While Boy scouts, Girl scouts, leaders and etc.. are trying to im-prove our troop, the phu huynh , or our parents, are also involve. They have been helping us fund our troops on trips, activities, and events. In order to keep the troop strong and powerful they have formed the com-mittee of phu huynh. Their goals is to unify all of the adults together and to get everyone involve in keeping the troop strong. The Phu Huynh is planning to create an icebreaker and encourage every parent to go this September.

The Phu Huynh plays a large role in the troop’s funding. In order to keep track of these funding, the Phu Huyn is planning to organize a com-mittee for funding. They also tried to

raise money for the troop’s supplies and equipments. The Phu Huynh is always fully active in our troop. If you get the chance, take the time to thank them.

Parents Working UndercoverBy: Phi Nguyen

Lien Doan Lac VietNewsletter Front PageDecember 2009

From July 10th to July 16th was the 9th International Vietnamese Scouting Jamboree, also called Thang Thien 9. 59 troops from

around the world attended, and our troop, Lac Viet, was amongst them. Some of these troops were from places such as Australia, France, Germany, Massachusetts, Texas,

and good ol’ California. 2665 was the number of scouts who attended. Amazing right? 2665 different peo-ple from around the world joined to-

gether by the bond of scouting.Only a fraction of the troop at-

tended for the entire week, although

“Lac Viet Di Lac”By:Katie Nguyen

Doing the Silver Award Project may look hard and discouraging, but in fact, it isn’t. The point of the project is to be challenging, not impossible, so that way you get more out of it along with the people that benefi ts. The Silver Award is the second highest award, with the Gold Award being

the highest, that a Girl Scout can receive. It recognizes a Cadette’s efforts, community experience, and commitment to working to better

ones life and as wells as the lives of others.

After fi nishing my prerequisites (to build my skills, explore career exploration, increase

Silver AwardBy: Thaidan Pham

Continued on pg.3

Continued on pg.10

CadettesBy: Katie Nguyen

Back on April 5th, the Cadettes performed a tra-

ditional Vietnamese dance at the Children’s Discov-ery Museum in celebra-tion of Con Rong Chau Tien. With lots of practice and beautiful traditional costumes, these cadettes performed a wonderful show.

Cadettes Thaidan Pham and Nancy Le have com-pleted their Silver Award Projects and are to receive

On June 26th, the Webelos 1 and 2 went to Alum Rock Park from 9 AM to 3:30 PM. While at day camp, they learned how to tie knots, use compasses, the patrol

method, and backpacking to prepare for overnight camping on August 8th. They had tons of fun learning and the Webelos played rescue games.

On August 8th, there will be a Webelo overnight camp with the Venture Crew at Ed Levin. The Webelos will be learning how to conduct the flag ceremony and building a camp gate. They will also create water rockets and slingshots. The Webelos will also learn how

to build a fire and cook with foil. They will be sharing the campsite with Venturers and will have their own skits for the campfire program.

Activities for this week for the Cub Scouts and Webelos are racing cars and a chess tournament.

Cub ScoutsBy:Thaison Pham

Page 2 December 2009

Past eventstheir awards soon.

Chi Huong, Cadette

leader, plans on hosting a carnival to celebrate Juliet Gordan Day. Details on the carnival are yet to be released. She also wished to inform the parents that registration for Cadettes starts in September and October, shortly after the Labor Day weekend camping trip.

The Webelos will also learn how to build a fire and cook with foil

Nancy Le is a Cadette of Troop 61010. She has been a Girl Scout for about fi ve to six years and had earn her Bronze Award as a Junior. This summer, Nancy has worked to earn her Silver Award - the highest achievement a Cadette can receive.

Inspired by her parents to do her Silver Award Project, she taught children about values of safety to the fi rst graders at the La San chapel during their summer school program. Nancy explained basic information; such as the emergency hot line (911), what to do in a case of a fi re, dealing with strangers, and being home alone. The benefi ts, she explained, of teaching children about safety are that they keep families safe by developing and

Nancy and Thaidan’s Silver Award Project ExperienceBy Thaidan Pham

leadership skills, and making a commitment to improve myself) and working with my Project Advisor, Chi Huong, I started my Silver Award Project at the beginning of summer. I worked with

the La Salle sisters to do my Silver Award Project. During their summer program of fi ve weeks, I came everyday from 1 to 4 to teach my fi rst grade class arts and crafts.

During the fi ve weeks, I got to know all of my 25 kids. I admit I grew attached to these kids. I remember Kenny, the boy that always liked falling down and the boy that ate so slowly. There was also

Dominic who was very scared of the water but wanted to go to Raging Waters. There was Emily who always liked to go on the monkey bars even though she would never get across. There was Benjamin who was always

trying to be helpful. There was Kaylee, a small girl but very loud and energetic. There were times when the kids were really frustrating and tiring but I really enjoyed working with them. I miss my kids.

The experience was wonderful for me. I loved doing my project because I enjoy working with kids. I hope that when other Cadettes work on their

improving safety plans. “The experience

improved my leadership skills, my ability to work with children, and it put my organizational skills to the test,” Nancy said when asked about her experience. Nancy tells other Cadettes that the

Silver Award is a good experience for everyone and it looks good on a college resume. When asked if she had any advice for Cadettes who are planning to do the Silver Project, Nancy replied, “Never ever forget to write a date.”

Page 3December 2009December 2009

Make a difference!Continued from front page Silver Award Project, I

hope they enjoy working on it as much as I did. As a word of advice to other Cadettes, I say fi nd something that you enjoy doing and combine it with something you’ve never done before. It really adds to the experience.

Not too long ago a Venture Crew was formed within Lien doan Lac Viet. At the moment there is a total of 10 active

members, however new members are welcomed and are encouraged to join. Since its forming, the Venture Crew has participated in several activities, some of which have been fairly recent. In April the crew went hiking at the Pinnacles National Monument, the site of an ancient volcano. The park itself was highly appealing

Adventures of the VenturesBy: Thao Dinh

and enjoyable. The park included a number of dark caves which were among the highlights of that trip.

In June the Ventures partook in a bonfi re at Sea Cliff Beach in Santa Cruz. They arrived at around 11 AM and passed the time by playing in the sand while waiting to eat. Upon fi nishing their meal they met up with a volunteer guide who took them on a History Walk. Later in the afternoon the equipment and belongings were moved to a different location which allowed bonfi res. In the meantime the adults that came along went fi shing but sadly did not catch anything. However some of the adults managed to catch sand crabs which were lying underneath the sand. The sand crabs were later prepared and fried

for the crew to eat, some whom stated that the crabs tasted like “fried shrimp.” Once the fi re was lit the crew gathered and started to roast marshmallows and s’mores. However

rather than using graham crackers they used tortilla rolls as suggested by the advisors. After passing the time playing games, eating, and watching the sunset, everyone gathered around the fi re once more

to discuss their day with one another.

In the upcoming weeks, the crew will be fund-raising for a snow trip in the winter. The crew will be selling yogurt and

snow cones to help pay for the costs of this trip. The Ventures will continue to go on more adventures and to get started on the prestigious Bronze Award in the near future.

December 2009

Our Lien Doan, this year, has expanded and

formed a Daisy troop. You can identify them by the cute uniform they wear, blue vests and yellow caps. Daisies, kindergartners and fi rst

DaisiesBy Thaidan Pham

graders, are the youngest Girl Scouts of the troop. Girl Scouting for them is a fi rst time experience. The leaders provide lessons such as coloring, arts and crafts, and other activities for these girls. Jocelyn Nguyen, a Daisy, likes the

program because it has activities and the new friends she made. Most of these young girls are shy and quiet but you can tell that they are enjoying their Girl Scouting experience!

WelcomeCrew

Troop610 61010Page 4

P T S E N O H K T N E I D E B O I D C N Y M W J EF S T U O C S B U C S X D F N S C O U T I N G N RA N A E L C F G R T R C V A Q D Z Y V H Z K V G TM C V B M K Y W U R A C G I Y I E G O K O S E W AI A Q X V P N O W E Q O W R S A Y F L E E K N I PL M T T N N C P N S N N V F L T A N U H P I T P HY P G Z Z S R S N P S S W Z F S X A N N F L U F VI I P T L E K B F E H I M V P R M X T F R L R W MX N F R P N I O L C F D S W J I H W E R I S I S CM G I A E L B Y A T K E T V D F D X E K E U N M NN G R C K S F S G F M R N M B G N C R F N L G O IL E T V U G P C O U G A E X B X I C I Y D A X R WD F R F H G W O S L B T R V J D K U N A S D O E XV L U L R R D U N D I E A G U G M P G F F V T S KC P S L O X S T L S V F P W D U X G W X E E V A FR E T R E Y Q S B H I O Q C O U R T E O U S T M KW F W E P A A S E T O B D Y A L K O Q G N L O B QU E O V A C D L R S H K L Z L C L P B G A R S K BJ K R E T O H E T O W R R E T D P U N W S M V A VU D T R R M K E R M O K I N K U N I F E V D E F IT T H E O A J P E S P D C F A A K E C P H Y S S IL E Y N L R W P D R B Y T N T I Y O I F L X I F TE J N T E L W P L F F E P U H Y D Y K R J E C G IQ B T T K T T D R O X U Z M O E V W X Z F I H S KO B C I S Q L B I H T Z L Z Q R L Q B R A V E K D

BOYSCOUTS FUN PREPARED BRAVE GAMES RESPECTFUL

CAMPING GIRLSCOUTS RESPONSIBLE CHEERFUL HELPFUL REVERENT

CLEAN HIKING SCOUTING CONSIDERATE HONEST SKILLS COURTEOUS KIND SMORES CUBSCOUTS LEADERS TENTS

FAIR LOYAL THRIFTY FAMILY MORSECODE TRUSTWORTHY

FIRSTAID OBEDIENT VENTURING FLAG OUTDOORS VOLUNTEERING

FRIENDLY PARENTS FRIENDS PATROL

Word Search!December 2009 Page 5

some scouts were able to enjoy the camping experi-ence for a few days. Even with our small number of people attending our own troop performed two dances, one of which was asked to perform an en-core performance, along with the other 9 skits and dances that made the top 10. Imagine if even more people came. We could probably create even more captivating perfor-mances and be remem-bered amongst all the oth-er troops. Some of these troops have been around for decades. Wouldn’t it be amazing if us, as a younger troop, was re-membered, not just for being an old troop, but for being an enthusiastic and enjoyable troop?

Asked by Anh Nhuong, a select number of scouts were asked to perform the flag ceremony and the

showing of the Vietnam-ese flag. An honor in its self, most scouts would say. Not just that, but our

entire troop, and some of the dedicated parents, were those brilliant peo-ple who built the stage for TT9. They were the ones who set up all the technical equipment and the stage where skits and dances were performed for five nights straight. Not only did they show up early to set up, but they also stayed later than the entire camp taking it down. Truly dedicated,

those people are. Though the building of the stage wasn’t as memorable as the mock golden gate

bridge on the other side of the grass field, it was still immensely important. Ku-dos, thumbs up, and high fives to those who worked so so hard.

When asked about their opinion on tt9, the scouts were enthusiastic to give their reply. Cadette Crys-tal Nguyen says that TT9 was “Awesome. It was the best week of my life”. Her brothers, cub scouts An-drew and David Nguyen

say that “it was hot, but fun”.

You may be thinking, “Crystal is probably exag-

gerating, it couldn’t possi-bly have been that great”. It all depends on how you look at it. If you quietly sat in the corner and avoided stepping out of your com-fort zone, it probably did suck. If you were actively participating in the activi-ties, having a good time, and making friends that might stay with you for the rest of your life, it prob-ably was the best week of your life too.

December 2009Page 10

“Lac Viet Di Lac”By:Katie Nguyen

Last page... :(

Newspaper Crew

Thi Nguyen

Thaidan Pham

Nguyen Thoi Phung Phi

Thaison Pham

Thao Dinh

Katie Nguyen