Our History
Liên Đoàn Potomac (LD Potomac) was formed on November 17, 1994 with two original Scouting units, Boy Scout of America – Troop 1794, Thiếu Đoàn Thạch Phố, and Girl Scout of the USA – Troop 872, Thiếu Đoàn Thạch Lan. The purpose was to provide an enriched Scouting environment for youths in the North Hampton neighborhood of Silver Spring, where many newly immigrated H.O. Vietnamese families resided. From these original units, LD Potomac currently has 5 units, with 150+ scouts and scouters.
The Program
LD Potomac meets Fridays 7pm-9pm. As the first Vietnamese American Scouting group in Maryland, LD Potomac has attracted Scouts from many cities across northern Maryland such as Baltimore, Columbia, Clarksville, Silver Spring, Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown. At times, there were Scouts who traveled regularly to meetings from Virginia, and Bel Air, Maryland, a city 80 miles away.
Although all LD Potomac units meet at the same location, each unit has its own weekly program and operates mostly independent of one another. Each unit’s program is designed for a specific age group and grade levels, in accordance with BSA and GSUSA guidelines. To strengthen fellowship among Scouts, parents, and leaders, LD Potomac holds annual events where all member units participate, such as joint Lien Doan camps that are held twice a year, LD Anniversary celebrations, Holidays parties, summer picnics, joint Court-of-Honor, etc. In addition, all scouts perform together in an entertainment program each year as Lien Doan Potomac’s contribution to Hoi Tet Huong Dao, a New Year celebration that is shared with all Vietnamese-American Scouting units in the DC Metropolitan area.
Integrated with BSA and GSUSA programs, LD Potomac Scouts are introduced to Vietnamese culture and history through camp fire skits, stories, songs, cultural performances, and services to the local Vietnamese-American community (e.g, organizing Tet Trung Thu). They learn about traditional Tet customs, rice harvesting, Thánh Gióng, Hội Nghị Diên Hồng, King Quang Trung and his campaign against the Qing army, etc.