We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Scouts BSA

Annual Scouts to the Rescue! Training in Patuxent District

by

    Last Saturday 85+ Scouts and Scouters from Packs and Troops in Patuxent District came together to learn and practice Search and Rescue, First Aid, and Emergency Management skills at the annual “Scouts to the Rescue!” training.

Prince Georges County Community Emergency Response Team members, Charles County and Prince Georges County EMS providers and firefighters, a Prince Georges County Police Department K9, and a Helicopter from the Maryland State Police joined the Scouts at the American Legion Youth Camp in Cheltenham, MD to contribute a wide variety of skills and equipment for the training.

Scouts completed round robin classes in the morning covering topics that included the Incident Command System, Hurry Cases, Major and Minor Injury Treatment, Rescue Techniques, Radio Use, Backboarding, and First Responder Careers and Skills. The afternoon was a practical exercise with the Scouts using their new knowledge to find and treat simulated victims of a campsite flooding scenario. Community EMS partners completed intake of “victims” delivered to them from Scouts and helped evaluated Scouts’ First Aid efforts.

Keep your eyes open for next years event.

Ashburn’s Troop 58 Helps Pack 100,000 Meals

by

For the fourth year in a row, Ashburn’s Troop 58 supported the annual Cross Catholic Outreach’s You(th) vs Hunger event at St. Theresa Catholic Church on March 16. Over the course of the day volunteers packed 100,000 rice meals! Troop 58 Scouts were onsite from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM acting as the hub of the operation delivering and refilling rice, beans, soy, dried vegetables and vitamins to the stations to be measured and weighed to make individual bags of a complete meal. As each box was filled with meals the Scouts hauled it outside using dollies to stack on a pallet. Once each pallet was full, they wrapped it in plastic to prepare it for shipping. The meals will be shipped to those in need in Haiti, Guatemala and other countries the ministry serves. More than twenty Scouts from Troop 58 participated in the event under the leadership of Troop Chaplain, Allen Shen and Chaplain Aide, Charlie McClelland. Over 400 volunteers were needed in total for the day.

BSA Troop 58 is chartered by St. David’s Episcopal Church in Ashburn, Virginia, and meets at the Ashburn Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM. For more information, please visit the following websites: http://troop58ashburn.camp; https://sainttheresaparish.com/activity/youth-vs-hunger/; http://www.sdlife.org/; https://ashburnfirerescue.org/.

Local Eagle Scout Wins $1,000 Eagles-Only Award In Leadership / American History Competition

by

Northern Virginia Eagle Scout Matthew Lawley of Herndon (Troop 157) was awarded $1,000 in a Leadership / American History statewide competition held in Richmond February 9th sponsored by the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (VASSAR). All current Eagles and aspiring Eagles should pay attention to this program for the coming year as this is a program limited to Eagle Scouts.

Matthew had first won the competition at the local chapter level competition sponsored by the Fairfax Resolves Chapter (http://fairfaxresolvessar.org/) (Fairfax and Loudoun county areas VA) of the Sons of the American Revolution. There are 28 Virginia SAR chapters eligible to participate in this annual competition. Matthew will now move forward to the national competition to be held this summer in Costa Mesa, CA which provides a top award of $10,000 and lesser amounts for second ($6,000) and third ($4,000) place.

Eagle Scout Matthew Lawley won the Arthur M. and Berdena King Eagle Scout competition by submitting an impressive application documenting the leadership he has already shown in his young life through scouting, in the community and through his church. The Eagle Scout competition consists of an application reflecting accomplishment, a four generation genealogy chart of the Scout’s family and a 500 word patriotic themed essay related to the revolutionary war. The competition is open to all Eagle Scouts under the age of 19. The SAR gives extra credit to those applicants that have secured the American Heritage, Law and Genealogy merit badges. Matthew had all three of these badges. For his essay, Matthew wrote a persuasive argument as to the need to have a monument to John Adams in Washington, D.C. John Adams is one of the few founding presidents not so memorialized.

The SAR sponsors a range of competitive educational programs for youth (4th through 12th grades) to enhance their understanding of the founding principles of our nation and the role the Revolutionary War played in establishing our freedom (https://www.sar.org/education/youth-contests-and-awards). There is no requirement for Revolutionary War ancestry in order to compete.

Colonial Unit in Action: Troop 996 DC Tour and Lock-in

by

Submitted by Troop Scribe Scott R. and Senior Patrol Leader Teddy G. Troop 996 is chartered by Aldersgate United Methodist Church

The Scouts of Troop 996, chartered by Aldersgate United Methodist Church, chose to tour the Nation’s Capital and hold a lock-in for their January event. The event was planned by Star Scout Aiden H., with adult assistance. On Saturday January 26th, Troop 996 gathered for a fun-filled day that began at the Pentagon, where scouts learned about the history of the facility and the U.S. military. The Troop also visited the Hall of Heroes, which is a room dedicated to all of the Medal of Honor recipients. The tour ended after visiting 9-11 memorials and hearing first-hand accounts from that day.

After touring the Pentagon, the Troop departed for the District of Columbia to enjoy lunch at the National Law Enforcement Memorial and tour the brand-new National Law Enforcement Museum. The Troop split into patrols for STEM-focused guided tours. Following the tour, the Troop explored independently and learned about bullet proof vests, new police cars, fingerprinting, SWAT takedowns, and lots of other cool stuff. In the museum, they even had a real patrol car that Scouts could sit in.

After touring the museum, the Troop visited Arlington National Cemetery. The Troop was led on a tour by Mr. Tom Schultz, a representative from DC Military Tours. The Troop respectfully observed the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and witnessed a very moving ceremony, a changing of the Guard, and a wreath laying. This tomb has been guarded every minute of every day by the Old Guard since 1937.

Following the tours, the Troop returned to Aldersgate United Methodist Church for dinner and an evening of camaraderie and friendship playing board games and cards – without electronics.

Big thanks to Mr. Hicks for our Pentagon Tour and Mr. Schultz for the tour of Arlington National Cemetery.