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Scoutmaster Moment With apologies for the delayed note this week, I got my 2nd COVID shot Saturday and have been recuperating. I hope everyone enjoyed Spring Break and had an opportunity to relax some.  Our family enjoyed some nice hikes and visited some new parks on the days with good weather.  This has me looking forward to our campout later this month and getting out for more outings in the nicer weather.  We have many activities coming up with ILST to hone our leadership skills and plan Troop activities, a Court of Honor to celebrate all we’ve accomplished in the [...]

Scoutmaster Moment Spring Break is here, this week is bracketed by Passover and Easter.  Both are holidays that celebrate new beginnings and mark the arrival of Spring in our cultural calendars.  Enjoy this week of downtime from school and other activities, enjoy time with your families and return refreshed for a new Leadership term with ILST and a Court of Honor just before our New Scout Campout.  Lots coming up that will keep us all on our toes! “Spring drew on...and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, [...]

Scoutmaster Moment This week was a busy week for the troop.  New Scouts were welcomed and incorporated into the Troop as members of the New-Trons New Scout patrol and both of the established patrols welcomed Scouts transferring to our unit.  Parents got quite the information dump on how both Troops operate followed by our first Order of the Arrow Call-Out ceremony where Scouts chosen in last week’s OA election were identified.  There was even an impromptu weekend walk through Bull Run park on a perfect Spring Day.  We have many activities coming up after Spring Break that will keep us all busy, [...]

Scoutmaster Moment This past week was the one year anniversary of living in the shadow of a pandemic.  I know of people who refer to then as “The Before Times”, when we could go out without masks, be in classes,  hold regular Scout meetings indoors.  It sounds like a something out of a Science Fiction novel, for that matter there have been times it felt like living in one too.  Despite the upheaval, the uncertainty and the disturbing shortages of toilet paper and bread flour, we made it through the past year.  As a Troop we pivoted quickly to virtual [...]

Scoutmaster Moment Perseverance carries us through efforts in life, this is true for in school, learning new skills for fun or by direction, in scouts, and now as we push through a pandemic.  Vaccines are rolling out and I know more and more people who have had one or even both doses, FCPS has some students heading back into school buildings. Today was the last day fo 2021 MBU, with many completed merit badges reflecting new skills practiced and many that are within reach.  For the record, the Cooking MB had some tasty bacon and toasty fire going.  We expect [...]

Scoutmaster Moment We had a great outing this weekend, braving cool temps and snow covered forest to hunt down some geocaches in Conway Robinson State Forest.  Snow on the ground gave great opportunity to see evidence of forest animals. We saw lots of prints in the snow from deer, rabbit, raccoon, and even what appeared to be a squirrel digging up an acorn stash.  The paths were tricky at times with snow, ice, mud, and water - but all the hidden geocaches were found, Scouts learned a new activity and had fun doing it. I call it a win.  I’m [...]

Scoutmaster Moment Today is President’s Day, held on (or closest Monday to) George Washington’s birthday and now often celebrates Abraham Lincoln as well.  Both presidents are known by all Americans, and beyond, as our first and sixteenth presidents. for founding our Presidency and restoring our Union.  We see them as always successful in winning a Revolutionary War, the Civil War and winning two presidential elections.  But those are the successes we see in only skimming our history, if we dig deeper we see that both of them worked hard through many setbacks to gain those successes.  Washington was denied a [...]

Scoutmaster Moment This week was all about the hiking.  Tuesday’s meeting was preparation info presented by Rascal Rabbits and Saturday was hike execution with a planned 5-mile hike around Burke Lake.  We went a bit above and beyond, totaling 6 miles and working off a requirement for newer scouts while everyone had a good time on a beautiful Spring-like day. After so much cold weather and not seeing members of the Troop in person a nice walk in the woods around a lake was just the thing I needed, and it reminded me of many family walks around Walden Pond [...]

Scoutmaster Moment Today marks the first significant snow we have seen in two years.  While it wasn’t quite as much as I’d hoped might fall, it made the world around us beautiful in shades of white and gray as the wet snow clung to the trees.  How did you spend the day as it fell? In some ways the amount was almost perfect as it didn’t require much shoveling, which left the day to walks, games, and hot cocoa making. A great way to pause some of our usual running around and appreciate Nature. Whose woods these are I think [...]