Is Scouting a Better Method to Getting USA’s First World Cup?
Can we develop better national soccer teams using Baden Powell’s methods than travel soccer? The evidence is coming in that answer is profoundly “yes.” From my years of backyard athletics, I can attest the skills development was profound. Read this blog post and the new book Shoeless Soccer for more.
Scouts at the JCC Annual Earth Day Celebration 2018
On behalf of North Star District Executive Jessica Hofman:
North Star had the opportunity to host a few stations at the Jewish Community Center’s Annual Earth Day Celebration. Volunteers from Troop 18 and the Council ran a rope bridge, a fire starting station, and a catapult station for thousands of families to stop by and enjoy.
Through surveys done at the event, we were told that our stations were a crowd favorite! This event could not have been possible without the help of great volunteers! Thank you to Ray and John Matutes from Troop 18 for taking time out of their Sunday to help!
Scout Popcorn Festival – August 26, 2018
On behalf of North Star District Executive Jessica Hofman:
Hey Cubs!
Most of you have heard me talk about the Scout Popcorn Festival coming in August. This is the second year in a row for this event, and if you ask others that have gone… it’s pretty awesome!!! Some experiences at the festival below:
- National Guard inflatable obstacle course
- Popcorn taste testing station
- BMX show (last year’s event, we’re looking into something equally as cool this year)
- Prize showing station
- Face painting
- Popcorn sales pitch training
- And more!
When: August 26, 2018 1 – 4pm
Where: Camp Belzer, 6102 Boy Scout Road, Lawrence IN
This event is free and an open house environment. There are a few benefits to you adding this to your calendar for the late Summer/ early Fall:
- This event qualifies as an August event for your Summertime Pack Award
- This event qualifies for “Scout Training” which is one of the patches that a youth can earn in the patch set this year
- It gets new and old Scouts excited about selling popcorn… which in turn leads to larger sales and more money for you all to put on AMAZING programming.
Sign up HERE .
Be sure to RSVP as soon as possible please – even if you are tentative on how many will be in your group! This type of event take A LOT of work on the front end and I want to make sure there’s enough time and effort put into this event for all of our Scouts to attend. Let me know if you have any questions!
Jessica Hofman
Required Unit Reporting of District Service Hours
On behalf of North Star Program Chair Mark Pishon:
ISSUE: Two separate reporting databases
The national website, accessible through my.scouting.org, reports directly to National Council and is used for your unit’s national statistics such as contribution to the World Movement of Scouting’s billion service-hour challenge, but not Journey to Excellence scoring.
We know this is a problem because many of our largest and most successful troops have reported zero service hours on one or both of these websites. At the same time, these units have had Eagle Scouts reporting hundreds if not thousands of service hours. The scouts are getting proper credit, but it is not passing on to the units.
Journey to Excellence has a separate scoring for service hours which can receive a separate gold-level recognition.
ACTION ITEM:
Make sure your unit secretary or registrar is reporting the same service hours to both National BSA on my.scouting.org as well as to the Crossroads BSA website (service hours form found here).
To prevent this being a problem in the future, our District will be reviewing these statistics quarterly. For troops, we will be looking at Eagle project reports against unit reports. Discrepancies will be pointed out to units.
For Cub Scout Packs, we will be looking at zero-hour reports as needing updating.
Remember, we are part of a world-wide effort to demonstrate the value of scouting to our communities. Your reports help that marketing effort.
Memorial Weekend Grave Dressing 2018 [Update below]
Memorial Day is fast approaching. The American Legion would like to invite all of the North Star District for breakfast. The district will make a short trip to several local cemeteries and put decorations on veteran’s graves in honor of their service. In past years this has wrapped up before lunch.
Your service is Requested:
Date: Saturday, May 26, 2018
Start time: 7:00 am
Breakfast location: Broad Ripple American Legion Post # 3, 6379 N College Ave, Indianapolis, IN
Teams will be formed at breakfast to serve the various cemeteries.
Units will be asked to provide adult and youth headcount as well as a point of contact in the event updates need to be made during the morning.
*UPDATE* Please RSVP to Rees Morgan at bfbronc58@yahoo.com.
THANK YOU for your Service!
Be Prepared – for the SAT and ACT
BSA giving away $350 SAT/ACT programs
In alliance with Scouts BSA, eKnowledge and the SAT/ACT Donation Project are giving Scout families (past and present) $350 SAT and ACT test prep programs for just the cost of providing the programs (under $20). The fee covers everything, including materials, shipping, student support, and streaming. You may request your programs online at this eKnowledge BSA site (<== link here).
Already, over 4,500 scouting families have benefited from the SAT/ACT Donation Project. The mission of this project is to help Scouts be prepared for the SAT or ACT.
For more information please check out the BSA Info Center, eKnowledge site here
Best of luck on the exams!
Don’t Forget! Roundtable this Thurs 5/10
This week’s Roundtable topics are:
- Cub Scouts: “Recruiting… Youth AND Adults” ;
- Boy Scouts: “Ideal Year of Scouting / Supporting Cub Packs at Summer Camp.”
See last week’s post for more details.
Program’s New Name: Scouts BSA (corrected)
Boy Scouts will become “Scouts BSA.” The organization’s name will remain same. That was what former Crossroads of America Council Executive Patrick Sterrett advocated for as he moved to Number 2 in the BSA. It looks like his recommendation held true.
Here is Scouting Wire’s more detailed version. This includes information on “Scout Me In” recruitment campaign.
Here is Bryan on Scouting with yet more details.
UPDATED 5/3/18: Here is local council’s press release: Read the rest of this entry »
Reminder – Roundtable next Thursday, May 10
The roundtables topics next Thursday will be:
- Cub Scouts: “Recruiting… Boys AND Adults” ;
- Boy Scouts: “Ideal Year of Scouting / Supporting Cub Packs at Summer Camp.”
The Roundtables will take place next Thursday, May 10, 2018 at 7:00 pm at Luke’s Lodge, the outbuilding on the northeast corner of the campus of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 West 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
Please forward this information to your Den Leaders, Committee members, and Assistant Scoutmasters. They are an important part of the Roundtables’ target audience.
Remember, attending roundtables is a key requirement to earn the Scouter’s Key for both Cub Scout leaders and Boy Scout leaders.
Open Berths for Sea Base with Crew 408
From Greg Hoyes:
North Star Venture Crew 408 in Zionsville has 2 crews going to FSB Out Island (MUNSON) on June 29th to July 5th (travel from June 27th to July 8th). One of the crews is filled with our fellow Boy Scout Troop and the 2nd Crew is all Crew 408 members. We do have 2 open spots in our Venture Crew and looking to fill them, with either Venture or Boy Scout members.
If the interested parties are male, the adult leadership is covered and if they are female, one of them must be over 21 to cover the required female leadership. This would be good for a mother/daughter or sister/older sister trip.
We have the travel all covered and would depart the morning of June 27th and will be returning on July 8th. We are planning some sightseeing stops for the return trip but have not finalized those details yet. The cost is estimated at $1240 for Out Island, travel (gas and lodging) and 2 crew shirts. I can be flexible in accommodating payment arrangements for someone that wants to go but can’t write that check today.
If you have anybody interested, please have them contact me and we can discuss other details.
On the Adventure
Greg Hoyes
Crew 408 Committee Chair
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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