Camping & Outdoor Programming
OA/Firecrafter Cook Out at Marrott Park
Arrowmen
Cub Scout Family Camping
Fall is great for camping! Family camping is crucial for happy Cub Scouts.
Your pack should have a campout on the schedule.
Council has several different Family Campouts where you can participate and reduce the amount of planning you need to do.
Some packs would prefer to camp on their own. If you do this, make sure that one of your adults has BALOO training.
Update from Camporee Committee
Last Sunday the Camporee Committee met. Past Chair and Interim Chair Brian Crow presided. These are the documents that Brian sent out after the meeting:
- Willie Award Judging Criteria (note: decorating the campsite will not be part of the competition, but is optional for the troop)
- Gladiator Challenge Camporee (the source document from another council on which we are building our ideas).
Further notes from the meeting are forthcoming from Brian.
The patch is not done yet, but Brian gave a preview of Willie dressed as a Roman soldier. I was impressed.
The cost will be $10.00 per participant. For every 10 scouts, 1 adult will be free. Webelos who attend can get a patch for $5.00.
Troops are encouraged to register as soon as possible with estimated headcount. No payments are required online, but will be accepted. Payments are not due until arrival at the camporee with final headcount. (Registration will be online through the council’s website. As of this writing, the camporee is not yet posted on the district calendar.)
Events will be scored in the traditional manner of ranking each patrol from best score to least score and tallying the overall results. The top 10 finishers in each event will be announced to encourage participation and better information on competitiveness of the patrols. Medals will be awarded to the top 3 patrols (one medal given to the patrol medal for attachment to the patrol’s flag.)
The committee will meet again on Sunday, September 18, 2016.
All troops are asked to submit their event ideas to Brian Crow. In the case of duplication of ideas, the troop with the earliest date stamp on their email will have priority in using the idea. The troops can choose to score their event however they see fit, so long as the patrols are ranked by best to worst. Troops may award points for patrol building traits, such as patrol cheers and patrols flags that are not directly related to the event, if the troop so chooses.
Each patrol will be assigned a number. This will facilitate scoring and management of problems such as ever-changing patrol names. Winners will be announced by patrol names (as finally reported to Rick Aker).
Adult training for Introduction to Outdoor Leadership, BALOO, and OWL will be offered during the camporee. Members of the Willie Gillies (i.e., Wood Badge recipient in North Star District) are asked to volunteer to teach an hour-long segment of the course. Contact Jeff Heck to volunteer. (Del-Mi District Training Chair Ted Taylor has graciously offered to open their October 1st Scoutmaster Specific Training to North Star District.)
Youth Protection Training will be offered after the Scoutmaster/SPL meeting on Friday Night.
Voyageur: new format for fall
Voyageur Canoe Training is unique in the BSA. Our council has been teaching how to lead canoe trips of all types for over 40 years. Our safety record is impeccable.
Traditionally the course has been taught over two intense weekends. This has created many scheduling problems.
This fall Voyageur will be offered in a 3-day, one-weekend format for the first time.
Come be a part of this compact and efficient Voyageur offering so that you are ready to lead your scouts next fall. Make your reservation and payment here.
Voyageur flyer for more information.
REMINDER: Roundtable tomorrow night
Thursday, August 11, 2016 at 6:30 pm, we will hold one of the most important roundtables of the year. It is our District Kick-off Roundtable.
We will have rockets to distribute for Cub Scout Pack recruitment. We will have an overview of Back to School Night and Boy Talk efforts. We will discuss the web resources to be used in support of your recruitment effort. We will talk about the new Online Registration and how it works with the BeAScout.org website and why those are critically important to recruitment.
We will also have a session for boy scouts and scouters on upcoming activities in Order of the Arrow, Firecrafter, Voyageur training, Marlinspike and many other events to put on your calendar.
We will have a very busy night, so prepare to listen fast! Come with you own announcements and flyers.
OA Chapter Tepee report
REMINDER: District Committee August 4th
A quick reminder that the District Committee will be meeting August 4th at 7:00 pm at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N Meridian St, Rm 407, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
Fall Camporee planning is full swing. Please work on your troop’s event. Some ideas are available on a previous post.
We are also working on finalizing basic information about the Winter and Spring Camporees, so come with your thoughts.
Membership subcommittee is in full swing preparing for Back to School Recruitment. Your packs and troops plans to participate (yes, troops helping packs recruit) is crucial for our success. We already know that some packs are spread thin on manpower. They are small and cover many schools on August 25th. Your help is needed for their success.
Fall also has many special events like a Rocket Launch in support of membership recruitment, Cub Scout leader training, Battle of Belzer, Cub Family Camp and many others. We need your help in planning for their success.
Fall Camporee Theme Chosen
District Chair John Wiebke (Troop 358) in cooperation with District Programming Chair Jim Kacius (Troop 174) and District Camporee Chair Stu Bowes (formerly of Troop 69) have been working to plan camporees further in advance.
At the last District Committee Meeting, John Wiebke proposed a Gladiatorial theme, in keeping with this being a Summer Olympic year. His proposal was gladly accepted.
John Wiebke also announced the following planning committee:
Stu Bowles – Camporee Chief
Jeff Heck- Publicity
Rick Akers- Finance/Health and Safety
Brian Crow- Participation & Program
John Ruggles- Participation & Program
Mark Pishon- Physical Arrangements
Curtis Shrote- Awards
Next month the District Committee will work on finalizing more details about the theme and events. The goal would be to have the events selected at the end of the August District Committee Meeting.
John Wiebke drew his inspiration for this event from this website, so take a look and come to the August meeting with your event proposals and patch proposals.
Make sure that your PLC has signed off on your proposal! We would love to see senior scouts running as many events as possible.
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Remember also to come with theme proposals for Winter and Spring Camporees, too, so those can be decided well in advance. Proposed dates for Winter Camporee are
1) weekend of Jan 21st
2) Weekend of Jan 28th
3) weekend of Feb 4th
Mid-Summer and Grand Ritual
Brothers
International Counselors at Camps
Every year the Crossroads of America Council’s International Committee sponsors two counselors from overseas to staff at Camp Ransburg and Camp Krietenstein.
This year we have a young lady from England at Camp Ransburg. She is serving as a Ridge Commissioner. She is enjoying herself thoroughly.
We also have a young man from Taiwan at Camp Krietenstein. He is working in the ecology area, if memory serves. He is amazed by the amount of land that we have dedicated to a boy scout camp at Camp K West.
Please make sure to get to know them and make them feel welcome.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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