The National Capital Area Council (NCAC) is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America within the Northeast Region that serves Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and the United States Virgin Islands. The council offers extensive training, and administrative support to units. It is rated as a "Class 100" council by the National Council (headquarters office), which denotes that the NCAC is among the very largest in the country. Chartered in 1911, it is also one of the oldest. The council is divided into 23 districts serving ten counties in Northern Virginia, six counties in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands. The council has a 2.5 to 1 ratio of youth members to adult leaders, which is among the highest of all the councils. The youth retention rate approaches 80%.
History
William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America at 11:03Â am on February 8, 1910 in the district on the advice of railroad executive and later first national president of the organization Colin H. Livingstone, with assistance from lawyers at the firm Ralston, Siddons and Richardson. A year later the National Capital Area Council was formed. The oldest unit in the council is Troop 52, chartered to All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase. This unit dates back to 1913. When the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia decided that the security of suffrage marchers in 1916 was not their problem, the youth of Troop 52 took up that duty. Starting in 1996 the council annually sponsored the Commodore Henry I. Nygard Regatta along with the Friends of Sea Scouts of Maryland.
Many have served as council executive over the years. Linn Drake "headed the council through two world wars, [and] a depression." Clarence F. Urferr served as council executive from September 1, 1944 to March 1946, when he moved to Dallas to take over Region 3. Kenneth Spears served as council executive from March 1946 to 1851, when he was recalled by the US Air Force in the Korean War. Randolf Flythe left the council executive position to become the Northeast regional director. Ron Carroll served as council executive from 1990 to 2005. The most famous member of the council advisory board was Vince Lombardi.
Organization
The National Capital Area Council is divided into service areas, districts, and one Learning for Life division.
Goshen Scout Reservation
Three Boy Scouts of America resident summer camps, two Cub Scout resident camps, and one high adventure resident camp occupy the land purchased in 1960 by the National Capital Area Council that borders the Goshen and Little North Mountain Wildlife Management Area and Little Calfpasture River outside of Goshen, Virginia for $300,000 that is now Goshen Scout Reservation, often called just Goshen. Each camp program includes camping, swimming, merit badge counseling, shooting sports, boating, all-terrain vehicle riding, ecology education and Scoutcraft activities.
The camps are all built around the 425 acres (1,720,000Â m2) Lake Merriweather, that was created by damming the Little Calfpasture River in 1966, before it joins with the Calfpasture to become the Maury, with a structure 38 feet (12Â m) high and 1,300 feet (400Â m) long. Lake Merriweather was named for Marjorie Merriweather Post, an ardent supporter of Scouting in the Washington, DC area. U.S. Steel public relations executive William G. Whyte helped acquire the tract of more than 4,000 acres (16Â km2) that is now the land of the Goshen Scout Reservation.
The Goshen reservation is the sum of seven separate camps circling Lake Merriweather. Camp Baird focuses on high adventure experiences. Camp Bowman, Marriott and Olmsted all focus on Boy Scouts. Camp PMI and Ross focus on Webelos. Bowman is the only camp that still provides meals where each unit's patrols all prepare their own meal at their own campsites, the other camps use dining halls. Camp Post focuses on administrative functions and facilities used by all campers like the COPE climbing tower and ropes course.
During the first season of the drama 24 the fictional character Kim Bauer wears a Goshen Boy Scout Reservation shirt. In commemoration of Goshen Scout Reservation's 50th anniversary, the National Capital Area Council is hosting a camporee for all council Scouts and alumni on Memorial Day weekend 2017.
Camp William B. Snyder
Camp William B. Snyder or just Camp Snyder is an 405-acre (1.64Â km2) Cub Scout Camp in Prince William, Virginia, owned by the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. It is one of the largest Cub Scout Camps in the United States, with a dining hall that can accommodate 600 dinners at one time. The dining hall displays a picture of the building's namesake, Eagle Scout and Marriott International executive Stephen Marriott, during his time as a Scout. Chairman of program development Raymond Johns said that the camp will serve about 1,000 Cub Scouts a week. Program areas include an archaeological site, archery, air rifle range, boating, campfire, ecology education, fishing, ga-ga pit, handicrafts, sailing ship, swimming pool, and western style fort. Both Bald Eagles and Red Tail Hawks can be seen at the camp.
In 1994 Disney Incorporated bought extensive amounts of land in Haymarket, Virginia for a proposed Disney's America theme park. Local resistance to the resort led to its end as a viable idea. William B. Snyder, a local business man convinced Disney to sell the property to him. Snyder, in turn, sold off most of the land to developers, except for the 405 acres (1.64Â km2) donated to the National Capital Area Council. Brian Luss served as the initial camp director.
In addition to summer camps, the camp has also hosted diverse Scouting events. During the summer of 2006 the camp hosted more than 1,000 youth participants at the greater DC area Cub Scout Jamboree in association with the Entomological Foundation. On May 3, 2008 the camp hosted more than 4,000 at the council-wide spring camporee, which included a visit from McGruff the Crime Dog. On May 28-29, 2016 the camp hosted the joint Jewish and Islamic Committee on Scouting Annual Camporee. On October 29, 2016 the camp hosted simulations of both an airplane and a school bus crash where volunteer victims acted out fictional injuries for Scouts to practice emergency aid skills. More than 1,000 Scouts and leaders from the Bull Run, Occoquan, Patriot and Sully Districts participated along with representatives from the Amangamek Wipit Lodge, American Red Cross, Asymmetric Warfare Group, Aviation Institute of Maintenance, Cookies and Cream, Fairfax County Sheriff's Office, George Mason Reserve Officers' Training Corps Cadets, Halloween Spirit Store, Lowe's, Outback Steakhouse, Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue, Prince William County Police Department, Shawn Landry & Quality Business Engineering, and the Virginia Airborne Search and Rescue Squad. From Jan 20, 2017 to Jan 22, 2017 the camp hosted the Sully District annual Klondike Derby which included competitions in: trail cooking, first aid, tomahawk throwing, pioneering, fishing, orienteering, log sawing, fire building, COPE games, a sled race, and a chili cook-off. The campfire show and awards ceremony were provided by arrowmen of the Amangamek-Wipit Lodge.
The camp has hosted events not connected to Scouting as diverse as USA Cycling Sportif Cross Cup Series, Sound United Drumline rehearsal, and the Northern Virginia Mormon Prom. For several years the Alexandria-Fairfax Alumni Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity run Kamp Kappa at Camp Snyder. Kamp Kappa campers are young men between the ages of 10-16 years physical challenges to encourage creative thinking, team building, self-respect, and respect for others. Group discussions and lectures cover health and drug awareness, cultural diversity, personal hygiene, and etiquette. Kamp Kappa also makes use of all the camp outdoor oriented facilities like canoeing, hiking, and swimming. Every September from 2005 to 2008 the Goose Creek district held a model rocket launching event at the camp. The camp was one of many official National Get Outdoors sites on the first annual National Get Outdoors Day on June 14, 2008. On June 4, 2010 at the camp the Forest Service and Prince William County Public Schools partnered to hold a conservation education program for 500 students that culminated in youth participants earning the Junior Forest Ranger distinction. On May 11, 2012 at the camp the Prince William Area Agency on Aging hosted a picnic with over 400 participants. May 13-14, 2014 the camp hosted the inaugural National Capital Area Council Sporting Clays Tournament, which returned in 2015, then in 2016 was renamed the Sporting Clays Classic. On September 19, 2015 the camp hosted the Outdoor Channel production crew of the show National Rifle Association All Access who worked with dozens of local Scouts demonstrating several different types of shooting for a season five episode of the show. On March 26, 2016 the camp hosted an Easter egg hunt for 0-10 year-old children with a costumed Easter Bunny. On May 18, 2017 the camp hosted the Older American Picnic sponsored by Prince William Area Agency on Aging. This event included dancing, games, nature trails, motorcycle rides, fitness walk and entertainment by Norman Voss.
Camp Howard M. Wall
Named for Howard M. Wall, who added the estates Fareham, Petronella, and Longford to the Castle Nugent Farms cattle ranch in 1951, the Camp Howard M. Wall at Milord Point Beach on Route 62 at Great Pond Bay, in Estate Fareham, USVI is on the southeast end of Saint Croix. The camp is "located at the west side of Great Pond Bay." The camp offers bunkhouses intended to accommodate eight people per room, a shower house with gender segregated facilities, and a dinning hall. Other facilities include a climbing tower, ropes course, central pavilion, and rifle range. Programs include fishing, games, guided kayak tour in Salt River Bay, hiking to the tidal pools, Jeep tour of St. Croix, Jeep tour of the rainforest, kayaking, shooting, snorkeling, snorkeling at Buck Island Reef National Monument, sports, swimming, and visiting historic Christiansted.
In addition to "summer" camps, Camp Wall is actually open for summer camp type programs year round, other Scouting events take place there. On September 29, 2012 the camp hosted the Eagle Court of Honor ceremony for Ricardo “Danny†Nieves of St. Croix. On May 7, 2016 the camp hosted the Eagle Court of Honor ceremony for Ryan Patrick McCormack of St. Croix.
The camp has also hosted events not connected to Scouting. Since 2016 Catch The Vision International has sponsored an annual mission trip where participants stay at the camp. On June 21, 2012 at the camp the Virgin Islands National Guard hosted Shadow Warriors Fun Day, which included meeting Kofi Kingston. On June 25-30, 2012 at the camp the US Virgin Islands National Guard Youth Program held the St. Croix Youth Leadership Camp which included activities focused on agriculture, culture, marine science, masquerading, resilience, self-awareness, storytelling, survival, swimming, team building, and the environment..
Camp Roosevelt
Camp Roosevelt existed 9 miles (14 km) south of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland from 1914 to 1967. When the camp was a shared summer camp of both Washington and Baltimore councils in 1914 the camp was called Camp Archibald Butt. "Camp Roosevelt was the first permanent Boy Scout camp in the country." The Calvert County visitors guide refers to the camp as, "Maryland's first permanent Boy Scout camp." Camp Roosevelt employed many counselors over the years of the camp's life including Richard A. Adams who would serve in the Royal Air Force then the United States Army Air Forces, and later found Adams Company Realty in Wheaton. The camp is the location of the founding of the Clan of the Mystic Oak in 1921, an honor society with goals to “further Scouting, advance the interests of Camp Roosevelt, and to promote fellowship among its members.â€
Camp sites were called ranches. Each site was named for places related to Theodore Roosevelt like Big Horn, Buckskin, Chimney Butte,Elk Horn, Powder River, and San Juan. "There were several buildings on the property, notably a large mess hall, an infirmary and several Adirondack cabins."
From July 24, 1922 to August 6, 1922 the camp ran a program specifically for Scouts active with the Catholic Churches of Washington organized by Boy Scout Bureau Washington District Council National Council of Catholic Men chairman Dr. TJ Murphy. Trinity Episcopal Church rector, reverend J. C. M. Shrewsbury, took Troop 102 of Upper Marlboro to the camp for two weeks on Jul 25, 1927.
On September 24, 1952 during the meeting that dissolved the Clan of the Mystic Oak that organization purchased a memorial in the name of the organization to Dr. Walter H. Merrill, who had served as a doctor at Camp Roosevelt. Ralph Lauren's first time golfing came at the camp when he was age 14 in 1953. 70 flu cases in 1957 caused the camp to close early on July 11. The camp was sold in the late 1970s. Today the property is "now a residential area."
Amangamek-Wipit Lodge #470 - Order of the Arrow
In 1915, at Treasure Island Scout Reservation on the Delaware River E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson started an honor society, Wimachtendienk ("Brotherhood" in the Lenape language), to recognize Scouts who best implemented the Scout Oath and Scout Law as examples to follow. This organization is today known as the Order of the Arrow.
Six years later and 200 miles (320 km) away at Camp Roosevelt a group that called itself the Clan of the Mystic Oak formed in 1921, with the nearly identical goals of “further Scouting, advance the interests of Camp Roosevelt, and to promote fellowship among its members.†While the Clan of the Mystic Oak was specific to Camp Roosevelt in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, the Order of the Arrow spread across the country as it formed new lodges. Lodges are the smallest standard unit of the order and each is chartered to a local scout council. The National Capital Area Council chartered what is now called the Amangamek-Wipit lodge on March 12, 1952. At the time of the first banquet on December 29, 1952 Amangamek-Wipit had 89 members. That growth was enough to convince the Clan of the Mystic Oak members to dissolve the clan and join the order at a meeting on September 24, 1952.
When chartered in 1952 the Amangamek-Wipit lodge had no name. With scouts at Camp Roosevelt finding numerous shark teeth along the Chesapeake since 1914 the lodge decided to incorporate that history into their totem by placing the Washington Monument on an arrow on a shark's tooth at a meeting in June 1953. Following the advice of a Smithsonian Institution language expert that there was no word for shark, and Amanquemack translated to large fish, the lodge adopted the name Amanquemack at that same meeting. In 1952 the members voted to change the lodge name to Amangamek-Wipit after learning that Amangamek was the correct word for large fish and Wipit was the correct word for tooth.
As a charter member of Area 3c the lodge participated in the 1953 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Darden. The lodge participated in the 1954 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Rock Enon. The lodge participated in the 1955 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Shawondasee. The lodge hosted the 1956 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Roosevelt. The lodge participated in the 1957 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Powhatan. The lodge participated in the 1958 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Shenandoah. The lodge participated in the 1959 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Shawondasee. The lodge participated in the 1960 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Monocan. The lodge participated in the 1961 area 3c Pow Wow at the Pipsico Scout Reservation. The lodge participated in the 1962 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Rock Enon. The lodge participated in the 1963 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Powhatan. The lodge participated in the 1964 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Monocan. The lodge hosted the 1965 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Wilson. The lodge participated in the 1966 area 3c Training Conference at the Pipsico Scout Reservation. The lodge participated in the 1967 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Shenandoah. The lodge participated in the 1968 area 3c Pow Wow at Camp Powhatan. The lodge participated in the 1969 area 3c Pow Wow at the Virginia State Fairgrounds in Richmond. The lodge participated in the 1970 area 3c Pow Wow at the Siouan Scout Reservation. The lodge participated in the 1971 area 3c Pow Wow at the Pipsico Scout Reservation. The lodge participated in the 1973 section Southeast 1 Pow Wow at Camp Rock Enon. The lodge participated in the 1973 National Order of the Arrow Conference at the University of California-Santa Barbara. The lodge participated in the 1974 section Southeast 1 Conclave at the Siouan Scout Reservation.
Stores
The council currently maintains three official stores within the Washington metropolitan area that sell official merchandise like uniform items, pinewood derby supplies, merit badge pamphlets, patches and camping equipment; as well as branded materials like office supplies, home decor, and gift items. The first store, the National Capital Scout Shop, is located at 9190 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814 at the council headquarters. The second store, the Northern Virginia Scout Shop, is located at 5232 Port Royal Rd, Springfield, VA 22151. The third store, NCAC Trading Post at Camp Snyder, is located at 6100 Antioch Rd, Haymarket, VA 20169 within Camp Snyder. The council plans to open another store in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
See also
- Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital
- Scouting in:
- the commonwealth of Virginia
- the District of Columbia
- the state of Maryland
- the United States Virgin Islands