Boy Scout Troop 160 from Herndon celebrated its 25th Anniversary on Saturday, Jan. 10. Troop 160 has been an active and registered Boy Scout Troop of the National Capital Area Council since 1984. Troop 160 prides itself as being a boy-run troop.
The evening was hosted by scouts Jay Tucker, Jon Roser, Joshua Rubin, and James Rowley, serving as the Masters of Ceremony. Awards earned by Troop 160 include Quality Unit, Centennial Quality Unit, National Camping Award, Emergency Preparedness Award. Their high adventure base trips include Philmont & FloridaSeabase, with a 2009 trip planned for Northern Tier.
As a vital part of the county's growth, the scouts have accomplished 87 Eagle projects that add up to well over 5,000 hours of community service. Projects include improvements to playgrounds, picnic areas, landscaped schoolyards, and fences, blood drives, and building outdoor classrooms at three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, touching the daily lives of over 2,000 students. They have also completed projects for Inova Hospital Day Care Center, Fairfax County Parks Authority, Oakton High, Chantilly High, Franklin Middle School, Navy Elementary, St. John Neumans Church, and many more. In addition to the many Eagle Award projects, Troop 160 also made two trips to New Orleans after Katrina to help rebuild homes.
Since Troop 160's beginning, they have trained over 2,000 young men in the scouting tradition.
The troop recognized the 13 Scoutmasters who had provided leadership, several of which attended the celebration. Special Awards were presented to two scouters: Rich Daugherty for his many contributions to the troop. They included being the personal Eagle advisor for more than 20 scouts, building the troop's trailer that houses the troop's camping equipment, preparing the boys for cold weather campouts, including the Klondike Derbies, and numerous other events for the troop. Also awarded was Mike Buckley, who is the troop's longest running member, teaching citizenship, history, and leadership, as well as serving on the camporee committee, planning committees, and many district committees. Troop 160 thanked Mrs. South, who serves as the chartered organization representative for the sponsoring organization, the PTA of Franklin Middle School. Troop 160 has been meeting at Franklin Middle School since 1984 and it greatly appreciate their support.
A tradition of Troop 160 is to present each of their Eagle Scouts with a flag at the time of their Court of Honor. That flag has been flown over the U.S. Capitol especially for that scout. The flags are supplied by the office of Congressman Frank Wolf (R-10th), who joined the troop to celebrate the Silver Anniversary. Wolf challenged the boys to be men of character and ethics. He also charged the parents to be active with their sons. He recited the words to Harry Chapin's song, "Cats In The Cradle," which resonated his challenge to parents to support their sons. He also posed the question and discussed "Where Are The Giants" that we can look up to today?
Troop 160 was also honored to have Sully District Supervisor Michael Frey at the dinner celebration. Mr. Frey presented to the troop a proclamation declaring on behalf of the Sully District, that Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009 be a day of celebration to honor.
The guest speaker of the evening was The Honorable Michael P. McWeeney, Chief Judge, Circuit Court, Fairfax County. McWeeney opened his speech by talking about our need for character in the community and how scouting is so important. He shared his experiences as a Boy Scout and how much it had prepared him for his future. For his closing, he held up his Boy Scout handbook, which he told the scouts to always keep near to them. He reminded them that in the last chapter of the handbook, it states "Once A Scout, Always a Scout."
The Eagle Awards recipients in attendance gathered together and shared their personal information of when they received the Eagle Award, their troop number, and what they did for their project. An update was given regarding a few of the Troop 160 Eagle Award recipients. They included spending two years in the Peace corps in Tanzania teaching chemistry and biology at a Secondary School, a fighter pilot, an attorney for NASA, State Troopers, US Coast Guard, and a Naval Officer. They reminded the audience of the quote, "Once An Eagle, Always An Eagle."
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