Mayor Joe Frank of Newport News, an ardent supporter of Scouting and an Eagle Scout himself, has been awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. Details can be found here http://www.dailypress.com/news/newport-news/dp-local_eaglescoutjoe_1216dec16,0,5415680.story . The video can be viewed here http://www.dailypress.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=5616b52a-478d-4340-b94a-fa748eab08c7&src=front .
Well, the food was great, the Scouts received their well-deserved awards, and the bidding at the Scout Bucks auction was intense. This year, we had several tables of goodies for the Scouts to bid on. The bids came quickly and furiously, with no quarter given. Everybody seems to have had a great time, and I think everybody was able to win a bid on something. Several boys, who had earned enough points to be “independently wealthy” went home with lots of loot!
Each year, the boys are able to earn points or “Scout Bucks”, for things such as advancements, summer camp attendance, merit badges … just about anything that Scouts do earns points, so an active Scout earns more than one that doesn’t participate as much. At the end of the year, the points are tallied and the boys can use them to bid on items at the auction in December.
This meeting closed out the year. The next meeting will be after the holidays. I’m finishing up the recharter now, and a snowstorm is on tap for the weekend. How much … nobody is sure 
. Christmas and New Year’s are around the corner and life is good! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
Dick
Looks like the guys really did a great job! The Troop placed 32nd out of 63 Troops. The older Scouts (First Class or above) placed 40th out of 122 teams, and the younger Scouts (not yet First Class rank) placed 26th out of 120 teams. Way to go, guys. We made the trip with only 5 Scouts and 2 adults. We’re looking at another orienteering event in the Spring a bit closer, and hope for better participation.
Bill S., our newest Eagle
This evening Bill S. passed his Eagle Board of Review, which I had the honor to sit on. All of the board members were impressed with his answers, and feel that he is very deserving of the award.
The board members were especially interested in his project, which was building an artificial oyster reef. Not your average run-of-the-mill project 
.
Congratulations, Bill!
Orienteering Meet
Nov 8
Well, we got back from the northern reaches of Maryland about 11:30 this morning after a 7 am departure. Only one pit stop along the way .
I am told the younger Scouts team placed 30th. That doesn’t sound to good until you know that there were 190 other teams competing. Good job guys!
We were hosted by Troop 873, Scoutmaster Steve’s old troop in the Baltimore Area Council, and his brother and Dad are both still active with that Troop. They treated us great! We arrived after a long drive through terrible traffic at about 10:30 Friday night. Since they were the service Troop for the Saturday event, they put us in the bunkhouse with them, fed us all weekend, and just generally made sure we were looked after. They’ve got a great group of Scouts and Scouters. They really made us feel at home. And the event was professionally run by the Quantico Orienteering Club. The Scouts learned a lot and had fun as well.
100th Anniversary Video
Oct 19
Here’s an inspirational video for the 100th Anniversary of Scouting.
Pumpkins, Redux
Oct 13
Well, when October comes around, we all know what time it is … PUMPKIN TIME! This year, the church had a Fall Festival in conjunction with the unloading of the pumpkins. There were all sorts of activities for the kids, and most of the church organizations sold home-made wares in support of the mission teams. There were home-made rolls, apple butter, baked goods, and even some store-bought Krispy Kreme donuts and scout popcorn .
This year, there seemed to be a lot more pumpkins, but there were a lot more people unloading, too. We had 21 from the Troop … adults and Scouts, and all the hands made the work lighter. It was a beautiful day, and pretty festive, too. The magician really put on a good show for the kids.
This weekend, there’s an Iron Chef weekend that we primarily use for a Fall Webelos-recruiting event, but there’s two to four inches of rain predicted by Sunday. We may have to rethink this 
. The first weekend in November, we’re off to eastern Maryland for a pretty big orienteering meet in the Scoutmaster’s old boyhood council.
Well, I have more work to do before I head to bed, so let me get this posted. I just L-O-V-E Fall weather. It’s my favorite time to camp!
Yours in Scouting,
Dick
Summer Camp – Days 5 & 6
Jul 16
Sorry 
. I posted the videos on the YouTube account but totally forgot to put the links here. Those that were clever enough to go there, saw the videos already … if you didn’t, you had to wait until now .
It’s been hectic since I got back. It’s amazing how much work can pile up in a week … and nobody can do any of it while I’m gone, it seems. I’m slowly catching up and hopefully will be a bit more regular here.
YIS,
Dick.
Summer Camp – Day 3 & 4
Jul 2
Well, another day down and closer to our return! I don’t want to make it sound like I’m hoping for camp to be over … I’m not. I’m an enthusiastic camper. While the Scouts are tearing all over the forest and doing energetic things, I’m in the HQ building working on these videos and doing paperwork. Summer Camp for me is a time to relax and regroup, and enjoy the kids’ activities. I can see them all grow a little in responsibility and self-confidence during the week.
I’m not just sitting around all the time, though. I visit the various activities and classes to see if any of the kids are having problems. I’m also getting my fair share of exercise … it’s about a half mile from the main camp to Sequoia campsite, where we are living this week, and I walk that several times a day. The land is a bit rolling, so there are ups and downs to the trek .
Yesterday Scoutmaster King participated in the Horseshoes tournament, and that will be completed today. He also participated in the clay shoot and placed second. Mr. Williams has been assisting with Merit Badge classes, providing transportation and guidance. All of the adult leaders sat down together last night in the HQ building and came up with a suggested skeleton plan for the Patrol Leaders’ Council to plan next year’s events. Hopefully, that will give them some ideas, and added to thir own ideas, should bring the Troop a great program next year.
This is the first year I’ve taken the computer and video camera to camp and provided pretty much near real-time video to those left behind. It’s great, and with WI-FI here, it’s easy to upload and make available to everyone. Just wish I had the time to refine the video content a bit more. What you’re seeing is pretty much raw video clips strung together. When I get back to “civilization”, I’ll do a bit more editing.
Well, lunchtime is approaching, and I can’t miss the chicken fingers and potato wedges! The food here at Cherokee has been very good, and the boys seem to like it just fine, many going back for seconds (but not for the broccoli and cheese night before last !
Tonight we’re cooking in the campsite. Steve is orchestrating a Low Country Boil for the adults (shrimp, potatoes, corn on the cob, etc with the appropriate spices). Sounds great. He’s also doing a couple of dutch oven apple cobblers. Pictures tomorrow!
Yours in Scouting,
Mr. B
Summer Camp – Day 2
Jul 1
Troop 11 Summer Camp 2009
Well, another day has come and gone. The boys have gotten into their groove as far as their merit badge schedules are concerned, and most seem to be enjoying themselves. There were a few cases of homesickness among the new Scouts, being away from home and parents the first time, but nothing serious.
Parents, you’d be surprised what your kids are up to! Cleaning our toilet, picking up trash and their clothing, setting the table for meals and cleaning up afterwards … but don’t worry, they’ll be back to normal by the time they get back .
Everything, as I said, is pretty much getting routine to them by now, so I may skip a day or so with my reports from camp. We’re taking good care of your boys, and will return them to you only a little worse for wear!
Your in Scouting,
Mr. B