Overnight troop outings present the opportunity to engage in activities that are outside the norm of our daily lives - hiking the mountains of West Virginia, learning to build a fire in the rain, eating freshly cooked delectibles created at the often dirt-covered hands of Scouts, and battling Jack Frost’s mum (Mother Nature) braving the elements with nary a 30 pound pack strapped to each wee little scout in search of shelter and warmth. (that last bit in honor of seeing Matt Salt this weekend)
Until, that is, the troop comes up against the annual Lock-In!! This event, normally held in January or February each year, is a chance to engage in a community service project as a troop, and to gather for a night of relaxing repose in the relative comfort of the gym at our weekly meeting place.
The weekend began with an Eagle Court of Honor (CoH) where Matthew Harrington was honored for having achieved scouting’s highest rank. It was done extremely well, and reflected well on Matthew and his parents. Especially rousing were Matthew’s comments, delivered to the assembled body of scouts and scouters. Those comments mostly reflected on his scouting career, but were framed with an eye to how those experiences will continue to shape his life as he walks the long and often difficult path of manhood.
The CoH was capped off with a delightful lunch that made even the most calorie-conscious amongst us return for seconds: BBQ, Mac-n-Cheese, baked beans, and a congratulatory cake. As the blue-icing stained smiles abounded and the food comas began to set in, we prepped the meeting space for the service project.
A rousing presentation was delivered by Ms. Courtney Arroyo from the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Courtney explained how OEM is involved in disaster preparedness and coordinating response efforts for the county during times of emergency. This includes delivering recommendations on when FCPS should close school…. Which precipitated a flurry of interesting comments and questions about… why school was not closed last week… why the social media hashtag #CloseFCPS was not more effective… how she could in good conscience allow school to remain open when there are such precarious conditions like rain…. All questions you would expect when a group of 50+ teenage students learn they are in the presence of power…. But I digress…
The service project itself was a simple, but immensely important one. Scouts packaged 225 emergency preparedness awareness kits for the elderly residents at the Lewinsville Retirement Residence. Each pack contained an informational trifold that explained the importance of keeping a kit packed and ready to go, a contact card so the recipients could get more info from the OEM staff, a magnet with the Farifax OEM hotline phone number, and a note letting them know the kit was made available to them as a service to community by the Scouts of Troop 1916.
Once the packs were assembled, the Scouts were transported to the Lewinsville Retirement Residence by a collection of parent volunteers. Once on site the Scouts calmly, respectfully, and quietly sacheted through the halls and hung a bag on the door of each resident. When complete, they returned to the church where food was cooked, screens came to life, gaming commenced, and sleep remained elusive.
Sunday morning, a hearty breakfast of bagels and juice was served to prepare the intrepid scouts for the final push to the end of the evolution. The scouts who were able to remain donned their Class A uniforms and attended church service together. A scout IS reverent, after all. And Scouting IS a faith-based family-oriented organization.
So, at the end of it all - we recognized excellence, we served the elderly in our community, we partook in fun and games, we got far too little sleep, and wrapped it all up by exercising the 12th point of the Scout law - one of the foundational tenets of the Scouting program.
Check out the photos over here.