Greetings to All. Happy Mother's Day!

This past month marked the Eighth Annual Projectoree. Did you know that the impetus for the Projectorees were Troop 111 Scouts? In 1994, the PLC from 111, led by John Brady (Eagle Scout #48) and Geoff Evans (Eagle Scout #45), "firmly" informed me that the Troop would no longer attend any more Patawomeck District Camporees - or any other camporees, for that matter, due to our Scouts' general disenchantment with the camporee format and program. So I responded by asking if they would attend a camporee-like event if "we" (Troop 111 and several neighboring Troops) put it on. Somewhat surprised (I think), they agreed that they would attend such an event. This fell right in line with an ongoing discussion between myself and several other local leaders (notably Greg Butera, ASM-149, and John Haller, SM-647) on creating a cooperative "neighborhood" campout. Troops 106, 162, 167, and 638 joined in, and thus was born the first (1995) "North Arlington Projectoree". In June 1998, Patawomeck District (the largest District in the country at that time, with nearly 10,000 Scouts) was divided into four new Districts, including our "Chain Bridge" District, and the Fifth "North Arlington Projectoree" became the First "Chain Bridge Projectoree". This latest Projectoree was our largest ever, with an estimated 350 attendees from 14 attending Troops.

Michael S., a Fifth Grader at St. Agnes, joined just before the Projectoree (which he attended); Welcome! He has joined the Burning Pants Patrol.

Troop 111 took four ribbons at the just concluded Eighth Annual Projectoree. The Burning Pants took 3rd, Snake Eyes took 4th, Scooters took 5th, and Spectre took 8th, out of 29 competing Patrols. The Troop also took first place in the Scoutmaster's Chariot Race. Also of note, Al M. took 1,140th and yours truly 1,142nd out of approximately 4,500 marchers at the Bataan Death March 60th Anniversary Memorial Hike. More on both events, below. Finally, Charles B., Dan H., and Stefan N. are all just about done with their Eagle Projects and writeups (Thanks to One and All who Assisted!)

Advancing in rank at the April Board of Review were: Zachary A. (TF), Jack B. (TF), Tom C. (2nd), Michael C. (2nd), Drew DeL. (2nd), Kyle F. (TF), Peter F. (TF), Charlie S. (1st), and Jimmy S. (2nd). Also earning Merit Badges in April: Luke B. (Wilderness Survival), Ross D. (Personal Fitness), Pete F. (Woodvarving), David G. (Citizenship in the Nation), Dan H. (Family Life), Will K. (Family Life), Stefan N. (Lifesaving), and Paolo R. (Lifesaving).

Congratulations to all the above Scouts!

As of today, the Troop had already completed two May activities - the First Philmont Shakedown overnighter, and the Philmont Service Project. Both will appear in the May "Minute". The remaining upcoming activity in May is the Lehigh River Whitewater Rafting trip, this upcoming weekend.

On April 6th and 7th, ASM Hugh S. and yours truly headed out to Camp Snyder (the new Boy Scout camp near Haymarket) for Council-run Philmont training. Although this wasn't mandatory, and both Hugh and I needed this training like a hole in the head, you never know what you'll pick up. Maybe more importantly, both of us were able to provide plenty of off-line commentary to supplement the instructors' lectures - which in a lot of cases was probably better received, because (as we do in our module instruction) we tried to give the "whys" and not just the "hows". Unfortunately, (you may remember) that first weekend in April was extremely windy and quite cold, so a bit tough to stand outside half the day (and it was interesting to note how many of the Scouters in attendance were unprepared for the conditions). About 16 of the 75 or so attendees elected to spend the night, including Hugh and I, in a wooded campsite near the main lodge, fortunately fairly well sheltered from the wind. A Scout Troop from Long Island (maybe 25 Scouts and 10 Adults) was also in residence, and were finishing up a Spring Break visit to Washington. After dinner, we had a inside campfire program at the training lodge, where yours truly played about 8 classic Philmont songs. We wrapped that up around 10, and after moving our watches up an hour (to EDST), everyone hit the rack. A very nippy night indeed; it got down to 18 degrees by dawn. [Considering how many mid-70's and warmer days we had this past Winter, this hardly seemed "fair"!] Sunday morning we broke down our sites, had a devotional service and some wrap-up instruction, and hit the road, under brilliant sunshine and warming temperatures. A worthwhile weekend.

The New Scout camping trip began with a 10am Saturday gathering of the Scouts and family at St. Agnes. Assembled for their first trip as part of Troop 111 were: Danny B., Jake G., Henry M., Gillum F., Daniel E., Nick R., Mike C., Jamie M., Colin S., Patrick B., Paul C., Brian and Connor DeL., Eric K., and Zack A. The trip was led by Mr. Gerarden and Senior Scouts John P., Charles B., and Chris B., with dads Ted B., John B., Brian G., Adam R., Jim C. and Andy F. helping out or getting in the way, depending on the circumstances!

Under partially cloudy skies, Mr. Ger. gave the New Scouts a quick briefing while John P. got the equipment packing organized. Mr. Gaudet's new pickup truck did the honors for almost all of the Troop equipment, including a hissing propane bottle that defeated all efforts to stop the leaking gas. The caravan of cars, loaded with Scouts and dads hit the road at 10:30am for Patapsco State Park in Carroll County Md., the site of several beautiful trails, fields and streams, and an 18 hole Frisbee golf course. The Troop arrived around noon and was directed to camp by the friendly Ranger. Our camp was out in a large open field bordered by both woods and three holes of the Frisbee Golf course. Two other sites also had camping Scouts, but the field had plenty of room for everyone, including a Girl Scout troop that showed up later in the afternoon - but only for a cookout. One of the other Troops had parked themselves on the site assigned to us, so we had a longer walk carrying the gear to the next site. Mike M. hooked up with the trip, having spent Friday night with the mountain biking patrol trip in another section of the park.

The Scouts got all the gear into camp and then were initiated by Mr. Ger. and the Senior Scouts to the mystery of erecting the Troop tarp. The rain held off and the wind interfered only fitfully as the Scouts learned the secrets of proper pole height, rope angle and staking. (The wisdom of this early action was demonstrated later in the day as we watched one of the other Troops setting their tarps up in the rain and increased wind.) The Scouts then quickly set up Troop tents and settled in personal gear, while the dads and leaders tried to find level spots upwind of the fire pit in the center of camp. Preceded by a briefing on hygiene practices, the cold cut hoagie lunch and dessert quickly disappeared. Minus a few dads settling into their lawnchairs back at camp, the Scouts and other dads headed for the main field near the gate for Ultimate Frisbee. The Skins prevailed consistently over the Shirts until the Scouts grudgingly accepted a challenge from the outnumbered dads. Led by Frisbee champion Mike M., the dads quickly scored against the Scouts despite the shouts of "No fair - you're geezers". Before play finally ended, Danny B. and Nick R. accidentally knocked heads, leaving Danny with a magnificent lump over the right eye that gradually turned into a fine shiner. Once back at camp, the Scouts played touch football with Mr. Ga. at quarterback while rain started to fall lightly. Eric assisted the Senior Scouts in preparing the fire, while Mr. Gerarden worked with Connor DeL., Paul C. and Jamie M. with cooking duty. As the cooks sauteed chicken and sausages, Brian D., Danny B., Jake and Patrick broke out a deck of cards and the football game continued. Dinner began only after the New Scouts had been given preliminary instruction in the Troop 111 method of cleaning mess kits and cooking gear by Mr. Ger. and Chris B. and Charlie B., who joined the trip during the afternoon. After dinner, clean up skills were reviewed again and put into practice. Touch football and fire building gave everyone a chance to get ready for dessert and the campfire. Mr. B. presented a new story about the adventures of Marine Fire Team 111 in the underground caverns of the Old Silk Road. Lights out soon followed.

The next morning brought an early wake up and pre-breakfast hike to the Rapids on the Patapsco river. Along the way, our keen eyed Scouts spotted a herd of deer which, for reasons perhaps related to the level of shouting directed towards them, quickly leaped away into the forest and over a ridge. The Scouts enjoyed a nutritious breakfast back at a camp, although the Lucky Charms lasted longer than expected. The adult leaders also learned that no matter how many times you say "The milk is on the table", an astonishing number of Scouts will still ask "Where is the milk?" including Scouts sitting at the table with milk in front of them. After breakfast, the Scouts learned the techniques of tarp shaking and tent wiping (rain had fallen as we slept). With the lure of some Frisbee golf, they quickly got the gear packed and into the cars. Divided into two groups, the Scouts then played two holes of frisbee golf. Only one frisbee got stuck in a tree and a quick climb by Mike C. rescued it. The Troop then hit the trail and returned to St. Agnes at around 11am, where they spread the gear and learned more about working together to make sure everything gets dried out and packed, ready for the next adventure.

On Friday, April 12th, the Scooter and Snake Eyes Patrols left the St. Agnes about 4:30 for the 3 hour drive to Camp Sinoquipe, in Fort Littleton, PA. Again, we took the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway to Route 15 North. Dinner was McDonald's in Frederick, MD. Shortly after dark we arrived at camp. The camp ranger on duty that night, Mr. Earl Selby, met us and showed us to our cabin. Mr. Selby would also be the range safety officer the next day. We unloaded our gear and set up the cabin. The cabin had an electric stove for cooking, a wood stove, which we did not use, and enough bunk beds for everyone to have their own, but no running water. Good thing we brought our own. We split the cabin in half, one side for the Scooters and the other for the Snake Eyes. After our gear was stowed, we got out gun cleaning gear and took apart the guns. Mr. Selby then arrived and talked with Mr. T. and Mr. C. for an hour. We cleaned the guns very thoroughly for over an hour. Each gun took about 50 of those little white cloths we used on the Guns-n-Arrows trip and a lot of cleaner and lubricant. This was a VERY messy job and everyone's hands were covered with grease and cleaning solution. Rich decided to call it a night, we cleaned up, washed up, had some Oreos, and then we went to bed.

The next morning we woke up to the smell of our world famous bacon and greasy eggs, thanks to Mark, Peter, and Rich. That morning we ate a lot and then cleaned up. The breakfast was great. After breakfast, we left for the range. We had light rain throughout the day that was sort of on and off. In the morning, we started with a gun safety talk from Mr. Selby and Rich. For about 2 hours we had free shoot (we shot cans, targets, and just about anything we could find). Mark surprisingly shot a penny and so did Rich, but neither could find their change. Everyone got to shoot a lot. Around noon we went back to camp for lunch.

While the cooks prepared lunch, the rest took the liberty of practicing fire building skills for the Projectoree. Each patrol built a fire (sort of because the Snake Eyes patrol only had 3 kids). With J.J.'s lead, the Scooter's did a great job and made an awesome fire. The Snake Eyes patrol learned the hard way that Cat-tails (the water plant) were horrible to use for tinder, but great for getting all over everyone's wet clothes and sticking. The Scooter's fire lasted great till the end of the night, thanks to the help of Mr. C. We had a lot of Cheff Boyardee beef ravioli for lunch and had a spirited talk about roller coasters. After lunch we then went back to the range. Burton B., J.J. T., Mark T., and Will K. tried to satisfy the shooting requirement of the Rifle Merit Badge. They all used Mr. T.'s well sighted gun and did great jobs. Will satisfied both parts of the requirement and Burton satisfied the first part. The others shot at many targets, including Will K.'s hat (don't worry he wasn't wearing it) and J.J., Burton, and Michael tearing apart piles of cans, CD's, and bottle caps along with traditional paper targets. Each Scout got to shoot tons of lead, and it came out to about everyone getting to fire over 100 rounds. Around 5:30, we headed back to the cabin and played ultimate frisbee while the cooks prepared a dinner of kabobs & rice. The kabob items were placed on the table and the Scouts got to add whichever items they wanted for their kabob. Many Scouts put kabobs over the fire and ended up burning the tin foil the kabobs were in or loosing them in the fire. The dinner was very tasty even though it took forever to cook the chicken. Puddy B., Jack's mom, who had arrived around dinner time to take him home that night, even helped cook the rice. After dinner, the Scouts who wanted to play Diplomacy finally got the chance to do so. The game, a 7 player game, took 3 hours to complete. Actually, the game ended when it was time for our snack. We could have played for a few more hours. Most of the players were rookies, who announced that they would do much better the next time they played. Well, after cookies everyone went to bed ... eventually.

The next morning we had a little trouble waking up, but when we did we had cereal and donuts. We cleaned the camp up fast and thanked Mr. Selby for the great time we had. We then set off for a 9:30am mass at St. Stephens Catholic Church in McConnellesburg, PA. Mark helped the Priest serve mass and J.J. and Will helping close the service. After services, we volunteered to help the parish clean out their basement which took about 15 minutes, and everyone did a great job helping out. After all this we finally set out back home to Arlington. When we arrived home (without stopping for food) it was about 1 o'clock. We cleaned out the gear and washed everything, and the Scouts went on home. The weekend was amazing (even though it rained the whole time) and it was definitely a favorite patrol campout among the Scouts.

The great crew that went on the trip was Will K., Mark T., Burton B., Jack "Tiger" B., Zack B., Peter C., Michael C., Pete F., Brad G. and J.J. T., and adults Tim T., Jim C. and ASM Rich S. Special thanks to Earl Selby for not only being a great range safety officer, but by agreeing to camp there that weekend, allowed us to have a wonderful and safe weekend.

The trip to Patapsco Valley State Park in Maryland (future site of the Olympic biking events if Baltimore/D.C. gets the Olympics in 2012) for mountain biking went over extremely well. Our drive up on Friday was uneventful except for a few wrong turns coming out of Wendy's, but we all made it and pitched camp around 8:00-8:30. We started out with a good greasy egg and bacon breakfast on Saturday morning to fortify us for the mountain. William and I had planned an intricate weave of trails to take when we got there, but that all went to shreds when we started, because we had been given the notion that the trails were not too tough; little did we know! The trails managed us at the beginning, but we soon overcame them and we were flying down the hills (and slowly trudging our way back up the other side) especially for Kyle "high-tensil-steel" F., whose bike could have doubled as a WWII tank, but he braved through it. And Mike "Vista Crusier" C. was cruisin' down the hills on a beach cruiser, which seemed awkward but didn't phase Mr. C.

We started to come to an end on the trails and on energy, thankfully about the same time, and returned to camp to chow down on some Hostess snacks and cookies. The only legitamate fall recorded was Glenn's spread eagle on the "mogul" part of the trail, as he tried to get what he called "air" - and failed miserably. We started preperations for dinner, which was corn, two hamburgers, and a chicken breast for everyone, all cooked by the masterful hands of Ian H., William L., and Charlie S. There were plenty of leftovers that were quickly devoured by William (well all but the hamburgers but we won't go there), and when all was finished, all attendees voted that this was the best food of any campout, and all agreed to do some sort of mountain biking trip for next year. Now that's all I have to say about that.

Participants Included: Ian H., William L., Glenn McG., Adam S., Matt G., Charlie S., Tom C., Kyle F., Mr. N., James N., Mickey M., Mr. M., Ryan C., Mr. C., Thomas N., Mr. N., pretty sure that's it; fairly big actually.

Our two Patrols headed south to Williamsburg. We stayed at the Williamsburg KOA, which had some very nice accommodations. But we arrived after dark and had a hard time finding our campsite. We eventually found it and set up. We got up fairly early Saturday morning and had breakfast. After that (and cleaning up), we left for Colonial Williamsburg. The drive was not long and we got there pretty quick. We went into the Visitors Center and walked around a little while we waited for our day passes. After we got them, we drove to the colonial part of town. We parked the van and were on our way. We toured much of the area, including the armory, wigmaker, gunsmith, an insane asylum, a cobbler, a brickmaker, a basket weaver, and a furniture maker. It all was quite interesting. We even stopped in the souvenir shop and looked around. At lunch time, we stopped, pulled out the lunches from the van and found a shady spot to eat. After lunch we continued walking around and visiting the professions mentioned above. We left late in the afternoon and drove back to camp. When we arrived, some of us went to sleep, or went to go for a swim in the pool, or even go play some games at the arcade. After about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, we all went back to camp where we got in the vans and drove to the Country Harvest Buffet, where we had a very good all-you-can-eat buffet. After a leisurely dinner, we got back in the van and drove around in an attempt to find a movie house. Eventually, we did, but, the show we were going to watch had already started and the next one wasn't showing until some hours later (it would have been too late then). So, we got back in the vans and drove back to the camp where we had some snacks and eventually went to bed. Sunday morning we got up early in the morning packed up everything and left for Arlington. It was a fun weekend.

Participants included: Thomas S., Hugh S. (parent), Matthew C., Mike Mr. C. (parent), Drew DeL., Dale R., Dale R. Sr. (parent), Patrick D., Patrick P., Ross D., and Carl S. (me!)

Last but not least on the Troop's busiest ever weekend, ASM Al M. and yours truly headed off to sunny New Mexico to participate in the Bataan Death March 60th Anniversary Memorial March at the White Sands Missile Range. We left from National Airport (with a surprisingly easy security check) for El Paso, Texas, via Phoenix, Arizona. Making up for National, Al was yanked out of line at Phoenix for a quite thorough search. Fortunately, he had left his nail clippers at home. In El Paso, we spent the night at a Day's Inn, "roughing it". On Saturday, we were up and at `em at 5:00 am local time, and after an IHOP carbo-loading breakfast, headed towards the Missile Range, about a 35 mile drive straight into the desert and through the highly inappropriately named "Fort Bliss". Not a cloud in sight, and growing hot very quickly indeed. Right after we started, we ran into a Border Patrol Check-Point, where we were asked only if we were American Citizens. Although sorely tempted, Al managed to resist responding "Si Jefe" (lucky for us!) Of note, the lengthy drought affecting the desert southwest was quite evident, with a third to half of the already sparse desert plant life having died (and when even the desert plants are dying for lack of water, you know it's bad).

At the Missile Range, we joined the check-in line, along with dozens of military personnel (including many "teams" between 5 and 25 strong) and even some civilians who were planning on running the course (a marathon distance of 26 miles, 285 yards) the next day (Ouch!) We also bought some T-Shirts (my favorite was: "White Sands Missile Range - 30 Miles from Nowhere, 2 Feet from Hell!", which simultaneously insulted El Paso and Las Cruces and made you wonder what we were in for the next day). Then it was off to the White Sands National Monument (about 30 miles away), where massive sand dunes are slowly marching across the desert valley floor. It was really hot, but this place was way cool, if you know what I mean. There was an 8 mile road "tour" you could drive, and several spots where you could do short hikes in the dune fields. Al and I did one boardwalk tour, plus a one mile dune walk. The sand at the dune front is almost pure white and very fine-grained, like the best beach you ever saw - but the closest ocean was 500 miles away. They keep the road clear with snowplows, no kidding. After drinking a gallon of water at the Visitor Center, we headed back to the Missile Range, where a group of ROTC cadets from the New Mexico State University were putting on a Bataan Death March presentation; interesting. We also ran into Troops 276 and 279 from El Paso, who were also hiking the next day (about 10 adults and 25 Scouts). After a pizza dinner, we headed off to Las Cruces, about 20 miles away, checked into a Best Western hotel, and changed into our Scout uniforms. Then it was off to the nearby Bataan Death March Memorial, newly dedicated that very morning. We were very fortunate to run into two Bataan Death March survivors there, who were reminiscing on their very difficult experiences in an amazingly matter-of-fact way. We ended the day with a pasta-loading dinner at "Lorenzo's" (dodging around many high school prom parties), and hit the rack early.

On Sunday, we got up at 3am, dressed up in our uniforms, packed up, and headed back to White Sands, under beautiful, starlit skies. For inspiration, we went by the Memorial again; as we expected, it was lit with spotlights and looked pretty neat. Our only traffic jam of the trip was at the main gate, at 4:15 am! After parking, we joined a growing crowd at a breakfast buffet (the U.S. military knows how to do it right!), where we met two more Troops (432 and ???) from Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. They said there would be around 20 Scout "teams" at the March that day. Also that there were 4,200 pre-registered that year, and about 300 more registered "at the door" for a total of 4,500 (about 3,000 military). The formal opening ceremony got going at 5:45, but the speakers were at ground level, so most of us couldn't make it out.

The flag raising took place at 6:10, and the initial line-up at 6:20. Then 6 Bataan survivors (two groups of three each) walked through crowd thanking everyone, one group right past Al and myself; I got to shake their hands, pretty neat. Then at 6:30, a cannon blast sounded and we were off at last. The only clouds of the day briefly obscured the rising sun - but it was clearly going to be a scorcher. Perhaps sensing that, the crowd set a blistering pace; Al and I covered the first 8 miles in just over 2 hours - but we were passed by (I'm guessing) 1,500 or more hikers, including dozens of the aforementioned teams, many of them jogging. As described above, the course covered a marathon distance - but there were some surprises: First, we had read that there was a 2 mile section of "sand-pit" trail (notoriously difficult to walk in) along the route. Well, scratch that - there was about 15 miles of sand-pit trail, varying from nearly hard-pack to deep sand. Made you appreciate walking on the macadam stretches, despite the additional heat radiating from the pavement. Second, there was a major ridge to cross from about mile markers 10 to 15, rising about 1,500 feet. Yow! And of course the heat steadily increased, and the sun never quit, and what breeze there was, was only sporadic and light. But on the plus side, there were 13 fully staffed Aid Stations set up, with plenty to eat and drink, and with plenty of volunteers cheering us on (Al and I thanked every group of volunteers we passed). Of note, we passed many hundreds (probably over a thousand) of the "hares" that had passed us "tortoises" early in the hike, all passed out or getting treated at the Aid Stations; basically, we never stopped at all beyond the half minute it took to snag some Gatorade or bananas. There were also military marchers present from Australia, Canada, England, Egypt, and Germany; the Germans had their own support teams augmenting the First Aid Stations.

We also passed by (and was greeted and thanked by) a Bataan Death March survivor who was under a large umbrella at Mile 16, the heartbreak point at the top of the ridge. Later we passed by many artifacts of the Cox Ranch, which had operated up to the 1940's - hard to believe anyone could raise cattle out here (maybe they raised camels? ...or cactus???) One of our better decisions was wearing our Scout Uniforms while marching - both the uniforms and especially the "Arlington, VA" CSP's excited plenty of comments and conversation, which I think helped keep us going strong, especially after noon, when things got tough. We ran into the legendary 2 mile sand-pit trail, which was mostly uphill (nasty trick there) around 1:00 or so; yes, it was as brutal as advertised for me, though Al powered through it pretty easily. After that things leveled off for the home stretch, and we started getting "spritzed" by civilian residents with spray bottles and later garden hoses as we approached the finish line. Just before the end, we passed a large pavilion tent, filled with two or three hundred soldiers, all waiting hopefully for their last team members (teams have to cross together or they're disqualified). Guess they forgot the concept of "team" somewhere along the way.

Al and I crossed the line at 2:45 on the nose, 8 hours and 15 minutes after we started, cheered on by about 250 onlookers. Al was 1140th, and I was 1142nd. In reality, Al would have been much faster if he hadn't held back for me (then again, we know what "team" means). We met and were thanked by one last Bataan Death March survivor just after the finish line. After a mandatory handshake, we headed over for a celebratory cheeseburger and coke, and (most importantly) some shade - believe it or not, our first and only natural shade of the day. The closing ceremony was still 4 hours away, so we decided to head back to El Paso (same Day's Inn) for a badly needed shower and brief nap. Geez, talk about stiff! Then we hit the airport, mentally comparing ourselves with half a dozen fellow travellers wearing March T-Shirts and limping quite badly! Off to Phoenix again, for a connecting red-eye to BWI. Al slept the whole way (I didn't). We took the MARC train to Union station, and a cab home. What a weekend!

On April 24th - 26th, the Troop headed down to Camp Wilson (Pohick Bay Regional Park) near Lorton, Virginia, for the Eighth Annual Projectoree. This one started early Friday morning for Troop 111, as Rob B., Fred S., Rich S., Rick W., and yours truly all headed down "way early" to set up the Obstacle Course, which takes about 20 man-hours to construct. It was a beautiful day, but the weather forecast was ominous, with moderate to heavy rains expected by noon Saturday. Perhaps more distressing, however, was a constant "rain" of gypsy moth poop falling from the trees all day long; some of the oaks, in particular, were nearly defoliated already (and in fact *were* completely defoliated by the following weekend). After a late lunch at the Woodbridge Denny's, Rob and Fred headed back to Arlington, while Rich, Rick, and I headed back to set up the Cave Rescue and then the Saturday night closing campfire (which we covered with a tarp "just in case"). The first elements of the Troop showed up just as we were putting the finishing touches on the campfire, and about a half-dozen Scouts helped fold the 35 or so American flags we had for retirement this year. At that point, Rick and I headed back to help set up the Staff area and flag ceremony areas, while Rich joined the Troop (a writeup from the Troop perspective was written up by Acting Scoutmaster Glenn McG., below). Once all the setup was done, I started the first of my many rounds around the sites, meeting and greeting many Scouting friends from throughout Arlington and McLean. Later, Ross D., Matt G., Stefan N., and I worked on organizing the PLC (this is where we give all the Patrol Leaders and Staff Members their instructions and scoring sheets). The PLC was a pretty impressive affair, with nearly 80 attendees. Ross, Matt, and Stefan did a nice job trading off emceeing the event. After a few more rounds around the sites, we called it a night, under a beautiful full moon and surrounding starlit sky.

Saturday dawned early for yours truly, still under a clear sky. We were all ecstatic to hear the updated weather forecast, now indicating that the rain would hold off til midnight, and wouldn't get heavy until noon Sunday. Yeah! After placing plenty of drinking water at our two events, I rushed through a quick staff breakfast, then held a mini-staff meeting for the Cave Rescue Staff (Sam F., Todd G., Matt G., and Stefan N.). Rich and Rick were doing the same with the Obstacle Course Staff, Chris B., Ross D., plus half a dozen Scouts from other Troops (we were hurting for Senior Scout staffers from 111 this year). The rousing opening flag ceremony was held at 9:20, and at 9:27 the games began. This year's series included our two traditional "long" games, the Firebuilding Race and the Obstacle Course, plus ten "short" games: Acid Bath, Ball Toss, Caber Toss, Cave Rescue, Egg Toss, Hot Lava Rescue Relay, Nuclear Reactor, Radioactive Basketballs, Running Kim's Game, and Walk the Plank; each Patrol did both long events and 8 out the 10 short events. Lunch split the activities into morning and afternoon sessions. After the scored activities were over, we held the ever popular "Scoutmaster Chariot Race", then moved into games of Ultimate Frisbee and soccer. We also held a multi-task service project this year, including replanting 6 posts outlining the competition field, filling about 30 potholes on the main access road, cutting up and removing 4 fallen pine trees, cutting numerous logs that were too long to be used as is for firewood, and planting 50 red oak saplings (acquired by Hugh S.).

So how'd we do? Well, for the first time in 5 years, Troop 111 did *not* take first place (quite a run!) But of the top 10 placing "ribbon" Patrols, as noted above, we took 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th; not bad at all! Stonecutters took 16th, and Conquistadors took 20th place. BTW, one of Troop 638's four Patrols took 1st, while Troop 151's only Patrol took 2nd; both Troops had been practicing quite intensely for the past two months, so they certainly deserved their awards. Troop 111 also won the Scoutmaster Chariot Race, and I'm sure the Scouts appreciated the fact that I had lost about 15 pounds since Christmas!

After dinner, our closing flag ceremony led directly to the closing campfire. Very light rain started in just as we started, but (fortunately) stayed light throughout. After the campfire was lit by the Order of the Arrow Ceremonies Team (who also held a "Ceremony of the Ashes"), we retired one American Flag for each of our 33 military personnel killed in action during the Afghan campaign. This was followed by "Taps", then by a rendition of "God Bless the USA". A fairly intensive moment. After that, we had 17 skits and songs, including a poem dedicated to yours truly and the Projectoree by Troop 638; definitely a first! We closed it down around 9:45 with the award ribbons, then two last songs (Green Day's "Good Riddance" and "Scout Vespers"). A great day! After doing another set of rounds around the sites, I closed it down around midnight, just as the heavy rains moved in. It ended up raining fairly heavily all night long, but fortunately there was little wind and no lightning.

Sunday dawned still heavily overcast and raining, so a good exercise for the Scouts to break camp in "less than ideal" conditions. Well, no one melted (how about that?), and Troop 111 was gone between 9:00 and 9:30. I stuck around til nearly noon, when the skies began to clear, then departed for home. Troops 167 and 647 closed the camp down. As it turned out, we were quite fortunate on the weather, as the tornado that devastated La Plata late Sunday got going just around Pohick Bay, although not causing any damage on the Virginia side - but that was certainly as close as I ever want to get!

Participants included: Zachary A., Burton B., Chris B., Jack B. , Patrick B., Zachary B., Daniel B., Paul and Tom C., Peter C., Michael C., Ryan C., Patrick D., Brian, C., and Drew DeL., Michael D., Ross D., Daniel E., Kyle F.r, Pete and Sam F., Jake G., David G., Todd G., Matt G., Brad G., Ian H., John K., Will K., Ryan K., William L., Anthony M., Sean M., James N., Thomas N., Stefan N., Jack O., Dale R., Alan R., Nick R., Brian R., Michael S., Charlie S., Carl S., Jimmy S., Mark T., and Patrick W., Adults Ted B., Mike C., Doug D., John K. (Sr.), Mike K., Glenn McG., Mark N., Tony N., Frank R., Rich S., Mark S., Rick W., and yours truly.

Congratulations to Chris B. and Michael D., who completed their Life Practicals with this event. Thanks especially to Ross D., Sam F., Todd G., Matt G., and Stefan N., who acted as Staff members during the weekend, and Rob B., Fred S., Rich S., and Rick W., who helped set up the Obstacle Course on Friday.

- Dr. Bob, Scoutmaster

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12 May 2002