Greetings to All. A busy month!

Transition

James J-N and Nick K. (both friends of several Scouts in the Troop) attended the New Scout Campout and have decided to join the Troop. Welcome!

The New Patrol Rosters were sent by a separate email earlier this month. Some minor changes are still possible. Notetably, 3 or 4 of the Patrols wish to change their Patrol names.

Mike Strasburg has taken the Troop flag to the North Pole, as part of a NASA trip there to measure ice thickness using new technology. We should get some pretty cool photos out of that! So, for all of this past month, we have been using the Troop's original flag - which dates either from the 1939 or 1950 Chartering (no one knows for sure, though it appears to be the 1939 version in that it more closely resembles other flags of that era, versus 1950). Hopefully, the "modern" flag will return in time for our Spring Court of Honor.

Also of note, John K. (Sr.) has also decided to join the Order of the Arrow.

Advancement
[PLEASE CHECK CAREFULLY; NOTIFY ME IF ANY OMISSIONS!]

On the Eagle Front: Luke B. and Eric W. have completed their project notebooks, and are currently awaiting a Board of Review.Neil Stanga is working on his notebook. Matt G. has completed his project, and has started his notebook. Chris B. and Ross D. have initiated their project proposals.

Down on the Farm, it was a big month for rank advancements. Moving up at a "special" Board of Review held at the New Scout Campout was Daniel E. (to Tenderfoot). Moving up at the April Board of Review were Zachary A. (2nd Class), Will B. (2nd Class), Paul C. (Tenderfoot), Matt C. (Star), Mickey M. (2nd Class), Dale R. (Star), JJ T. (Star), and Mark T. (Star). Finally (and jumping the gun on the May Scoutmaster's Minute), Colin S. advanced to Tenderfoot at another "special" Board of Review held at the just concluded Projectoree.

Congratulations to all of the above Scouts!

Upcoming Activities

The first Shakedown Hike for the Swiss Adventure Trekkers will be this coming Saturday (May 10th), at Robertson's Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park. Also this Saturday, we are hoping to send a contingent of Junior Scouts to the Scout Exposition at Camp Snyder (just off I-66 near Haymarket), to participate in a number of neat activities. The following weekend is (I believe) the Spring Ordeal for our Order of the Arrow candidates (Michael D., John K. (father and son), Patrick P., and Thomas S.). On Saturday, May 17th, Russ A. will lead a single-track Mountain Bike Hike on a trail from Great Falls to Reston (this is the replacement for the cancelled Whitewater Rafting trip). On Sunday, May 18th, we'll have the Spring Court of Honor, including induction of Eagle Scout John Preloh. And finally, on Thursday, May 29th, we'll have a contingent at the 5th Annual Chain Bridge District Dinner.

Recent Activities

Arlington Planetarium/Visit with Astronaut Commander Joe Edwards (Retired)
(by Christopher Ziebarth, Pack 111)

On March 28, 2003, Commander Joe Edwards, USN (Ret.) was our guest speaker at the Arlington Planetarium. CDR Edwards was the pilot for one of the missions of the Space Shuttle Endeavor. He described his exploits and evolution of his career, from his early days as a Navy jet fighter pilot (650 carrier landings + many combat missions in Desert Storm) to his days as a test pilot, and then to Shuttle Pilot. The standing room only crowd of Scouts and family members was very enthusiastic. He explained such things as the incredible engineering effort that it takes to get the shuttle off the ground and into space, discussed some of the experiments on the shuttle and told the crowd what it was like to be in space. The Scouts had a multitude of questions - about weightlessness, galaxies, distances in space, black holes, and of course aliens, etc. The Scouts clearly found the topic of space, and the opportunity to speak with an actual astronaut to be of tremendous interest (as did the family members). At the conclusion, CDR Edwards served as judge for the Cub Scouts model rocket competition, and stayed for photos with the boys. Attending from Troop 111 were Danny B. and Liam D..

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During the first weekend in April, we held our annual "Patrol Campouts", with four different groups heading out. The New Scouts went to Patapsco Valley State Park for an orientation/overnighter. The Burning Pants/Stonecutters went to Prince William Forest State Park for their Orienteering Course. The Conquistadors/Spectres went to Lexington for Horseback Riding. And the Scooters/Snake Eyes went to the 4-H Center in Front Royal for a Challenge Course. All four groups ran into "typical" early Spring weather (Nuts!), including rain Friday night and Saturday morning, and some quite chill temperatures - down into the 30's early Sunday morning (the same night of the jump to Daylight Savings Time). But all persevered, and in all nearly 60 members of the Troop enjoyed some pretty neat activities.

New Scout Campout at Patapsco Valley State Park
(by Dr. Bob)

After a rainy Friday night, we assembled on a rather gloomy, cold, and windy Saturday mid-morning and were soon on our way northeast towards Baltimore. We ran into some moderate rain on the BW Parkway, and again on MD Rt 100 heading north-northwest, but very fortunately it faded away as we approached the park. This year's campout was a repeat of last year's in that we camped in the McKeldin area, where (not surprisingly) we had the entire place to ourselves - a large open field, maybe 200 x 400 yards, on the crest of a small hill. After some scouting around, we picked a lower, semi-sheltered area, and (putting down a football) the Scouts were soon into the first exercise of the day, tarp set-up - always a critical skill when rain is expected. Simultaneously the adults prepared lunch, but our charcoal grill was uncooperative and we quickly resorted to stove cooking. The rain held off, but the promised sunshine (and warmth) was stubborn to arrive, so we went ahead an built a fairly impressive fire - one that would stay lit for about 20 hours.

Once lunch was out of the way, Ted G. led most of the Scouts off on the "frisbee" (disk) golf course, the middle portion of which circled the campsite. The Senior Scouts and a few adults did a cleanup and gear reorganization. We finally caught a glimpse of a gray sun, but it never did warm up past about 45 degrees (in contrast, it was in the lower 70's near Warrenton, so quite a contrast). Once the Crew returned, we bit the bullet on the possibility of more rain, and the Scouts handled lesson #2 - tent setup. After that, they chose tentmates and got their gear transferred - normally not a noteworthy event, but this year we set a new record with 5 Scouts in one tent! Well that's one way to stay warm.... As it turned out, it never did rain, and the skies slowly cleared over the next 6 hours.

Once everyone was "settled in", the Scouts continued to play football and frisbee - or the ever popular playing with the fire - and we started in on dinner (since D.S.T didn't start til late that night, early darkness was still the reality). It disappeared quickly enough, and we were soon into lesson #3 - proper K.P. That took us to near darkness, and the Senior Scouts took the Crew on a quick tour of the area to establish a safe zone for Logan's Run (Flashlight Tag). Once everyone had had their fill of that - perhaps chased in early by a sighting of the ever-menacing Mad Hobo - we returned for snacks and a campfire program. But the wind and chill made the usual guitar playing and singing a less than popular activity, and so we didn't push it too hard. After discussing cold-weather sleeping protocols with the Scouts, we had a good rendition of "The Blue Mist" Ghost story. Then bed for everyone, under a nice starlit night (just a thin sliver of a moon), and a pretty good dewfall.

On Sunday, we got up at 7:00 am D.S.T., and were happy to find a bright sun and (thanks to the overnight wind) dry tents and tarps. After breakfast, we went ahead with lesson #5 - tent and tarp packup - then broke down the entire site and packed everything away - then headed out on about a 2 mile hike to McKeldin Rapids - a surprisingly robust little falls of maybe 8 feet. We saw a couple of native Canadian Geese and a large (but nearly comatose) blacksnake, too. Plus about a dozen fishermen trying their luck on the stocked trout (who seemed safe this day). Then a quick trip back to St. Agnes, arriving just as the last of the Scooters and Snake Eyes Patrols were departing. A good trip!

Attendees included: Zachary A., Chris B., Ed C., John C., Evan C., John C., Liam D., Daniel E., Gonzalo G., Nick G., Ted G., James J-N, Nick K., John K. (Jr.), John K. (Sr.), Paolo R., and yours truly.

Burning Pants/Stonecutters at Prince William Forest State Park
(by ASM Atom S.)

We left St. Agnes around 4:45. We had a quick trip down 395/95 thanks to the HOV lanes. We stopped at the Wendy's down the street from the Quantico Marine base for dinner, and hooked up there with Mr. Dooley, who was driving by himself and couldn't use the fast lane. We were in camp around 6:30. After getting everything set up, 7 of us started a rip-roaring game of Diplomacy.

We woke up at 7:30 and had a hot breakfast of pancakes, bacon and sausage, milk and OJ. Mr. Mark N. showed up as breakfast was ending, and volunteered to drive to the parks visitor center to pick up the orienteering maps. We broke out the compasses and George and Will L. taught the group orienteering basics from the Merit Badge book. The scouts and adults split up into 4 groups, each on a different course spread throughout the park. All the courses were the same difficultly level, but targeted different markers.

All the groups met back at base camp around 1pm. Lunch consisted of turkey, ham, cheese and lettuce sandwiches on kaiser rolls with granola bars, Gatorade and cookies for dessert. After lunch, Diplomacy was started up again for a couple hours. After the board game session, about 10 scouts and ASM's Joe S. & Atom S. played ultimate frisbee. A few other went out to orienteer another course.

We started dinner around 6pm. Dinner consisted of grilled boneless pork chops, bake beans, grilled corn on the cob, dinner rolls and soft drinks. A new game of Diplomacy was started after dinner. Those not playing Diplomacy sat around the campfire and talked about the conflict in Iraq. We all sacked out late due to D.S.T.

Sunday morning we woke up at 7:30 and had a cold, quick breakfast of cereal and OJ. Mr. Brian G. showed up at 8:30 with his truck to help transport gear. We arrived back at St. Agnes around 11am.

Attendees: Danny B., Ryan C., Michael D., Jake G., George L. (adult), William L., James N., Mark N. (adult), Tom Neville, Charlie Schulz, ASM Joe S. (adult), ASM Atom S. (adult), Jim W. (adult), and Patrick W..

Conquistadors/Spectres at Lexington
(by Hugh Schratwieser)

We met in the St. Agnes front parking lot at 5pm on Friday, packed Hugh's pickup truck and Diane's Maxima, and took off. We arrived at Deborah S.'s place around 9:30pm. Deborah pointed out where we could set up our tents, but the guys asked if we could sleep in the barn for a new experience. Deborah thought that was a fine idea. Although they hadn't yet learned anything about horses and barns, the guys figured that the best side of the barn to set up our sleeping bags was not where the horses stood to eat, but the side of the barn where the clean hay was kept. Clever Scouts. We did not need or make a camp fire.

We got up at 7:30am Saturday morning, put away our sleeping bags, and had breakfast, then met with Deb and her friend Forrest S.. We also met Oliver, Deb's Jack Russell terrier, who is, in reality, in charge of every aspect of Deb's business. Deb told the guys that they would be meeting their horses as soon as she got them in from the field. Dale acted shocked and exclaimed: "Horses! Who said anything about horses?"

The weather report had given a 40% chance of rain. So, we had rain. It started while we were cleaning up breakfast, and continued until after noon. Deborah and her ward, Loreal, a 17-year-old who has been riding since she was five, brought the horses in and tied them to their own special location along the inside of the very large barn. She assigned each of us a horse (or a mule). Deborah then, very methodically went through the requirements of the Horsemanship Merit Badge book. We learned about some of the breeds of horses, and about certain diseases that horses can get. We learned about the different kinds of saddles and bridles. We learned how to groom a horse and bridle and saddle it. Then we mounted. Anthony rode Rachel, Dale rode King, Carl rode Duke, Thomas rode Lucy, Hugh rode Woodrow, and Diane rode Sydney.

While still in the barn, we learned to go, stop, turn left and turn right. After lunch, we hit the trail. Deb taught us how to duck under low branches and how to keep the horse from accidentally running our legs into a tree. We stopped at a stream to let the horses drink, and then went to the arena area, where we worked on walking, turning and controlling our horses. Then we learned to trot the horses in three riding positions. At the end of the day, we took our trotting test and then learned how to canter up a hill, which was the guys' favorite part. We asked Deb, Forrest and Loreal to join us for a steak and salad dinner, and got to sleep around 9:30, still in the barn.

After a very cold night, spent in warm sleeping bags, we dressed for Church Sunday morning and drove into Lexington for 8:00 mass at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. It was a lovely small church, with understated elegance. We had breakfast at Aunt Sarah's Pancake House, where everyone ate heartily. Back at the ranch, we took our anatomy tests and got back into the saddle and on the trail again. On the trail, we alternated between walking, trotting and cantering, with the guys whooping and hollering the faster they went.

We returned to the arena for our cantering test, where Anthony put everyone else to shame by taking small jumps, and then by taking an almost 3-foot jump (unintentionally). Anthony sailed over the jump just fine, but on the rough landing, went over his horse's head and hit the ground. He was unhurt, and got right back into the saddle. Diane said: "Too bad we didn't get a picture of you jumping that one." Anthony's response was: "I'm not doing it again so you can get a picture." Everyone passed their cantering test, and Anthony proved that humans really can fly.

All too soon, we had to return to the barn, rub down the horses and turn them loose, and then return the saddles and bridles to the tack room. We washed up, shared our lunch with Deb, Forrest and Loreal, then packed up to leave. Deb said that these four Scouts were better students than any Washington-Lee college student she had ever had. She thinks they are such good listeners because they all go to good private schools. Forrest said the guys had a great attitude and would go far, and Loreal said she originally thought we all owned horses because we jumped right in and started working with them without any anxiety about it.

We left at 3:00 and got back to St. Agnes at 6:00. We all had a wonderful time. Everyone earned a Horsemanship Merit Badge. Participants were Anthony M., Dale R., Carl S., and Hugh, Diane and Thomas S.

Scooters/Snake Eyes at the Front Royal 4-H Center
(by ASM Justin Z.)

The Scooters and Snake Eyes assembled at St. Agnes on Friday afternoon to head off to the 4-H Center in Front Royal, VA. Our objective was to complete the challenge course as a team building exercise. Our initial plan to arrive, pitch camp and then go out to dinner was scotched by rush hour traffic on I-66. After grabbing dinner on the road we arrived at the camp at about 8:30. Pitching camp was done by flashlight and lantern. We also had some lightning flashes that provided some additional light, if not reassurance. Fortunately it did not rain on us, and we all awoke on Saturday dry and ready for action. A breakfast of bacon and eggs was quickly prepared and even more quickly consumed. After KP we all headed off to the challenge course. We met up with our instructor, Carrie, and she put us through some trust exercises and safety training for the zip line. After launching off a platform mounted to a tree, riders held onto the cable-mounted grip and zoomed 100 yds through the woods while suspended above the ground. It was great fun, but nothing is free. Before you could ride the zip line, you had to reach the platform by one of two cable courses suspended about 20 feet above the ground. One path allowed you to slide your feet along one cable while holding on to two parallel cables with your hands. The other path required you to guide yourself along suspended rope handles. The challenge was that you had to let go of one to grab the next. All scouts and adults completed the course with many going twice. When not riding the line or making our way to the platform we all took turns spotting each other on the climb to the cable course or down from the zip line. One of our stated objectives for the course was “to overcome fear” – mission accomplished.

After the zip line course we all went back to camp for a quick lunch. Unfortunately, our sandwich makings had not made it from the church to the camp. Jim Causey saved the day by making an emergency trip to the local Food Lion. By lunch time the morning clouds and drizzle had given way to bright sunlight and we all sat around for an hour or so at the outdoor picnic tables. After lunch we returned for the second half of the course. Both Patrols completed a series of challenges passing over walls, through portholes and across rivers. This in spite of a sudden case of laryngitis imposed on the patrol leader, Will Kemp, extreme gravity making even twigs too heavy to lift and a can of nitroglycerine in the middle of the river. Despite “blowing themselves up” a couple of times, the Patrols insisted on completing the course in their second or third lives. Scooters and Snake Eyes do not quit. Our final challenge was a climbing wall that some brave Scouts did blindfolded.

After a full day we were all quite hungry and headed back for dinner. As with breakfast, the tacos were eaten seemingly even faster than they were prepared. The evening’s activities included a campfire and an attempt to cook apple pies in dutch ovens. The pies were picture perfect (at least one of them) if somewhat undercooked. Nevertheless, they quickly vanished. After a good night’s sleep we broke camp on Sunday morning after a quick breakfast that involved no dirty dishes. Prior to heading out we policed our camping area, leaving it cleaner than when we arrived. We arrived back at St. Agnes about 11 on Sunday morning, invaded the kitchen for a major KP operation, stowed our gear and headed for home after dividing up the leftover food. You had to be at the front of the line to get the donuts.

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The Projectoree (May 2nd-4th) will be reported on in the next "Minute".

- Dr. Bob, Scoutmaster

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14 May 2003