“Back to school, back to Boy Scouts”

After a few months of vacation, the troop is finally going to have its first meeting in a long time. Our first meeting is on Monday, 9/12/11. Be sure to show up so you can see all your friends again that you haven’t seen for since Summer Camp or even before then.

There are also a few other scout activities that are going to take place soon. One of these activities is volunteering for the Reston Triathlon. Contact Steve Housley if you are interested, here is some more information on the activity:

Who: - At least six Scout volunteers (with nine preferable), at least 13 years old.

- Two adult drivers with a van or pick-up truck.

- Uniform: Class B’s (Red Troop t-shirts).

What:  With at least two Scouts per vehicle (three vehicles total) three groups will depart at 05:30 AM to place orange traffic cones on the race route following a police escort for safety.  Maps and instructions will be given the morning of the event.  After the bicycle portion of the swim-bike-run triathlon (usually about 10:00 AM) the volunteers will retrieve the traffic cones from the course and will then be free to leave or enjoy the race events at South Lakes High School.  We are usually home by noon.

Where: Meet at the Reston Police station on Bowman Drive across from the Public Library no later than 05:15 AM on Sunday, September 11th.

Please contact Steve Housley at (703) 471-8548 to reserve your spot.

Please RSVP by Monday September 5^th at 5:00 PM

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If you need more information about the troop and its activities, please visit the about page. Also, feel free to contact the scoutmaster Tom McLenigan at: tmmhokie@verizon.net

“This is just more information on the upcoming project, the dates for the project are coming up quickly!”

Some basic information on the project:

Where is it going to take place? 2346 Millenium Lane, Reston VA, 20191 (closest home to project site, an 8 minute drive from the church)

When are the dates?  Two different dates, one this upcoming Wednesday, 8/17/11, at 1:00 PM, which is basically a warm-up for the big project. The rest of the project, the bigger part of it, is going to take place on Saturday, 8/20/11. Starting at 9:00 AM.

On Wednesday, I say it’s a warm-up because this part isn’t that hard, and wouldn’t take that long to do, but it’s still quite significant in itself. This opens up the rest of the project, we are going to go into parts of the woods around the work site, and gather some of the dead trees and logs, in order to make a border around a garden. Sounds simple right? Well, it is, but it should still take an hour, more or less or so, to complete. Beverages and snacks will be provided, but no real meals, so hopefully you have eaten lunch before you arrive!!

On Saturday, we are going to do a lot of fun things. A lot of things actually, so at least if you don’t show up for the work on Wednesday, please show up for this one on Saturday. If you were to show up to just one meeting, show up this Saturday. There are going to be different groups that do different work. One person is going to dig a hole right in front of the garden using a post-hole digger, this is so he/she can later install a sign into it. Since the border is done from Wednesday, we don’t have to work on it anymore for the garden, but the garden still has to be mulched. Two to three people will mulch the garden, using a pitch fork, they will scoop up some of the mulch, place it on the garden, and spread it around, being careful not to hit any plants. Two to four people will work on replacing rocks for a rock swell, depending on how many rock swells need replacing (It was supposed to be two that had to be replaced originally, but I looked at the other rock swell and it was completely intact!!!). They will use a rake and rake out the leaves and debris that are covering the rocks up, after the leaves and debris are all gone from the rocks, new rocks will be placed on top of the older, damaged rocks. Then, the last task is what most people will be working on. They will dig four different holes, not really holes, more like gulleys or ditches, that varies in length. Two of them will be 12 feet long, another one will be 11 feet long, and the last one will be 13-14 feet long. The areas to dig have already been marked using turf paint, so they will just have to dig along the lines. The holes will be 3 inches deep each, and the width will be dependent on how wide the pre-cut logs are. So there you have it, pizza and beverages will be provided on Saturday! Woo!

What to bring on Wednesday: Gardener’s gloves or any gloves that aren’t plastic really and hand saws and axes if you can bring them. You should also bring bug spray just in case, we will have bug spray there, but there may be mosquitos or other bugs inside the woods, so it is always good to use bug spray.

What to bring on Saturday: Gardener’s gloves, shovels if you can (we will need a few of these!), post hole digger if you can (we only need one!), bug spray, friends, family, and that’s it, I think. If I miss anything, I’ll send you an update.

My email is : Megawatt@live.com if you need anymore information. See you there!

“I know that it’s been almost two weeks since summer camp ended, but a late update is better than no update at all.”

Anyway, a lot of cool and exciting things happened during camp, such as the Wolves patrol of our own troop, temporarily lead by Noah Wallace, winning the Sasquatch Hunting Game, which was a game that everyone in the camp participated in, and that lasted a few hours. There were other events such as the Iron Chef competition, but no one in our troop won anything in that event. Kethan had his birthday during summer camp, and therefore Mr. Steve Housley decided to bring in some cupcakes and cookies in his return so that the whole troop could celebrate it.

There were also some very minor problems that everyone got through in the end. Minor problems such as KP and some of the food being too spicy. There was also an event in which one of our own scouts was threatened to be kidnapped while everyone else was asleep. A few of the other scouts decided to take action and camped right in front of Stevie’s cot so that he would feel a little safer. Before this however, the older scouts were threatening to hose down Stevie and the other little scouts if they didn’t take a shower. Thankfully, Stevie took one on Thursday.

I think everyone had a good time in summer camp. If not, why not? Post a comment. Also, if you have any pictures from any event, whether it was a previous camping trip, or Camp Henson 2011, email them to megawatt@live.com and I’ll put the pictures up in an album so that the whole troop could view it, and so that everything would be up-to-date and familiarized.

NCAC Centennial Patch

The “Organizational Meeting” at The Willard was initiated by Colin B. Livingston, the first elected National President of the Boy Scouts of America, in conjunction with the incorporators of the Boy Scouts of America: Edward S. Stewart, Stanley D. Willis, and its’ founder, a Chicago, Illinois publisher, William D. Boyce. Boyce is the American who was determined to bring the Scouting movement to American soil after returning from an inspiring London trip, having learned from Lord Baden-Powell about Scouting values in England. This meeting was the start of what we now call National Capital Area Council (NCAC).

The National Capital Area Council was one of the very first BSA councils chartered. This special CSP recognizes and celebrates our 100 years of service to youth. NCAC was chartered at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC on June 21, 1911.

This is an official NCAC CSP and may be worn on the BSA uniform. The cost is $5.00 and may be ordered from the NCAC web store.

This will be our last event before summer vacation. Hope to see everyone there!

Powhatan District will present the Spring 2010 Life to Eagle Seminar at the Church of the Epiphany, 3301 Hidden Meadow Drive, Oak Hill, VA* on April 10, 2010. Check-in starts at noon. All Life Scouts ready to pursue Eagle and the adults supporting them are encouraged to attend. Scout uniform is required. Topics include:

Eagle Service Project Identification, Approval and Management
Eagle Application and Supporting Documentation
Eagle Board of Review
Eagle Scout Panel Presentation, Questions and Answers

Registration application and fees, $2 per person and $3 per seminar booklet, must be received by April 7, 2010. Please register early. Walk-ins will be permitted. Mail registration and fees (checks payable to “NCAC BSA” [indicate Powhatan LES in memo part of check]).

Boy Scouts of America
9190 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20814-3897

If you have any questions regarding the seminar or registration contact Frank Smith at 703-430-6804 or email..

*Directions: Church of the Epiphany is located on the south side of Franklin Farm Road at the corner of Fairfax County Parkway and Franklin Farm Road directly across from the Franklin Farm Village Center.

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Life Scouts,

To register for this event go to: http://boyscouts-ncac.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=33761&orgkey=2025

YiS,

Steve Housley

Order enough mulch for your landscaping needs.

BSA Troop 1970 — serving the community for 40 years, announces our 16th Annual Spring Mulch Sale!  Same prices as last year!

• Premium double shredded & aged oak-bark mulch. 3 cubic feet bags (about 5o lbs) covers 3-foot x 3-foot area 4-inches deep.
• Free curbside delivery in Reston/Herndon/Oakton/Vienna area.
• Mulch delivered during weekend of April 16-18, 2010.
• Tax deductible donation (receipt & quid pro quo disclosure provided).

Download the flyer and print it out. Then fill-out the order form and send it back to us with your check. Make checks payable to: BSA Troop 1970.

Prices list (minimum order is 20 bags):

• 20 – 34 bags = $5.50 / bag
• 35 bags or more = $5.00 / bag
• 100 bags or more = $4.50 / bag

Please place orders before March 20, 2010!  Although we strive to serve all customers we are limited in the amount of mulch we can handle. Once our limit is reached we will stop accepting orders.  Please order early, we sell out every year!

For more information email Mulch Czar Mike Lockwood.

This is an FYI on a new program that is only available during 2010. In honor of the BSA’s 100th Anniversary, though, today’s generation of Scouts will get the unique opportunity to experience some of the activities their predecessors enjoyed. That’s possible thanks to the BSA’s new Historical Merit Badge Program, a set of four discontinued merit badges that today’s Scouts can earn only during 2010. Note that they do count towards advancement.

Centenial Historic Merit Badges

On November 30, the local healthcare coordinator from the Muscular Dystrophy Association office will give an overview on the MDA and the services that they offer. This will fulfill requirement #2 but you must be in attendance for it to count.

See you on Monday!

Neil Bonner, Disabilities Awareness merit badge counselor