Here you will find the daily write-ups sent back to the troop from Sea Base. It was a real treat to spent time in the Keys and all of us ended the week as fully certified PADI open water divers.

We all arrived yesterday afternoon and saw many familiar faces on the staff from last year. The check in went well, we swim tested, we ate and then watched what could be classified as a unique opening campfire (minus the campfire!).

Yesterday’s weather was perfect for hiking in any month let a lone in July. We met as usual in McLean nice and early, 7 a.m. and headed out west to the park. Once in the park we headed south on Skyline Drive, which is probably one of the worlds greatest and most beautiful roads, for about 20 miles until we reached the Dark Hollow Falls parking lot. 

We met bright and early in McLean and then headed out to Old Rag. As we approached the mountain I noticed the very low cloud level and it suddenly dawned on me that the beautiful views you normally get at the top might not happen today.

From a weather perspective our biking outing was only missing snow. We had driving rain, strong winds, clear blue skies and a star-filled night sky.

Our third hike in the series took place yesterday in Little Bennett Regional Park in Maryland.

The 2016 Projectoree is done and dusted. Troop 1916 did really well with our patrols taking 3rd, 6th and 7th positions out of 27 competing patrols.

At this time one week ago, a group of sixteen Scouts from Troop 1916 were navigating their way through the woods, around large rocks, over fallen logs, through creeks, and up and down the hills of Catoctin Mountain Park in search of orienteering posts.

Twenty scouts met Saturday morning at 7am and headed out to Ashburn for a morning of rifle safety instruction and shooting.

As I drove back from Harrisonburg late on Saturday night the wind was moving my jeep around on 81 and 66 at times at a rather an alarming rate. My little windscreen wipers were working overtime and the thought of getting up early on a cold wet Sunday morning to go for a walk was far from appealing.

As we tracked the forecast for this past weekend Mike and I couldn’t believe our luck … for 24 hours only (sounds like a car sale) starting Saturday lunchtime we were going to have storm roll through producing rain and snow. And as we met at the church at 11:30 a.m. a few spots of rain plunked down on my pieces of paper. how bad could it be?

The clocks leapt forward on Sunday morning like an agile Billy Goat leaping from one rock to another. Luckily (note: a little English sarcasm here) for 18 scouts and 12 scouters it coincided with the first of our 10 mile hikes. Surprisingly, given the clock issue and the weather forecast, our attrition rate was low and most made it to the parking lot by 7:30 a.m. (aka 6:30 a.m.!).

Troop 1916 was well represented at the Gettysburg outing with 25 Scouts, 16 Scouters and 10 Guests from Pack 1537. We started the day early, 8am, and left almost on time at 8:40am. The day started much earlier for Mr. Salt and Mr. Forrer who had to change the tire on the trailer before we departed.

Troop 1916 had its inaugural 3-day ski trip at Timberline Four Seasons Resort in West Virginia. Taking advantage of Fairfax Schools having Friday off, most of the crew headed out Thursday evening while the remainder came Friday.

Doing a good turn daily is what our scout should want to do. Actually getting them off their butts to do this is sometimes a challenge, especially on a three-day cold winters weekend.

The lock-in is over for another year and so is eating pizza for a very long time! The plan for the weekend was relatively simple; paint the bird houses we had made a short twelve months earlier (thank you Mr. Cantus for getting needed supplies), fix up the maze and wash the bus.

Twenty-five scouts and 10 parents enjoyed a pretty Saturday and Sunday morning in northern Maryland. The backpacking format for this trip gave every scout a chance to plan a menu and prepare his own meals. We learned from a Park Ranger this morning that a mama bear and cub have been seen in the park. But we were already taking precautions (no food in tents, all 'smellables' in the bear bags, etc). Our only wildlife siting was when one of the parents was up in the night and a fox bolted through the campsite.

We started by meeting at Redeemer, collecting the trailer and lots of bamboo for the planned pioneering project. We also met several of our visiting Cubs and their parents. After introductions and the typical logistical wrangling, we were off to Pohick Bay Overflow.

Canoeing 2015 is in the books and what a great time we had! 42 Scouts and Scouters assembled Saturday morning. All arrived on time and ready for the trip west to the beautiful Shenandoah River area.