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Guide for District Unit Leaders
II. Program
| A. |
Encampment-based
activities.
Campers participating in the MVE will engage in activities in two different parts of the
Mount Vernon estate. The campsite where all district units and staff members will camp is
in a non-public area northeast of the mansion and main administrative building.
Participants will be restricted to the campsite during the following times:
| Time Period |
Activity |
| Friday 6:00 to 11:00 PM |
Unload gear, set up campsite, interact with
reenactors and other campers |
| Friday 11:00 PM to Saturday 6:30 AM |
Quiet time; campers asleep in their tents |
| Saturday 6:30 to 8:00 or 9:30 AM |
Prepare, eat, and clean up breakfast and pack
bag lunches (differences in end times reflect the fact that some units will depart early
for tours of the mansion) |
| Saturday 4:30 or 6:00 to 7:30 PM |
Prepare, eat, and clean up dinner (differences
in start times reflect the fact that some units will depart early for tours of the
mansion) |
| Saturday 9:45 to 10:30 PM |
Wind down after campfire, prepare for bed |
| Saturday 10:30 PM to Sunday 7:00 AM |
Quiet time; campers asleep in their tents |
| Sunday 7:00 to 9:00 AM |
Prepare, eat, and clean up breakfast; strike
camp |
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| B. |
Group
activities for Encampment Scouts.
The following constitute the formal program organized for MVE campers:
| 1. |
Mansion tours.
Half of the units will tour the mansion between 8:00 and 9:30 AM on Saturday morning. The
remaining units will tour between 4:30 and 6:00 PM. Unit leaders will be given specific
times to have their units at the entrance to the building immediately north of the mansion
by no later than their scheduled time. Units touring the mansion in the morning should
form as a unit within their campsite and walk as an orderly group to the mansion, arriving
at or before their appointed time. Units concluding their tours more than 20 minutes
before the start of the Opening Ceremony should reform and walk back to their campsite.
Units touring the mansion in the afternoon should form up at a predesignated point and
time after the Grand Salute and walk as an orderly group to the mansion, arriving at or
before their appointed time. After their tours are completed, these units should walk
directly back to their campsite to prepare dinner. |
| 2. |
Saturday morning Opening
Ceremony.
An opening ceremony at 9:30 AM on the Bowling Green will begin formal programming
activities for the day. Units still in the campsite after breakfast should muster along
the central boulevard in the campgrounds at 9:15 AM and move as a group to the
Bowling Green. Units concluding their tour of the mansion should go directly as a group to
the Bowling Green. Markers on the green will show units where they will stand. Once at the
Bowling Green, units should stand in double-file lines. At the conclusion of the Opening
Ceremony, units should go directly to their starting station on the Encampment George
Washington Trail. |
| 3. |
Saturday George Washington Trail
activities.
From roughly 10:00 AM to 3:15 PM, Scouts will participate in activities at a
series of stations along the George Washington Trail. These stations will be numbered.
Units will be given a schedule with the times they are to report to each station. One of
those stations will be a tent, where Scouts will eat the bag lunches they prepared in
their campsites after breakfast in the morning. (Those lunches will have been placed in
marked boxes, which Encampment Logistics staff members will have transported to the lunch
tent.) Another stop will be the Washington Tomb, where Scouts may place a small memento
they have made or acquired honoring George Washington. Unit leaders should travel with
their units throughout the day, ensuring that Scouts stick to their schedules and behave
properly. Adult leaders may also be needed to assist in interpretation and activities at a
number of the stations |
| 4. |
Saturday afternoon Grand Salute.
Following midday activities along the George Washington Trail, units should reform at the
place where the Opening Ceremony was held to participate in the Grand Salute to George
Washington. This ceremony will consist of some statements recognizing and honoring the man
and his legacy. It will conclude with a procession of Scouts passing respectfully by the
Tomb. After the Grand Salute concludes, units should return to their campsite, unless they
are scheduled to tour the mansion. |
| 5. |
Saturday evening religious
observance.
Following dinner, units will assemble at 7:45 PM along the central boulevard in the
campground to walk together as a single unit to the campfire area, which will be on the
southwestern side of the 12-Acre Field. The campfire area is a natural amphitheater, so
participants should not need chairs, although they may want to bring small plastic sheets
on which to sit. The religious observance will not be a formal service, but rather a
discussion with a reenactor portraying George Washington, who will present Washington's
views about religious tolerance and freedom. |
| 6. |
Saturday evening campfire.
Immediately after the religious observance, MVE staff members and reenactors from the
First Maryland Regiment will present a campfire program that evokes stories and music of
Washington's time. Unit leaders should emphasize the need for Scouts to be courteous while
still having fun. Following the campfire, units should reform to walk back to their
campsite as a group. |
| 7. |
Sunday morning closing ceremony.
At 9:00 AM, a brief closing ceremony on the central boulevard in the campground will
formally mark the end of the MVE. Units should assemble on the boulevard in front of their
campsites at 8:50 AM and walk together as a group to the ceremony site. |
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| C. |
Relationship
of Encampment activities to activities geared to Saturday day visitors.
From 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM on Saturday, the public areas of Mount Vernon will be
hosting Scouts from the NCAC and other councils throughout the nation in a "Salute to
George Washington." These "day visitors" (DVs) will be following their own
trail to various sites around the grounds. Some of those sites will be the same as
stations on the George Washington Trail that campers will visit; others are designated for
day visitors only. Campers should not attempt to participate in activities designated for
day visitors. They also should not try to tour the mansion during the day, and they should
not participate in "Scout Salutes to George Washington," which will be at
10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM on the Bowling Green and move to a field
near the Tomb. Although the trail followed by DVs sometimes will intermingle and overlap
with the trail followed by campers, other program areas will be open only to campers, who
will need to show their ID badges to gain admittance to these areas. Throughout the day,
campers are expected to demonstrate friendship and kindness to day visitors, although at
times they may have to firmly and politely inform them that areas are restricted only to
encampment participants. |
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| This site is provided as a service to
Scouts and Scouters by the Colonial District, NCAC, BSA, which includes George
Washington's Mount Vernon. Although not an official site of the NCAC, BSA, or Mount
Vernon, the site is maintained by Tom Baerwald,
who has been appointed by the NCAC to direct the Mount Vernon Encampment, so information
should be reasonably accurate. |
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