Programming
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!
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.
Winter Camporee Report
Last Sunday, the Winter Camporee committee met. Our former District Executive Con Sullivan is co-chairing the event and presided over the meeting.
The theme will be the Winter Olympics with Willie’s Chills and Thrills! The event will be at Camp Krichtenstein from Friday, January 19, 2018 to Sunday, January 21, 2018.
Con emailed the following afterward:
Thank you to those who attended our Camporee Meeting last night. I have attached the most recent version of the Leader’s Guide for the ’18 Winter Camporee.
To do’s from meeting due on/before Jan 10th
- Estimated # of Patrols attending
- Patrol competition summary for Leader’s Guide
- Online registration link is https://scoutingevent.com/160-NSWC18
If you have any questions, please contact Co-Chair Thomas Jacoby of Troop 174 (thomasjacoby@gmail.com) or me.
Thank you!
Con
REMINDER: December District Meetings
Normally, we would have district elections in December. We are a bit delayed in slating the candidates, so that will be postponed to the first District Committee Meeting of January 4, 2018 at 7:00 pm at Second Presbyterian.
Instead we will hold the last District Committee Meeting of the year at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N Meridian St, Rm 401, Indianapois, IN 46260., Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 7:00 pm.
The Commissioner Meeting will be held on the same day at 6:00 pm in Room 405.
This Sunday, December 10, 2017, the Winter Camporee Planning meeting will meet at 6:00 pm at St Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 W 86th St, Room C115, Indianapolis, IN 46260. It will be chaired by co-chairs Con Sullivan and Thomas Jacoby of Troop 174. The location is to be determined. Please send a scoutmaster or proxy to participate in the planning process. The camporee will be January 19-21, 2018.
The following week on Thursday, December 14, 2017, we hold the last Roundtable of the year.
Our district elections will be Thursday, January 4, 2018. More information to follow. Please have your Chartered Organization Representatives and District Members-at-Large (that is district committee members) and Council Members-at-Large who live in North Star District attend. They are all eligible to vote.
Dates Added to Calendar
I have been working this morning to add dates for 2018 to the blog calendar.
Remember that this is not the official calendar of the district. That is still maintained at the CrossroadsBSA.org website. The distinction is that they can take reservations for paid events and this website cannot.
The problem is that the calendar on this website is often more responsive and complete as to a unit’s needs, so it can create confusion. We will work on improving that in the coming year.
Pinewood Derby Pitfalls
Great article from last year. Take a look as you prepare for 2018.
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.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
You must be logged in to post a comment.