Home.16 December 2001
Greetings to All. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Did you know that my *house* has a 60 year history with Troop 111? It's true! I learned this when I was doing the research for the Troop's 50th Anniversary Reunion Celebration back in 1989 and 1990. The Slater family were the original owners, and their two sons were both Troop 111 Scouts during the stretch from about 1941 to 1945. Terry Slater sold the house to Paul and Suzanne Nolan and I in 1980. I left from 1988 to 1993 for a smaller residence over on N. 16th Street, which is where I was recruited as Scoutmaster within a few weeks of my arrival - also where I met Larry H., Rich S., and Dave N. (now Scout Master of Troop 149); they lived 3 houses away. I returned here in August 1993, when Paul and Suzanne moved to a larger residence over on N. 17th Street. So I guess it was just karma, huh?
Casey S. has decided to withdraw from Scouts to pursue other interests; he leaves just short of Second Class rank. Good Luck!
Once again, we start off with "Highest Priority" News: Steven Sean Strasburg - completed his marathon on November 14th, 2001, becoming the Troop's 79th Eagle Scout (and our 15th pair of brothers, following in Mike's footsteps (#65)). Steven's Honor Roll:
OUT OF SCOUTING ACTIVITIES
Athletics
Youth Group Activities
Civic Activities
Work
Steven's Eagle Project was an extensive trail renewal effort at Upton Hills Regional Park (Arlington), taking about 400 man-hours to complete. A very badly needed project; other than Adam Smith's project in 2000, the trails at Upton Hills have been neglected for (too) many years.
Steven is interested in majoring in electrical engineering at George Mason University.
...and lest we forget, "Happy 18th Birthday, Steven!"
Thanks to the Board of Review members Dan Creedon, Hank Dettmar, Carl Doughman, and Jim Smith. ----------------------------------
In other Advancement News, Max D. earned Golf Merit Badge, and Michael D., Ian H., John K., and JJ T. all finished their First Class Practical Exams.
Congratulations to all the above Scouts!
This marked the end of quite an advancement session: The Troop has awarded 3 Eagles, 6 other rank advancements, 193 merit badges, 8 50-Miler Awards, and nearly 100 other special Scouting Awards since the Spring Court of Honor (last May).
This weekend marks our Annual Poinsettia and Christmas Wreath Sale (which, believe it or not, pre-dates even me in Troop history!) On Saturday, December 8th, we'll be participating in our third straight Baltimore Orienteering Day - an event which Ted G. declares to be the finest one-day Scouting event he has ever seen. On December 10th, the regular Troop meeting will be followed by the New Skier/New Snowboarder Orientation Night (starting about 8:15 and running til about 9pm); all new skiers and new snowboarders must attend. On Monday, December 17th, we will be holding a "end-of-the-year" pizza party, starting at 6:30. Mark S. will be giving an electronic show of our Wind River Range trip in Wyoming this past summer. Families are invited; no uniforms. Finally, on Thursday, December 27th, we'll have our New Skier/New Snowboarder trip to Whitetail Resort in Mercersberg, Pennsylvania.
Corrections "for the Record": Ian H. also participated in the Marine Corps Marathon Service Project. Eric W. had completed his Trimester Activity requirement.
On November 2nd and 3rd, we headed up towards Martinsburg, WV, for our annual caving trip - this time to Whiting's Neck and Indian River caves. Although the weather forecast was for "decent quickly deteriorating to not so decent," in fact in turned out to be a really pleasant weekend. We started out under mostly sunny skies and near 80 degree temperatures on Friday afternoon, and even though had a later than usual departure from the Parish Center, we were out the Toll Road and Greenway in short order, grabbing dinner in Winchester just around dusk. Of note, the Order of the Arrow Ceremonies Team that was handling the Chain Bridge District O/A Ordeal was also at the Burger King in Winchester; they all knew Brad Jones, of course. After dinner, it was a quick run up to Williamsport, MD, for a night at the "Snug Harbor" KOA, a Winnebago ghetto right on Conococheague Creek. Despite the fire-ban in effect, at least a dozen campfires were going all around the park (we, however, adhered to the ban). After setup in the dark, we headed out on a short night hike over a nearby ridge, enjoying a quasi-campfire program near the top, featuring a ghost story from Rich S., the "Dear Boss" solliloquy from me, and several truly tasteless jokes from a couple of the Scouts. Well it was fun, anyway, and made up for the lack of a fire. Back at camp, the Scouts hung out in a group for quiet storytelling til 11:00, and we hit the rack. A beautiful star-lit night, with an amazingly warm breeze still blowing gently from the southwest - probably 70 degrees. Wonderful sleeping weather (not that I did, of course!) As predicted, a half-dozen light showers came through between 1:30am and 6am.
Saturday - dawned mostly sunny and still quite warm, making us wonder if the ominous forecast was just flat-out wrong - not that we were complaining mind you! After a leisurely breakfast and lunch-making session, we spent an hour or so getting all our caving gear together. Of note, a large, multi-family group in the next campsite over told me that they had never seen such a quiet and well-behaved Scout group - my, my, that IS scary! They agreed to keep an eye on the campsite while we were gone. We headed down to "Beddington Crossroads" in West Virginia (just north of Martinsburg) in growing sunshine and heat, and linked up with our guides (Dick Robinson and Bob McIntyre) around 9:40 or so. Then it was off to Whitings Neck, an isolated pennisula in a loop of the Potomac River about 5 miles from Beddington Crossroads. As noted above, there are 2 caves here: Whitings Neck and Indian River. Whitings Neck is the more difficult of the two, requiring entry through a sinkhole and (later) a 20 foot rappel inside the cave. We divided the group in two, with Doug D. and I taking the less experienced group down to Indian River, and Rich S. and Hugh S. taking the more experienced group into Whitings Neck.
The entrance to Indian River Cave sits just above the Potomac River - a spectacular sight on this sunny fall day. The cave itself is quite simple, basically a 150 foot passageway straight back which eventually narrowed to an impassable crawl, plus some larger rooms above the entranceway. A few hibernating bats kept us company, as we spent about an hour and 15 minutes exploring. Then everyone exited for lunch with a river view, including several fishing boats and a flock of Canadians. Just as we were finishing up, the Whiting's Neck Crew showed up, having gone through that cave quite quickly. So we spent another 15 minutes together, then the younger group headed up to Whitings Neck, while the older group stuck around to explore Indian River. Inside Whitings Neck, it took us a bit longer to complete the rappelling descent, and just as we were getting ready to proceed, here came the older group the other way (they came in the easy entrance after finishing up with Indian River Cave). So quite a traffic jam for about 10 minutes. After that, a fairly quick but still interesting journey back out to the easy entrance, including two ladder climbs, exiting to painfully brilliant sunshine and now quite warm temperatures (maybe 80 degrees???) The older group exited out through the sinkhole. After a complete change out of our caving clothes (not nearly as dirty as expected), we thanked our guides and headed back to the KOA. A good day!
Back at camp, we attacked our leftover snacks and drinks (everyone was pretty dehydrated), then broke down camp completely. It was still beautiful out, and we considered sticking around for the night - but decided against it since we had already notified the parents we were returning later that evening. Packup was done by 4:00, so everyone got an hour's worth of free time playing volleyball and otherwise having a good time on the camp playground. At 5:00, we got an excellent spaghetti and meatballs dinner from the camp (salad, garlic bread, drinks, and ice cream all included; very good deal). Just as we were finishing up, the camp staff asked if we would like to see their Haunted House - to which of course we enthusiastically agreed! Well let me tell you, folks, there are haunted houses, and then there are haunted houses! - and this was the best any of us had ever seen. The camp staff actually gets done up in costume and occupies the house (a quite large, two story affair), and they really do an excellent job with it, lunging out of nowhere at the most unexpected moments and otherwise scaring the bejeebers out of you. [I was OK til the guy came at me out of the ceiling.] They claimed that it was routine for people to wet their pants (adults, teenagers, and children all), and I can believe it. They put over 2,000 people through the house (at $7 per) during the last 2 weeks of October; that's how popular it is (and we got it for free!) Well a great time was had by all (and no wet pants), and we exited after thanking the staff for giving us a special tour. By this point, it had gotten suprisingly chill outside, with a bitter wind wafting down from the north (appropriate for a haunted house), and we were thinking that maybe this Saturday night return wasn't such a bad idea after all. After a group toiety, we hit the road, arriving back in Arlington around 8:30. A great weekend!
Participants included: Luke B., Tom C., Drew D., Ray D., Michael D., Ross D., Matt G., Dan H., William L., Anthony M., Patrick O., Nathan P., Dale R., Thomas S., Carl S., Neil S., Mark T., Patrick W., and adults Doug D., Hugh S., Rich S., and yours truly. Thanks also to Jim W. for driving duties. Congratulations to Carl "Mountain" S., who completed his Life Practical Exam with this event.
Over the first 2 weekends in November, the Troop participated in our 14th straight Annual Scouting for Food Drive. On Saturday, November 3rd, about 30 (non-caving) Scouts fanned out to distribute bags to homes over a swath of North Arlington running from Yorktown High School all the way to the western edge of Lyons Village. This year, we counted the leftover bags and flyers - and to our surprise, it turns out we have been distributing nearly 2,000 bags - not the 1,400 we had previously estimated. On Wednesday, about 8 of us installed reminder signs all around our area (and reinstalled more on Thursday and Friday, after the unexpected windstorm). On collection Saturday, a fresh Crew of 30 more Scouts hit the streets and gathered up many hundreds of bags of donated food, Toys for Tots, and worn-out American Flags for retirement. Experienced drivers noted that we seemed to be doing about the same or a little better than last year, plus we added about 200 more houses this year, so Bill, Puddy, and I are estimating that we collected about 6,000 pounds of food. It's hard to know without actually counting the items, but most of our vehicles showed up at Westover looking like they were on their springs. An amazing day, and a wonderful reflection of the generosity of the local community after 9/11.
Overall, we (as a District) delivered more than 47,000 lbs of food to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC); the final total will be even higher. This is already 9,000 pounds more than last year, and represents a new District record. The total amount collected is expected to be nearly a 6 month supply for AFAC. In addition, several Chain Bridge District Units in McLean also delivered about 7,160 pounds of food donations to Food For Others (FFO) in Fairfax; this makes over 54,000 pounds collected in all, by about 45 Units, and will beat the previous District record by at least 12,500 pounds. In addition, we collected about 200 Toys for Tots, plus 22 American Flags for Retirement. Thanks again to one and all who participated - We Make A Difference!
Virtually every single Scout in the Troop participated. Thanks especially to Luke B., Max D., Ross D., Todd G., William L., Stefan N., and Steven S., all of whom put in extra time at Westover and/or at AFAC. Thanks also to this year's Scouting for Food Coordinators, Bill N. and Puddy B. (and Rob B. also, for his extensive efforts on the District level).
On Friday, November 23rd, we held our annual "Turkey Hike," this year to Signal Knob (at the northern tip of the Massanutten Range, between Front Royal and Strasburg). Our string of luck with the wekkend weather continued; it was simply a spectacular day - sunny and warm. Amazing for late November.
As always, this one got an early start, with a 6:30 assembly at St. Agnes and a 6:45 departure. Although we had 4 dropouts, there were also 5 late additions, and we ended up with 33 hikers and 2 dogs - if not a record, close to it. We pulled into Elizabeth Furnace around 8:10 or so, with our only company being several small groups of hunters. Surprsingly, it was bitter cold in the parking lot, and despite the admonitions of the experienced hikers, many members of the crew put their heavy coats on (they would soon be carrying them, for the rest of the day). We left at almost exactly 8:30, and started up the direct trail to Signal Knob, about a 4 mile hike. Within 10 minutes, we were in bright sunshine; that and the ever upward slope had us all shedding gear in short order. Our first packs-off break was after Buzzard Rocks Overlook, where we taught all our visitors how to caterpillar (our first effort on the way up the hill hadn't worked too well). As we approached and finally crested the top of the ridge, we were treated to great views, a panorama that shifted with each passing minute. "Here and there" views of the ever-closer Signal Knob radio tower showed the remaining distance, and spurred us on. We pulled in at 11:05, and had the place to ourselves. Everyone spread out on the overlooking rocks for lunch and to enjoy the spectacular view. Although there was still some light haziness, you could see at least 25 miles.
At 11:45 we called it a view and started our return. In order to give the Scouts a qualifying 10 mile hike (5 such are needed for the Hiking Merit Badge, along with a 20 miler), we completed a circuit hike using the radio tower access road, then the Big Blue Trail back to Elizabeth Furnance. We did run into several other groups of hikers on the Big Blue, including 2 mountain bikers. Not as many views, but a very pleasant hike nonetheless. Finally pulled into the parking lot at 3:15. After a massive munchies break at a 7-11 in Front Royal, home at 4:45. One of our best Turkey Hikes in memory.
Participants included Scouts Zachary A., Matthew C., Patrick D., Drew D., Kenny E., David G., Matt G., Anthony M., Stefan N., John P., Dale R., Carl S., and Eric W., friends Siobhan D., Grace F., Ashley H., Jesse and Nora P., Sara R., Sarah W., and Zack's two Dalmations, and adults Russ A., Tom D., Ron E., Lourdes and Mark M., Pat P., Barb R., Hugh S., Ryan S., Atom S., Chris and Rick W., and yours truly.
- Dr. Bob, Scoutmaster
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