Winners at Spring 2016 Camporee
Polaris Award:
Troop 586, Patrol Drumstick.
Willie Award:
Troop 269.
Stu Unveils the New Polaris Award
Tonight we start Spring Camporee 2016! While Stu Bowes, Camporee Chair, had a sudden business scheduling conflict, he is making his impact this Camporee.
As the troops agreed at the January Camporee planning meeting, Stu unveiled the new Polaris Award.
This new award was first earned at the Winter Camporee by Troop 56’s Elementals Patrol. This award goes to the patrol that wins the overall events competition by score.
As you can see the Polaris Award already has the Spring Camporee patch on it, ready to welcome the winners announced Saturday night.
Work hard boys! Your winning efforts will be remembered for years to come.
(Don’t worry the Willie Award for best campsite remains unchanged.)
Confused about STEM and Scouting?
As the Boy Scouts of America has put increasing stress on the buzz-phrase “STEM” or “Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics,” more scouts and scouters are confused.
There is the old-line merit badges, belt loops, and activity pins that have been science-focused since the founding of BSA in 1910. There have been additions and subtractions throughout. Now that category of interests has been labeled as “STEM.” The relatively new STEM program in this category is the Nova and Supernova Program. So we have STEM in Scouting.
Just last year BSA and our Council launched a new program called “STEM Scouts.” These
new units are organized into “Labs” instead of Packs, Troops, Crews, Teams, Ships, or Posts. They are mentored by scouters called “Lab Managers,” instead of Cubmasters, Scoutmaster, Advisors, etc. Some have lovingly referred to it as “Indoor Scouts.”
The differences between the two programs sometimes needs explaining. This month Scouting Magazine gives it a shot.
This confusion will increase as more of our youth discuss their interests in STEM. Learn the differences so that you can be a better mentor when the topic arises.
Service Opportunity
Quote Posted on Updated on
We received this from District Vice Chair for Membership Sharla Merrick:
District Team,
I have sent the following to the Zionsville Troops but thought you might want to open it up to others in our District. An opportunity to provide service for a good cause.
Additionally, who knows which dates will work for which scouts. The more opportunities the better.
———————————————————
Zionsville Scouters,
The Zionsville Food Pantry is looking for help and has asked the scouts to consider helping out at the Pantry again.
Please share this opportunity with your scouts. A scout is Helpful.
Volunteers
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Zionsville Food Pantry! ZFP is a ministry of Zionsville Presbyterian Church located at the corner of Michigan R…
View on http://www.signupgenius.com
YIS,
Sharla
Don’t forget that this is another opportunity to contribute to worldwide effort to contribute service hours through scouting. That means serve and report your hours.
Camporee: this Friday!
This weekend is camporee. It is going to be busy!
For Youth:
- Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
- Traditional Camporee Events (see below).
For Scouters/Adults:
- Unit Key 3 Conference, 8:30 registration, 9:00 am to 11:00 am, featuring Council Scout Executive Patrick Sterrett and Council Commissioner Rick Tardy.
- Unit Commissioner Basic Training, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Service at 500 Festival Mini-Marathon
Greg Jacoby from Troop 174 and Council Committee visited Roundtable last night. He was seeking support from Troops, Packs, and Crews for a re-doubled scouting presence at the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon at the start of May. He wrote with more details.
Dear Scouters:
I have been asked by the council to increase the presences of the Boy Scouts at the 500 Festival, specifically the Mini-Marathon. The Boys Scouts have been involved in the past but many times it has been behind the activity in a supporting role. One way to get the boys out in front is to have them man a water station and so we have been asked to man water station number 17 at the Mini-Marathon on May 7,2016 It is the water station just before the end of the race, and is located on the IUPUI campus so it is very easy to get to and park. I am contacting a number of the Troops and Packs in the North Star District to see if they could announce this opportunity and give the Council some support for the this event.
My Troop 174 will be bring a number of boys and we are opening this up to all family members so the community can see how Scouts is more than just the boys. This is one of the only activities that children accompanied by an adult can volunteer during the 500 festival.
We need 70 people to come help. The water station is open from 6 am to 1pm. People can work all morning, or in 3 hours shifts. If you are interested in getting yourself, your Troop or Pack involved please let me know by email and then sign up on the web site www.500festival.com . Some Troops and Packs are making this a group community volunteer activity and others are lettering their members know about the event on their Troop or Pack web site.
Below are the instructions for the 500 Festival volunteer web site.
Thanks for your help and as always call my cell 828-6230 or email at gjacoby@bdmd.com if you have any questions.
Yours in Scouting
Greg Jacoby
PLEASE SIGN UP ON LINE BY MAY 2, 2016
- Log onto our web site www.500festival.com
- Click on the volunteer tab at the left of the page
- Click on the red box “register here” link
- Welcome to the 500 Festival online registration, please read the important information
- Click the purple ”Volunteer Registration” button on the right side of the page.
- Select “500 Festival Volunteer
- Enter the access code “Boy Scouts” at the top of the page and click unlock
- Scroll down to Boy Scouts of America, Crossroads of America (it may be the last item on the last page)
- Select your volunteer opportunity – Pit Station #17- Boy Scouts
- From there you can complete your volunteer registration
Thanks for helping to promote Scouting.
Questions? If you have any reach out to Volunteer Intern, Fherry Hannah at fhannah@500festival.com or 317-614-6113 or Program Manager, Jennifer Livesay at jlivesay@500festival.com
Overview of ‘500 Festival Parade’ Participation
Bill Hodgson, the long-time district coordinator for the 500 Festival Parade, visited Roundtable last night. The theme of the parade will be “Celebrating the Stories of May” in honor of this year’s 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.
He reported that North Star District will be reprising its role as the chair-setters for the 300 block of North Pennsylvania Street this year.
Unfortunately Bill will not be available for the parade this year. He has asked one of his long-time associates to take the lead in his place. (More on this once the succession plan is confirmed.)
North Star will be setting up 1,030 chairs near the former location of the Indy Star Building, across the street from the federal courthouse and 1 block north of the Union Planter Tower.
Cubs and Scouts should arrive in Class A uniforms. Plenty of on-street parking should be available this early. Bill also recommends parking to the East of the parade route to ease exiting the area, as scourt can get out of there early.
They will be able to see the parade afterward.
Set up will begin around 8:30 am.
Hope to see you there.
Congratulations to our April 2016 Eagles
Congratulations to the scouts who passed their Eagle Boards of Review on April 13, 2016. Their date of rank will be that date, once confirmed by the National Advancement Team in Dallas, Texas.
| Name | Last Name | Troop # |
| Cullen | Booth | 56 |
| Luke | Elliott | 56 |
| Mark | Henn | 514 |
| Jay | Maturi | 56 |
| Forrest | Ridings | 358 |
| William | Stolz | 56 |
North Star Eagle Board Coordinator Jerry Simon reports a year ago, 11 of our 51 Eagle Scouts from 2015 had completed their boards. As of last night, 20 scouts have achieved Eagle in 2016. That is 181% of 2015’s figures!
REMINDER: Roundtable this Thursday
Roundtable will be this Thursday, April 14th at Luke’s Lodge, the outbuilding on the northeast corner campus of St Luke’s United Methodist Church, 100 West 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46260. The general session of announcements and information sharing about sundry topics begins at 6:30 pm. The formal program begins near 7:00 pm, but will be whenever general session is done.
Heavy emphasis at general session will be about the busy upcoming camporee including:
- Youth Training: Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops
- Adults: Unit Key 3 Conference for Packs, Troops, and Crews
- Adult Training: Unit Commissioner Basic Training (details TBA, tentatively afternoon session)
The topic for all programs (Packs, Troops, and Crews) will be recruiting new adult leaders and training them to make a better unit.
Feel free to bring your brown bag dinners.
Key 3 Conference at Camporee
On Saturday morning of camporee, we will hold a Unit Key 3 Conference for all the units in North Star District. All unit Chartered Organization Representatives, Committee Chairs, and Unit Leaders (e.g., Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Venturing Advisors) or their substitutes are invited and asked to attend. This includes all Packs, Troops, and Crews.
We have confirmed that we will have special guest speakers Council Scout Executive Patrick Sterrett and Council Commissioner Rick Tardy.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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