Scouting Info

Boy Scouts Troop 1930

With contributions by Abe Grandelli, Devin Jewell, Daniel Jewell, Madonna Wilt

Country and Maureen Jewell (JewellFamily@Starpower.net)

New Scouts

We are happy to welcome some new scouts to Troop 1930. They are Justin Wild, Ryan Arey, and Ben Johnson.

The OA

OA stands for Order of the Arrow. It is a service group that is within scouts, and it is an honor to be elected to it. In order to be elected to OA, a scout needs to have attained a certain rank, and he must have camped for a specified number of nights. Then, your peers have to vote on whether you are worthy of being in the OA. They are supposed to consider whether you have a good attitude and are fun to camp with, or whether they would want to be lost in the woods with you. The elections happen once a year, and this year, we have two OA nominees from troop 1930. One is Jonah Smyth, our senior patrol leader, and the other is Devin Jewell. Both these scouts were called out at the district camporee last weekend at Verdun. They have a big ceremony at the lake, and OA members paddle across in canoes carrying torches. They light a flaming arrow, and then they beat a drum and call out the names of the OA candidates. It is very solemn, and everybody is supposed to remain silent while this is going on. Sometimes it is a little funny because the OA guys try to act like they have Indian accents, but they mostly just sound like some bad Western movie. After the OA call out, you go to a weekend camp called an ordeal. Let’s just say it is an ordeal involving some service and it is hard work. Let’s let one of the OA candidates write about it in the next newsletter. Wouldn’t want to scare them away, would we? So congratulations to Devin and Jonah. They are both great scouts and good friends.

Blue Ridge Backpack Fitting

Ever been to Blue Ridge Sports? It is in Warrenton, and we went there to go look at backpacks, sleeping bags and sleeping pads, and tents, and all the other cool camping gear that they have. We got the manager to talk to us about some of the products and we listened to his recommendations for kids our age. He also measured our back size so we could get a pack that fits us. That is important so that you will not be uncomfortable during the hike coming up.

The Hike

After packing our packs (and some of us had brand new ones!0 we headed off to the overnight hike at Big Scholss. The drive, as always, was very entertaining. Between the short food fight and the actual food, it was pretty cool. After we got there, we had a break to fill our water bottles, then we took group pictures, then we took off from the trail head.

It did not take long to realize that we could not all stay together is a big group, so we tossed the slow ones down the mountain to get a head start on setting up camp and cooking more food. Just kidding. We didn’t really toss anybody down the mountain (the outdoor code says “leave no trace”). We kept our buddies with us, and we stopped for a break every 30 minutes to make sure we did not get too spread out. During the walk, we entertained ourselves with song, and we also talked about what nicknames to give to the new scouts. Once we got to the top, we had a great view (another reason we could not throw people down the mountain….we were going UP!) Really, seriously, the view was incredible. We only walked a few miles, and it was good to see our progress. As we assessed the area, we realized that we couldn’t sleep there. There was not any fresh water either. That meant we walked up that whole mountain with our packs for nothing. Except the view. Good thing it was a great view. Luckily, the downhill was easier.

When we finally got to the campsite, we had to figure out who would be our tent buddies, build the fire, get water and then chill out for a bit and talk. This is when we found out that Abe carries exactly 21 things in his pockets on a trip. Really. He has safety pins, a phone, a key, etc. When he heard that a Scout is prepared, he took it pretty seriously. For dinner, we made pasta with sauce. Everyone had enough to eat this time, thanks to our great new grub mom, Mrs. Johnson. Some of us still had not gotten enough, so some of the scouts went on a night hike

The next day we hiked with no packs. It was even better than the day before. The view was even more spectacular, if you can imagine that, plus, there was a cave to play in. It was a great trip.

Merit Badge Midway

Merit Badge Midway comes only once a year, and it’s a great time to knock out those hard-to-do merit badges. Most of the troop took at least two merit badges, and the boys all finished their badges! After sitting in classrooms all day at Culpeper Middle School, we had a game of volleyball in the tennis courts. That was the best time we had that day; too bad it’s not a merit badge!

Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters, as you know, are known for their hilarious ways with a basketball. We weren’t sure of this being a true fact, so of course we had to go check it out. Some rules of the game are a bit different than usual, for instance, traveling is allowed if you’re on somebody’s shoulders. You can kick balls away from the hoop—but that only works if you’re standing on the hoop itself. I’m sure some of the boys went home, dug out a basketball and tried a few slick moves; I did!

Advanced Auto Parts

Advanced Auto Parts just had their grand opening last weekend. That’s great, because they asked us to run a hot dog stand for them, and our troop used it as a fundraiser and bake sale. Thank you to everyone who turned out for the cook out. And a huge thanks to the parents who hung out to help and to all those who donated baked goods and other supplies. Despite the overcast day we raised $193.50. We also distributed fliers and solicited places for posters for our junk car donations. Additionally, our Scouts distributed fliers for Fauquier Homeless Shelter and worked to raise awareness of scouting and scouting activities within the community. All of the boys did a great job. Steven Brooks opened a lot of doors. Ben Johnson (we call him Lomein now) cooked the hotdogs. Justin Wilt did a lot of talking to folks. Actually, everybody did that, and they all worked pretty hard. We found out that Devin is a pretty good salesman because he was able to sell a hotdog for $20 and a cookie for $20. It’s all good, because it is in support of the Scouts! Thanks so much to the community for coming out and supporting Advance Auto Parts and also Troop 1930!

Fundraising

Our latest fundraising is “Scouting for Scrap.” If you have an old clunker we can turn in for cash, please call Country Jewell (Scoutmaster) at 540 439 1906 or Ray DiSanza (Assistant Scoutmaster) 540 439 0998.

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