The Troop welcomes a new Assistant Scoutmaster, Michael Heyman, an Eagle Scout from Los Angeles (Troop 188) and current law student at The George Washington School of Law. His email address is: mjheyman@gwu.edu.
We also have two additional ASM's waiting in the wings: Dan O'Hearn, dohearn@qrtp.quintiles.com, an Eagle Scout from Northern California, graduate of Georgetown University (1994), and moving into the area in late June to take up a new position with his pharmaceutical firm, and Glenn McGregor, gmcgregor@pimsinc.com, an Eagle Scout from Williamsburg, VA (1990) with an impressive Scouting resume. He is already living in the area, but is looking to join us in August/September.
We start off this month with our 63rd Eagle Scout - Nathan T. Kennedy - who completed his marathon on Thursday, June 10th, 1999. The "T.," by the way, stands for Thomas. Nathan is a most unusual Bird in that he is the first Scout since Jeff Lucier (Eagle 1988) to have no Cub Scouting background. He is also a second generation Eagle, following in father John's footsteps (Troop 125, Bailey's Crossroads, mid-60's). His Honor Role:
Nathan's project was the renovation of the lower half of the Blue Jay Way Trail at Potomac Overlook Park, and involved removal of old and installation of new steps, installation of erosion barriers (water bars), trail lining and trail mulching, taking about 125 man-hours to complete. Combined with Matt S.'s project, this has converted the Blue Jay Way from one of the worst trails in the Park - so badly overgrown and worn out that many local residents didn't even know it was there - to one of the best. Nice job!
And in what is becoming an all too familiar refrain, "Happy 18th Birthday, Nathan!"
Thanks to the Board of Review members Dan C., Hank Dettmar, Rita R. and Jim S..
Down on the Junior Circuit, Ryan H. and Nicholas M. have both completed their requirements for Second Class Rank, while Charles B. and Steven S. have almost finished their Life Practical Exams.
On the Merit Badge Front, Neal K. finished on Citizenship in the Community, while Thomas S. earned Fishing.
In another aspect of "Advancement," the Troop graduates five seniors - Eagle Scouts all - from High School and into college this year (and congratulations to each!):
Tim Hupalo - Virginia Commonwealth University
Nathan Kennedy - Radford University
Rusty Philpott - University of Maine
Jamie Smith - University of Virginia
Tim Tuck - Holy Cross University
1) Chain Bridge District Dinner - Reminder - Spate's Hall, Fort Myer on Saturday, June 19th, 7 - 9pm. To my knowledge, the following Troop 111 Scouts and Adults are attending:
3 Bradys (Greg), Josh Gartner, 4 Hupalos (Dan and Tim), Brad Jones, 2 Kempters (Kevin), Bob Klein, John Manning, Bill McCahill, 2 Philpotts (Rusty), 4 Smiths (Adam and Jamie). Hank Dettmar is also attending as our invited guest.
Note that the Scouts (and Scouters) have a choice of dressing in either a full Scout Uniform or a suit.
2) Makeup Meetings for Summer Camp - As many of you know, our past Monday night meeting was pre-empted by a Benefit Dinner for the Children of Haiti. While I am all for the children of Haiti, it would have been nice to have been informed ahead of time, seeing as we've been meeting on Monday nights for only the past 20 years or so!
Anyway, we lost an important night. At this time, we are planning to have a multi-part session on Sunday afternoon, beginning with several Boards of Review at 3pm, and advancing to Merit Badge Prep Classes starting at about 4 - 4:30 and running as needed through the rest of the afternoon and evening. Note the conflict with the Summer Camp Adults Meeting, 4pm at the Scully's. Kim S. will be generating a schedule and publishing it via email later tonight or tomorrow - please be looking for it. All summer camp Scouts should plan on doing independent work on Merit Badges this upcoming week.
We are still meeting on Monday night for our summer camp camping primer. Again, all first and second year suimmer Campers must attend, with a parent.
3) Troop 111 Yard Sale
The following Scouts assisted for the hours shown: Matthew C. (8hrs), Matt G. (3hrs), Dan H. (1hr), Tim H. (1hr), Rusty P. (1hr), Casey S. (2hrs), Mark T. (2hrs), Chris W. (1hr), and Eric W. (1hr).
Thanks to one and all who participated, and especially Rick and Holly W., who organized and ran the sale. We will probably not hold another yard sale until Spring, 2001 (since everyone's closets should be well cleared out at this point!)
4) Summer of Fun, See the Calendar.
Any questions, new ideas, or offers of help, email ASM Rich Sheehey at: tr111@troop111.org.
5) Adult Projectoree Patches - Several Adults have inquired about Projectoree patches. I have a grand total of 4 left. In general, I always try to give patches to the uniformed ASM's, and then to any other (non-ASM) Adult who wants one (few do.) Several of the ASM's have already received their patches, others have not. If you are interested in receiving a Projectoree patch, please let me know by email; I'll try to get one to you asap. Note that if I run out, I'll have to reorder additional patches; this is easy enough, but will involve a wait.
Other patches which attending Adults may want to have (LET ME KNOW!) include: Camp Tuckahoe (summer camp), Rideau Canal, Camp Potomac (Guns and Arrows Campout), Vint Hill Camporee, Camp Mahonegon (caving trip), and the 1998 Marine Corps Marathon.
6) Eagle Scout Projects - Adam S. is starting his Eagle Scout Project at Upton Hills tomorrow (Friday, 6/18), starting at 3pm and running til dark. Expect an email from him concerning this project, and PLEASE COME AND HELP if you're available anytime tomorrow afternoon or evening. Brendan M. will also be working at Upton Hills a little later this summer.
Starting off June (and bookending the Memorial Day weekend with two Troop campouts), we headed off to the George Washington National Forest, a little north of Woodstock, Va, for a backpacking trek over Little Sluice Mountain. This was the Troop's first backpacking trek in some time that wasn't associated with Philmont (since we hit Philmont for four straight years, 1995 - 1998, we've had plenty of backpacking - but not for the general membership.) Not surprisingly, most of the trekkers were complete novices enjoying their first true wilderness experience.
In order to make it even "extra challenging," we picked the very start of the super heat wave that struck the mid-Atlantic region the second week of June. Quite a difference between this and the rain-soaked Big Meadows/Bearfence Mountain campout in late May! This one really started at the Parish Center, with everyone stripping down to fighting weight and distributing our ultralight camping gear (tents, backpacking stoves, dehydrated food, etc.) throughout the crew. Then it was off to Woodstock, a long drive out I-66 and I-81 South, then VA Rt 42 West. No signs of a trailhead, so we ended up asking some local residents for help and finally got our bearings - not exactly the Shenandoah National Park, and that's a fact!
The trail started on the other side of a guy's house, but none of the residents seemed to mind us traipsing across their lawn. Oddly enough, we had the familiar "UFO" or "air conditioner" noise of millions of cicadas as a backdrop as we started off - all too well known to those of us who "survived" the 17 year cicada hatch of the late 80's (?). These were probably a local hatch of 3 or 7 year cicadas; they were definitely smaller than their 17 year cousins, and not much for flying around. Brilliant orange eyes. Very altitude dependent, too, and we slowly left them and their X-files chorus behind as we climbed up the southern face of Little Sluice Mountain. A very tough trail! - actually a Forest Service road, badly overgrown and with numerous toppled trees as obstacles. Of interest, both the PATC and USGS topo maps were sadly deficient, as we passed numerous trails and roads not marked on the maps. The GW National Forest is popular with hunters during deer season, and various campsites abound throughout the mountains in the region. Well, we thoroughly tested the old Marine Corps adage that "you can't drown in your own sweat" (although Matt G. gave it a good effort!), and fought our way up about 1400 feet of elevation gain (1200 to 2600 feet), using the patented "caterpillar" technique made famous during our Philmont treks.
The hike was only supposed to be 4 miles, but it certainly seemed longer than that! At one point, we climbed the peak of Little Sluice - all of 15 feet above the trail - and found half the skin of a good sized rattlesnake in the rocks there. A bit of a view towards the Massanutten Range, not much. We also saw plenty of "sign" of bears along the trail; seems they may be using it more frequently than the human visitors! We finally passed the spring - flowing good and hard - which had mandated the switch from the originally planned Signal Knob Hike, and camped at the next available site, passing a group of three fellow campers (and a dog) on the way (the only other people we saw all weekend.)
The campsite was flat but a bit tight. The Scouts all enjoyed doing a camp setup with our backpacking tents, and about half the crew headed off to do an additional 4 mile round trip to White Rock, a fabulous overlook further down the rideline. The rest of us stayed back for a lengthy backpacking meal prep - as much an instructional session on backpacking stoves as cooking. Lipton Cheddar and Broccoli Pasta, with Chicken - Haute Cuisine, Baby! - along with stuffing and a disastrously failed attempt (by yours truly) at chocolate pudding. Well, two outta three ain't bad! Unbelievably enough, just as we were finishing dinner prep, up walked ASM Al Mazloom, who had missed us at the Parish Center by several hours, and basically decided to track us down on his own. Hard Core! Well, just in time for dinner, as the White Rock crew returned a few minutes later. Following dinner and cleanup, the Scouts enjoyed another lengthy campfire tale from John B., while the rest of the adults did not enjoy cleaning up a horrid mess when our bear-bag slipped its knot and plummeted 15 feet, cracking open a water jug holding 1 gallon of the aforementioned failed chocolate pudding. Fortunately, it was 99 44/100% contained inside the bags, but it was still quite a chore to stabilize. That took us to darkness, and everyone racked out under a brilliant set of stars, peaking through the trees, and a light breeze. Ted G. and I camped out under the stars. Very few insects, but five times during the night we had deer wander into the campsite from the windward side and give their classic series of warning snorts (4 to 6 for each one) as they finally winded us and then went crashing off into the night. Scared John B. half to death. Not too much shuteye for Bob the ultralight sleeper, either.
The next day, we had a leisurely camp breakdown, and headed back, using a different road back down to make a semi-circular hike out of it (versus just reversing the first day's trek.) Of interest on the return was a medium sized tortoise, plus a large number of mini-tadpoles who had made the unfortunate decision to live in a small puddle in the middle of the road (Darwinian selection will soon descend, I fear!) The growing menace of UFO's confirmed our approach to the Troop vans, and we headed off for Mass at St. John the Baptist's in Front Royal, then home.
An excellent backpacking primer event! Attendees included: Chris B., Charles B., Kenny E., Matt G., Stefan N., Carl S., Neal S., and Dan and Nick T.. Thanks to Duke B., John B., Ted G., Al Mazloom and Fred S., for sharing the trail (and the sweat!)
- Bob
Home.