Popcorn report
On January 4, 2016, our District Executive Con Sullivan reported that North Star District was the only district to have its popcorn accounts payable paid in full!
Congratulations to our unit Popcorn Kernals and to our District Popcorn Kernal Tom Petersen for making that happen.
Rechartering News
The news from Council is that we had 100% of our units recharter this year.
We still have some units with some issues. The most common one is that the Venturing Crews now need to have Adult Applications for any youth who will have his 18th birthday during the new recharter year. The policy was not clear, but the clarification was more strict than we had assumed.
If your crew has not been advised that you have this problem, please review your records to confirm that you have not omitted any youth’s Adult Application who turns 18 in 2016.
Philmont opening
Greg Hoyes from our Troop 804 has forwarded this message from an Iron Horse District Troop:
Scout leaders on Philmont waiting list:
My troop was selected for a Philmont trek in 2016, expedition # 626A. The date is June 26th to July 8th , leaving Indy on 6/25 & returning 7/8. We are a small troop, 40 miles southeast of Indy in the Iron Horse District. The troops in Iron Horse have not filled up my crew and I currently have three spots open for scouts aged 14-20. I requested a waiting list from Philmont for the Crossroads of America council and your names were provided. We are planning on flying into Albuquerque and are having Blue Sky adventures provide ground transportation, meals and hotel with some sightseeing in Albuquerque, where we will spend one night to help get acclimated to the altitude. Total estimated cost of the trek, including transportation is $1775.00 , (Philmont: $870; Ground package: $465; Airfare (estimated at $440.) This will be my 5th trip to Philmont, so I am familiar with the Philmont adventure.
Contact me if any scouts in your troops are wanting to go to Philmont in 2016 and might be interested. I will be happy to provide any additional info and will sign anyone up on a first come, first serve basis. I can add scouts up February 22nd, as the final Philmont payment must be received by March 1.
Thanks for considering.
Regards,
John Bitner
Scoutmaster, BSA Troop 28
Iron Horse District
Arlington, IN 46104
District Committee Agenda
At this Thursday’s Committee meeting, according to the 2016 District Chair John Wiebke the following topics will be on the agenda:
- Communicating around the District Planning and out intent to meet individually with people
- Winter Camporee- Stu Bowes, Camporee Chair will be seeking your input
- Finance- review schedule of FOS presentations
- Recruitment- Sharla’s ideas for the Spring
- Nominating committee update.
Training for New Year
As we bring in a new year, all scout leaders should have a resolution to become trained in their new positions.
University of Scouting is coming up in less than 2 weeks. This is a great opportunity to get Outdoor Leadership Training for Scouts (PB109) or Webelos. It will take the whole session of classes, but it will be done. BALOO for Cub Scouts is PC103.
New District Committee members should plan on taking the District Committee Training at University of Scouting. (PG112) This is only half of the required course. We may elect to offer both parts at Camporee, too, but we would prefer to offer other training if at possible.
Chartered Organization Representative Training is available. (MG121) There are also course for the unique characteristics in different denominations of churches (MG123-126).
Take a look at all the offerings. Look at your unit’s needs and encourage your adults and Den Chiefs to get trained at University of Scouting.
We are also considering what classes to offer at the Winter Camporee. If you have certain preferences, please contact District Commissioner Jeff Heck with your thoughts.
REMINDER: Change to District Committee Meetings
Just a quick reminder that the District Committee Meeting for January will take place THIS THURSDAY at 7:00 pm, as part of our new schedule of meetings. The meeting will take over our Roundtable time and location at Second Presbyterian.
The District Commissioner’s Staff will meet at 6 pm before the District Committee meeting. Same location.
The roundtable will be next week.
Additional December Eagles
Here is the latest from Jerry Simon:
The following scouts passed their BOR on December 21, 2015. This will be their Date-of-Rank but will not be official until CAC receives approval from National which should happen in 2 to 4 Weeks.
Lars Conard – Troop 56
Richard Logan Witt – Troop 358
Changes to District Calendar for 2016
Over the past calendar year, North Star District has experimented with changing the District Committee and Roundtables’ times to increase attendance. It is now time to declare the experiment closed.
The new schedule will have District Committee meetings the first week of the month at 7:00 pm at Second Presbyterian Church (room was already scheduled for roundtables). The July meeting will be determined at a later date. The April meeting will be held regardless of Spring Break conflicts.
The District Commissioner’s Staff will meet at Second Presbyterian at 6:00 pm immediately before the Committee Meeting. It will be limited to one hour. This will cut down on the number meeting nights for several people.
The District Roundtable will be the second week of the month at 7:00 pm at St Luke’s United Methodist Church (change of location, too; scheduling confirmation pending).
The District Eagle Boards of Review will continue to be on the second Wednesday of each month.
Why the change?
In recent Council meetings, the basic monthly scheduling scheme was explained. Our 2015 district meetings conflict with that scheme.
Specifically, Council reserves the first two weeks of the month for district operations meetings. They do this by minimizing the number of council meetings in this time period. The last two weeks of the month are reserved for council meetings, with the implicit understanding that the number of district meeting should be kept to a minimum.
This reduces the risk of conflicts and allows a more predictable flow of information.
Council then uses the last two weeks of each month to prepare the necessary information and material for the coming district functions.
The expectation is that the district committees will meet the first week of the month, so committee information is given to the District Executives and Directors to be prepared for that week. The expectation is that Roundtables will be held the following week, because any district committee and council plans will be ready to go.
Failing to follow this schedule has caused information and material dissemination to be difficult for our District Executive Con Sullivan. As an example, he did not have access to supplies of rockets for membership drives at the right time, which required more effort from him and the receiving units.
Thank you to 2015 Chair
With the excitement of a new election and new officers comes a moment to pause and thank our immediate past Chair for 2015, Steve James.
Steve James played an instrumental part in reorganizing the North Star District. When the District was being threatened with drastic reforms from Council, Steve stepped up to serve as the District Chair. He made himself available as long as the District needed him.
Steve was persuasive in recruiting new participants to the District Committee. He was reliable in carrying out each promise that he made. He helped finish the year with Friends of Scouting so that the District was making its fair-share contribution to the costs of administering the District and Council.
As a long-time volunteer at the District, Steve had already served as District Commissioner and various other positions. Even so, he took it as a personal responsibility to make sure that District was served when crisis loomed.
Steve may be stepping down as District Chair, but he is not leaving District leadership. Steve was an important part of the Nominating Committee for the District. Steve has also agreed to serve as a Vice-Chair in the District for 2016.
Thank you to Steve James for his willingness to lead when times were difficult, and his continued participation in the District leadership team in the 2016 calendar year.
Congratulations to our New District Chair
Image Posted on Updated on
On Thursday, December 17, 2015, North Star District Nominating Committee, chaired by Scott Claybaugh, presented its slate of proposed district officers for the 2016 calendar year. The slate was passed unanimously. The slate was ratified by the Council’s Executive Board, too, at its December meeting.
Topping that list was John Wiebke (web’-key), as District Chair.
Congratulations to John on his elections. Thank you to him and his family for his service in 2016.
John is a life-long scouter with many unique positions on his scouting resume.
For this biography I am relying on my own memory, so please forgive any errors.
John was an Eagle Scout, whose troop regularly did summer camp at Scouts Canada’s Halliburton Scout Reserve in Ontario Province, part of the Greater Toronto Council. This led him to serving on staff at Philmont for two seasons. He followed this with two seasons on staff at the International Scout Centre in Kandersteg, Switzerland.
As John tells the story, he went to Switzerland with a back pack and a uniform. He returned home 13 years later with a wife, two kids, and a dog.
John met his future wife on his trip to Switzerland. She is Swedish by birth. Consequently, when they married, John moved to Sweden.
John remained active in scouting in Sweden. In fact, John earned his Wood Badge from the Swedish Scouting Association, where he was in the Tern Patrol. John explains that the patrols were all named for Swedish sea birds.
After returning to the states with his family, John went on to serve in various scouting positions,
including a three-year stint as scoutmaster of Troop 358 at Zionsville’s St. Alphonsius Roman Catholic Church. (He introduced Troop 358 to Halliburton Scout Reserve, which has become a biannual tradition for the troop.) He has served the past year or so as the Scout Roundtable Commissioner. For Wood Badge Course #C6-160-15-2, he served admirably on staff. As a result the Wood Badge song had an added verse for his Tern Patrol.
Most importantly, John has passed his passion on to his sons. His son Jesper passed his Eagle Board of Review on December 9, 2015! Congratulations to Jesper, his family, and his proud papa, our new District Chair John Wiebke.
In his professional life, John is the Controller at Baker Hill, formerly of Experian.
CAC North Star Unofficial Website 
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