Our November campout will be a caving trip on November 10th and 11th. We will meet at the PUMC shed on Saturday, November 10th at 7 am and return late on Sunday afternoon.
We will be visiting three caves. Grand Caverns and Fountain Cave on Saturday. Luray Caverns on Sunday. We will be car camping in the Shenandoah National Park at Big Meadows. Fountain Cave is a wild cave and Grand and Luray Caverns are commercial caves.
The cost of this trip is $80 per person (including parents). Fountain cave requires a signed waiver (parents too). To attend this trip you must sign up, pay and complete the waiver. Please note, once you commit to the trip there are no refunds. The sign up will end on Tuesday, November 6th at 11 pm. See troop email for details.
Fountain Cave requires long pants, long sleeves, boots, and an extra flashlight. Jeans are good for caving. Fountain cave will be somewhat wet. Scouts should bring a change of boots/shoes and clothes. Fountain cave will provide helmet, lantern, coveralls, gloves and knee pads. The Fountain Cave tour will be about two hours so Scouts may wish to bring water into the cave.
Scouts should bring three sets of clothes on this trip. One set for Fountain, one set to change into after Fountain and a spare set. Since we are car camping don’t forget your chair.
Luray Caverns will include the Garden Maze and their car museum.
It’s time for the Potomac District Scouts’ annual Scouting for Food drive! I’ve taken on the role this year from the amazing Denise Schleckser. Please help your scouts step up to this food drive challenge with a generous grocery contribution yourselves, and help your scouts organize for the drive in your own neighborhoods. THIS FOOD DRIVE REPRESENTS 1/6TH OF MANNA FOOD CENTER’S FOOD DONATIONS EACH YEAR! Nearly half of all food collected goes directly to children. Last year, our overall district was considerably down from our 2012 high donation levels of 63,000 pounds donated. That means we served 250 plus fewer families in need last year than we did in 2012.
Manna is a lifeline to our neighbors who are hungry, and this food drive is poised to help so many in need. From now through November 6, I challenge us all to bring in at least one bag of groceries. If every family in our troop donated one bag, it would help so much. Asking neighbors to donate as well as multiplies our success! I will pick up donations and keep them in storage until our collection day on Saturday, November 10th.
New This Year: Acting on a tip, and after asking other councils, we found that many councils have eliminated using plastic bags, and are now using Post-it notes for promoting the drive, with good success. Neighbors provide their own bags and boxes for their donations. Scouts might also bring their own bags with them, in case some food donations need to be packed. The advantages of the Post-it notes are that they are easier to distribute to units and allow the note to be transferred from neighbor front doors into homes and kitchens as a reminder of the donation day coming up.
Saturday, November 3rd is the date Scouts should distribute their solicitation letters/Post-it Notes to their neighbors and friends (see two Word document samples for your use below – both a neighbor solicitation letter and a thank-you letter).
Saturday, November 10th is our collection day. Scouts can attach our brand new colorful 4X6 Post-it notes to their neighbor letters, or use the Post-it notes as a letter, and write their names in the blank space. (see the Post-it note graphic below).
Manna Food Center especially needs healthy, non-perishable items such as canned fruits and vegetables, tuna and other canned meat, whole-grain foods such as oatmeal, and organic foods. (Please do not encourage donations of perishable items.) Boxed and canned items, not bagged items, are easiest to keep safe.
Our collection sites remain the same this year, and volunteers are needed at each location to collect food, sort, pack the Manna truck, record pounds collected, and thank our donors, from 9:00 am – 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 10th:
– Our Lady of Mercy in Kensington parking lot – 9200 Kentsdale Dr, Potomac, MD 20854
– Loehmann’s Plaza in Bethesda – 5296 Randolph Rd, North Bethesda, MD 20852
– Bolger Center parking lot – 9600 Newbridge Drive, Potomac, MD 20854
Safeway is our corporate sponsor again this year. Safeway typically does not allow storefront promotions or their parking lots for collections. However, you might consider making local contact with store managers to see if individual stores will allow such use, or check with owners of the shopping center where Safeway is located. Headquarters can try to assist you with this if you make contact. The council level will offer limited promotions on TV and radio and in social media, but the best way to drive the campaign is for you to promote the food drive in your own local media, create signage, and tell as many friends and neighbors as you can personally.
Please start promoting Scouting for Food among your friends and neighbors. Word of mouth is the best way to encourage donations. Road signs can often help drive donations as well.
Don’t forget to begin recruiting scouts to help at the collection sites. We always need plenty of unloaders from cars, loaders for the food trucks, donation counters and recorders, and scouts to thank the families that drop off donations at our collection sites. Scouts can earn service hours and SSL hours for this volunteer time. Please consider taking photos of your scouts at work; we will publish a collection at the conclusion of the food drive.
Thank you for everything you do for our scouts! Let’s make this a hugely successful food drive this fall!
Most-Wanted-List-2014
2018 SFF Post It Final
2018 Scouting For Food Partnership_Manna Food Center
Our fall backpacking trip is Saturday, October 13th to Sunday, October 14th. We will be hiking in the George Washington National Forrest. We will meet at the PUMC shed at 8am Saturday and return on Sunday afternoon. Bring a bag lunch with a beverage for Saturday. This will be a dry campout; all Scouts should carry 3 liters of water. Sturdy hiking boots are required. We will stop for a fast food lunch on our way back. Bring small bills to pay cooks ($15) and buy lunch ($10) on Sunday. Cooks should contact me directly before buying food.
The troop will hike 3 miles to the campsite and 3 miles out. If we have enough older scouts and parents that desire a longer hike, we will offer a 8-mile hike in with 3 miles out.
If you have any troop equipment outstanding, return all troop equipment at the Tuesday troop meeting on October 9th. The return of all troop equipment is mandatory. Make arrangements with your PL if you cannot make the troop meeting to return equipment.
We will need at least 6 parents to drive and attend. When signing up please note how many people with packs (including yourself) will fit in your car.
Please RSVP by Tuesday, October 9th at 10pm if you wish to attend.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0A4AABAF2BA3FE3-backpacking
We have scheduled our Fall canoe campout this year for the weekend of September 22 and 23. The outfitter we will be using is River & Trail outfitters (https://www.rivertrail.com/). We will be canoeing on the Potomac river. The cost for canoeing and camping at the Brunswick Family campground will be $65 per scout this can be paid via PayPal (https://www.troop773.com/payments/) and the outfitter has requested that people sign a waiver form prior to our arrival (https://www.rivertrail.com/waiver/) We will need a final headcount by September 14th. We will also be taking volunteers to chaperone, canoe and campout (will need approximately 5 cars). I will provide driving directions for all volunteers. Reminder: All attendees must have already passed the BSA Swim Test.
We will probably be on the water about 3 hours. We should plan to be there at noon, so we can setup our campsite, have lunch and be on the water at 2pm that should get us back to camp around 5:30pm to cook dinner. To do this we want to be pulling away from the church no later than 10:30, so we need to — MEET AT THE SHED BY 9:30AM — to gather gear on Saturday, September 22nd.
DO NOT FORGET TO BRING A BAG LUNCH FOR SATURDAY OR YOU WILL NOT EAT! Also, remember to bring $15 in small bills to pay the cooks, along with $10 for a fast food lunch on Sunday.
We will be doing our traditional stop at McDonalds on the way home so anticipate your scout getting home around 1pm. That is not a commitment so if you have needs to be home before or shortly after that time, you should plan on your own transportation home. Volunteer transportation needs to be able to abide by the schedule I outlined above.
Please go to the Signup Genius to register for the trip as soon as possible we are in need of additional adults to canoe/camp as well as drive. Four cooks and four assistant cooks will be assigned by the Patrol Leaders and should plan to feed 8 people Dinner and Breakfast. If you need to be a cook or assistant cook for advancement, please talk with your Patrol Leader. If you plan on attending or driving (or have any questions), please contact me – Joe Ashcraft
Again, please submit payment of $65 via PayPal at (https://www.troop773.com/payments/) by September 14th and bring a completed waiver form to the Troop Meeting prior to the trip and give them to the SPL.
I have also attached a general packing list to this email.
PARENTS OF NEW SCOUTS: Remember that the troop provides tents. However, your son needs his own sleeping bag and mess kit (or at least a plastic bowl, cup, spoon and fork). Because the canoe trip is like car camping, he can pack in either a backpack or a duffel bag.
Just another suggestion, it is a good idea to wear water shoes or closed toe sandals for the canoe trip. Also, the trip is on rain or shine, so please check the weather and pack accordingly.
This campout is usually fun for everyone; let’s hope for excellent weather!
Please join us for a parent meeting to discuss the upcoming Scouting year, Tuesday, September 11th, 7:30pm, PUMC. New and existing parents should attend this meeting.
Scouts First Class and above are invited to attend the PLC planning meeting on Tuesday, September 4th, 7:00 pm at the Hartmann home. This is a brainstorming meeting to discuss trips, events and meeting topics for the upcoming year.
All parents are invited to our first troop meeting for a parent discussion of the upcoming scouting year, Tuesday, September 11th, 7:30 pm, PUMC. This is a combination meeting for new parents and existing parents to discuss the upcoming year.
Our first campout will be on Saturday, September 22nd. Look for more information soon.
Troop 773 will attend Northern Tier High Adventure July 25th to August 9th.
Troop 773 will attend Goshen Scout Reservation on June 30th to July 7th.
Join us for our Summer backpacking trip to Massanutten. We will hike Duncan Knob.
Scouts BSA Troop 773 offers a year-round adventure-based program designed to encourage effective character, citizenship, and fitness training for youth ages 11 to 17.
Scouting is adventure, family, fun, character, leadership, and more.
In Scouting, youth start with their best right now selves and grow into their very best future selves. It’s fun, hands-on learning and achievement that puts kids in the middle of the action and prepares them for today and life.
In addition to camping, Scouts and adult leaders enjoy many outdoor activities while accommodating the needs of today’s busy families.
