Boy Scout turns 'mud pit' into a $60K playground

KRASNOYARSK, Russia (CNN) -- "It kept you alive," a tearful Dwight Griffith told his adopted son as the two looked at an infant incubator during a tour of the Russian hospital where he was born.

More than a decade after L.S. Berzon City Clinical Hospital No. 20 cared for him, 16-year-old Alex Griffith wanted to show his gratitude.

"Russia is part of me and this hospital is part of me. They gave me life, so I [wanted] to give back to them, to give them a fun place to play," said Alex, who lives in Forest Hill, Maryland.

As part of a Boy Scout project, Alex donated hundreds of hours and raised tens of thousands of dollars to build a new playground for the hospital.

Alex -- originally named Sergey -- was abandoned by his parents shortly after he was born at the hospital in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. He weighed less than 2 pounds and doctors said he had a mild case of cerebral palsy.

His condition improved slightly over the next 11 months, when Dwight and Jenny Griffith adopted him.

 

Asalamu alaykum! 

 

I’m appealing to all of you as dedicated volunteers to help Council staff the Centennial

Camporee being held at Goshen May 28 – 31. 

 

There are lots of fun activities planned for Tigers, Wolf, Bear and Webelos and

we are going to need lots of help. 

 

Let me know if you would like to join us for the weekend or if you think anyone

from our pack would be interested in helping. 

 

Activities planned for the Centennial Camporee are:

 

* Derby area (derbies done large with cubs as the pinewood derby car, rockets, boats , etc.)

 

* Cub Rank Pavilions with displays and crafts

 

Fourteen members of ADAMS Cub Scout Pack #1576 attended the annual Goose Creek District Day Camp last week at the Loudoun County Fairgrounds.  This year's theme, "Space: A Cub Scout Universe" was well-integrated into the special activities offered by the five-day camp.

 

The boys (and girls!) were busy every day with science, crafts, frisbee golf, ultimate frisbee, archery, bb guns, and marbles.  Science activities included bottle rockets, mentos & soda fountains, and painting models of the planets.  At the crafts station, campers assembled and launched balsa airplanes and laced their very own leather wallets that will serve them for years to come.  The archery and bb guns stations were the most popular throughout camp, as many campers qualified to receive special patches and awards for their marksmanship.

It's Rocket Derby time!

June 6th is the annual Goose Creek District Soda Pop Bottle Rocket Derby at Claude Moore Training Facility (not to be confused with Claude Moore Park).  This is a great opportunity to have some fun and learn about Newton's Three Laws.

1. Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.
2. The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors (as indicated by their symbols being displayed in slant bold font); in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.
3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Pack 1576 held their first annual Blue and Gold Ceremony on March 28, 2009.  The highlight of the evening was the awarding of the Bismillah Religious Emblem to five cub scouts.

 

Pack 1576 Bismillah Emblem Awardess - March 28, 2009

A Long Island teenager has earned all 121 merit badges offered by the Boy Scouts of America. It's an accomplishment the local arm of the organization calls "an almost unheard-of feat." Oceanside resident Shawn Goldsmith earned his final badge — for bugling — in time for his 18th birthday in November. He far surpassed the 21 badges required to achieve the elite rank of Eagle Scout.

Special Programs and Activities Held for Scouts on November 1, 2008

MOUNT VERNON, Va. – Historic Mount Vernon welcomes all Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Camp Fire Club members (in uniform or wearing an official pin) to FREE admission during its Scouting Days program beginning November 1, 2008 through February 15, 2009.

On Saturday, November 1, Mount Vernon kicks off the Scouting Days program with special activities for Scouts from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  Scouts have an opportunity to earn merit badges through projects and stations set up with professional surveyors, Mount Vernon archaeologists, woodworking projects, and cooking demonstrations. In addition to these activities, Scouts are encouraged to make their own wreath to lay at the tomb of George Washington (by reservation only).

It appears as though the U.S. might live up to its "melting pot" moniker, as many Muslim girls have joined the American Girl Scouts. Priya David reports from Minnesota.

Members and leaders of troops at Annoor Islamic School say Girl Scouts and Islam share common lessons and values

BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS
The Wichita Eagle

After serving apple-chicken salad in pastry shells, cucumber tea sandwiches, smoked salmon and asparagus crustini, summer berry tarts, pink lemonade with kiwi, and tea, members of Danah Salem's Girl Scout troop did a lively rendition of the Macarena dance.