Boy Scouts of America Troop 1097  Serving Gaithersburg, Germantown & N. Potomac 

Antietam Illumination

  • 06 Dec 2024
  • 6:00 PM
  • 08 Dec 2024
  • 10:30 AM
  • 39.48081275584174, -77.74885360345792 (18316 Burnside Bridge Rd, Sharpsburg, MD 21782)

Registration

  • Scouts who will be camping.
  • Webelos, Adults, and guests who will be helping, but not staying over Friday or Saturday nights. We assume you will want breakfast / lunch and dinner.

Registration is closed

 

Antietam Illumination

The time spent setting up and cleaning up can count as SSL hours, or scout service hours for advancements or applicable merit badges (remember to ask your scoutmaster and/or merit badge councilor for specifics first...).

Dress warmly in layers including hat and gloves. There is little protection from the wind on the field. Don’t wear fabric sneakers or cotton clothes!

Troop 1097 will support Antietam National Battlefield during this most somber yet beautiful event, the Memorial Illumination (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HjUxo4zk3Q or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTVAaQhyQZ8).

More than 23,000 candles will be lit and lined up along the battlefield to pay tribute to the soldiers who were killed, wounded, or reported missing at the noteworthy Battle of Antietam. A half hour drive through the battlefield just after dark will reveal seemingly endless rows of candles to symbolize the lives that were lost that September day.  The Scouts (and family members who would also like to volunteer) will set up luminaries on "our field" throughout the day on December 2nd and spend the weekend camping at Antietam.  SSL hours are available for this activity.

Scouts and family volunteers will begin the day by putting the candles into the luminaries. After that, they will arrange the bags in lines on the field. We’ll eat bag lunches provided by the troop, probably have an hour or two of free time, then we’ll light the candles. There will be a short ceremony at the Maryland Memorial at dusk, after which the volunteers will be the first to drive through and see the Illumination. After we drive through the Illumination, the troop will enjoy a reception featuring cookies and homemade soup at the Washington County Agricultural Center, where we’re camping. A Scout is helpful, so we’ll also be assisting the reception staff with clean up afterward.

In previous years, Troop 1097 was assigned to field #28.

winter_Camping_Checklist.pdf

winter_camping_tips.pdf

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