Author: Laura Schweitzer

Tuesday, October 8th at 7pm ~ Herndon United Methodist Church

Calling all Webelos, AOLs and anyone interested in scouting! Troop 157 is holding its Meet the Troop Night on Tuesday, October 8th. Come on out to Herndon United Methodist Church at 7pm and meet the scouts of Troop 157. We’ll be cooking dessertadillas, showing everyone how to set up tents and playing some games in the gym. It should be a good time!

A little about our troop… Troop 157 is a small boys troop. You might be thinking, “oh, I want my son to have a great experience in scouts with LOTS of boys!” True, if your son likes a big crowd, this might not be the place for him. The pros however, in my opinion, outweigh the cons. Being a small group has not stopped us from doing a lot of fun things. Since joining last April, my son has gone on lots of campouts, from Gettysburg, whitewater rafting, horseback riding, a high ropes adventure course, summer camp and fishing. He leads. He’s taken on leadership positions he never would have had the opportunity for in a much larger troop. And he cooks A LOT. In fact, he finished all his cooking requirements up through eagle and has become quite proficient in cooking at home.

The troop is small and efficient, enabling them to set up camp, cook and clean up rather quickly, leaving more time for relaxation and fun during campouts. So if this appeals to your son, please bring them on out in a couple weeks for our Meet the Troop night!

Last night was a big Court of Honor for Troop 157! We swore in new youth leaders, had a new Life scout, two new Star scouts, and a new Tenderfoot scout. The summer proved fruitful with the scouts earning over 30 merit badges. We’ve also had two scouts join the troop since the last Court of Honor.

This month, the troop visited an aerial forest with over 200 climbing and ziplining elements. We spent over 3 hours in the air working out our balance and strength and just having lots of fun. Many were scared of heights at first but were able to overcome our fears and in the end, everyone was quite proficient on the course.

This was a special trip because we were able to camp right at Sandy Springs. It was beautiful camping amongst the forest and surprisingly, although we could enjoy the music and fun from the adventure park, we had a ton of privacy in our camp area. During the day, we did a lot of relaxing, played some chess, built a mega fort and worked on advancement. And of course, we cooked! We had some delicious peach french toast, paninis and chicken pot pie! Oh yes, and don’t forget the mountain pies.

It’s been a busy year! Here’s a glimpse into some of the things we’ve done…

February.
The troop had it’s annual Wimp-O-Ree in February out at Camp Snyder. The scouts had a great time working on merit badges, hanging out, eating some good food and planning out the rest of the year.

The troop also took a trip out to Lawless Forge in Sterling and made knives from horseshoes!

April.
Our March trip to go skeet shooting and fishing at Izaak Walton unfortunately got rained out this year. We picked up in April with a trip to Gettysburg. It was fascinating to hike the Johnny Reb Trail and to relive an important piece of history!

May.
This May, we found ourselves taking a trip out to Harpers Ferry! It’s not quite the Four Corners, but Harpers Ferry does have a unique location at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. We camped at Brunswick Family Campground in Maryland… a super cool campsite along the C&O Canal. We trekked over to West Virginia on Saturday and went whitewater rafting through three states and two rivers! We also made friends with another troop camping nearby which introduced us to mountain pies. Yummm…. we may have found a new favorite dessert.

June.
With the craziness of school ending, graduations and the beginning of summer, we chose to stay local for June. We camped at Lake Fairfax and did some fishing and relaxing! We are incredibly blessed to have this 476-acre park with a 20-acre lake right in our own backyard. It was a nice campout to kick off the summer.

July.
The troop went horseback riding at Royal Horseshoe Farm in Front Royal. This was a new experience for some and a welcome revisit for others. We had some excitement from the typical “trail ride” but luckily, everyone was able to hang on and stay safe on their horses. Some scouts have marked this campout down as their favorite one ever.

August.
We returned to Guppy Gulch this year to our favorite August location. If you’ve never been here, you’d love it. Guppy Gulch is a former slate quarry with zip lines, climbing walls, inflatable slides, a rodeo pier, paddleboards and jungle gyms. It’s pretty much a floating oasis with everything you can think of.

All the while, we continue our monthly cleanup of Bready Park…

Plans for the next couple of months include Sandy Springs Adventure Park and a Camporee with the George Mason District at Rock Enon. The troop is looking forward to some archery, rifle, rock climbing and tomahawks!