Greetings to All.

Did you know that Troop 111 has been the most successfully placing Troop at the Projectorees? It's true! The modern version of the Projectorees started in 1995 as the "North Arlington Projectoree", so named because only select Troops from North Arlington were invited. In 1999, it became the "Chain Bridge Projectoree", becoming the Spring Camporee for our new District. Placing ribbons have always been awarded to the top third of participating Patrols - so the number of ribbons awarded has steadily increased over the past eight years, and the size of the Projectorees has grown. Here's how Troop 111 Patrols have fared:

1995 - (12 Patrols; 4 ribbons awarded) - Confused Nation (tied for 3rd).
1996 - (11 Patrols; 4 ribbons awarded) - Confused Nation (1st).
1997 - (15 Patrols; 5 ribbons awarded) - Confused Nation (1st), Pedros (4th).
1998 - (15(?) Patrols; 5 ribbons awarded) - Pedros (2nd).
1999 - (19 Patrols; 7 ribbons awarded) - Hellfish (1st), Mavericks (6th), Flying (7th) [Note - the Flying Hellfish Patrol had 13 attendees and was therefore split into two Patrols for this Projectoree (and both halves won ribbons; an amazing accomplishment!)]
2000 - (22 Patrols; 8 ribbons awarded) - Scooters (1st), Burning Pants (3rd), Stonecutters (8th).
2001 - (25 Patrols; 8 ribbons awarded) - Scooters (1st), Spectre (3rd), Burning Pants (4th), Conquistadors (6th).
2002 - (29 Patrols; 10 ribbons awarded) - Burning Pants (3rd), Snake Eyes (4th), Scooters (5th), Spectre (8th).

We were recently visited by Jonathan D., Michael's younger brother and a Second Year Webelos with Pack 350; he is considering joining 111 when eligible.

On Monday, May 13th, I completed my 14 year as Scoutmaster of Troop 111 (I'm hoping for a pardon from the Governor).

We start off this month's Advancement section with the best possible news: last month, we graduated not one, not two, but yes, three Eagle Scouts. Charles Brennan (#80) and Dan Hupalo (#81) passed their Boards of Review on Thursday, May 30th, while Stefan Novak (#82) passed his Board on Friday, May 31st. Of note, this closes out the Entry Class of 1995; amazingly, 8 of the 9 members of that Entry Class made Eagle: Richard Bangs, J.T. Belknap, Charles Brennan, Dan Hupalo, Neal Kennedy, Stefan Novak, Jay Pennington, and Steven Strasburg. Here are the Honor Rolls:

Charles H. Brennan

Earned Arrow of Light with Cub Pack 111
31 Merit Badges
43 Days of Short-Term Camping
72 Days of Long Term Camping, including:
* 4 Summer Camps
* 3 High Adventure Treks

- Rideau Canal, Canada, 1998
- Philmont 2000
- Wyoming/Wind River Range 2001

2 50-Miler Awards
Alonzo Stagg Medal (completed the 2001 50/20 Hike)
2 25/10 Hike Certificates
2 JLT Certificates
Totin Chip Award
Polar Bear Swimmer Award
1 Scoutmaster's "Most Active Scouts" Award (1999-2000)
Order of the Arrow Ordeal Member
International Activity Patch
Patrol Leader
Troop Guide
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
Senior Patrol Leader
Crew Chief (Wyoming Trek)
Projectoree Staff Member

Graduated Senior from The Heights School (Potomac, MD)
AP Scholar
3 American Classical Society Awards
Policy Debater
Contributions Editor for the Literary Magazine
Target Shooting Team
Karate Team

Community Service: Soup Kitchen 1 year; Nursing Home 1 year

Work: Scoop Beauregard's Ice Cream Store 3 years; Night Manager, St. Agnes 2 years

Altar Server 3 years

Chuck's Project was a major renovation of the back yard of the Bethany House in Arlington, a home for displaced families escaping abusive relationships, requiring nearly 250 man-hours.

Chuck is planning to attend VMI, and intends to become a Marine Corps Officer.

And lest we forget, Happy 18th Birthday, Chuck!

-----

Daniel N. Hupalo

[Following in older brother Tim's footsteps, Troop 111 Eagle Scout #61, 1999; the 16th pair of Eagle brothers in Troop history.]

Earned Arrow of Light with Cub Pack 111
31 Merit Badges
127 Days of Short-Term Camping
75 Days of Long Term Camping, including:
* 4 Summer Camps
* 4 High Adventure Treks

- Philmont 1998
- Killarney Provincial Park, Canada, 1999
- Philmont 2000
- C&O Canal Bike Trek 2000

[NOTE: Dan's combined 202 days of camping is likely a new Troop record!]

3 50-Miler Awards
1 25/10 Hike Certificate (completed 47 miles of the 2002 50/20 Hike)
1 JLT Certificate
200 Hour Community Service Award
Totin Chip Award
4 Scoutmaster's "Most Active Scouts" Awards (1995-1996, 1997-1998, 1998-1999, and 2000-2001)
Assistant Patrol Leader
Quartermaster
Troop Guide
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
Projectoree Staff Member

Graduated Senior from Yorktown High School
Extensive work in Theatre, including both acting and stage crew/technical staff
Co-Captain of the Programming Team

Work: George Mason Law School (Admission Aid; Exam Proctor); Barnes and Noble Bookstores (Customer Service); Neighborhood Yard Work

CCD (St. Agnes) 12 years

Dan's Project was a major renovation of the Native Plant Garden at Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington, requiring difficult terracing of a steep slope, taking nearly 150 man-hours to complete.

Dan is planning to attend ODU, and intends to major in Physics, Computer Science, or Electrical Engineering.

And lest we forget, Happy 18th Birthday, Dan!

-----

Stefan L. Novak

Earned Arrow of Light with Cub Pack 111
25 Merit Badges
74 Days of Short-Term Camping
72 Days of Long Term Camping, including:
* 4 Summer Camps
* 5 High Adventure Treks

- Rideau Canal, Canada, 1998
- Appalachian Trail Death March, 1999
- Killarney Provincial Park, Canada, 1999
- Philmont 2000
- C&O Canal Bike Trek 2000

3 50-Miler Awards
Alonzo Stagg Medal (completed the 2002 50/20 Hike)
1 JLT Certificate
100 Hour Community Service Award
Totin Chip Award
Paul Bunyan Award
1 Scoutmaster's "Most Active Scouts" Award (1999-2000)
Order of the Arrow Ordeal Member
Patrol Leader
Troop Guide
Senior Patrol Leader
Projectoree Staff Member

Graduated Senior from Washington-Lee High School
4 year Band member; lead Tenor Sax
Diversity Peer Training Club (Discussion Leader) 2 years

Work: Tropical Smoothies and Wraps; America Seafood

Extensive Travel, including the Bahamas, Canada, France, Hungary, and Tahiti

Stefan's Project was a major renovation of the Indian Village at Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington, requiring difficult terracing of a steep slope, taking nearly 125 man-hours to complete.

Stefan is planning to attend Rutgers University, and intends to major in Mechanical Engineering.

And lest we forget, Happy 18th Birthday, Stefan!

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Down on the farm, earning Merit Badges in May were: Charles B. (Personal Management); Michael C. (Fishing), Patrick D. (Weather), Matt G. (Personal Management), Stefan N. (Family Life and Personal Management), Paolo R. (Citizenship in the World and Personal Management), Michael R. (Personal Management), and Thomas S. (Personal Management).

Congratulations to all the above Scouts!

We just finished the First Shakedown Weekend for the Pennsylvania High Adventure Trek this past weekend; it will be reported in the next "Minute". Monday, June 10, will be our last regular meeting of the Spring semester (Adult Leader Training will also be held). On June 15 - 16, we will be holding our second Philmont Shakedown, at Little Sluice Mountain; this *may* be reduced to a Saturday/Sunday overnighter, TBA. On Sunday, June 16th, we'll hold our Spring Court of Honor, which will include the induction of our three latest Eagle Scouts. On Monday, June 17th, we'll hold our Summer Camp Orientation Meeting (Adult Leader Training will also be held). And finally, from Sunday, June 23rd, through Saturday, June 29th, we'll be heading up to Camp Tuckahoe in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, for summer camp. [Another easy month, huh?]

On Saturday and Sunday, May 4th and 5th, most of this summer's Philmont Crew headed off to the C&O Canal NP towpath near Carderock for our first "serious" training shakedown weekend. We started off with some basic "how to pack" instruction at the Parish Center, then divvied up Crew gear and headed out. The weather started off wonderfully - clear skies and temperatures in the mid-50's, a very pleasant day for backpacking. After doing a vehicle shuffle, we spent nearly half an hour "fitting" backpacks - a very important and oft-neglected aspect of backpacking. About half the Scouts' packs needed adjustment - serious adjustment in some cases. After stretching and discussing hiking protocols, we hiked roughly 3 miles along the towpath to Carderock, a picnic area just outside the beltway.

After all the rains of the past month, the canal was completely full, and also crowded with mud turtles, herons, and dozens of non-migratory Canadian geese (most with a complement of goslings following along). After lunch (which is also an instructional session), our next training session covered bear bags, backpacking tents, Philmont style tarp set-ups, and the caterpillaring technique. Once we wrapped that up, we headed off for a quick hike to the Marsden Tract, a primitive campground just off the C&O Canal. Just as we arrived, we ran into two adults from Troop 156 from Snow Hill, MD (near Ocean City), who were biking 40 miles of the towpath over Saturday and Sunday, completing a 4 year "high adventure in parts". Apparently, their reservation at the Tract had been lost in the NPS paperwork shuffle, and they were therefore between the proverbial rock and hard place. Well, after reviewing our campsite (and finding there was adequate room for all of us), we did the Scoutlike thing and invited them to share (they were very grateful). Their 9 Scouts arrived in dribs and drabs over the next two hours, and we had an interesting juxtaposition of two completely different styles of Scouting - high tech backpacking versus very basic car-camping.

We started off with a "panic" setup of our rain-fly, which was erected in 3 minutes flat, then went on to tents, bear-bags, stoves, and dinner prep. We tried something new this year - the use of oven roasting bags inside our cooking pots, which basically eliminates cleanup afterwards. We had last tried this back in 1989, with poor results, but the more modern bags are far tougher and worked quite well. We were all very pleased to not have to deal with the usual dirty pots after dinner - so I think we have a new backpacking cooking protocol.

By dinnertime, our beautiful day had completely clouded over, and a light rain started and slowly grew to a pretty steady shower. Shades of the Projectoree the previous weekend. So everyone got a genuine workout of their rain-gear. [Unbelievably, none of our neighbors from Troop 156 had any rain gear, and they all stood around their fire apparently oblivious to the soaking.] After KP and bear-bags, we did a gear pack-up (important for enabling quick getaways in the mornings). Then most of the Crew headed off to bed - this around 7:45!!! The rest of us joined Troop 156 around their fire, and chatted til about 9pm before turning in. Surprisingly, although the forecast had called for rain all night long, it ended just as we turned in (OK by us!)

Per vote of the Scouts the previous night, we had a 6am reveille, under clear skies (46 degrees), and did a "speed breakdown" exactly as we would do at Philmont. Amazingly for a first shakedown, everyone managed to be packed up and ready to go in 30 minutes - which was our target time frame, but rarely achieved by novice backpackers. We did another quick hike down to Carderock, where we set up our rain fly and ate breakfast in the main pavilion. Then we hiked for about a mile on the "Billygoat" trail, which runs alongside the river - far nicer than the towpath (which gets more than a little bit boring after awhile). Once we rejoined the towpath (at the eastern terminus of the trail), we took off again for Lock Seven, our starting point. About halfway there, we ran into Ted and Todd G., who headed out to meet us on bicycles (Todd got a new bike for his birthday). At Lock Seven, we did a Crew gear review, then personal gear review; as usual, the Crew has some serious weigh reduction work ahead. Then it was off to the Parish Center, where we sorted out our gear - but because most of the Crew members had early afternoon activities scheduled, we let everyone leave early, saving some of the cleanup work for Monday night. A solid weeknd, and a good start for our Philmont Crew.

Participants included: Drew DeL., Michael D., Matt G., Will K., William L., Charlie S., Hugh and Thomas S., Mark T., "Danger" Rick W., and yours truly.

On Saturday, May 11th, our Philmont Crew held their pre-Philmont trail service project over at Upton Hills Regional Park in Arlington. This is a good team building exercise, and also pre-qualifies the attendees for the 50-Miler Award, because our Philmont trek is (well) over 50 miles and will include a 4 hour trail service project on the Ranch (thus completing the 10 required hours for the award). It was a nearly perfect day for it - sunny and cool. We assembled at St. Agnes at 7am, and were on site at the park by 7:15. Our first project was tackling a ferocious infestation of invasive species vines at a small area near the park's gazebo. These are growing on (and overwhelming) many of the park's trees, especially on the eastern side of the service road. We spent 3 hours - get this - clearing an area about 10 yards by 10 yards. Tough work indeed. In all, we saved (at least temporarily) about half a dozen major trees - only a thousand left to go....

Once we completed that task, we dug up and repositioned all 10 of the trail signs that Steven Strasburg had installed as the last part of his Eagle Project last summer (the Park wanted them in different places than originally requested). Another job that we thought would be easy, but turned out to be more challenging than anticipated because each post had been cemented in by Steven's work crews. That took us up to 1pm, and we called it a job well done. Those Scouts who did not have Crew practice or the Environmental Science Merit Badge headed off to Joe's Pizza and Pasta on Lee Highway for a mega-lunch, then home.

Participants included: Luke B., Drew DeL., Michael D., Matt G., Will K., Charlie S., Thomas and Hugh S., Neil S., Mark T., and yours truly.

On Saturday, June 15th, we headed up to Pennsylvania for a whitewater rafting trip on the Lehigh River (near Jim Thorpe, PA). This one started with a 5am assembly at the Parish Center, in a chilly rain. Despite all the bleary eyes, we were on the road in short order, heading north on I-270, then US Rt. 15, in occasionally heavy rain. Then disaster struck, as the white van died an apparently violent death, with a loss of power and "detonation" explosions from deep within the engine (I figured we had thrown a rod). Sigh. Well, we managed to pull it off on a side road, and ate breakfast while pondering options. After a hopeless attempt to transfer all the gear to the two remaining vehicles, we went with Plan B, taking just enough items to complete the trip as a day event only, and repacking the white van with everything else.

After arranging for a tow of the White Van back to Arlington, we were back on the road. The rain faded as we hit Pennsylvania, but it was quite chill for mid-June (this was the night that it snowed in upstate Pennsylvania and in New York and New England). We arrived at Jim Thorpe Outfitters at 10:30am (way early), with temperatures in the mid-40's (our breath was fogging!). After hearing that the water temperature was 48 degrees, and also that the river was running fast and high, we decided to go with full wetsuits, including the boots - a good choice! We ate lunch while waiting for the standard instructions. Once that was out of the way, we loaded into school buses for a 40 minute ride to the launch point.

Thankfully, the weather began to clear by this point, and in fact it got pretty sunny by late in the day. We got 4 rafts (3 with 5 people, 1 with 6 people), in a crowd of about a dozen total rafts. Six guides escorted us in kayaks and rubber ducks. Because the river was running so hard, our scheduled 6 hour trip turned into a 4 hour trip, but it was well worth it, with many Class II and III rapids, many strung together in fairly lengthy runs; lots of fun. As far as I know, I was the only one in our crew who was ejected out of a raft. The calm stretches were anything but, with plenty of bucket splash fights - Drew DeL. in particular made a serious attempt to see if he could be the first Scout ever to drown while upright in a raft, with Matt G. an honorary mention (some guys you just can't reach....)

The trip ended with a 10 minute long series of Class II rapids, pretty good ride. After a 15 minute ride back to the outfitter, everyone stripped off their wet suits, got into dry clothes, and enjoyed a courtesy dinner provided by the outfitter - hot dogs and root beer. David G. took the prize by eating 7 hot dogs. Once we were back on the road, nearly everyone was asleep very quickly in both vehicles; I played lots of CD's to keep myself between the ditches. We stopped for dinner at an Arby's in Dillsburg, PA. Passing through Frederick, MD, around 9:20 or so, we were treated to a fireworks display to the east (not sure what was being celebrated, but it was beautiful). We got back to Parish Center at 10:25pm, so about a 10 hour driving day for Keith G. and I. By mutual consent, we bagged getting our gear from the white van (now parked at Cherrydale Motors) til Sunday afternoon. But despite the van and the less than ideal weather, an excellent trip! Congratulations to Paolo R., who completed his Life Practical with this event. Thanks to the Ted and Ann G., who assisted with mucho phone calling to keep people informed of our altered plans.

Participants included: Burton B., Zachary B., Peter C., Drew DeL., Ray DiN., Jake G., David G., Matt G., Ryan K., Jamie M., Anthony M., Stefan N., Dale R., Paolo R., and Patrick W., plus adults Jim C., Keith G., Ari H., Mike K., Jim W., and yours truly.

On Wednesday, May 29th, 21 members of the Troop headed down to the Officers Club at Fort Myer for the 4th Annual Chain Bridge District Awards and Eagle Recognition Dinner. The dinner recognizes about a dozen Unit and District level Adult Scouters for notable service, and also recognizes all the District's Eagle Scouts from the previous Scouting year (56 Eagles from June 1st, 2001 through May 31st, 2002).

The event also marks the end of my major District level responsibilities for the Scouting year - so I get a bit of a breather til this fall (and I need it, too!) The total attendance was about 115, down a bit from last year because 9-11 security restrictions at the Fort required pre-registration a week in advance (always tough). Of note, it was announced that our District achieved "Quality District" status for the past year - the third time in the past four years, an amazing accomplishment for a new District.

After the various District Awards were presented, Ruth Netting (CC-647) called the roll as 22 of the latest class of Eagles formed a line of honor, and received a sustained round of applause. Included in the line were Troop 111 Eagles Charles Brennan, Dan Hupalo, Brad Jones, Stefan Novak, and Steven Strasburg, five of our six eligible Eagles (Neal Kennedy was still at school and unable to attend). Finally, the District awarded a "Distinguished Lifetime Service Award" to Carl Doughman, the long-time Deputy District Commissioner for Arlington County, who has served on many Troop 111 Eagle Boards of Review. The assembled Eagles passed by Carl, each giving him a Scout Handshake in salutation. A very pleasant evening! Attending in addition to the above named Eagles were: Heidi and John Brennan, Pat, Tim, and Walter Hupalo, Diane and Randy Jones, Bill and Pat Novak, Frank Rooney, Bill and Catherine Strasburg, and yours truly. [Also attending from Troop 647 were Russell E. (Kenny's older brother), and Andy H. and David M., both of whom joined us on our 2000 Philmont trek.]

- Dr. Bob, Scoutmaster

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11 June 2002