News
Governor’s Luncheon December 18th
The 22nd Annual Governor’s Luncheon is Monday, December 18, 2017 from noon to 1:30 pm at the downtown JW Marriott Hotel.
The Governor’s Luncheon serves as the kickoff for our 2018 Friends of Scouting Campaign. 
For many of our units, fundraising to support scouting is not an easy task. The leaders do not do sales for a living or uncomfortable asking for money.
The Governor’s Luncheon is an easy way for each unit to participate in fundraising. Think of all the people who support or send well-wishes to your unit. Send them an invitation to attend the Governor’s Luncheon with you.
Historically, the luncheon has been an extremely impressive event.
If you are sure that someone has already been invited and you don’t want to trouble them, submit their name at this website. They will get you a response as to whether that prospect has already been invited. If they have not, you can ask guilt-free.
When the donations are made, people you invite from your unit can designate that your unit be credited for that donation. That way you won’t ask the same person twice at the next Court of Honor or Blue & Gold Banquet.
For more answers, contact District Executive Jessica Hofman.
Help us make 2018 the best year for Friends of Scouting ever!
Final Push to Finish Recharter
As District Commissioner, my deadline set by council to hand in all unit’s Applications to Recharter is Thursday, December 30, 2017. This includes all clean up items that have not been wrapped up.
I have been told that Council is going to be announcing that all Applications to Renew Charter and supporting paperwork must be turned in by December 15, 2017. Failure to do so will results in the entire rechartering process begin again but this time all be on paper. All adults and youth will have to complete new paper applications to re-enroll for 2018.
The reason for this rumored change is that it brings the Crossroads of America Council into strict compliance with National Council’s requirements. National Council requires that local council’s submit their own Applications to Renew Charter by December 31, 2017 to Area 6. Area 6 has been frustrated with us for years because we were regularly late.
This is the first year that our Director of Field Service Nathan Young has managed the rechartering process from beginning to end. When he joined us in 2016, he had a steep learning curve on our processes. After observing this, he has implemented several changes that have resulted in a smoother and more prompt rechartering administration.
The new deadline is not new. It is just finally be acknowledged by our Council.
Done: The following units should have no issues based on my review of their paperwork:
- Packs 35, 64, 171, 174, 358 (Delaware Tribe), 358-2 (Miami Tribe), 358-5 (Kickapoo Tribe), 514, and 830;
- Troops 18, 56, 72, 269, 343, 358, 512, 514, and 804; and
- Crews 56 and 408.
This is a total of 20 of our 39 units. Only 4 of these units have been finalized by the registrar. We are awaiting word on the rest. See previous posts for those units.
Missing Items: The following units have some missing items or miscommunications that need to be resolved before being finalized:
- Packs 18, 72, 84, 105, 175, 179, 180, 358-3 (Munsee Tribe), 358-4 (Shawnee Tribe), and 747;
- Troops 73, 174, and
- Crew 358.
This is a total of 13. Jessica and I will communicating these units on remaining issues. If training is the issue, please contact us, so that we can send trainers to your next meeting or schedule a district-wide event to handle those issues. All training except scoutmasters’ Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills are online at my.scouting.org.
Rechartering Begun but No Paperwork Received: The following units have begun the computer work for rechartering but have submitted no documentation:
- Troop 35, 69, and 180; and
- Crew 69.
This is a total of 4 units. Troops 69 and 180 and Crew 69 have made arrangements to drop off paperwork in the next 24 hours.
These units can help expedite the process by emailing Jeff Heck or Jessica Hofman their paperwork as it exists to date, even if signatures are missing. This allows us to get a head of the process by previewing potential problems. Then you can have some reassurance that it is done properly, when it is finally delivered.
If your unit is not listed, no computer rechartering has begun. Those leaders have been in direct contact with Jessica or me, but they have not started the computer work. These units need to get the computer work done this week. We can follow up on all further supporting paperwork between today and December 15th when all items must be complete.
Thank you to those who have born the brunt of rechartering and its bureaucracy. It is a thankless but necessary job.
Reported Camping down for 2017
One of the most important events for a scout is outdoor programming, specifically camping. The more nights of camping that a scout does the higher the probability of renewing scouting membership for the next year.
Think about it: what promise do you as a scout leader give to each new recruit? We camp.
In order to better diagnose which units are fulfilling the recruitment promise, we try to track how well units are doing in camping.
This year council-wide Cub Scout camping is down 14.29% and Boy Scout camping is down 4.72%. In North Star District, Cub Scout camping is down a mere 1.13%, but Boy Scout camping is down a whopping 10.02%.
Camping that is done through Crossroads of America Council facilities like Ransburg Scout Reservation or Camp Belzer, regardless whether summer camp or weekend camps, are automatically reported. However, any camping done outside our Council like at an out-of-state council’s facility or in a state park is not automatically reported.
If your pack, troop, or crew has camped out-of-council or on a non-BSA property, please email information about those campouts to our District Executive Jessica Hofman. If you are not sure, have your advancement coordinator send an inquiry to Jessica. She will be more than happy to research the information on file for you.
Good camping numbers suggest good programming. Good programming suggest good retention. Good retention means more lessons learned in scouting.
Unit Service Reporting
As we are reaching year’s end, your district leadership was reviewing our reported service hours for 2017. As we have mentioned in the past, service hours reported help contribute to a worldwide goal of reporting one billion hours of scouting service hours by 2020.
Please make sure that your unit chair or your advancement coordinator (or whoever else your chair has designated to report service hours) has entered their information through my.scouting.org’s legacy tools.
Remember these reported hours boost your Journey to Excellence score.
You will need your unit’s advancement code to login.
If you don’t have the code or just want to email your report, send an email to DE Jessica Hofman.
Just 1 scout more per unit!
North Star District is on the verge of having district growth in youth membership for the first time in years!
We need your help to make this goal.
With just one more youth or Venturing participant per unit (over what is already reported on your rechartering additions already entered) we can make this goal.
As you are planning your year end events, make sure to ask your scouts to invite a friend to a meeting, a holiday service project, or participate in an outing (yes, this is true for Cub Scouts, too). Those one-on-one invites are the most effective way to grow scouting.
If you need help, contact District Executive Jessica Hofman. She can help you with a mailer or other literature to support a mini-membership blitz. Target a handful of families for mailings and follow ups.
We are almost there.
Incident Reporting Video
The video is only about 8 minutes, so it is worth a brief review from committee members and unit leaders (e.g., Scoutmasters, Cubmasters, and Venturing Advisors).
Recharter Update
As of Tuesday noon, we have 25 units as JTE Gold, 2 JTE Silver, 2 JTE Bronze, and one did not qualify. That leaves 9 unreported.
Similarly for rechartering, we have the original 4 units that were ready to post, meaning that the registrar had approved their Applications to Renew Charter. Since that time, the registrar has been inundated with new packages and the approval count for our district has stalled completely.
That means that we have 9 units that have submitted paperwork and been approved by the District Executive and Commissioner, but have not yet been processed by the regisrar. These are Packs 35, 514, and 830; Troops 18, 56, 72, and 514; and Crews 56 and 408.
We have 16 units that have defects that have been communicated to the units. Most of these are missing minor items like dues payment or a missing signature. Of these most have scheduled times to get these completed so that we can close rechartering by the end of the month. If your unit has not scheduled a date of completion, please let us know.
We have 3 units have completed their online rosters but submitted no paperwork. Another 3 units have started the online rechartering but not submitted the final roster. Yet another 3 units that have not started the process.
Thank you to all of those unit leaders that have worked so hard to get us to this point. It is a thankless job.
Farewell to Patrick Sterrett
This is the last week for Patrick as our Council Scout Executive before he becomes the Assistant Chief Scout Executive for Operations.
Check out the Facebook feed on this page for more about Patrick in the news.
We wish Patrick many years of joyful scouting in Dallas.
Recharters now overdue
Applications to renew Charters and supporting paperwork were due last Thursday, November 9, 2017.
If your chair or Rechartering specialist have not received notice that you are done, you probably are not done.
Please remember that volunteers like you do most of the work on Rechartering. If they have to chase you down, it is less time that those volunteers are spending with family, scouts, fun, or work.
Please make sure the commissioner you are working with knows your plans. Ask them if we have notes entered in our tracking system about your plans.
We really need all paperwork in this Friday. We have a lot of work to do once you turn in paperwork.
Thank you for your cooperation in wrapping up this tedious and necessary process.
REMINDER: Roundtable tomorrow
Tomorrow’s roundtable (Thursday, November 8, 2017) will be at 7:00 pm at Luke’s Lodge on the northeast corner of campus of St Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 W 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260. We will have Den Leader Training and a presentation on Life-to-Eagle process.
For Life-to-Eagle, this is open to all scout leaders, Eagle Candidates, and family members. Come hear from the district members that are a necessary part of your scout’s success in making Eagle.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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