Troop 131,
I hope everyone enjoyed the glorious “spring-like” weekend! It was certainly a good time to be out and about and I hope you all were able to enjoy the cherry blossoms.
First, if you want to go to Summer Camp, please sign up now as Mrs. Lacayo will have a fighting chance to lock-in your preferred Merit Badge Classes. Some of the most popular ones fill up quickly! See more information below.
Second, Mr. Devlin previously announced our second annual summer camp design competition. It was a great success last year; however, they are due TOMORROW at the meeting! So, if you have a design, please bring it!
Finally, Mr. Farmer our advancement chair, sent me the photo below …. The new Patrol Patches have arrived! Please see her at the next meeting and she will hand them out to you! The woggles are still in progress but are coming soon!
Finally (for real this time) be sure to read below about the Shed Clean-up/Gear Swap and Alive Service Opportunities!
TROOP MEETING
We will have a Troop meeting at 7:30PM this Monday at Immanuel Church on the Hill!
As always, your leadership team will have a good meeting plan in store for you! There may be rain in the evening so dress appropriately!
SUMMER CAMP
It is time to sign up for Summer Camp! Please don’t delay as you want to have everything locked today! See the note and link below from our Camp Coordinator Catherine Lacayo!
Ready to have a blast this summer at Goshen? Then fill out our Goshen registration form!
If you want to have the best chance of getting your first choice in merit badges, you need to be registered and paid by March 30.
The form has plenty of information about logistics, merit badges, etc., but if you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reply to this email. (summercamp@t131.org)
THE BASICS
- Location: Camp Marriott in Goshen, VA
- Dates: Sunday, July 6 – Saturday, July 12, 2025
- Camp Fees: If you register by April 13, the early bird cost for one Scout is $565. Regular registration will increase to $595 per Scout. (Note: This does not include the ~$100 bus fees; see below.) The cost this year is all-inclusive for all activities; you will not have to pay additional fees for any merit badges as we have had to do in years past.
- Transportation: All scouts will ride the bus to and from Goshen. The roundtrip cost is around $100. The bus leaves from Fairfax County Government Center in Fairfax, VA, and will drop back off at the same location.
- Merit Badges: There are many merit badge options available. Look at the 2025 schedule. If you are new to the troop or to attending Goshen, we recommend trying out the New Scout Quest program. There are also optional evening activities.
For older Scouts who may think you are beyond your Goshen years, they have a new program for you: Osprey! Offered to Scouts at Camps Bowman, Marriott, and Olmsted, Osprey is a full day, week-long program that includes high adventure opportunities and explores Goshen Scout Reservation. Over the course of the week, Scouts will become a team at Low COPE, participate in a service project, circumnavigate Lake Merriweather in canoes, engage in a metalworking and welding workshop, and embark on a backpacking overnighter with Lenhok’sin High Adventure activities. The Osprey program is based out of Camp Marriott and is a replacement for the former Goshen Vets program.
- Forms: Each camper will need to fill out BSA Medical Forms A, B1, B2, and C, as well as the NCAC form. All forms can be found here.
Please note: Part C requires the signature of a medical professional, so prioritize getting this signed! - Adult Campers: Interested in joining the Goshen fun? We will need a few good adults to join the Goshen trip. You can come for a portion of the week or the whole week. I’ll follow up with more info in a separate email, but for your awareness, adult early bird registration costs $300, and increases to $340 for regular registration. The troop will subsidize some of this cost, and any adult who chaperones on the bus will have their bus ticket covered.
SHED CLEAN UP & GEAR SWAP
Your Quartermaster Tadhg has requested a Saturday (April 5th at 9:00-11:00 AM) Shed Clean- up day. We need 4-6 older (First Class and above) to come and help with the cleanup. We will pull everything out of the shed and review, organize, label and sort it all. I would like all the tents set up (to make sure they are in good working order and not missing any parts) as well as all the stoves tested and refilled. There is also some gear that we will need to throw away. Let Tadhg know if you can come and wear your Class B t-shirts. It should be fun!
Since we will have a newly organized and clean shed, we will need to fill it up again . We will host (in front of the shed) a Gear Swap from 11:00- Noon. We are always looking for lightly used backpacks, sleeping pads, sleeping bags and I will never turn down cast iron cookware. So, if you have ANY gear, you want out of your basement (or especially if you need gear) please stop by. Anything that we don’t put in the shed for future use or is not taken will be disposed of.
CALENDAR
Some of you sent me emails concerning Scout Skill Saturday, which was originally scheduled for this weekend and showed up in one of the older Calendars that I sent out. Due to some scheduling issues, it was moved to Sunday June 1st.
See attached, the current version of the troop calendar, as all things with Scouting, this is subject to change so please stay tuned to the “weekend email update” for changes. Thx!
FISHING TRIP- APRIL
We already have 20 scouts who signed up for this trip and like previous years it should be a good one!
See the message below from Mr. Mulvaney, please sign up! For the scouts who are going to Philmont in 14 months, (or scouts who are just interested) there will be a HIKE-IN option for this camping trip as well!
Who: All T-131 Scouts
What: Primitive Camping and Day Hike to Lake Thompson for Fishing
When: Fri 25 Apr – Sun 27 Apr 2025
Where: Linden Virginia/Whisky Hollow/Lake Thompson
Why: Troop-131 is a Camping Troop and we go every month!
Cost: Just $20 for everyone
https://forms.gle/KhRTn57E7r9SPK617
Easiest way to make payment for this or other Scout events is Zelle:
Name: TreasurerT131
Email: Treasurer@T131.Org
When making payment via Zelle, please be sure to add a note telling the Treasurer what the payment is for; alternately, you can send a separate email.
-Brendan Mulvaney
BIKING TRIP- MAY
We already have 13 scouts who signed up for this trip and rain or shine we are going to make this happen!
See the message below from Mr. Mulvaney, please sign up! There will be a shake-down ride the weekend before for those that are interested!
Who: Everyone with a sense of adventure who loves the outdoors (i.e. SCOUTS!!!!)
What: Riding into the sunset (or at least along the canal)
When: SAT 10 May – Sun 11 May 2025 (Just Sat & Sun this month!)
Where: C&O Canal
Why: Let’s Ride!
Cost: $20 Each
And there is a Biking Merit Badge (https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/cycling/)
Sign up at: https://forms.gle/d7FtXj7gR87E9S4HA
Easiest way to make payment for this or other Scout events is Zelle:
Name: TreasurerT131
Email: Treasurer@T131.Org
When making payment via Zelle, please be sure to add a note telling us what the payment is for; alternately, you can send a separate email.
-Brendan Mulvaney
SERVICE- ALIVE
Some of you may recall, but last year some of the older scouts (14 and older) and parents were able to help our Sponsor (Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill) with furniture delivery for Alive. The church has been asked to do this again on Saturday, May 10. This is the same weekend as the Biking trip, so I am hoping that a few of you strong folks (who are not going on the biking trip) can help. Please email Service@t131.org if you can as we certainly want to support the Church!
MERIT BADGE COUNSELORS
See Note below from Katheryn Farmer, our Advancement Chair.
Hello Scouts and Parents,
We have added almost 20 new scouts to the Troop, which is amazing! It’s the perfect time to send out our Merit Badge Counselor (MBC) spreadsheet and to go over how to earn merit badges.
Merit badges are a fun way to pursue an interest you already have, learn a new skill, meet new people, etc. If you want to progress in rank beyond First Class, a certain number of merit badges are required for Star, Life and Eagle ranks. You can find all of this in your Scout Handbook.
We have many troop adults that are MBCs and always happy to work with our scouts. Our MBCs cover all of the Eagle required merit badges and many many others. There are over 130 merit badges that scouts can earn and you can learn all about them here: https://www.scouting.org/skills/merit-badges/ When we say “Eagle required” badges, those are badges that a scout must attain if they are interested in getting to Eagle Scout rank.
We maintain a list of our troop adults that are registered as MBCs and the badges they cover. You can access that list here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W5xbro7gku68M0y-E0KoHFF91iz4T6ELDoaGGKPezTM/edit?usp=sharing
How to get started on a merit badge
There are many ways to earn merit badges. You can work with a troop adult, you can go to summer camp at Goshen and earn them from counselors there, you can attend merit badge universities that are run by local districts or councils, and some local parks departments offer merit badge options. If you find other options that look interesting, definitely come and talk to me about it.
In general, these are the steps scouts in our troop follow to get started:
- Find a merit badge that you are interested in.
- Go to the Scoutmaster or an Assistant Scoutmaster and talk to them about the badge you are interested in. They will give you a “blue card” that your Merit Badge Counselor will need to fill out as you move through the badge. The SM and ASMs (and me) can also help you find a counselor from our troop and if we don’t cover that badge, I can look for MBCs in the Council and give you some options. [If you are getting a badge via a “class” held by a parks department or local district, you still need to chat with SM/ASMs and often still need a blue card; some classes will do online “blue cards” in Scoutbook.]
- Contact that MBC by either approaching them at a meeting or emailing/calling them to see if they can be your counselor for that badge. Remember that when you email a scouting adult you MUST include another adult (like a parent) in that email.
- Work on the badge with your counselor.
- When you finish the badge and the counselor has filled out and signed your blue card, you need a final signature from the SM or ASM.
- Turn in your blue card to me. I will double-check it and then get you your badge.
This is an overview and there is no pressure to start with merit badges. But it is a multi-step process and I hope this email will be a helpful reference.
YiS,
Kathryn Farmer
Advancement Chair, Troop 131
COOKING MERIT BADGE CLASS
All, see note below from Mrs. Farmer!
NCAC is offering a Cooking merit badge event in May at Camp Snyder (in Haymarket). Details can be found here: https://scoutingevent.com/082-96563
Please note, this event covers *some* of the requirements of the Cooking badge, but not all. Read carefully for prerequisites and expectations. The Cooking badge is a dense badge and requires cooking on camping trips. This merit badge event is intended to get you through a portion of the requirements.
(Cooking is one of the Eagle rank required badges)
YiS,
Kathryn Farmer
Advancement Chair, Troop 131
SCHEDULE: One Month(ish) Look Ahead
Monday, March 31st – Troop Meeting – 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Saturday April 5th – Shed Clean up- 9:00-11:00 – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Monday, April 7th – Troop Meeting (PLC) – 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Thursday, April 10th – District Round Table- Troop 131 Hosting – Our Lady of Lourdes
Monday, April 14th – Spring Break- No Troop Meeting
Monday, April 21st – Troop Meeting (BoR) – 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Friday April 25th – 27th – Primitive Camping and Fishing Trip – Linden VA & Lake Thompson
Friday April 25th – 27th – OA Spring Ordeal/Fellowship – Camp Snyder
Monday, April 28th – Troop Meeting – 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Saturday, May 3rd – Biking Trip Shakedown Ride – Alexandria VA
Monday, May 5th – Troop Meeting (PLC) – 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Saturday May 10th – Alive Service Project
Saturday May 10th – 11th -Biking Trip – C&O Canal
Monday, May 12th – Troop Meeting (BoR) – 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Saturday May 17th – Sea Base Car Wash – Fundraiser – 10:00-1:00 – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Monday, May 19th – Swim Test – 7:30 PM – Chinquapin Park Req. Center
