Camping & Outdoor Programming
Preparations for Order of the Arrow Call Out Have Begun
From our chapter Order of the Arrow Advisor Mark Pishon:
Dear Troop Key 3:
Please send me your troops OA Election results ASAP. Call-Outs are April 22 [at Spring Camporee]. Forms are attached.
Mark Pishon
LOA Chapter Adviser
317.374.2262
Since Troops 72 and 180 have worked as part of OA chapter in the past, the March 29th approval of district changes should not affect these units. Other T’Sun Gani units will need to be in contact with Pioneer’s Order of the Arrow Chapter for Call Out procedures in April. Please share this information with them, so that they are not confused.
Spring Camporee Planning Report
Image Posted on Updated on
Here are minutes from the last Spring Camporee planning meeting from Spring Camporee Chair Mark Pishon of Troop 358.
Mark’s Power Point presentation
Due to the firearms involved with this camporee and the Guide to Safe Scouting prohibitions on Cub Scout and Webelos firing these weapons, this is a very bad camporee to invite them. District is highly discouraging Cub Scouts’ or Webelos’ attendance. They would see guns and want to participate. It would be mean to tantalize them and not allow them to participate.
Spring Camporee Meeting Sunday
Just a quick reminder to our Scout Troops that the Camporee planning meeting will be this Sunday, March 5, 2017 beginning at 6:00 pm at St. Luke’s Luke’s Lodge outbuilding at 100 W 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
From Mark Pishon, Camporee Chair:
Purpose: We will have a planning meeting this Sunday, March 5, 2017 for the Spring Camporee from 6-7:30 pm.Location of Planning Session: Lodge Building in back, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church,100 W. 86th St., Indianapolis, IN 46260Camporee Theme is “Shoot the Moon“.Date of Camporee: April 21 – 23, 2017Location of Camporee: Camp RansburgNorth Star has reserved all rifle, shotgun, and archery ranges for shooting sports.We have reserved two ridges of campsites and the dinning hall.Please have a troop representative at the meeting.
Cub Scout Camping: When do we schedule it?
When to schedule summer camp?
Simply put . . . now. Reservations are open now.
Outdoor activities are absolutely crucial to building a scout’s passion for scouting and for retaining the family.
Few families stay with scouting without a determined and repeated contact with camping and outdoor activities.
For a Cub Scout Pack leader, recruiting families to participate in Camp Belzer Cub Scout Day Camp or Camp Kikthawenund Webelos Overnight Adventure Camp means a quick measure of the likelihood of the boy’s participation in scouting 24 months later. A scout may miss the following summer camp and still remain with the pack. But he is less likely to attend the following year and then is more likely to drop out.
For Cubs who have done Camp Belzer, a great option is to try Adventure Camp. It is open for Wolf, Bear, and Webelos. It takes fewer days but has more overnights. This is much more amenable to a busy family’s schedule.
Many packs offer both camps. It takes a few more adults, but has great success.
Busy families plan months ahead. To persuade them to do summer camp, you need to make the sales pitch now. Lock the time in.
Send emails. Put it on your Facebook feed. Talk about it at a meeting. Bring the District’s Camping Committee members in to promote camping. Then, and most importantly, make a phone tree to individually call families and ask them to attend. If you do not make the ask to each family, their participation will be less likely.
If you have families who have tough questions, ask the District Camping Committee for advice or ask them to call the family. Contact Camping Chair Rick Aker for more information. (If that email does not work, let me know.)
We are here to help your Cub Scout Pack have a wonderful year in retention.
NEEDED: Range Officer Training in Preparation for Spring Camporee
For our Spring Camporee, we need range safety officers. The more RSO’s we have, the more we can use the ranges for more scouts.
Dan Beard Council in Cincinnati is offering the US Archery Level 1 Instructor Course on March 25, 2017. This is at Cubworld, part of the Camp Friedlander campus just within the eastern outskirts of Greater Cincinnati.
They are offering BB and Archery Rangemaster training on April 1, 2017 at the same Cubworld.
They are offering the NRA Instructor Training and another version with Pistols on the weekend of March 17-19, 2017. Familiarity with firearms safety is a pre-requisite. See the website for more information. The basic instructor training is only $35.00. This is at Camp Friedlander (see notes above).
Please help us by sending a member of your troop to the training in preparation for our great Spring Camporee!
Summer Camp Swim Testing at Pike
Don’t forget to touch base with Brian Crow, District Programming Chair and ASM at Troop 343, if your troop or crew is interested in doing the swim test at Pike High School
on Monday, April 17, 2017 at 7:30 pm.
Cub Scout Camping: Why do we do it?
Why should Cub Scouts camp frequently?
Simply put, true scouting is in the “outing.”
Since about the 1972 revisions of the Cub Scout program, I am led to believe, Cub Scouting had de-emphasized outings, specifically camping. This was part of a larger misadventure to make “scouting more relevant to the modern era” by making scouting more urban.
In Boy Scouts, this led to an immediate membership collapse and a re-introduction of outdoor programming a mere five years later.
Cub Scouts didn’t revise as quickly. Their revision re-introducing outings came only in the last 24 months.
Yet, when we give Boy Talks at the elementary schools each fall, the most successful speakers are the ones who emphasize the outdoor programming. They bring backpacks or tents and talk about simple outings. They talk about campfires and marsh mellows.
I have written before about my time as Cubmaster. We would hold three pack camp outings each year: October, May, and Summer Camp at Belzer.
More than any other activity, the boys would ask me, “When is our next campout?” An answer longer than “next month” was met with universal disappointment.
Yes, we camp with Cub Scouts because they find it fun.
But there is so much more. It is part of their personal growth as I have written about before. They adapt over time. It is part of their lessons in figuring out how they fit in the larger world.
The Cub Scout needs to learn at his own speed through new stresses as part of a larger community.
We camp because the basic of society and community are all present. The comforts of home are removed. He learns about himself without realizing lessons are being taught. He just sees fun.
We camp because it builds character, faster than any other method. That fulfills our mission as scouters.
Spring Camporee Planning Session
Swim Test: Summer Camp 2017
Last year Troop 343 hosted a district-wide swim test for summer camp. Troop 343’s Brian Crow has been working to repeat that process for the new year. Any troop interested in participating should read Brian’s email below:
Troop 343 has reserved the pool at Pike High School for [the evening of Monday,] April 17, 2017, for the swim test.
The facility fee is $120.00. The school is providing two certified lifeguards for safety compliance only.
Each Troop wanting to attend will need to administer their own test and must have enough adults onsite to provide adequate supervision of scout’s behavior in high school and swim tests in the pool.
We will split the facility fee equally among all Troops that attend. They will need to bring cash money on the day of the test.
More specific information about test day will be distributed in the near future.
Please have any questions forwarded to me.Thanks. …Brian
Remember that all scouts and adult leaders who wish to swim or participate in aquatic activities must participate in the swim test each year before they will be allowed to participate.
The advantage of this swim test is that the swimmer will have a controlled pool environment to take his or her test. Many scouts have never swum in muddy lake water before. We have had many competitive swimmers fail the swim test because of the shock of lake water or muddy lake bottom.
Give your scouts the ability to adapt to the lake environment gradually. If they don’t have the psychological pressure of demonstrating their swimming skills at the same time they are adapting to the environment, scouts often adapt quickly to the lake. The testing is a rough time to adapt to a new environment.
Give them their best chance for success: require all first-time summer campers to do the swim test in a pool before summer camp. Other swim tests with Del-Mi at the Carmel High School Pool and Pathfinder District at the Southport High School Pool will take place around the same time. Del-Mi’s is often the first weekend of May. More information to follow when it is available.
Notes on Camporee
Here are the minutes of last Sunday’s Winter Camporee Meeting from Chair Curtis Shrote:
Note: would troops 586 and 514 please contact me offline.Attendance:Mark Pishon, 358John Wiebke, 358Brian Crow, 343David Salima, 269Carter Keith, DIstrictRick Aker, DIstrictCon Sullivan, DistrictChad Galer, 69Pete Holtz, 56Toby Hlade, 358Mike Faulk, 56Curtis Shrote, 804
My apologies if I did not collect someones attendance.There was a discussion concerning the packet sent Saturday:Notes:Clarification – Friday night cracker barrel is for scoutmaster and SPLs this will be corrected in the final packet.
I will review with Todd, the remaining cooking arrangements to determine if they will be providing coffee during the day on Saturday. Regardless, there will be coffee.
Chad (T69) corrected me – I do now recall him telling me their event which was “Help Me I’m freezing” – I will correct this and send out an update early next week. My apologies on my forgetfulness.Mark will look into an inflatable screen. (Thanks Mark). It was mentioned that a painters drop cloth also might work. I happen to have one so will bring it as backup.The course for the sled race will begin at the dining hall and proceed into the activity field. This will be a timed course with each sled being released at at a timed offset much like Olympic X-country skiing events.
Regards,Curtis Shrote
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
You must be logged in to post a comment.