On Monday April 9, 2018 The Troop was invited to a talk and short tour of Valley Forge Military Academy and College. We were honored to have the opportunity to talk with Colonel Stuart Helgeson USMCR https://www.vfmac.edu/dvteam/col-stuart-b-helgeson-usmcr/ , Colonel Seitz, Cadet Ball, Cadet Mooney (the youth leadership at the Academy) and Lawrence M. D’Andrea Dean of Enrollment. All of these men were scouts and four of these five men are Eagle Scouts. Much of the conversation was about how being a scout helped develop these men and give them a step above the rest both in school and in life. We discussed their Eagle projects and the lessons learned while commanding others in their quest, their lives on campus as leaders and cadets, their successes in the Academy and their professional lives. They even shared what brought them to Valley Forge (from as far as Japan) and their plans and goals for their future. We gathered in the Boodle in Bower Hall. Yeah, we asked what a Boodle is and it means a collection of a lot of persons. This is basically a gathering place for the cadets to rest and join in group activities. They have table seating, clusters of couches, TVs, table top games, and a small movie theater. The men asked challenging questions of our boys and answered questions about the school and the men’s lives. We ended our visit with a stop at the Academy museum where we got to see some history of the school, its cadets, some of the famous people who have visited and memorabilia from the movie TAPS that was filmed at the the school. As always our young men were well mannered, fully engaged and some were very interested in the cadet life.
We have been offered two opportunities to come back as a troop or as families and more offers will be extended due to the Academy leaderships praise of our young men. I’d say this is something for us to be proud of.
Two parades are scheduled this month:
- Sunday, April 15 after 10am Chapel; should commence at 11:15am-11:30am, immediately after chapel.
- Saturday, April 28 at 12 noon at our Alumni Weekend.
The troop and their families can park in the General Parking Area on Radnor Street Road across from the St David’s Golf Club. April 28th, Alumni Weekend, will be a big event and there may be alternate parking if the lot is full. There will be people to manage the parking and direct you to where to park if the lot is full.
Also, if there are any additional information cards that the scouts may have in their possession and would like to submit to the Academy please forward them to Bill Dunn and Mary Ann will see that they are delivered to Mr D’Andrea at the Academy. If you did not get an information card or have interest in the Academy feel free to reach out to Mr. D’Andrea, Dean of Enrollment- office (610) 989-1430 email LD’Andrea@vfmac.edu or review available opportunities at https://www.vfmac.edu/academy/