The Scoutmaster

Time DOES fly when you’re having fun.  I just looked up and it’s almost November!  Been a busy September and October.

The troop year started off right with an excellent annual planning meeting.  In addition to our annual events such as Fall Camporee, Blackstone, the Iron Chef / Webeloree Weekend and the Klondike Derby, the boys planned a lock-in at the Virginia Air & Space Museum, a trip to Washington DC including tours of the White House and the Pentagon, Beach Camping and of course more Shenandoah hiking.  Looks like another banner year for Troop 11.   

In September we did a ‘just for fun” campout at Paramount’s Kings Dominion.  Nothing quite like a campground with a pool table, video games, a big screen TV, an amusement park and delivery pizza to get a scout’s attention.  Not exactly back to nature but we managed to fill the bill of “just for fun”!

Scout elections were held on September 28th.  New patrols were formed with an impressive new PLC elected leading the way into October where it was “shipyard month” for T11.

On October 1, scouts delivered popcorn to the crew of the USS Newport News (SSN 750), a Los Angeles class nuclear powered attack submarine.  Scouts were invited on board for an impressive 2 hour tour of the sub including an up close and personal introduction to a tomahawk missile…”Don’t touch that!!!!”.  Well we made it through the experience without breaching national security and left the crew with plenty of post deployment Trails End Popcorn, so all’s well that ends well.  God Speed to the crew of SSN 750!

Then on the heels of a Nor’easter on October 7, we were asked to assist with the christening of the USS George H W Bush (CVN-77), the final Nimitz class air craft carrier.  What an impressive event and list of dignataries present, not sure who all we handed out programs, flags,”mid-speech” snacks and rain gear to but one things for sure, the boys will remember this one for years to come.  Oh and those Secret Service guys…they don’t mess around!

Well that gets us up to the Camporee last weekend which deserves its very own blog so stay tuned…there’s more to come.

Mr. H

For all you “Command Jump” novices out there, that means “get ready to look up” and see some of our nation’s finest Army and Navy paratroopers gently floating down to the drop zone.  What a fun, educational and down right impressive event the Emporia Command Jump was.

The Army participated in Static Line jumps.  You know…John Wayne…Green Berets…clip the line on the cable and wait for the green light then out you go, go, go!  These were performed at 1500 feet out the back of a very impressive Navy helicopter (“helo” for short).  All went well, the only thing hurt was one young man’s pride but there was not a lot he could do about it.  His reserve chute opened at the same time as his regular chute and he was shall we say “out of control” and into the trees!  Hat’s off to him for missing our EZ ups and my truck!

The Navy did HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jumps from 10,000 feet out of the same helo.  You know…Charlie Sheen…Navy Seals…put on your tight fitting black scuba-like suit and mask and free fall out the back.  We were told to look for “black specs” in the sky, yeah right, I couldn’t even see the helicopter!  Suddenly at about 4000 feet parachutes started opening up and there they were.  Their chutes were much more maneuverable so they were really hot dogging it on the way down.

Speaking of “hot dogging it’, we did a lot of that as well.  The Command allowed up to set up the “Silver Wings Deli” where we served the troops and their families such faire as the “Free Fall Dawg Deal” and the “Double Dog Dare Deal”!  So on top of a great time the T11 boys also managed to add a few bucks to their scout accounts.

We were also allowed to listen in on the briefings, go aboard the helo, get pictures with the crew and get ”chuted” up by an Army Ranger.  Cool stuff for sure!

Many thanks to ASM Tim Bunn for arranging for us to be invited to this special event.  We were well received so hopefully we can do it again next year.  The kid in me can’t wait!

Mr. H

 

This year the “motto” for popcorn sales is “Fun begins with popcorn!”  The troop got off to an early and successful start this year.  The “fun” all started last Friday between 4-6pm when two key “fun” components came together; 1) Popcorn pick up time from the warehouse and 2) A major, major thunderstorm.  Yes, while one of the dorms at CNU was ablaze from a lightning strike, my wife Jan and I were parked next to a metal warehouse loading tins of popcorn into our vehicles.  Maybe an “adult” protection video is in order?

Anyway, it was all going well, we got the van loaded down…way down and I backed the truck up to get the balance of the order.  Then the heaven’s opened up.  Pastor Larry, if sprinkling get’s the job done in the Methodist Church then I am “well done” as I was baptized to the bone!  Yeah, its always funny looking back on things but lets just say the 12th point of the Scout Law was not on my mind at the time.  As fate would have it, by the time we got home the storm was over. 

All’s well that ends well they say and boy did it end well.  Saturday morning we woke up to cooler temperatures, clear skies, and clear streets for that matter, so off to the church we went.  That morning, ten scouts with the assistance of a few parents hit the streets and did a banner job selling almost $2,000 in just three hours. 

Thanks to all who did the prep work, actual work and post work.  The funds earned will help get those chuck boxes, stoves, lanterns and trailer graphics for the troop as well as activity fees for those ten perky popcorn proprietors.

I guess they’re right…”Fun” DOES begin with popcorn! 

Keep on sell’n boys!!!!       

Mr. H

 

Commitee Chair Dick beat me to the punch regarding Summer Camp news, if you haven’t read it, hop on over there and take a peek.  As usual good stuff from Dick.

Yeah, we had a great time.  Mild days, cool nights and brand spank’n new showers made the week even better.  I did the “Scuba thing” with two of the boys and tried to do the waterskiing thing but you now those donated boats just don’t have the horsepower they used to.  The folks on the bank had a hard time telling if the boys were doing the waterskiing or fishing merit badge for a while there but I finally did it…gave up and climbed back in the boat!  So much for the lesson in persistence that day.  Oh, but my failure must have really inspired the boys because all of them got the Merit Badge. 

In fact, we had a lot of “merit badging” going on.  Thirteen (13) boys completed 44 MB’s plus 6 partials, 2 Scuba BSA, 1 Snorkel BSA, 1 Mile Swim, 13 Duty to God awards, 1 Life Rank SMC and BOR, 5 in the First Class Adventure Program with 3 completing the rank of Tenderfoot.  All which segues nicely into the Court of Honor this Thursday night.

This Court of Honor will be kind of an after Summer Camp celebration at Warwick Yacht Club.  We will begin at 7pm and assuming we can give out all of the awards in an hour we will proceed to poolside for “dinner and a dip” at eight.  The troop supplies the main course and in true Camp Marriott Heater Stack tradition, the scouts will bring a cover dish or two to share.  We’ll eat, we’ll swim, some of us will eat again and then find a comfortable pool side lounger to bask in the glory of a great January through July in Troop 11.  

We are taking August off this year…well sort of.  No regular meetings but we do have some Popcorn Sales planned on August 5th, 12th and well we’ll see.  Also, we have a really cool event on Wednesday, August 9th.  We have been invited to drive down to Emporia to watch grown men jump out of perfectly good helicopters.  They call it a Command Jump or something like that.  Word is even our boys might be able strap on a chute and jump out of one, a parked one that is.  Should be a great time and another great memory. 

We end the month of August with the Summer OA Ordeal at our new council camp, Bayport Scout Reservation.  We have one adult and four youth Ordeal Candidates attending along with a host of T11 Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil members. 

The Troop’s “August off” kind of reminds me of my “days off”.  Some things I suppose, just aren’t meant to be!

Mr. H

 

What does that mean to you?  “Happy Birthday America!”, ”The Birth of Democracy”, “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”, or perhaps simply a day of barbeques, picnics, fireworks and family gatherings.  This year for me, it means all of that of course PLUS packing for Summer Camp. 

Talk about the American Dream?  A fun-filled week at Camp Marriott eating ”heater stack” meals, swimming in Lake Merriweather and sleeping under a mosquito net ought to do it.  Not quite the “Marriott” you envision perhaps, but for our small contingent of 11 scouts and 5 adults…it’ll do!

It all starts on Thursday, July 6th with a personal gear shakedown, loading of the troop trailer and one final review of merit badge pre-requisites.  Then on Saturday, July 8th at 9:00am we are on the road to the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We will stop for lunch along the way and then check in at camp around 1:00pm. 

Before you know it July 15th will arrive and it’s rise and shine at 5:30am followed by a light breakfast and back on the road towards home.  Expect a 10:00-10:30am arrival back at the church.        

For those still thirsting for additional information, feel free to check out all of the info you need including the Leaders Guide all located online at:

 http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/pages/180_camp_marriott.cfm

Yours in Scouting,

Mr. H 

No, I’m not discussing crustacean auto theft or low budget “Creole” but rather a recipe for fun!  Our hike back to our Wilderness Camp last weekend took us across a gentle flowing stream.  A great place to pull out the water filter, take a breather and low and behold…catch crawdads.

Yep, the joyful cries of “I caught one” rang out among the loblolly pines and sycamores.  The equipment…a wilderness survival fishing kit made up of a popsicle stick, fishing line and a hook.  The bait…a small, very small in fact, piece of that stick shaped, meat-like trail snack substance affectionately known as a ”SlimJim”.  And it wasn’t a fluke, they caught two!  Not sure what the limit is on crawdads, but we honored “catch and release” rules just in case.

Proof positive that this wilderness survival stuff really does work and what a delightful memory to take back with us.        

Been there…done that…don’t have the t-shirt but by golly I have the bumpersticker!

Last Sunday was Father’s Day but my present came early…Saturday was my oldest son Corey’s Eagle Court of Honor.  Yes, my “wait til the very last possible minute to get it done” son Corey is an Eagle Scout.  What a gift!  What a gift! 

Not simply the Eagle Award, but the twelve years leading up to it.  From Tiger to Eagle was quite a trail. 

A trail from Pinewood Cars and Buddy Bake Cakes to “just finish up Personal Fitness” for goodness sakes! 

From BB Guns and Climbing Towers to the the top of Mt. Baldy, our finest hour! 

One pack, four troops and a ship none the less would be a part of your journey each with merits you’ll confess.

Perserverence pays off, you are a great example to the rest and a testament to the Cub motto ”Do your best”!  

There were times I admit that I thought you were done but I couldn’t do it for you…you had to be the one.

Success is not a destination but a journey they say, Corey you have made it to the summit and had great fun along the way. 

Congratulations son and thanks for the memories!

Dad