Notes and Observations on the Adventures of
Boy Scout Troop 1916
Ever since I joined the Boy Scouts, I wanted to go to the Philmont Scout Ranch to experience its many high adventure activities, such as hiking, camping, and other outdoor training along its many miles of rugged trails in New Mexico.
This summer, a group of scouts from Troop 1916 will be taking a trip to the Northern Tier, the Boy Scouts of America’s oldest national High Adventure program. Our trip to the Northern Tier will involve 10 days of canoeing across some of Canada’s biggest lakes. I am one of the scouts going on this expedition to the Canadian wilderness.
My dad is a member of the United States Coast Guard. His service is something to be proud of, but it also has some downfalls. One of those downfalls is having to move every two or three years. Moving can be great because I get the chance to see new places. But it also means I have to leave friends and activities behind. Scouting is one of these activities.
Every November, "Stop Hunger Now" comes to McLean, Virginia. Hundreds of volunteers gather at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (our troop's sponsor) to package meals for those in need around the world.
Community Service is something that scouts not only need to do but should want to do. This is without doubt one of those occasions where our scouts want to help. They sing (mostly badly) and dance (definitely badly) to hours of 70s and 80s rock music whilst donning hairnets and filling plastic bags full of rice, soy and vitamins. Their simple mantra is “Speed not precision!” Last Saturday, our troop and the other splendid volunteers packaged 300,000 meals in three shifts!
Our first Venture Patrol outing of the season is in the bag. A tad chilly but nothing too much for rugged manly older scouts.
We met up at various times out at Camp Highroads near Middleburg. A really nice campsite nestled in the tress awaited. The wind and temperature were a concern but as it unfolded the temperature didn’t drop as much as forecast and the wind dropped more … all in all it lead to a really nice pleasant evening by the fire and a snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug night in our tents.
It’s always remarkable to witness a piece of advice that was offered about a century ago and find that it still works today. Scouting's founder, Robert Baden-Powell, once put the point of this Journal post in the clearest of terms: “The Patrol Method is not a way to operate a Boy Scout Troop, it is the only way. Unless the Patrol Method is in operation, you donʼt really have a Boy Scout Troop.” Agreed.
Summer Camp is a big deal for our Scouts each year. For some, it's their first time away from home for a week-long trip to the woods. But it's always a fun, learning experience, and the Scouts love attending Summer Camp.
So, as the Troop's Scoutmaster, I thought that you--the parents, families, and friends of our Scouts in Troop 1916--might enjoy a short series of daily accounts about what's happening at our biggest camping event of the year.
