Camping & Outdoor Programming
Hurricane Maria: An update on BSA members in Puerto Rico. Ways you can help.
Bryan on Scouting has just posted this article on how to help after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
To my view, the most important part of this article is that the councils and units affected have been slow to report their needs. This creates a risk of their needs being forgotten or overlooked by the rest of the BSA.
This slow response to state needs makes a lot of sense. First, the BSA is built on a diffused organizational system. National Council needs information from local councils. Local councils need information from districts. Districts need information from units. Units need information from unit leaders. Unit leaders are busy caring for their families, work or businesses, and places of worship.
Now the information trickle is beginning. The BSA has created several central clearinghouses of information. Units can make direct appeals for help. The BSA has created a central fundraising website. Now we know where to look for what is needed.
So the next question seems to be, “What can our unit do?”
What you can do is still limited by BSA regulations. Let’s take a quick look so that these are all fresh in mind.
Fall Camporee Updates
From Camporee Chair Mark Pishon:
Dear Camporee Stakeholders:
I’m very excited to announce the Purdue Motorsports Engineering Program will be joining us at the Subaru facility with their Grand-Prix Go-Karts.
We are only 12 days out so please get registered. The information and all the updates are attached.
YIS,
Mark Pishon
Fall Camporee Chair
Cell 317.374.2262
Willie Award Judging Criteria Fall Camporee 2017.pdf
Free State Park Admission . . . with a catch
From Council:
DNR News
Division of State ParksCelebrate public lands with free entry and
program at DNR properties, Sept. 30Admission to Indiana’s state park properties and state forest recreation areas where entrance fees are charged will be free on Sept. 30 in recognition of National Public Lands Day.
National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands.
Volunteer opportunities at Indiana State Park properties on Sept. 30 include trail work at Raccoon State Recreation Area, Turkey Run State Park and Brookville Lake, invasive plant removals at Brown County, Spring Mill and Ouabache state parks, and river cleanups at O’Bannon Woods and Tippecanoe River state parks. Many other properties will offer similar volunteer opportunities see attached list.
But National Public Lands Day isn’t all work and no play. The day is a reminder that public lands are places for outdoor recreation, conservation and making memories with families and friends. Properties will offer hikes, pioneer activities, crafts and live bird shows, too.
For complete list of programs, visit calendar.dnr.IN.gov and look on Sept. 30.
For more information on National Public Lands Day, visit PublicLandsDay.org.
Jody Heaston
Indiana State Parks Volunteer Coordinator
Ouabache State Park, 4930 E. State Rd 201
Bluffton, IN 46714
Phone: 260-824-0926 Fax: 260-824-9402
Email: jheaston@dnr.in.gov (best way to contact)Learn more about Indiana Master Naturalists www.indianamasternaturalist.org
On the Web: www.stateparks.IN.gov
They also offer the events listed in this flyer through the rest of the year.
Fall Camporee Planning Meeting
Mark Pishon, the Fall Camporee chair, is hosting a meeting on Sunday, September 17, 2017 at 6:30 pm in St Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 West 86th St, Room N101, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
Please note that this is in the Main Building, Room N101. You must enter by Door #6, the door on the northwest corner of the building, but not quite the northernmost door. Upon entering the building, turn left; walk past the bathrooms and water fountain, toward the classroom (N101), to the immediate right of the Exit (Door #7).
All participants and attendees must sign Subaru’s liability release, available here. Release and Waiver Agreement.Boy Scout 2017.
Here is the current draft of the Camporee Leader Guidebook, subject to revision after the meeting: North Star Fall Camporee Leaders Guide V4 9_11_2017.
Fall Camporee 2017 Report
On Sunday, August 13, 2017, the Camporee Committee met to discuss the upcoming camporee at the Lafayette, Indiana Subaru Plant. This camporee will include a plant tour Friday evening, October 6, 2017. The tours will leave at three different times throughout the evening. The last tour will end close to midnight.
The plant will be shutting down at midnight for a two-week line maintenance cycle. Consequently, the timing for when we can tour is extremely tight.
This means that troop arrivals will be pressed against the need to go on the tour.
Each troop’s Key 3 (COR, chair and scoutmaster) should have received emails with more details on planned events (like plan tours) and possible events (like merit badge topics addressed). Here is the information shared before the meeting. Updates are forthcoming.
The meeting had a lively debate about the balance between patrol competitions, advancement, and participating in unique scouting events. These all reflect adult opinions or second-hand information from scouts transmitted through adults.
All scoutmasters encouraged to talk to their Patrol Leader Council about what their members like to see in camporee.
Subaru offers a lot of opportunity for merit badge work on Automotive Maintenance and Traffic Safety with a dolop of Truck Transportation. While these are all possible, some troops’ adults expressed concern that advancement would push aside patrol competition. The committee took those concerns to heart and is looking at how competitions could be used to complete some of the merit badge work simultaneously. Essentially making learning fun.
There were a lot more details shared at the meeting, so expect more information in the coming weeks. This is just a quick report and summary. The simple version is Friday, October 6, 2017 from 6:00 pm to Sunday, October 8, 2017, be there.
If you have feedback, please share it with the camporee committee and make sure that you have a representative at the next camporee committee meeting (scheduling forthcoming).
Cubs can canoe!
New aquatics rules now in effect – Bobwhite Blather:
In April of this year, however, the rules for Cub Scout aquatics changed to allow a range of activities permitted at the unit level. And while most water activities – the more rigorous and risky ones – are still restricted to Boy Scouts and older, Cub Scouts of all ages can now go canoeing, rowboating and paddle boating – the very things they’ve been doing with their families all along. (And yes, I know some of you have been boating as a purportedly unaffiliated “family” activity to get around the BSA’s safety rules.)
There’s always a catch, though, but it’s not a big deal and isn’t anything you wouldn’t expect. While we no longer have tour permits or tour plans, the requirements for adult leaders to be appropriately trained are still in force. There are two primary unit volunteer training courses for aquatics, and they’re both available online: Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat.
At least two adults are required to supervise any swimming activity – at backyard, public and hotel pools, beaches, lakes, rivers and oceans, whether or not a lifeguard is present. Safe Swim Defense training, completed within the last two years, is required of at least one adult supervising swimming activities, or even non-swimming activities where the water is over knee-deep or there is a risk of submersion. Common sense, though, dictates that as many adults as possible should complete Safe Swim Defense training – and it should go without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that they complete Youth Protection Training as well. All boating activities likewise must be supervised by at least two adults, one (and preferably all) with current Safety Afloat training.
Now that you’re trained, what can Cub Scouts actually do on the water? Here’s a summary of allowable activities for Cub Scout packs:
Learn to Swim programs for all ages.
Recreational swimming for all ages, divided by ability groups, with only those who are able to swim (who have passed the BSA 100-yard swim test) allowed in deep water.
Snorkeling in confined areas for all ages, divided by ability groups. Only swimmers are allowed in deep water.
Riding in large boats including commercial marine transport such as excursion boats and ferries, as well as larger (capacity of four or more passengers) privately-owned craft on calm waters where all operation is done by adults.
Stable, fixed-seat rowboats and paddle boats on calm, flat water. If a non-swimmer or beginning swimmer is on board, he must be buddied with a swimmer in the same boat.
Canoes on calm, flat water. A non-swimmer or beginning swimmer must be buddied with an adult swimmer in the same boat.
Single-person kayaks and stand-up paddleboards on calm, flat water for swimmers only (non-swimmers or beginning swimmers are not allowed to kayak or SUP).
Tubing on gently-flowing water for Swimmers only.
Don’t forget about the rule requiring that Coast Guard-approved life jackets are to be worn by persons when engaged in boating activities (rowing, canoeing, kayaking and paddleboarding) and in some cases aboard larger vessels as well.
Cub Scout Roundtable Thursday
School is ending and the summer is here!
And we know what that means: Summer Camp!
Whether you’re taking your boys to Belzer or Camp K… whether it’s your first year or you’re a seasoned pro… join us this Thursday evening, 7:00 PM, at Luke’s Lodge (outbuilding on the campus ofSt. Luke’s Methodist Church, 100 West 86th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46260) for the North Star District Cub Scout Roundtable.
We’ll be discussing both Summer Camps, and what you as a leader should know and expect.
If you are new, come learn some of the ins and outs.
If you are a veteran, come and share the tips and tricks that you’ve learned over the years with other leaders.
We hope to see many of you there!
Wrap up of Spring Camporee 2017
Our Winter Camporee 2017 in t-shirts and shorts was followed by our Spring Camporee 2017 in hats and gloves. Oh, the joys of Indiana seasons!
Here are some thoughts from camporee staff afterward.
(MORE TO COME. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR UPDATES AS THEY COME.)
Clarifications from Lodge Chief on Out-of-Council Ordeals
Lodge Chief James Colter emailed today to emphasize that going out of council is only an option if specific, “extenuating circumstances” cause the need to go out-of-council — to another lodge’s ordeal. He uses the example of a religious obligation. While we have tried to emphasize this point, we never used the phrase “extenuating circumstances.” If you do seek to go out of council, know that your letter requesting to go out-of-council must describe the nature of this extenuating circumstance. Inadequate explanation of the extenuating circumstance or an inadequate basis are both good cause for the request to be denied. Reading between the lines,
I sense that a conflicting extracurricular activity may not meet the extenuating circumstances test. In that case, you can write the letter and try to get it approved, but start with a pessimistic expectation. A religious prohibition or conflicting date is likely to be accepted with no questions asked. For example, my son had his confirmation Sunday on the day of his first opportunity to attend chapter ordeal, although he made Lodge Ordeal. Remember, just because the scout cannot make chapter ordeal, he will still have September’s Lodge Ordeal. Letters describing extenuating circumstances should deal with scheduling conflicts for both offered ordeals in order to be complete.
In our previous post, we told leaders to gather information about the scheduling conflict. This information just clarifies that this same information about extenuating circumstances needs to be in the letter requesting an out-of-council ordeal in order for permission to be granted by either lodge.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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