News
Camp Cards are Coming
From Council:
New for 2018:
18+ merchants on card (versus 8 merchants)
14 repeat-use offers on the back of the card, 3 repeat-use keyring tags, and 3 one-time use offers
Retail price will be $10 per card (versus $5 per card)
Units earn $5/card sold (versus $2.50 per card) *Commission is still 50%!
Extended discount offer expiration dates (most offers will expire 3/1/2019)What merchants will be on the 2018 discount card?
Papa John’s Pizza Sports Clips
The Escape Room Jiffy Lube
Discount Tire McAlister’s Deli
Jack in the Box Hardee’s
White Castle Which Wich
Stacked Pickle Tuchman Cleaners
DICK’S Sporting Goods Rally’s
Smoothie King Dunkin’ Donuts
Prime Car Wash 1-800-Flowers.com*Additional merchants may be added
Important Dates:
March 1-April 13: Sale datesPlease tell me by Friday, February 2nd how many Camp Cards your Scout would like to sell.
Unfortunately, we are limited to 750 cards for our initial order.Thank you!
Samantha Weinbrecht
Camp Card Coordinator
samanthaweinbrecht@hotmail.com
More information is available on the Council website.
I believe that we have the same Camp Card Coordinator as the last several years, but I still need to verify. More information to follow.
Roundtable Thursday (CORRECTED)
Just a quick reminder that we will hold the first Roundtable of the year on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 7:00 pm at Luke’s Lodge, the outbuilding on the campus of St Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 W 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
The Scout Roundtable will focus on different advancement softwares including Scoutbook.com, TroopWebHost, and TroopMaster (PackMaster). These three will have specific presentations and opportunities to see the software live. Others will be discussed. If your unit uses a different software that you like, please contact Jeff Heck to provide more information for presentation purposes. This open to all packs, troops, and crews. Please suggest that your unit chair and advancement chair attend.
The Cub Scout Roundtable, led by Roundtable Commissioner Bill Buchalter, will focus on Blue and Gold Banquet planning and preparation for use in the next 30-90 days. Come learn how to make this memorable and valuable to your Cubs and Webelos!
Correction h/t on date to Mark Pishon.
REMINDER: District meetings 1/4/18
Tonight we hold our annual election of district officers at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N Meridian St, Rm 401, Indianapolis, IN 46260 at 7:00 pm.
Eligible voters are Chartered Organization Representatives, District Committee Members, and Council Committee Members residing in North Star District.
There will be no District commissioners’ meeting tonight. Regular meetings will resume in February.
Thank You on Services Hours Reporting
Thank you to our units that responded to our request for more service hours reporting at the National website. As of the October district JTE report, we were down nearly 0.45 hours per scout year over year to 2016. Now in the November report, we are up by nearly an identical amount!
That has made us Gold in that category based on meeting a minimum plus slight improvement. The national goal is 10 hours per scout average. We are showing an average of 6.14 hours per scout right now. It may be too late to boost that average much more, but please help us try.
Please login to the National website (using your Internet Advancement login and password) and make sure that your unit’s information is up-to-date.
Voyageur training
Here is part of an email from Don Bievenour, Assistant Scoutmaster at Troop 56 and long-time Voyageur Staffer.
[Voyageur is a unique program to the Crossroads of America Council. It is offered to adults, once in the spring and once in the fall. T]he Fall course is usually warmer but there are no guarantees.
For those of you that have taken the basic course and want to qualify for your instructor arc, the additional requirement is one more day, a Saturday, so that your skills can be used to teach new students. Sundays are not an option because there is very little training.
Attainment of the instructor’s arc allows that Scouter to rent council Voyageur canoes, trailers, and equipment. This rate is typically cheaper that the on water canoe liveries.
I am teaching two courses at the U of Scouting: Essentials of a A Canoe Outing P180 and Canoeing in the Council P184 . The Voyageur program will have a booth on the midway.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Quarterly vs Annual Planning
For regular followers of Clarke Green’s podcast and blog, you know Clarke has been beta testing a quarterly planning model with his home troop. He has hinted at several elements before.
Now he has rolled out an article on the details and overview of the plan. Take a look!
Roll Out of Family Cub Scouts (UPDATED)
Our immediate past Council Scout Executive, Patrick Sterrett is back. He is part of a new announcement in his new role as the National Assistant Chief Scout Executive for Programming. (I know “national” and “chief” are redundant, but I have a large and diverse audience.)
They are providing a 15 minute introductory video for councils that wish to be part of the “soft launch” of Cub Scouts in the middle of January 2018. We have not received word yet whether the Crossroads of America Council wishes to participate in that. Since we are normally a beta tester for many programs, it would not surprise me if we do.
UPDATE (12/20/17): I have been advised that we will have an official update on what local council will or will not do after the Council Board meets tonight. Watch this article for further updates.
North Star Grew in 2017!
District Executive Jessica Hofman reported this morning that North Star has had a net gain in membership for 2017! It is only a handful of scouts, but given that we have been down for many years running, this is a very good sign.
Within those numbers, our Cub Scout membership is down modestly, largely due to a less successful recruitment year. However, our retention rates have been very strong so that we are keeping more boys longer.
This attests to the quality of the programs that you offer our youth. Congratulations!
Jessica is very interested in membership issues, so she is working hard to help us in that department.
In addition, we are just a few months away from girls be welcomed into our packs. While we have no reliable forecasts as to what to expect, we can only hope that this change will accomplish its stated goal of increasing membership.
Good luck in 2018! Keep up the good work.
Service Hours Reported to Date for 2017
I hope that all Packs, Troops, and Crews report more than 100 man-hours per year.
In light of that expectation, here is our best understanding of the units that have met that expectation of reporting more than 100 man-hours for 2017. This personal expectation is strongest for scout troops.
Packs 18, 72, and 358;
Troops 18, 56, 69, 72, 174, 180, 269, 343, 358, 512, 514, and 804.
The top five units for reported hours in 2017 to date are:
- Troop 174 with 2,861 hours reported
- Troop 358 with 1,301 hours
- Troop 514 with 486 hours
- Troop 804 with 422 hours
- Troop 18 with 404 hours.
An honorable mention to Pack 18 for the highest number of hours reported for a Cub Scout Pack with 118 hours.
If your unit is not showing the hours you expect, login to the Service Hours Reporting website with your unit’s Internet Advancement login and password. You can look at what is there.
For scout troops, please verify that the your Eagle Scouts’ project hours are fully reported.
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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