Boy Scout Troop 160

News & Announcements

Troop Uniform Exchange

 The Troop uniform exchange is run by Mrs. Cocrane.  At each quarterly Troop 160 Court of Honor, she displays the uniforms available for Troop exchange.  There is no charge for these uniform items.  To keep our uniform exchange well stocked, please consider donating any uniform items you may have outgrown.  Contact Mrs. Cocrane at (dacocrane@cox.net) dacocrane (at) cox (dot) net if you want to donate.

 

 

High Adventure Night October 7th

Please join us for High Adventure night at the October 7th Troop meeting.  We will have slide shows of previous trips as well as an overview of upcoming activities.  Scouts will have a chance to ask questions and sign up for 2010 trips such as Claytor Lake.  Both Scouts and parents are welcome. 

 

 Recruiting Update – Earn 1st Class Reqt    Hey Scouts!  Recruiting season is upon us.  We ask all Scouts to reach out to their old Cub Scout Packs and other friends to find new recruits for your Troop.   Also, if you are not yet a First Class, you can earn requirement #11 by helping out at the Webelos Mall on Thursday night, October 8.  Contact Ms. Rigo at (kathy.j.rigo@saic.com) kathy.j.rigo (at) saic (dot) com if you are interested in meeting this requirement.

 

Troop 160 Heads to Dutch Springs

 

Six members of both Troop and Venture Crew 160 went to Dutch Springs in Bethlehem, PA the weekend of September 18 to scuba dive for 2 days.  Accompanied by support from Troop/Venture leaders, dive instructors from Adventure Dive in Chantilly and NOVA Dive Center in Countryside, they dove the fresh waters of the quarry which vary in temperature from the mid 70’s to below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Dives included visiting the wreck of a Sikorski Helicopter, a Cessna Airplane and various boats as well as skill building under the direction of the instructors. Highlights of the first day were practicing their buoyancy, and a night dive. On the second day we awoke for Search and Recovery as well as Wreck diving and Underwater Navigation. If you think it is hard to navigate with a compass on land, try it in water (which has the additional factor of depth) wearing a wetsuit, hood and gloves! You must come within 20 feet of the target to pass!

While diving and camping, we were accompanied by Boys Life magazine editor, Aaron Derr, who interviewed each of the scouts for an article on scuba diving. We’ll all be interested to see the article, which will be published in approximately 10 months. Did you know it takes that long to get an article into Boys Life? Also, did you know that Boys Life is one of the largest circulated youth magazines in the US?

He brought along a professional photographer, Mike Eudenback. Mike has got one of the best jobs in the world – he takes pictures of boats, divers and other commercial items. Following the trop with us, he went to Vancouver, Washington to work for Apple Computers for the week.

One of the photos includes two of our scouts reading a laminated copy of Boys Life while diving! Another has 2 leaders with a different month’s cover.

Four Scouts earned their Advanced Open Water (AOW) certification: Sahal T,  Matt G, Ben Z, and John R. They are now certified to dive at any depth on the recreational tables, up to 130 feet and join a dozen other members of the Troop and Crew who are AOW Certified. Several Scouts and scouters were certified for enhanced air, which increases the amount of time you can dive and reduced the likelihood of DCS or “the bends”, including Josh R, John R, Todd Rowley, Chuck Smith and Fred Rubin.

For more information on the Troop’s Scuba program, see Fred Rubin.

Webelos-Ree

The Webelos-Ree will be a two day event that provides a venue for all troops to showcase their Scouting abilities and specialty and introduces Webelos to the Boy Scout program. 

The Webelos-Ree will be conducted over the period from October 24-25, 2009.  PLEASE SAVE THE DATE.  This event has been enormously popular in the past , so please make sure to get connected and stay connected to the latest information.  A Yahoo group for the Webelos-Ree will provide the most current information.  To join the group send an email to Powhatan District Webelos-Ree. 

This year we are planning to conduct the Webelos Ree with a special emphasis on “Camp Gadgets and Outdoor Cooking”. The Webelos-Ree will also be a little more ambitious this time, as we plan to kincorporate some of the features of the Camporee to keep the Boy Scouts on their toes.  More information will follow soon.

Family Friends of Scouting Campaign

Donations to the Friends of Scouting campaign go directly to our National Area Council to provide for staff supervision, organization of new Scouting units, service for existing units, training of volunteer leaders, and maintenance of Council camps.  They also finance the operation of the local Council service center, where volunteer leaders can obtain literature, insignia, advancement badges, and other items vital to the program. If you would like to contribute, you can complete the general information section on the brochure you have received. You can indicate how much you would like to contribute and decide if you want to send in a payment now, or have Council bill you in monthly installments. You may also use a credit card by completing your card information on the form. If you have any questions or need a brochure, please email Jackie Brannan at (the4brannans@cox.net) the4brannans (at) cox (dot) net, or call 703.378.5498.