Night Ops started as Mafeking in 2000, when Steve and other adults from Troop GA-0594 found the idea and modified it for their troop. In the beginning, it was just one troop. Then other troops found out and asked to join. Then, the sister troops asked to join.
Now, we have two weekend events – one for Trail Life Troops and one for American Heritage Girl Troops. Each weekend in 2021 had an average of 19 troops with 170 youth forming 32 patrols and 92 adults.
AND other troops have started to host their own Night Ops events, like this group in Texas. We are working on improving the documentation of the event to make it even easier for troops to take the idea of Night Ops and implement it for their youth.
This event could not happen without a lot of volunteers. We are progressively getting more and more organized so this year (2022) we have outlined the different volunteer positions that are needed to run a Night Ops event of this size.
In 2021, Steve and I got the family involved to help us run the event as it became so large. This year (2022), we are adding to that team, so I’ll update with bios as they come available. Some may not want to be listed, but we want to give honor where honor is due.
Steve organized the first Night Ops (then called Mafeking) in 2000 as a fun way to challenge the boys in his local troop.
Throughout the years, he has stayed on as an adult member in Troop GA0594 and continued to organize and run the year Night Ops event for the youth.
Steve is an electrical engineer at McMennamy-Nafziger & Associates in Marietta, GA. Happily married for 38 years to Marti; together they have three (adult) kids – Ben, Steph and Beth.
Elizabeth grew up helping her dad (Steve) with Night Ops. She now manages administration side of things, as well as help to develop new challenges.
She is also active in American Heritage Girl Troop GA0594 as the Troop Coordinator and in the AHG North Atlanta Area as the Events Coordinator. She also helps out on the Trail Life Georgia Area II team as the Activities Chair for the TLUSA/AHG Day At The GA Capitol event and other events in the area.
Happily married for 4+ years to Travis, she is getting a new title this year – “Mom” – with a baby girl due at the end of July. She is the Operations Manager for Bidview Marketing.
Stephanie also grew up helping her dad (Steve) with Night Ops. After a long break away from the event, she returned to help Steve and Beth run the event as it had grown so large.
Yes, Steph and Beth are identical twins. Mwahahaha!
This year, she is stepping up to help fill in as needed for Beth who will have a new baby.
Stephanie is an electrical engineer at Newcomb & Boyd, LLP.
Marti has been married for 38 years to Steve and together they have three (adult) kids – Ben, Steph and Beth.
She has been the Night Ops treasurer for many years. She is a Certified Daily Money Manager® with over 35 years of experience.
Ben is an Eagle Scout and knows Night Ops/Mafeking from his BSA days. He returned to Night Ops to help with the organization and running of the event, especially the scoring/data. Ben has been happily married for over 10 years to Victoria. He works as a system developer at General Motors.
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