November 2019 was filled with many activities. With Scouting for Food (SFF), a small bike trip, the Lock-In, a new term beginning, and the Thanksgiving Campout, this month certainly guaranteed itself a place in our memories forever. A large majority of this month was spent doing community service, but an even bigger majority was spent having fun.
On November 1st, the Troop met at AUMC during the night. There, they prepared for Scouting for Food (SFF) week one (of two), which would be occurring the following morning. In addition, they also enjoyed delicious home-made pizza and other treats. After that, they all joined in on movies, games, and good times.
After the night had passed, Scouts began arriving for SFF and breakfast. Delicious breakfast burritos had been prepared for them in order to give them energy for the hard work they were about to do.
A little while later, Scouts were running door to door (based on their routes), posting notices that they would be collecting non-perishable food items to give to those who need it this Thanksgiving. It was hard work, especially in the cold weather.
For Scouting for Food week two, which was one week later, Scouts went around picking up the food that had been donated. After they picked the food up, they logged the total pound numbers of each route and then converted the route’s load to pick-up trucks. The pick-up truck then dispersed to two different food pantries, one of which being ACCA Food Pantry, right down the street. There, they dropped of the collected food.
Scouting for Food was a lot of work, but it was for a great cause. It was a great opportunity to come out and support those in need. Troop 150 has an incredible legacy with our annual Scouting for Food campaign. It is our most significant annual community service event, and our Troop covers the largest area and the most homes in the Old Dominion District. Troop 150 is so incredible in this endeavor that we were even featured on the WUSA channel 9 news last year!
Another event that occurred this month was a mini bike trip. Scouts took a 30 mile trip along the Mt. Vernon trail. Along the way, they visited numerous historical and scenic locations, including Fort Hunt Park and Jones Point. This was such a great opportunity to get some exercise and have fun.
The Troop’s monthly campout was the Thanksgiving + Sports campout. It has been the Troop’s tradition to have a Thanksgiving-themed campout every November, and there’s nothing to complain about it. Like always, the November campout was a success.
Since the campout was also sports-themed, the Troop put time aside for playing football and other games. In addition, the Troop got the amazing opportunity to participate in building bird house boxes in a woodshop available there, at Camp Snyder.
At Camp Snyder, where the Troop was camping, the woodshop merit badge is offered. The Troop took advantage of this, and it was a great thing that we did. The woodshop was a grand success, and was many people’s rose.
The traditional part of this campout comes from our Troop’s Thanksgiving feast. For the dinner, Dutch Oven turkeys are cooked while patrols prepare individual sides and desserts. With corn bread, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, cranberry sauce, mac n’ cheese, cider, green-beans, and other mouth-watering dishes, the Troop was set. As everyone pitched in a large amount of effort toward the feast, it turned out to be phenomenal.
Even after all of dinner had been eaten, the Troop still was not finished with dinner. They were now faced with cleaning up. Fortunately, many hands was able to make light work, and the Troop got KP done in record speed.
The next morning, the Troop went to see a bike race. That is, after a much needed hot breakfast and cider/hot chocolate. Before going to watch bike race, the Troop did a service project in order to properly thank Camp Snyder for letting us stay there. This project was removing cut wood from the forest and making a neat pile of it.
This campout was truly amazing, and it was also the first campout of the November 2019 term. This means that the new Senior Patrol Leader (the top youth leader in the Troop), Patrol Leaders, and the staff took over this month. They will serve as their current position for 5 more months, and those five months are sure to be great ones.
As mentioned in the previous Turtle Express article, we are currently selling 22′ noble fir wreaths for $22 in order to help our amazing legacy prosper. If you are in more information about these sales, please contact us by visiting this page. The sales will discontinue soon, so don’t hesitate!