District Committee
Welcome our new North Star DE!
Please help me welcome our newest North Star DE, Senior District Executive Eddie Stahl!
Eddie joins us from the Three Fires Council where he has been serving as a District Executive since June of 2017. In his current district, Eddie has excelled by helping the district to meet goals and earning Journey to Excellence Gold. In his previous role, he has served as the staff advisor for the Council STEM Committee and the High Adventure Committee. Eddie also facilitated the Central Region District Key 3 course at Philmont Scout Ranch this past summer.
Eddie graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science – Health Promotion and a minor in Psychology. In his free time, he enjoys comedy, coaching football, live music and a lax game of golf where no one in particular is keeping track of the score.
Welcome to the North Star Family, Eddie!
Social Media standards for Family Scouting Marketing
BSA has provided guidance for marketing Family Scouting. In some part it is simply a reminder to follow the Scout Law in marketing with concrete examples of violations of the Scout Law in this context.
Even so, it gives a checklist of “don’ts.”
Make sure you review this against your unit websites and emails.
Reminder: District Committee Meeting March 15, 2018
As previously announced, the District Committee Meeting’s time and location has changed. The committee will now be meeting the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm at the Zionsville Town Hall (more information here).
That means that for the March Committee Meeting, we will be meeting Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 7:00 pm. (Commissioners met last Thursday, March 8, 2018 at Luke’s Lodge on the new schedule.)
See you there!
Reminder: Commissioner Staff Meeting Thursday
As announced previously, District meetings’ times and locations have changed. All Commissioners meet this Thursday, March 8, 2018 at 6:00 pm at Luke’s Lodge, the outbuilding on the campus of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 W. 86th St., Indianapolis, IN 46260.
Direct any questions to District Commissioner Stephen Heath.
District Committee meets next week, Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 7:00 pm at Zionsville’s Town Hall.
REMINDER: No District Committee Meeting This Week
Just a quick reminder that the District Committee and Commissioner meetings dates and locations have changed. There are no meetings this week, especially Thursday, March 1, 2018.
IYOS website rebuild
What is “IYOS”? It is the “Ideal Year in Scouting.” It is the way for the Crossroads of America Council to tell you what the Best Practices for units will be in the next 12-18 months. What camping opportunities and activities are coming up. When deadlines for summer camp are. When rechartering will take place. When popcorn sales will begin and end. How unit budgets should be developed. How big summer events can be paid for.
Council is in the process of rebuilding the website dedicated to IYOS. Make sure to stop in regularly and monitor the progress. Hopefully you will learn something every time you stop in. We expect the 2018-2019 district calendars to be added in the next couple of weeks.
NORTH STAR DISTRICT 2018 OBJECTIVES & 2017 AWARDS
Setting the Stage for Continued Growth
[INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, February 8] District Leaders, mentors, family and friends assembled at the 2017 North Star District Awards ceremony to offer well-deserved congratulations to the Leadership team and to recognize members of the District for their commitment to service. Included in these honors was the highlight of the Journey to Excellence Gold Award status earned by North Star with the overall highest score in the Council and an announcement that North Star’s contribution led to the Crossroads of America Council being the highest scoring council nationally, too. A highlighted list of honored outgoing leadership and 2017 Award Winners can be found below.
2018 District Objectives
As 2018 North Star District Committee Chair Mark Maucere outlined in his keynote address, there are four pillars on which the upcoming leadership team will be focused in order to build on the success of this past year, which are:
Membership Growth. This includes development of strategies to communicate with Charters and Schools as well as in assisting our Units with Leadership Outreach and Program Awareness. This work will help keep up the interest with new/prospective Cub Scouts and their parents in the competition for time and attention with other extracurricular activities. Our new Membership Chair is soon to be named.
Increased Unit Commissioner Involvement. Stephen Heath is the 2018 District Commissioner, and he is looking forward to building the Unit Commissioner team and for these Unit Commissioners to create stronger and more cohesive working relationships with each of our District Units as “one team.”
Program Offering. Mark Pishon as 2018 District Program Chair will bring a passion and energy to this critical pillar to enhance our current program offering as well as expand in areas that will further encourage greater recruitment, participation and retention.
Communication. Cheryl Bilsland will be serving as 2018 Communication Chair and brings corporate digital marketing and Toastmasters communications mentorship experiences to the role. We look forward to building upon and expanding our communication and outreach presence in a way that best meets the needs of the District.
Mark emphasized his “open door policy” and is humbly looking forward to meeting and working with each of you, thanking you for your service, insight, talent, energy and involvement in order to grow our District in 2018.
2017 North Star District
Leadership and Award Winners
We want to thank our 2017 District Key 3 team for their dedicated servant leadership:
John Wiebke District Chair
Con Sullivan District Executive
Jeffrey Heck District Commissioner
Hearty congratulations and gratitude for your service, goes to the following 2017 District Award Winners:
| Alec Damer | T514 | Merle H. Miller Eagle Scout Project of the Year Award |
| Austin Damer | T514 | Judge John Price Outstanding Eagle Scout of the Year Award |
| Agrayan Gupta | T56 | Dr. Bernard Harris SUPERNOVA Award (the first awarded in North Star District, based on our information) |
| John Wiebke | T358 | District Award of Merit |
| Mike Yates | T56 | District Award of Merit |
| David Sperry | T514 | Unit Leader Award of Merit |
| Michael Faulk | T56 | Arrowman of the Year |
| Bill Buchalter | P83 | Cubmaster of the Year |
| Ron Wells | T343 | Scoutmaster of the Year |
| Denise Purdie-Andrews | T69 | Firecrafter of the Year |
| Katherine Ritchie | T343 | Boy Scout Committee Chair Person of the Year |
| Todd Sanger | P514 | Cub Scout Committee Chair Person of the Year |
| Nick Griffith | T56 | Hooked on Scouting |
| Jason Chamness | T358 | Hooked on Scouting |
| Laura Gunderman | T358 | Hooked on Scouting |
| James Stiles | T358 | Hooked on Scouting |
| Amanda Walsh | T358 | Hooked on Scouting |
| Jill Williams | T358 | Hooked on Scouting |
| Mary Fenchak | T514 | Hooked on Scouting |
| Jill Carson | T343 | Spark Plug Award |
| Mark Carson | T343 | Spark Plug Award |
| Brendan Cavanaugh | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Joe Forler | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Brad Gibson | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Kathryn Gibson | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Bob Jalaie | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Dawn Pasquale | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Chris Pishon | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Chris Strachan | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Jane Sullivan | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Valerie Swack | T358 | Spark Plug Award |
| Matthew Glaze | T514 | Spark Plug Award |
| Marilyn Mathioudakis | T514 | Spark Plug Award |
| Ken Savin | T514 | Spark Plug Award |
| Lisa Savin | T514 | Spark Plug Award |
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If you would like more information about this topic, please call Cheryl Bilsland, 2018 North Star Communications Chair, at 317-225-6102, or email c.bilsland@yahoo.com.
New Dates and Location for District Committee
At the last District Committee Meeting, 2018 District Chair Mark Maucere proposed moving the date and location of the District Committee meetings. Mark reported that the District’s new Nominating Chair is Zionsville Mayor Tim Haak. His Honor has offered the Zionsville Town Hall for our meetings. The committee members approved the new location.
The District Committee will meet beginning in March on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm. The next meeting will be on Thursday, March 15, 2018.
Thank you to His Honor Tim Haak for accepting the role of Nominating Committee Chair and offering us such nice facilities.
The Town Hall is located at 1100 W Oak Street, Zionsville, IN 46007.
Please let Tim know about any scouters you would propose join our District team!
Welcome to North Star’s 100th Year of Service
As those who attended the North Star Recognition Dinner last weekend know, our beloved North Star District was announced by the old Indianapolis Council in January 1919. You can see some of the history of the District on this old post.
The name of the District has changed from “Number 4” then back and forth from “North” to “North Star” several different times. We have been North Star uninterruptedly since 1964. Our boundaries have moved northward as the Indianapolis city limits moved northward.
We will be celebrating the centennial in January 1919. Until then Vice Chair for Programming Mark Pishon is planning many commemorations of the centennial. We will have special swag, including things like neckerchiefs and patches. So look forward to seeing what North Star Willie is up to.
(If there are talented cartoonists among our scouts and scouters, submit your own cartoons about what Willie may have witnessed over the years or what he most enjoyed about scouting. May be we can convince Mr. Pishon to use your cartoons on some of the swag!)
If you have old North Star patches, please photograph them and email them to me. We would love to post them on the website in the next 12 months!
Invitation to Recognition Dinner for 2017 Service
Spouses Welcome : Business Casual : Cash Bar
Download a copy of the invitation to distribute to your leaders is available here.
Nomination forms specific to North Star are available here.
The Crossroads of America Council, under BSA rules, also offers a District Award of Merit as the highest award that districts can offer. This is the district equivalent of the Silver Beaver Award for the Council. We are eligible to grant two of these awards. The nomination forms for the District Award of Merit are separate and available here.
Unit Key 3 are encouraged to be aggressive in inviting their unit volunteers to attend. All hard-working volunteers should be considered for the Spark Plug and Hooked on Scouting. Special consideration for standout Cubmasters, Scoutmasters, and Committee Chairs. (We do not have a tradition of offering Venturing Advisor Awards, but that does not mean that worthy advisors should not be nominated to receive an inaugural award. Similarly for Chartered Organization Representatives.)
If you think that someone deserves other recognitions that we have not listed, don’t forget to review the national website for awards that may be appropriate for your scouters and scouts. (This is an adults-only event, but youth will be mentioned as receiving awards, such as the annual reading of the roll of new Eagle Scouts.)
Nominations are due by January 14, 2018 to Mark Pishon at mpishon@gmail.com.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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