jared planned, designed, and supervised the construction of three weather stations, all of which were donated to Stoddert Elementary School in D.C.

Campbell Wilson became an Eagle Scout in August 2016, and is a member of the Order of the Arrow. Campbell currently attends a college prep program at the Gow School in Buffalo, New York.

For his Eagle Scout service project, Campbell oversaw the building of a retaining wall to stem the erosion of the garden walls into Sligo Creek to benefit his neighborhood community garden.

Ian Hunter Michael Groom became an Eagle Scout in July 2017. He graduated with honors in June 2018 from St. John’s College High School (SJC) in Washington, D.C., and was inducted into the National Honor Society in September 2016. He is attending Hampton University on an academic and athletic scholarship.

For his Eagle Scout service project, Ian worked with the non-profit Sole4Souls and organized a shoe drive to collect 750 gently used pair of shoes, and then worked to transport the collected shoes to Sole4Souls central distribution center in Nashville, TN.

James “Omar” Dorman became an Eagle Scout in May 2018, and is a member of the Order of the Arrow. He graduated from Georgetown Day School and currently attends the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

For his Eagle Scout service project, Omar planned a book drive for children in Africa, working with non-profit organization that supplies books to libraries and orphanages in Africa, he collected approximately 1,000 books from his neighborhood, school, and church.

Filed Under: Scouting Programs, Uncategorized Tagged With: Washington DC

Family Scouting: Scouts BSA New Troop Start-up Seminar November 17

October 30, 2018 by The Scouter Digest Staff

Scouts sitting around campsite

The air is getting colder and that can only mean one thing – there are just a few months left until girls can officially join Scouts BSA!

New troops – and new female Scouts – can begin registering on February 1, 2019. Don’t let the paperwork slow them down on their Trail to Eagle.

Join us on November 17, 9am – 10am, at the Marriott Scout Service Center (9190 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814) to learn what you can be doing today so your new troop can hit the ground running next year.

Featured topics will include:

  • Steps to Start a Troop
  • Training Opportunities
  • Program Planning
  • Camping
  • Recruiting
  • Where to Go for Support
  • Best Practices from Other Leaders

RSVP to Janee.Ellis@Scouting.org.

Filed Under: Scouting Programs, Uncategorized

Troop 1094 Scouters Clean Vietnam Wall

October 30, 2018 by The Scouter Digest Staff

Early Saturday, September 22 at 6:30 am, long before the tourists arrive, Troop 1094 (chartered out of Darnestown, MD) Scouts undertook the solemn duty of cleaning the Vietnam Memorial Wall to show reverence to the more than 58.000 names of people who gave their lives for freedom. The Vietnam Wall, a US national memorial, honors service member of the US Armed Forces who fought in the Vietnam War, including service members who died, and those service members who were unaccounted for (MIA) during the war.

Although cleaning the wall is a time of respect, the Scouts also demonstrated great camaraderie, sharing hoses, buckets, and scrub brushes with the NAM KNIGHTS MC IMMORTAL 400 Chapter, MD, who shared in the event with the Scouts.

The work took less than an hour. Afterwards US Park Ranger Mark Morse spoke to the Scouts about the history of the wall and the significance of keeping the black granite polished. Park Ranger Morse explained that making the wall have a mirror effect symbolically brings the past and present together. “The wall is part of the healing process for so many families, whose loved ones never came home”, Park Ranger Morse explained to the Scouts.

US Park Service makes the cleaning schedule available early in spring. Contact Park Ranger Mark Morse at mark_morse@nps.gov for information.

 

Filed Under: Scouting Programs, Uncategorized Tagged With: Seneca

Pack 1530 earns Hornaday Unit Award

October 30, 2018 by The Scouter Digest Staff

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!

Filed Under: Scouting Programs, Uncategorized Tagged With: Powhatan

Recruit More Scouts: Cancel Your Troop Open House

October 30, 2018 by The Scouter Digest Staff

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!

Filed Under: Scouting Programs, Uncategorized Tagged With: Bull Run

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