We will have an in-person Troop meeting Monday at 7:00 at Immanuel Church on the Hill. Note, we are in summer hours, so we are starting ½ hour earlier. This will give us more daylight for outdoor activities, or in my case more time for it to rain… although the weather looks fairly good for Monday.
ADVANCEMENT and GAMES
Post Goshen, we have a ton of Merit Badges to award and recognize. Mrs. Haymes has been working overtime to prepare the 90+ merit badges that you all earned, so please come to the meeting so that we can award them and provide your signed blue card. I will also come with any of the partial blue cards so that you all know what remaining requirements to focus on.
I know of one Merit Badge (ART) that the scout store was out of, we will get this to you as soon as they re-stock.
In addition, there are several of you that are ready for the next rank or getting very close. Please let me know if you need a scoutmaster conference or let me Ms. Haymes know if are ready for the Board of Review (BoR). She has scheduled a BoR for both this week and next week, so this is the perfect time finish out any remaining items!
The summertime is for fun, so if we are not working on Advancement items, we will enjoy the warm weather and plays some outdoor games!
MISSING CAMP STOVES
Ed and Angela Mills (the parents of one of our brand-new Snapping Turtles) have volunteered to look over and service all our camp stoves. First let me thank them for volunteering!
I went to the shed today to pick up the stoves and discovered that there were only two in the shed. Can I ask that whoever is in possession of the Troop stoves please bring them to the meeting tomorrow and/or let me know that you have them. We obviously want to make sure they are in good working order prior to our next camping trip.
ALEX HECKEL EAGLE PROJECT
Alexander Heckel is working on his Eagle project, and he needs volunteers! See email below from him. Please consider signing up to help him.
Come Help Restore the Chinquapin Trail!
My Eagle Scout project will be to restore a large portion of the Chinquapin Park Trail by the swimming pool next to Alexandria City High School. The project will entertain removing rotten trail timbers with rebar, installing new ones, and mulching. I am looking for volunteers for August 6th, August 7th, August 13th, and August 14th from the hours of 9:00-3:30. Lunch will be provided.
SignupGenius link: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/20f0c49abac2ba2fd0-alexander. Just select which days and hours work best for you! I hope you can come help restore a well loved and well used Alexandria trail with me.
Thanks,
Alexander Heckel
ARCHITECTURAL WALKING TOUR
This is the first of two walking tours in support of Merit Badges that Mr. Dalton (Citizenship in the Nation) and I are offering.
Who: Everyone in Troop 131 is invited!
What: Architectural Merit Badge Class and Walking Tour
When: Saturday 16 July: 9:00 AM to Mid Afternoon
Where: Downtown D.C.
Why: Learn about Architecture and many of the interesting buildings downtown.
Bring: Packed Lunch, Plenty of Water and your curiosity
There is one pre (or post) requisite, however, all the other requirements for the merit badge will be covered during the day and tour.
We will start by meeting as a group at the Braddock Metro Station at 9:00 AM (we have extra metro cards if anyone needs one) and then travel by metro to Mark Ramirez’ office (Hickok Cole Architects) 301 N Street, NE in Union Market.
We will tour the office, learn about the history of Architecture, understand the process of building design, talk about sustainable buildings, and learn about the tools used in Architectural design. We will use a VR headset, see the model shop in action, look at drawing sets, touch building material samples, learn how Architects draw and see both handmade & 3D printed models.
If the weather is nice, we will eat our packed lunch on the roof terrace and then walk from the Union Market area to NOMA (North of Mass Ave) thru Chinatown, into downtown and finally end up at the national mall. All along the way, we will talk about buildings, identify their components, and determine the time/era they were built. After sketching a building our two on the mall then we will head back to the metro and back to the Braddock Station
Parents are most certainly welcome and encouraged to participate! Hope you will join us for a fun day.
SIGN UP HERE
For the first question- Email address- use the Scout email address if they have one. If not, the adult address is fine.
HORSEBACK RIDING TRIP
See message below from Mr. Mulvaney, our activity coordinator. Please don’t wait to sign up as we need to get an accurate head count!
I may be a little biased, since my Chinese surname is 马 which means Horse, but we are totally looking forward to this (rescheduled) trip.
12-14 August, Horseback Riding at Red Gate Farm Sign up to ride horses!
We want to get as much of the Troop out to this one as possible, so we are going to cover much of the cost of the trip. With the T-131 discount, it will just be $40 per Scout for all of the instruction and all of the riding necessary to complete the Horsemanship Merit Badge.
Remember- You Can Use Scout Accounts to pay for this. Check with the Treasurer for your Scout’s current balance. All you have to do is sign up!!!
BUT YOU HAVE TO SIGN UP!!! Because we are using a company to provide horses and instructors, this trip there are no last-minute changes. We want everyone available to go, it’ll be a great time. So sign up BEFORE August 2nd.
All you have to do is sign up!!!
The boys need to wear long pants and sturdy shoes with a heel!
And of course, the forms:
Brendan Mulvaney
MISSING FIRST AID KIT
Our troop first aid kit is still missing. If anyone knows the whereabouts of the kit, please let me know or return on Monday. I took my personal one on the camping trip this weekend, however, the troop is required to have one at all outings.
ADULT VOLUNTEERS
Parents, we need your help! It takes a lot to keep this troop together and active. Even if you don’t have time to be in one of the more active positions, there some one-off tasks. Please consider volunteering to one of the activities below:
We need help with:
Shed Clean up
o We will soon be moving the shed from First Baptist to Immanuel Church on the Hill
o Mr. Jahns is organizing the actual move, but prior to this we need to have a troop workday to clean out the gear we don’t need and organize and clean what we want to keep.
o The scouts will do the bulk of the labor; however, we are looking for an adult volunteer to organize the workday.
Health Forms
o We need an audit of the troop health forms and reconcile with our current roster.
o The forms need to be updated every year.
o We need to a volunteer to review the box and contact parents if we need an updated form.
We also need adult volunteers:
· To sit on the committee and be available for Board of Reviews
· Additional ASM’s to go on camping trips
· High Adventure and Jamboree Planning- we are in the beginning stages of putting together a long-range high adventure/jamboree calendar for next two years and for the “big trips”. Nothing is set in stone right now, but these trips take a long time to plan, and fund raise and below is what we are considering. We need a volunteer to help explore interest, logistics and ultimately to help with the planning.
o Spring Break 2023 or Spring Break 2024- Sea Base
o July 19-28, 2023- National Jamboree- Summit Bechtel Reserve
o August 1-12, 2023- World Jamboree – South Korea
o Philmont- Summer 2024
SCHEDULE: One Month(ish) Look Ahead
Monday, July 11th – Troop Meeting (BoR)– 7:00 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Saturday July 16th – Architectural Walking Tour DC (Architectural Merit Badge)
Monday, July 18th – Troop Meeting (BoR)– 7:00 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Monday, July 25th – Troop Meeting – 7:00 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Saturday July 30th –Tour (Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge)
Monday, August 1st – Troop Meeting- 7:00 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Sat/Sun, Aug. 6&7- Alex Heckel Eagle Project – Part 1
Monday, August 8th – Troop Meeting (PLC)– 7:00 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Friday August 12th 14th – Horseback Riding- Red Gate Farm
Sat/Sun, Aug. 13&14- Alex Heckel Eagle Project – Part 2
Monday, August 15th – Troop Meeting- 7:00 PM (BoR) – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Monday, August 22nd – First Day of School- Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Monday August 29th – Court of Honor- Family Picnic
Monday, Sept. 5th – No Troop Meeting – Federal Holiday
