Remember, we are not meeting on Labor Day Monday! Instead, we will be meeting the following night, Tuesday, September 7th, at the Parish Center as usual. Uniforms are optional for this first meeting; I will be wearing mine. The primary purpose of this meeting will be to divide into new Patrols and select new Patrol Leaders. The secondary purpose will be to review all Junior Scout Blue Sheets, with the intention of filling it blanks from completed merit badges from over the summer. The tertiary purpose will be to collect permission slips for the upcoming canoe trip to the James River. Be there, aloha....

With the departure of our five graduating seniors to college, plus Ryan H.'s transfer to Texas, and the probable low-level involvement of our current Eagle Scouts, we will be dropping into the mid-50's in terms of active Scouts. To date, no-one has formally dropped out of the Troop, but frankly I will be quite surprised if this holds. We'll see.

We will likely be welcoming a transfer Scout from Brazil: Andre C., who is either a freshman or sophomore at Yorktown. It is also possible that we may have additional transfers of additional Scouts who moved into the area over the summer. Stay tuned....

It's tough to track advancement over the Dog Days of August, but we did have a few tidbits: Neil S. completed his last requirements for Second Class, with a number of fellow Scouts also standing in the wings. Kenny E. worked on several Eagle required Merit Badges over the summer with his brother Russell with Troop 647 counselors, and completed Citizenship in the Nation, and First Aid. (We're hoping for similar exploits from some of the many Scouts who attended non-BSA camps over the summer!)

On September 17th - 19th, we'll be travelling south for a weekend of canoeing and tubing on the James River; hopefully, the deluge of rain from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Dennis will give us a proper river (the Shenandoah River is a stream these days.) To my knowledge, this will be the Troop's first ever trip to the James. On October 1st - 3rd, we'll be travelling to Camp Potomac for our Annual Guns and Arrows Campout - always one of the Troop's favorite outdoor activites.

1) The Troop Calendar - is updated for the Fall on the Troop website; see:
         http://www.troop111.org/calendar.html

2) Help! - Ms. Maggie Smith is an elderly homeowner living near Yorktown High School. She is looking for a Scout to do basic yardwork for her, starting immediately. She is willing to pay $8./hour - which is a very generous rate. Is anyone interested? Please call me ASAP. If you get my answering machine, leave a message with your phone number.

3) Philmont 2000 - I will be generating the first Crew Newsletter within the next week. Note that anyone wishing to drop out of their commitment may do so at this time without financial penalty (i.e., we'll return your $100 deposit.) There have been several dropouts from Troop 149, and possibly one or two from Troop 647; I'm not sure on that yet. There is a reasonable chance for us to obtain a third crew slot from Philmont; I will not know this 'til late this month.

4) National Jamboree 2001 - The next National Jamboree will be held in August, 2001, at Fort A.P. Hill in Fredericksburg, VA.) The Troop last sent Scouts to the Jamboree in 1993 (no-one was interested in 1997, since we were going to both Philmont and the Virgin Islands.) Note that we have little expectation of surviving the Philmont 2001 waiting list (at last check, we're # 56 for June 29th, 2001), so this is something worth considering, especially the current 6th, 7th and 8th graders. As a sheer guess, the cost will be somewhere around $900. The following National Jamboree will be held in 2005, so it's 2001 or forget it (at least, as a Scout.) If you're at all interested, please let me know, so I have a reason for keeping better track of the various deadlines and forms, etc. (PS - Hell will freeze over into a solid brick before I'd ever be selected as a Jamboree Scoutmaster by our Council, so this is also an ideal opportunity to get another flavor of Scouting "not filtered through Bob." There's a lot to be said for that!)

August, as you know, was a heavy duty month, with two high adventure treks (Killarney and the Shenandoah National Park "Death March"), plus several "Summer of Fun" activities. We'll start by taking a followup look at our stop in Niagara Falls (courtesy of Roy Morris, SM-106 (Rock Spring Congregational Church):

Bob - Enjoyed your trip notes from the canoe/kayak trip, including the ride on the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls. By the way, the first major portage is always the worst....

Having been to Niagra Falls a couple of time, I agree it's specacular. But you must have missed what I thought was the coolest thing. About a mile upstream of the falls, in some SERIOUS current downstream, and some SERIOUS rapids, lies a rusting barge. Decades ago, this thing got loose with some guys on it, and they were headed for some "major surfing action." They opened the seacocks in order to scuttle the barge, and it sank and stuck there. Then they set up some lines and were able to get the guys off. In the current, it's hard to believe anything would not get swept over the falls, but it worked out OK. Naturally, there was nothing to do with the barge except leave it there, because anything you put in the water is going to go over the falls. So it's been there ever since. I often think about what those guys must have been thinking, and what a great idea it was to scuttle the barge.

-Roy

[Note from Bob - I did indeed miss this barge, because I was concentrating on not running over all the tourists running across the road in the heavy rain. However, I'm pretty sure some of the Scouts did spot it, based on some later comments while we were driving around.]

The entire camp was surprisingly cold and windy, and socked in with grey clouds - hardly an auspicious sign when you've got 7 miles to hike/backpack, but them's the breaks.... With that, we continued south, down to Black Rock parking area, and spent 15 minutes hiking up to Black Rock and a nice view, in (thankfully) growing sunshine. All the Scouts enjoyed the rock scramble up to Black Rock, and we got the first of our many "Mommie Shots" on top. After a quick hike back down to the vans, we emptied our backpacks out, drank 2 liters of water apiece, and said "sayonara" to Joy G., Jane S., Bill N., and our vehicles - committed now! The Troop vans were driven to Little Stony Man Parking lot, and the drivers returned to Arlington in Joy's station wagon (Thanks for a job well done!) After lunch, we stretched and started right in on our hike - not too bad - 6 miles to Loft Mountain. Fortunately, the chill cloudiness we had experienced that morning had given way to sunny, warm skies (still relatively cool versus Arlington, however.)

The first couple of miles were a learning exercise, as we taught everyone our standard hiking protocols, especially the famous "caterpillar" (a superior method for steady hiking up long climbs.) As planned, the starter hike wasn't too bad, with a slow descent to Brown's Gap, then a slow rise to Loft Mountain and up to the campground. Pulling into Loft, we got the usual stares from all the car campers (they don't see too many "real" campers.) Although it wasn't critical for us, it was interesting that the campground wasn't very crowded yet - but it rapidly filled up as the afternoon wore on into evening. After setting up our tarp (Philmont style) and sorting all the crew gear, the Junior Scouts did their first dinner prep while the Senior Scouts headed off to the campstore complex for laundry and showers (no, you never, ever miss a chance!) Rick W. scouted out the first of our bear-bag trees (for hoisting food and other "smellables" into the air); quite surprisingly, most of the car campers either didn't bother protecting their food, or just tossed it all into their cars and campers (not a real good idea, as I hope they'll never find out.)

Dinner was an instant repeat of our first dinner in Killarney, and equally popular - we didn't have too many leftovers, and that's a fact! After cleanup, the Junior Scouts and I headed down for showers of our own (what a view outside the laundry! - has to be the most scenic laundromat in the entire United States), while Stefan, Charles and Steven started our first marshmallow campfire. As dusk turned into darkness (and some moderately decent stars), we spent a few minutes reviewing our "get up and get goin'" reveille protocol, andeveryone hit the rack by 9:30pm - plenty tired enough from our first, very full day. A breezy night - no bears!

Sunday dawned clear but misty - and more than a bit nippy, too. Reveille at 6 am, with a rather leisurely camp breakdown, then breafast with plenty of water. A very long hike today - 14 miles - with a brutal mile long climb at the very end. And to think some people call this fun (yeah, like me!) We edged up the sides of Brown, then Warner Mountains, then descended down to Simmons Gap for lunch near one of the Park's many Ranger/Maintenance stations. They kindly allowed us to fill up on water and use their bathroom, too. At lunch, we also discovered that the reason why the trail profile (elevation versus mileage) was maddeningly wrong was that our naviguesser was using the profile for the Skyline Drive, not the A-T (name withheld to protect the guilty!) As you can guess, the elevation changes associated with the trail were considerably sharper and longer than the road.

After lunch, we continued on down toPowell's Gap, then up to Roundtop, and back down again to my second all time favorite name in the Park: "Smith Roach Gap." This marked our last crossing of the Skyline Drive for the day - and it was an already pretty footsore group that started in on the climb up High Top. With liberal use of the caterpillar, however, we knocked it off in short order, pulling in around 6:30. The hut itself was deserted, which we were happy to see, but we were also quite startled to have a small herd of wild pigs take off as the first trekkers arrived. Not good at all, as wild pigs are known to be even more aggressive and dangerous than bears. Another group was hanging out down near the spring, and had to be persuaded to depart with a few rock tosses in their general vicinity. Quite fortunately, this was the last we saw of either group for the rest of our stay.

The hut (an open face Adirondack type shelter) was in decent shape, and reasonably clean, too, but we passed on sleeping inside in favor of our tents, due to the well publicized problems of hantavirus from mice infestations in the huts all up and down the A-T. The bear-bag tree was also rusted through and broken off at the base, but the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club had thoughtfully installed a nylon cable with a pulley system for our bear-bags. A picnic table and fireplace rounded out the facilities. Unfortunately, however, the spring was flowing extremely slowly - the reported 4 quarts per minute turned out to be about 4 quarts per hour, just barely adequate for a group of our size. We started right in on dinner, using the last of our personal water, while everyone else went ahead and set up tents, massaged the soreness out of their feet, and read the hut register. Of note, one hiker claimed to have been treed for over an hour by a large "fearsome" pig several days before we arrived; however, there were no other problems noted with the pigs, so we decided against keeping an all-night long firewatch going. Of additional note in the register, we also read the week-old entry of another Scout Troop from southern Virginia, on the last night of their own 50 Miler trip (they were departing from Swift Run Gap the next morning.) Nice to know there are some other hard-core Scouts out there!

Dinner again disappeared in short order; fortunately, we had just enough water from the spring by this point to do a minimal - but decent - cleanup. After setting up one of our water jugs at the spring to collect all night, it was another early bedtime for some tired puppies - and no-one had any problem sleeping, despite the rocky, uneven tentsites. A cool, breezy night, with a beautiful moon shining through the trees; nary a sign or sound of our friendly neighborhood porkers.

Monday - Up at 6am again, another pleasant, misty morning. After a bit quicker camp breakdown, we snagged breakfast at the hut, and restocked our water supply. After a badly needed stretching session, we departed about 7:30, and were immediately back into it again, fighting our way over the crest of High Top. Just past the peak, we enjoyed perhaps our best view of the trip- a panorama to the north, with the valleys still shrouded in mist and the mountains bright with that translucent sunshine you sometimes see in Arlington in early fall. Pretty neat.

After about 15 minutes, we called it a view, and headed down the steep grade to the Entrance Station at Swift Run Gap, linking up with our food stash and Ranger "Carol" - who was only slightly interested in our report of very low water flow at High Top Hut, but very interested in our tales of wild pigs. We ended up writing up a full report, with details on numbers and sizes of pigs. Carol indicated they were probably not wild at all, but rather just wandering domestic stock. The "fearsome" pig who had treed a backpacker the previous week was thought to actually be a very friendly Vietnamese pot bellied pig, who was doubtless highly disappointed not to be petted and fed by the backpacker. Well, that's easy to say from the safety of the Entrance Station, but I think my sympathies were more with the solo backpacker! Carol was an excellent host, allowing use of the station's bathroom and all the water we wanted (good stuff, too.) We munched down some leftover snacks, discarded our accumulated trash, and loaded up with the rest of the food for the trek.

Right back into another long steady uphill, edging around Saddleback Mountain. We eventually took a side trail up from the A-T to the South River picnic area for lunch; the picnic areas was an ideal stop because it had unlimited water and a comfort station. While we were eating several solo day-hikers went down the trail and immediately returned with stories of two different bears. Well, as usual, we never saw a thing. We did, however, meet "Lars from Mars," who is apparently a bit of a local TV personality on Public access channels 10 and 33 in Arlington. Lars - who had never been camping before in his entire life - had decided to get a good start by backpacking up to Front Royal over about a week, acquiring bits of knowledge as needed from fellow campers along the way. "Ouch." He was quite a character, and we ran into him on and off for the rest of our trip.

After lunch, a group toiety, and a complete restock on water, we headed back down to the A-T, and continued north. However, our trip was soon interrupted by the first of three bouts with ground hornets, as Tim and I made the mistake of kicking a small log off the trail. Instant pandemonium, as we collected about 20 stings within 10 seconds, with Stefan getting the worst of it with six. We also broke the land speed record for the 100 yard dash with full packs. Well, at least we certainly saved many a future hiker from the same fate, as the responsible log ended up well off the trail. A few minutes later we passed a huge nest built right under the right hand side of the trail, and a third nest five minutes later.

By this point, it was clear that the area of trail we were walking had been the subject of some recent and serious trail work, and the disturbed ground had either attracted the hornets or displaced them from their original haunts. As you can guess, we exited this area rather gingerly, with everyone pretty skittish until we got back onto "old" trail.

Lars caught up to us as we administered some First Aid, and reported no problems, so solo hiking was obviously not enough of a disruption to raise the ire of the local "residents." Fortunately, only Tim showed any sign of any allergic reaction, with some swelling of his leg, easily controlled with some antihistamines.

Back on the trail again, and climbing the slope to the side of Dean Mountain, we were passed by two sets of backpackers heading south, college kids from VMI (I think.) We gave both groups warnings about "hornet alley," for which they were quite grateful, and parted company; still a long way to go. Next up was Bald Face Mountain, then we finally pulled into Lewis Mountain Campground, with another 12 miles down. Lewis is the smallest but possibly the nicest campground in the entire Park. Like Loft Mountain, no reservations are permitted, so we were very pleased to see it only about one third full. We took three sites at furthest end into the campsite, and set up our tents to establish squatters' rights. A few grumbles of thunder quickly encouraged us to set up the tarp as well, but other than a few sprinkles, it stayed dry (no complaints here!)

The rest of the evening was a repeat of our routine at Loft Mountain - dinner, laundry and showers, and a few purchases of "goodies" at the camp store. I provided light entertainment by calling in the resident raven, who kept flying around the eastern edge of the camp trying to figure out what I was. The Scouts were also mildly amused by Lars' campsite - he was making some pretty classic novice errors, but the weather was kind enough to forgive all tenderfoot mistakes. Only downer was an injury to Dan T. - he had turned his ankle just before we pulled into Lewis Mountain, and after talking it over with Nick decided to drop out of the crew the following morning. A real shame, because he had already completed the really tough part of the trek; from Lewis Mountain on, we had far fewer sharp elevation changes. Well, after a long-distance conference call with Tom and Nancy, we decided to let it rest overnight in favor of a final decision when they drove up the next morning.

As dusk fell, we once again had a late arriving crowd fill the remaining campsites, but - despite two motorcyclists - it stayed reasonably quiet. By 9pm it was a very quiet Troop 111 - a very pleasant sleeping night, with no bugs.

Tuesday - in a magnanimous display by the Adult Leaders, we let the Scouts sleep in today - all the way til 6:30am - because it was a much shorter day (8 miles). Gee, what nice guys, huh? We did another reasonably quick camp breakdown, trying to be quiet and considerate of our neighbors; this worked fine until one of the motorcyclists fired up his Harley and bolted out of camp around 7:15am, doubtless waking the entire campground. Tom and Nancy arrived at 7:30 sharp, and Dan decided not to test his ankle any further, so they departed as we started in on breakfast. Stretching by 8am, gone by 8:15, on a gentle downhill trail outlined with lush ferns, quite picturesque. After edging over Bush Mountain, we descended to Booten's Gap, then started in on our last really tough climb of the trek - over Hazel Top Mountain. Hazel Top offered some nice views to the west, off a side trail leading to some rock outcroppings. Down to Milam Gap, where we saw increasing numbers of deer - though not as many as in 1991, when we were literally surrounded by 70 or 80 deer in one glen.

We also came up on an old Park Cemetery, which dates from the early 1800's, but is still in use by the residents and their descendants who lived in the area before the establishment of the Park. Despite my misgivings (you never know if the locals might object), we spent a few minutes wandering around examining ancient headstones and enjoying the sunshine. I could think of lots worse places to spend eternity. Coming into Big Meadows Campground, the weather started becoming distinctly threatening, with plenty of low clouds and a quickening breeze. We detoured off the A-T to climb another trail to yet another "Black Rock," which gave a nice overview of the massif where Big Meadows is located, plus a bird's eye view of the Big Meadows Lodge. Several Lodge guests were also present (or soon arrived), and were suitably impressed that we had already backpacked some 40 miles (so far) to get there. A Lutheran Minister and his wife also joined us; he was an Eagle Scout, and still active with a Scout Troop at his Church in Pennsylvania. Nice guy. Most of the guests left quickly - and I suspect the odor of the great unwashed may have driven them off (that and the first spritzes of rain and wind gusts from the oncoming cold front.)

We headed back down on the circuit trail and marched into the main camp, got ourselves registered (we had three sites reserved), and hunted around for some of the lower tentsites which were out of the still growing wind. Lars from Mars was already there and setting up, and we gave him a few extra pointers on what not to do when prepping for rain. We finally settled on three sites at the lowest section of the campground, very heavily wooded, with almost no effects from the strong breeze blowing over, and everyone headed down just as the first heavy shower arrived. We quickly set up our tarp, giving everyone at least one dry spot to unload and sort gear, but held off on our tents in hopes that the rain would quit. Lars passed by, wearing his pack and asking for the amphitheater; much to our surprise (as we discovered the next day), he hiked all the way to Skyland for a hotel room and dinner at the Skyland Taproom, rather than camp out in the rain at Big Meadows. Must be nice is all I can say to that!

We returned back to our own site, and were immediately astonished to have an apparently cold, deserted fireplace with a few wet logs in it suddenly burst back into flames - upon investigation, the previous campers had never doused their fire, and the large logs protected the still blazing hot coals from the rain. Pretty ignorant behavior, but we ended up with an instant fire as a result, which was quickly consolidated and nurtured by Stefan, Charles and Steven (helped by plenty of free firewood laying about in all the other still deserted campsites.) By this point, our second squall line had passed, leaving brightening skies and crisp air. We decided to go ahead on setting up our tents - nice flat sites - did the showers and laundry thing again, and started dinner prep as a practical exam for the Junior Scouts. The campstore also provided a copious supply of sodas and candy bars (Steven also bought more marshmallows), purchased by Scouts with too much money burning in their pockets. The Senior Scouts eventually got a cardgame going with a marine from Quantico (and his wife); just for fun, no money. With dinner and snacks came the first of several incredibly bold deer, literally walking right up to the Scouts looking for a mooch. Clearly very few people pay any attention to the various "Please do Not Feed the Deer" signs all over camp!

Dinner was again popular, but for the first time we had some leftovers; maybe the candy bars were responsible, or maybe we didn't hike long enough today.... Checking the weather after cleanup (much nicer!), we opted for a hard-core Philmont style breakdown to speed us on our way the next day (11 miles to go, and a 1:30 appointment with Heidi B. awaiting.) After a busy 45 minutes, we were essentially completely packed up except for our tents and sleeping gear; good job. With that, the Scouts headed off for a 45 minute long game of Capture the Flag, coming back to camp around 9:30 or so. Bed by 10 pm, except for Stefan and Steven, who were out wandering around the camp ‘til much later. A pleasant, breezy night; no bugs, no rain and no deer; what's not to like???

Wednesday - up at 6am, very misty and foggy - tough to see! Even down in the trees, we had a pretty strong breeze blowing, too. Our camp breakdown of the previous evening paid quick dividends, and we were out on the parking lot within 35 minutes. After cameling up on water and stretching, we hit the final trail at 6:45; our fastest getaway for the entire trek. Good thing, too, as we got our first spritzes of rain by 7:30, as we hiked down off the plateau and along the Franklin Cliffs. The views were a washout with the thick clouds, however, which was a real shame - because the Cliffs normally offer some great vistas. We stopped around 8:00 for breakfast on some outcroppings; great spot but no view, and slowly increasing rain and a chilling breeze. So much for the weather forecast, which had been for a virtually perfect morning with a chance for afternoon showers!

Finishing breakfast, we all whipped out our pack covers; some opted for rain gear, but most followed my lead and just hiked wet. We were quickly warm with the tough haul past Hawksbill Mountain (we passed on the side hike to the peak, since there was no chance of a view), then on to Skyland in a growing downpour. Our first hint of Skyland were the horse corrals - not too much action today! By this point, the rain was pounding down pretty good, with a gusty wind whipping it around, too. Continuing on the main complex, we gratefully took temporary shelter under the roof overhang of the lodge (with the permission of the Lodge Manager.) Who should be there but our good buddy Lars, just gearing up to hike north after spending the night at the Lodge. He was a lot drier than us, that's for sure! We got a group photo and bid him "adieu."

After some debate, we decided to pass on lunch in favor of just eating the last of our various leftover snacks, since we figured to be hitting the Panorama Restaurant several hours earlier than originally scheduled. However, everyone did take advantage of the Lodge bathrooms, getting some wondering looks from the various guests who were sitting around the entrance hall, bored with the weather. Following that, we tightened up the laces, took a deep breath, and headed back out into the wind and rain for the final hike. The A-T takes advantage of the Little Stony Man Nature Trail as it departs north from Skyland, another stiff climb which took the chill back out of us, at least until we crested Stony Man Mountain. Proving that we weren't the only crazies in the world, we passed another group of a half-dozen backpackers, heading south - a camping club from Towson State University (gee, I wish they'd offered credit for backpacking when I was at Georgetown!) Passing the Passamoquoddy Cliffs , we also met a young couple who were bagging out on doing some rock climbing; the male half of the daring duo spent a minute chatting with Rick - turns out he was an Eagle Scout from Troop 274 in Frederick, MD, and had attended Philmont as a Scout. Our kind of guy! After a steep downhill, we leveled out and passed what seemed to be the overlook which was supposed to mark the van parking area - but there was no access trail, so we kept going for another quarter mile or so before stopping in some perplexity to recheck our maps after the trail seemed to turn away from the Skyline Drive. Unfortunately, the maps weren't detailed enough to show whether there was an access trail or not, so we assumed the worst and returned to the overlook area, and scaled the steep scree slope to Skyline drive. No overlook there, but it was just 200 yards down to the parking lot and the vans (turns out that if we had continued on the A-T another minute or two, we'd have run into the access trail, but it sure didn't seem that way at the time.) Still raining and blowing pretty good, so we started the vans, put the heat on high, and had the Scouts change into dry clothes.

Thus, only the Adults suffered hypothermia, waiting forever for everyone to get changed! Heidi B. arrived right on time, and we cruised down Skyline Drive to the Panorama Restaurant, arriving just before 2:00. Turns out they had just sent most of their staff home, since it was pretty clear business was gonna be slow all day, so it was one waitress and one cook for the 16 of us, plus a few other couples that straggled in over the next hour. Once we were inside, it immediately stopped raining and began to clear outside (natch!) Of interest, there was one "thru-hiker" downstairs, getting ready to head back out after lunch and a bathroom stop. He was a pretty taciturn guy, but Rick managed to coax out of him that he was hiking the A-T in thirds, and would be ending this summer's trek in Connecticut in about 6 weeks. Back upstairs, everyone enjoyed a pretty good lunch, followed by a reflective session of "Thorns and Roses." We purchased some congratulatory fudge for all hands, took the obligatory group photos in the parking lot, and departed for Arlington in clearing weather, arriving right on the dime at 6pm. We took a half hour to clean our cookware, hang our tents and tarps, and partially reorganize the rest of the crew gear, then gave everyone their release.

A Great Trip! Participants included: Luke B., Charles B., Todd G., Matt G., Stefan N., Thomas S., Neil S., Steven S., Dan T., Nick T. Thanks to Tim A., Ted G., Hugh S., Mark S., and Rick W., who shared the trail....

Our "General," Rich S., did a masterful job of dividing everyone up into the Reds and the Greens, working from Life Scouts down to New Scout level, with 11 a side. After a rather lengthy orientation, we all headed into the battlezone - essentially a very dark, two level maze. The intent is to find the enemy's "base" (a four sided cube suspended from the ceiling, with a bull's eye on each face), and shoot it, wait five seconds, and shoot it again - giving the shooter 50 points. The base reactivates after 30 seconds. Shooting enemy soldiers was worth 10 points per hit, as measured by a computer system built into the harness/sensor system each of us wore. Each war lasts 20 minutes of high adrenaline action. As you can imagine, it's pretty chaotic, with laser shots flying all over from waves of attackers and defenders, plus snipers shooting through small windows in the maze walls - all with flashing lights and pulsating electronic music pounding away as background above screaming Scouts. Well, World War I ended as a narrow victory for the Red Team, 3939 to 3506 (a very close score for Laser Tag.)

We exited for a temporary truce and to devour 7 of 10 Dominoes Pizzas (they really do deliver anywhere), giving up the battlefield to Troop 996 from Alexandria. Despite my enthusiastic encouragement, their leaders refused to play with their Scouts; oh well.... We finished dinner in short order, and headed back in for World War II, an instant repeat, except this time the Green Team was victorious, by another tight score of 4147to 3694. Dan Hupalo was the Master Blaster with an incredible score of 1112, mostly earned by repeatedly shooting the Red Base while surrounded and defended by an impenetrable cordon of fellow Green attackers. Adding the two game's respective scores, the Greens won the night by a razor-thin margin of 20 points; amazingly close! [Now that's what you call "evenly matched" teams!] With that, we headed back to Arlington, all sweaty and happy. Somehow, I think we'll be back! Participants included: Chris B. Richard B., Luke B., Matthew C., Drew D., Max D., David G., Matt G., Dan Hu., Will K., Jack O., John P., Charlie S., Neil S., Steven S., Dan T, Nick T., Mark T., and Eric W. Thanks to Matt B. and Rich S.y, who dodged the beams, and especially Brian P., who helped organize the event.

Home.
13 September 1999