Three Ridges Hike

On Saturday, December 3, Crew 1819 participated alongside the local Troop 79 in a hike along the Three Ridges Trail, a 14 mile loop that comprises a portion of the Appalachian trail just South-West of Charlottesville. Meeting bright and early at 7:30 we started on our hike, taking lunch at the highest peak at 1 PM. Along the hike, we stopped for a break at Chimney Rock and shared snacks as well as stories. The hike was a success for all of the scouts, and the start of a fruitful partnership for the Troop and Crew.

-Patrick Morgan

Loading Christmas Trees

Early Sunday morning on November 27, two scouts headed out to help out local Boy Scout troops who were welcoming the holiday season with the start of their Christmas tree sales. At the lot where the trees were being kept, they helped with carefully loading trees onto the back of a pickup and securing them with ropes in preparation for the bumpy ride to the sale lot. In the meantime, the Scoutmaster in charge of the Christmas tree distribution talked to the University Scouts about the various types of trees they had – where they came from, how they were different from the others, and how to care for them between being cut and brought to the lot. Before leaving, they helped cover the trees in burlap to protect the sensitive underside of the needles from the afternoon sun. In addition to the hundreds of trees already in the lot, a truck was stopping by later in the day to deliver yet another 150 trees that would need to be distributed to several sale lots around the town, keeping them stocked in order to meet consumer’s Christmas tree needs this December; and there’s a good chance the rest of the University Scouts group will be there to help do just that!

-Cristina Ramírez

Apple Harvest Camporee

On Friday, October 7th, two of the University Scouts went to the annual Apple Harvest Boy Scout Camporee in the Monticello District to help set up the different stations. They helped set up many events, including a BB-gun shooting range, an archery range, a tomahawk throwing range, a battering ram activity, and countless rain-flies to ensure that there would be proper shade for all of the scout volunteers for the entire weekend! We heard reports that the Camporee was successful and well enjoyed by all! There were 465 Boy Scouts, 353 Cub Scouts and 170 Webelos and parents at the event, a fantastic turnout! For more pictures, you can check out their Facebook page!

-Aaron Bentley

Cole Mountain Backpacker

Camping – you could call it our thing. All scouts love to camp. Who doesn’t enjoy the freezing cold weather on top of a mountain? Despite the chill, Crew 1819 headed out to Cole Mountain last Friday, September 30th. Arriving after dark, we hiked to our campsite. The chosen location was a tree-sheltered area among the giant meadows that lay on the top of the mountain. Within 40 minutes, we had set up our tents and started a fire. And believe me, we desperately needed that warmth. It had dropped over 15 degrees since parking our cars at the bottom of the trail. It was about 44 degrees at that point. Although our bodies were numb, we didn’t miss the opportunity to leave our sheltered area for a few minutes and enjoy star gazing in the meadows. It was such a clear night….. at least for an hour or so. As it rapidly got colder, freezing rain started to come down. We hopped in our tents, and continued our conversations over its light pitter-patter. In the morning, the sunrise didn’t fail our expectations. The sky was so clear! And the early morning warmth of a new fire kept us going as we packed up our camp site. We took a little longer on our way back down the mountain – we were enjoying the view! Overall, it was a great trip! We shared stories and some ‘punny’ jokes, got to know each other, and there were no bears! I cannot wait for our next trip.

-Moira Lennon

Making Food Bags

On September 20th, the University Scouts joined with the Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum to create twenty-eight food packets which will be given to families who are staying at the hospital while receiving care. Then, on October 1st, the University Scouts again joined their efforts with the Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum to ask for donations of either food or money at Kroger grocery store in order to gather more supplies to make food packets. Many people were very generous with their donations at Kroger! A special thanks to Margaret Gorman for helping us to get involved with the community! The Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum also wrote a blog post about the University Scouts helping out at these events.

-Aaron Bentley