Happy New Year, I hope you are doing well and survived your first week back at school! There is a tone of information in this email, so please take the time to review it!
TROOP MEETING, PACK 614 and BoR
We will have a Troop meeting at 7:30PM at Immanuel Church on the Hill on Monday!
As I mentioned previously, Mr. Grocki (membership chair) has been reaching out to the Arrow of Light Scouts and surrounding Packs. Our second visit will be from Pack 614 and include about 3 scouts. We will need a few scouts’ volunteers (older and younger) to talk to the Arrow of Light Scouts and be their mentor for the meetings.
I will need to meet with the adults from the Pack during this time, so if you need a blue card or scoutmaster conference, please ask one of the Assistant Scoutmasters!
We will have a Board of Review on Monday and I believe that we will have two candidates for Rank Advancement. I hope you all made good use of your time off from school and we will have more Rank Advancement and Merit Badges to award soon!
FREEZE-O-REE 2024
Don’t forget to sign up for our first outing of the year. See email below from Mr. Mulvaney!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9n-a6BwJvjuzFAFGYsac6R-xUhxdq30qDoaSiErBptuuaug/viewform
Yeti Mania!
January 26-28, 2024
Camp William B. Snyder, Haymarket VA
The Freeze-o-Ree is an annual Goose Creek District overnight camping event hosted by our District Chapter of the Order of the Arrow. The weekend is filled with fun and skills activities, beginning with camping on Friday night and ending with check-out on Sunday morning (must depart by 10:00 am). Saturday evening’s campfire includes Awards presentations too bountiful to adequately describe here.
BACKGROUND
A Horde of Yeti’s – the famed “Abominable Snowman” has descended upon our beloved Camp Snyder. Are they friend or foe? We must embrace Yeti Mania with an amazing display of Scout Skills, Fun, and an incredible Campfire, awesome enough to warm even a Yeti’s cold hear Troops who embrace the Yeti Theme will get extra points and special surprises!
PROGRAM
Saturday’s program at the Freeze-o-Ree will include events of Competition and Skill for Scouts between Patrols representing Scouts from the participating Units. Each event at the Freeze-o-Ree will be based on the Patrol’s ability to work together as a team, their general Scout skills and their Scout Spirit. Those who gather the most points during the day will reap handsome Awards at the evening festivities. The annual Chili Cookoff returns for 2023 – every Patrol should bring their best. Adults can participate in a separate category, with chili to feed the hardiest Yeti!
SCHEDULE OVERVIEW
Friday, Jan 26:
4:00 pm Staff Check-In Hylton Admin Bldg
6:30-9:00 pm Unit Arrival and Check-in Hylton Admin Bldg
9:30 pm SM/SPL Meeting – Mandatory Freeze-o-Ree HQ
11:00 pm Lights Out All Campsites
Saturday, Jan 27:
7:00 am Reveille All Campsites
7:00-8:00 am Breakfast & Clean-up All Campsites
8:00 am Tournament Schedule posted Freeze-o-Ree HQ
8:00 am Check-in for Late Arrivals Hylton Admin Bldg
9:00 am Opening Assembly, Colors
9:30 am-12pm Freeze-o-Ree Events
12:00-1:00 pm Lunch All Campsites
1:00-4:00 pm Events Continue
2:00-3:00 pm Campsite Inspections
Defend Your Encampment All Campsites
3:30-4:30 pm Camp Gadget Shark Tank Freeze-o-Ree HQ
5:00-6:30 pm Dinner and Clean-up All campsites
6:00 pm Deliver Chili for Judging Freeze-o-Ree HQ
7:30-8:30 pm Campfire & Awards
9:00 pm SM/SPL & OA Cracker Barrel Freeze-o-Ree HQ
11:00 pm Lights Out All Campsites
Sunday, Jan 28:
7:00 am Reveille All Campsites
7:00-8:30 am Breakfast & Clean-up All Campsites
8:30-10:00 am Break Camp & Check-out Campsite Inspections
Brendan Mulvaney
Outings Coordinator
Boy Scout Troop 131
DRAFT 2024 ACTIVITY CALENDAR
We have yet another exciting year in store for the troop! Your leadership team met during the fall PLC’s and see in the attached Calendar for 2024 all the activities they selected. We still have a lot of planning to do, and these dates are still to be 100% confirmed, however, I am excited by all the things in store for the year. It almost makes me wish I was a scout once again!
STEM SCOUT ACTIVITIES (Courtesy of Mrs. Farmer)
Hello and happy new year from the NCAC STEM Community!
We are excited to announce new, broader STEM opportunities for scouts in 2024.
A burgeoning partnership with Building Momentum
Last year was our second consecutive year of partnering with Building Momentum to offer hundreds of SBSA youth merit badge opportunities. First of all, thank you for being part of this! If you’re receiving this email, you likely attended one of our co-hosted Welding, Composite Materials, or Electronics Merit Badge events.
If your scout loved that event, chances are they will be interested in these bigger opportunities to furnish their engineering skills and venture into more exciting fabrication technologies.
- Summer STEM Workshops
week-long experiences for youth to earn Electronics, Model Design & Building, and Entrepreneurship Merit Badges as well as earn the NOVA STEM: Next Big Thing
Register for the July / August weeks: STEM Summer Registration
Looking for more STEM? Check out the NCAC STEM page for:
- Jan 10:STEM Scouts spring semester info session
- Feb 10:NCAC SBSA Chess Classic
- At your own pace:DC STEM Trek
We hope to see your scouts taking advantage of the STEM opportunities with NCAC! Please reach out if you have any questions.
Yours in STEM Scouting,
Charlie
NCAC STEM
NATIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP TRAINING (Courtesy of Mr. Irwin)
For older scouts, just wanted to draw your attention to the National Youth Leadership training. This is a great way to improve your leadership skills!
Registration is open and there are multiple dates available.
National Capital Area Council – NYLT Summer 2024
SUMMER CAMP COUNSELORS (Courtesy of Mr. Dalton)
As many of you know and because of Gabe paving the way two years ago, we had four scouts who were either counselors or counselors in training (CIT) at Goshen Camp Olmsted last summer. I believe that many if not all of them plan on going back this summer!
For other scouts (14 and older) and who might be interested, the application process (for both Goshen and Snyder) is now open, see link below. While this may not be for everyone, I can say that the scouts who went loved the experience!
Goshen Scout Reservation and Camp William B. Snyder are hiring camp staff for Summer 2024! Looking for an awesome summer job? Need to get your teenager out of the house for the summer? Applications are open for a fulfilling summer teaching Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, and Venturers about Scout skills and outdoor adventure! Counselors-in-Training start at ages 14+, paid Instructors start at 15+, and our camps are also looking for those ages 18+ and 21+ for leadership and other specialized positions. Submit a staff application for any of the Goshen Scout Reservation camps at www.gotogoshen.org/staff and submit a staff application for Camp William B. Snyder at www.gotosnyder.org/work. Interviews begin in January. Apply by January 19th for a January interview date.
BALOO/IOLS TRAINING (Courtesy of Mr. Dalton)
While we are fortunate to have quite a few IOLS trained adults in the troop, it was not that long ago that we were worried about canceling camping trips because we did not have an IOLS trained adult available. I would certainly encourage all the adults on the charter and who go camping with us to attend one of these future sessions.
We are in the Colonial District; however, we are free to attend training in any of the other BSA districts. See below the link below for the Western Shore District (Calvert, Saint Mary’s, Charles Counties, MD) on the Council’s calendar for Saturday, 20 April 2024: https://scoutingevent.com/?OrgKey=BSA082&calendarID=435300
Nothing is yet listed for our district or close by, but we will forward information out when it becomes available.
SCHEDULE: One Month(ish) Look Ahead
Monday January 8th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM (BoR) (Pack 614) – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Monday January 15th – No Troop Meeting- Federal Holiday- MLK Birthday
Monday January 22nd – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM (PLC) (Pack 135) – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Friday January 26th– 28th – Freeze-O-Ree – Camp Snyder
Sunday January 28th – Aidan Bolte Eagle Court of Honor
Monday January 29th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Sunday February 4th – Scout Sunday
Monday February 5th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM – Immanuel Church on the Hill
Monday February 12th – Troop Meeting- 7:30 PM (BoR) – Immanuel Church on the Hill
