Boy Scout
Publicity Material for Winter Camporee 2017
Here are the materials to use for publicizing the Winter Camporee beginning Friday, January 20, 2017 at 6:00 pm. (Inauguration Day. Let the arguments begin!)
2017-wintercamporee flyer as PDF.
flyer in MS Word Format.
Roundtable tomorrow
Reminder that tomorrow Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 6:30 pm (yes, 6:30 pm) is roundtable.
- Scout Roundtable will address how to use Junior Assistant Scoutmasters to engage 16- and 17-year-old scouts.
- Cub Scout Roundtable will address Preparing for the Pinewood Derby and Blue & Gold Banquets.
Three more District Training Sessions left
We will have another Scoutmaster Specific Training tonight (Wednesday) and another on December 7th. This is required for all Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters.
We will have an Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills (IOLS) on Saturday. This is required for all Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters.
Webelos Den Leaders and Cubmasters who participate in the IOLS training will also get credit for Outdoor Webelos Leaders Skills (OWLS). They will get two certifications for the price of one.
Den leader training is available tonight.
Troop and pack committee Training will be offered on December 7th, too.
To sign up or get more information, click here.
These certifications never expire.
Farewell Message from Troop 191 Scoutmaster
It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Troop 191 will officially close at the end of 2016. Long time Scoutmaster Lawrence Smiley has written me the following letter. I found the letter to be heart-felt and impassioned, so it was worth sharing with you. Mr. Smiley’s list of activities was very creative and worth considering in your troop or crew.
It has been an honor and a privileged to serve Crossroads of America Council for over a quarter of a century as Troop 191’s founder and scoutmaster. So many great memories of Christ-protected and guided high adventures:
- Riding the narrow gauge train from Durango, CO to gain access to The Chicago Basis [twice]
- Climbing Mt. Harvard [twice] and Columbia [once]
- Canoeing a 50 mile loop in the Boundary Waters [once]
- Sailing a homemade tri-hull in the Florida Keys under the command of Captain DeTurk [once]
- White water rafting the Missouri River near Buena Vista, CO [twice] and the New and Upper Gulley Rivers in West Virginia [twice]
- Shotgun Shooting at private farms in Indiana [most every year]
- Rappelling in Red River Forest east of Lexington, KY [most every year]
- Snow skiing at Swiss Valley in S. Michigan [most every year]
- Hiking sand dunes and swimming at Michigan Dunes State Park
- Canoeing the Blue, the Tippecanoe, The Wabash rivers in Indiana [most every year]
- Caving Small-Dull Cave near Bloomington or Marengo Cave [most every year]
- Water skiing at Lake Lemon [once]
- Paint balling on private property [most every year]
- Ransburg Summer Camp [every year!]
- Hiking the Lincoln Trail from New Salem to Springfield, IL [once]
- Biking to Mounds State Park from Hamilton SE High School [once]
- Touring the Air Force Museum in Dayton [once]
- North Star District Camporees [a few]
- And many more adventures that have faded from the corners of my mind!
- Weekly Thursday night meetings, way too many too count, where life skills, servant-leadership and character were taught along with earning rank and merit badges and having a ton of fun.
As I’ve previously mentioned, I close down Troop 191 with both the pride of accomplishment of mentoring tons of boys along their trail to manhood and the sadness of closing out a huge chapter in my life as a part of the Boy Scouts of America – from the age of 7 as a Cub Scout to the age of pushing 70 (June 23[]).
* * *It has been a great ride and fantastic life adventure; and I depart with no regrets and many, many great memories!Thank you Jeff [Heck] (and Jerry [Simon]), for your service to the Boy Scouts. I wish you, The North Star District and the Crossroads of America Godspeed, as you continue serving the youth of Indianapolis.
Bicentential Torch is Coming to Us!
Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay is coming to Boone and Montgomery Counties on October 13th, 2016!
In Montgomery County the torch will be passing through between 10:00am and 12:00pm. In Boone County it will be passing through between 12:30 pm and 2:30pm (at the court house around 1pm and Lincoln Park in Zionsville around 2pm).
Follow the torch and support the torchbearers! Follow them on social media. http://indianatorchrelay.com https://www.facebook.com/INTorchRelay/ https://twitter.com/intorchrelay https://www.facebook.com/boonecountybicentennial Download INTorchRelay app and follow the torch.
That’s not all!
That night between 7 and 10pm a FREE block party will take place at the Boone County 4-H fairgrounds. Anyone can attend. This includes Food, Activities for the Kids, Historical information about the counties and much more. Bring a can food item to donate to the Caring Center, Bring a book to donate to the “Boone Counties little Library” and a favorite picture of your location in Boone County.
New Merit Badge Counselor Material
BSA has just posted a quick article on Bryan on Scouting about becoming a merit badge counselor.
This has been timed to coincide with a how-to pamphlet on the merit badge counseling process and expectations of merit badge counselors. North Star District Merit Badge Counselor Registrar Mike Yates recommends this pamphlet highly.
All troops should print out this material and use it for new counselors to better understand their roles.
Shooting Sports in Scouts
Since the Spring Camporee is tentatively scheduled to focus on rifle shooting and archery, we should probably start boning up on the rules of shooting sports in scouts.
First, some basic rules. Cubs can only do BB Guns and archery in very strictly controlled circumstances, such as a Council campsite. No rifles. Ever. Scouts can do much more, but must follow the scouting rules carefully.
So how do we know the scouting rules?
This is scouts. Of course there is a manual for that. You can download the whole thing from the BSA website along with many other new resources.
Second, why are we so picky about the rules? Remember strict adherence to the Guide for Safe Scouting in shooting sports is the only way to guarantee that the BSA insurance will cover you as a unit leader and your chartered organization when you do shooting sports. This is extremely important, especially adhering to the stricter rules for Cub Scouts.
Our first duty is to protect the boys. Our next duty is safety for other participants. Our final duty is to keep the chartered organizations happy and continuing to support scouting.
If you have questions, contact the District Commissioner or the District Executive.
Upcoming events
Commissioners’ meeting: Thursday, October 6, 2016 at 6:00 pm at Second Presbyterian
District Committee: Also Thursday at 7:00 pm, same location
Wood Badge Association dinner: tonight at Belzer
District Camporee: this weekend at the Blind School. Webelos encouraged to visit and see most of our troops in one location.
- Youth Protection Training live: Friday at 8:30 pm at Camporee.
- Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills (for Scoutmasters and Asst Scoutmasters and all other volunteers who camp) and Outdoor Webelos Leaders’ Skills (for Cubmasters and Webelos Den Leaders): opening remarks Friday at 9:30 pm and training 8:30 am to 8:00 pm. Attendance at Saturday campfire required.
Roundtable: Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 6:30 pm at Luke’s Lodge at St Luke’s UMC.
September 2016 Roundtable Resources
The following items and webpages are scheduled to be discussed at the September 2016 Roundtable.
- Budget and planning resources (spreadsheets on pages):
- Packs: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Leaders/PackCommitteeResources.aspx.
- Troops: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/Planning.aspx
Advice for SPLs
Many scoutmasters do not enjoy the start of a new Senior Patrol Leader’s term of office. The new youth leader has a lot to learn. The scoutmaster has to spend time teaching him the ropes, which may feel annoying, since the last SPL had gotten it all figured out. He had not required so much of the scoutmaster’s time as the new guy does.
Sometimes it is is useful to find an ally in getting the new SPL.
Clarke Greene recently posted a podcast about advice to a new SPL.
Take a look at the support materials and additional resources he points out.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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