July was a very rainy month in Annandale, Virginia. Even though there was rain, there was still plenty of fun for Boy Scout Troop 150. Two groups of Scouts from Troop 150 went to Florida Sea Base. They all had a great time!
Both Groups at Florida Sea Base
The new Scouts in Troop 150 participated and worked very hard on a fitness trip to Annandale High School that helped them earn Tenderfoot requirements 6a, 6b, and 6c.
July was not only full of rain in Annandale, Virginia. It was very wet at Goshen Scout Reservation, in Rockbridge County, Virginia. This is where Troop 150 went camping this month.
Goshen Scout Reservation is a week-long summer camp for Scouts. It is set up around Lake Merriweather, and offers many activities and merit badges. Goshen Scout Reservation is made up of six camps. Boy Scout Troop 150 camped at Camp Bowman.
Usually, Troop 150 attends Goshen week 1, but this year, Troop 150 attended Goshen week 5 (due to scheduling). When Troop 150 was at Goshen, it rained five out of the seven days! But, as always, that did not stop Troop 150 from having a great time.
On arrival to Goshen, Troop 150 was met by their wonderful site guides, Ethan and Emma. They led Troop 150 on a tour of Camp Bowman, and guided them throughout the week. Thank you site guides!
On Wednesday, Troop 150 was the color guard! They lowered the flags and even had a drummer and bugler.
Being color guard was not the only thing that happened on Wednesday. Troop 150 also won the Honor Oar! The Honor Oar is an oar that six troops “win,” at Goshen. It is awarded for being a wonderful Troop and getting the highest score on site inspections. After Troop 150 won the Honor Oar, we got to decorate it!
On Thursday, Troop 150 went down to Lake Merriweather early in the morning while the mist was still present. As Troop 150 reached Aquatics, they saw that Camp Bowman had some unwanted visitors. There were Scouts from Camp Olmstead (Camp Bowman’s Rival)!
After Troop 150 finished eating breakfast on the lake, they waited for the Olmstead group to try to go back to their camp. When they did, the tipping began! Troop 150 tipped more than half of the Olmstead campers. It was such a fun time!
Now it wasn’t just Olmstead that was getting tipped. Troop 150 was beginning to tip fellow scouts! They continued to do this until 9:00, when everybody was wet and when it was time to go in.
Later in the day, Troop 150 participated in a camp-wide event. There was a competition between all the Troops! Troop 150 won every area in the competition except for one.
After flags, Troop 150 had an astronomy hike. Troop 150 hiked to an open space a little ways from camp and looked up at the stars. It was amazing! You could see so many!
When Troop 150 got back from their astronomy hike, they had a huge campfire at their campsite. Their Thursday was booked, and Scouts needed time to relax.
On Friday, Troop 150 did a service project. A truckload of rocks was dumped at the flag-area and Troop 150 spread all the rocks out.
After the service project was complete, Troop 150 hiked to Jolly Hole, a really fun spot in a river with a “rapid slide.”
Troop 150 at Jolly Hole
Eventually, it was time to head back to camp. After everybody dried off, Troop 150 begun their trek back to campsite 7, the campsite that they camped at. Just as they were leaving, it started to thunder! Fortunately, it did not rain until later that night.
At flags that night, Troop 150 got some wonderful news! Troop 150 won Troop Of The Week! Troop 150 also won the Camp Adventure Award and some pound cake (Yum!). After flags, Troop 150 went to the closing campfire. It was full of skits, songs, and laughter.
On Saturday, Troop 150 was woken up bright and early. It was time to depart from camp. The Troop did police-lines all over the campsite to make sure there was not a speck of trash or food laying around. After that, Troop 150 boarded the bus that would take them on the three-hour trip back home.
Troop 150 arrived safe and sound back at Virginia’s Government Center, with minds full of many memories. Troop 150 had three people who swam a mile at Goshen! Good job mile-swimmers!
