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Golden
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DATES & PLACES: April
May 4 – District Pinewood 5 – OA Chapter 1 – Boy Scout camp early bird due 6 – District committee meeting 1-3 – Spring Camporee 9 – Commissioner Staff meeting 3 – OA Chapter 9 – Cub & Boy Scout Roundtable 4 – District Committee meeting 9 – Program Planning Training 10 – Happy Mother’s Day! 10 – Good Friday, Scout Office Closed 14 – District Commissioner meeting 12 – Happy Easter! 14 – Cub & Boy Scout Roundtable 25 – Circuit of Fun NHRA Lucas Oil Race 17 – Circuit of Fun Indians Baseball and Tiger Graduation 21 –
Council Coordinated Meeting
23 – 500 Festival Parade 17 – Cub & Webelos Camps early bird due
25 – 18 – Do-It-To-It @ 23 – FOS Report 28 – FOS Report Rally
Golden Eagle District Western
Rodeo Camporee
2009
Golden Eagle District Spring Camporee Leadership District Chair – Pete Walters –
peter.j.walters@saint-gobain.com District Vice-Chair – Greg Wessel
– gmwessel@hotmail.com Commissioner – Executive – Megan Boots – mboots@crossroadsbsa.org Director – DISTRICT
EXECUTIVE Spring
Camporee Be sure
to attend the Golden Eagle Spring Camporee the weekend of May 1-3.
Plan to attend that weekend for all of the excitement.
Thanks to Family
Friends of Scouting 2009!
Can you
believe it is that time of year already?! The annual Friends of Scouting
Campaign is under way now! The Family portion of the campaign plays a very
vital part in the overall success of the campaign, and keeps Scouting alive
and well in Golden Eagle! Please
schedule a presentation as soon as possible.
To get your presentation on the calendar please contact Webelos
Transition Cub Scout packs should be crossing over their second year Webelos into Boy Scout Troops. There are far too many Cub Scouts lost in this transition. Scout masters, make it a goal to talk personally to every Webelo and their parents to see just what their intentions are after Cub Scouting, and invite them to join your Troop! Now is the time for Scoutmasters to be communicating with Cub Packs about crossovers! Cub Leaders can also play a roll by encouraging their boys and parents to give Boy Scouting a try. The best relationship is one that lasts all year with joint activities over a long period of time to form a familiarity with the Boy Scout troop that the boys will move into. Earn the F.O. Belzer Award by crossing over 75% of the 2nd year Webelos! If there are any questions concerning Webelos transition. f there
are any questions concerning Webelos transition, please feel free to call Matt
Gossage Day Camp and Summer Camp Calling all Packs, Troops
and Crews in the District! It is that time of year to start thinking about
Summer Camp! All Cub Scouts are invited to attend Red Wing Day Camp from Troop 69 At our troop
meeting last night, Troop 69 Yorktown hosted a special guest - U.S. Army Major
Sean Corey. In 1987, Major Corey became the first of 48 Eagle
Scouts from Troop 69. Major Corey shared with us what scouting has
meant to him. Garry Reece was his scoutmaster then and Garry
continues to serve as the Chartered Organization representative between In Scouting! R. Brian Wolfe Scoutmaster,
Troop 69 - The
Past Visits the Present! I have been involved in Boy Scouts for over 52 years and
I still have opportunities to experience why it is important for me to
continue with that involvement. Already this year I have witnessed two of
those occasions one being when my own Son more than twenty years after he
received his Eagle award wanted to attend a troop meeting with me. Being that
he lives in Alaska none of the troops leaders or scouts of today had ever met
him so when he was asked to introduce himself and the young man with him he
stood and said; “my name is Cullen Reece this is my son Trevor and I am the
second person to receive Eagle Scout in Then yesterday afternoon I answered the phone and a young
man said, “Garry, this is Sean Corey and I’m home on a 18 day leave from
Iraq and would like to drive down to speak to the troop this evening would
that be ok?” After catching my
breath I said of course that will be ok and I reminded him where the troop now
meets and gave him the time of the meeting. Sean is a Major in the United States Army assigned to
duty at remote location in I was very excited to get to see Sean not only because of
his military service but because like several other of our scouts he has
always kept in touch with me; from time to time stopping by during his leave
on the holidays etc. But Sean this time had a need to speak to the boys who
25+ years his junior now makes up the troop. He wanted to relate to them just
how much Scouting had meant to him and to his career in the military. When Sean and his girl friend Funda arrived at the The troop was working on the climbing merit badge and
their instructor was there for his first evening’s presentation.
So we asked Sean if he could give him just a few minutes. We assured Sean that he would be able to speak to the
boys after a short period. We retired to another room so that we could talk to
him while we were waiting. He began to relate to us what an impact of being in
a high adventure Boy Scout troop had in many ways in preparing him for the
challenges that he had been experiencing in the Army. He told us about some of
his experiences in He showed us several pieces of currency from Unfortunately or maybe not when Sean went in to talk to
the boys I was called aside to help a couple of the older Scouts prepare for a
Webelos Crossover that we were going to do for another Troop and Cub Scout
pack in near by New Castle, IN the next evening. So I was not present for the
discussion Sean had with the troop which may have been a blessing in disguise
because he could now talk with them without his old Scoutmaster being in
there. It was just as it should be for that few moments he was the mentor for
those young men that was one of theirs from the past talking to them man to
man. Garry Reece DISTRICT
COMMISSIONER Summer is just around the corner! Finally, after what seems like a very long winter, camping season is almost here. Now that re-chartering is done with for the year, let’s think about where we are going this summer. We want to see every unit in our district attend some type of summer camp program. For most of you this will mean attending one of the structured summer camp programs that our council provides over the course of the summer. But if you do your own summer camp program please make sure to report it to the scout office. This is a very important part of scouting and one that all the boys enjoy. They get to do things at camp that some of them won’t do any other way, and scout camps are affordable. Early Bird fees are due in before April 17th for packs, and by May 8th for troops. That is additional cash in your pockets, so plan ahead and pay your entire fees early to take advantage. Things you should
be doing now: 1. Summer cam planning 2. Get all adult leaders trained for their positions!!!!! 3. Budget planning for the upcoming year 4. Program planning for the upcoming year 5. Unit spring membership inventory; we are encouraging units, especially packs, to do an adult leader inventory this spring to make your fall recruitment campaign a success. If you can go into the next school year knowing what spots you need to fill it should make your jobs all easier! 6. Encourage potential members to “visit” with you on summertime events and outings. What a great way to show how much fun you have, and they can have if they join your unit. New Quality Unit
Standards Our council has decided to make our own quality unit standards for this year. I want to thank every unit that filled out the quality unit forms and turned them in with the recharters this spring – wow, more than I have ever seen!! We can use that information for quality unit qualification, but we will also use the new council standards as well. These are “paperless”, although you can print them as you like for reference, and mainly look at the same things. We tried hard to make it much more individualized and less bound to numbers than the national standards. We found that many times, for whatever reason, the numbers in Scout-net frequently are not correct. This does skew the numbers and percentages generated for the quality unit award. Accordingly, we decided to take a more granular approach and not use simple numbers, but allow for each unit to work on their own needs. There are some new things to note; each pack and troop should have a Webelos to Scout coordinator in their unit, and each unit should absolutely strive to have every registered adult trained for their position in the unit. Most important are the direct contact leaders (Den Leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Asst. SM, Coach or Asst., Advisor or assistant, etc.), but even committee members should be trained. Your program will be much better for the time spent. New Leader Essentials has been replaced by This Is Scouting, and it is well worth the time spent to take this training. This one is available online too. Be sure that if you do take a training online, at the end when you are presented with the card to print please make sure you take a copy in to the scout office so we can verify that it did go into Scout Net and you get credited with the training. The new goals are shown here at the end of this article. Please read them and start planning on how your unit can benefit from doing the listed things. Please don’t hesitate to call commissioner staff if you have any questions at all. We will be happy to help. One last thing, a “So Long and Good Luck” to one of
our commissioners. Bill Hoffert
has been an extremely active commissioner for our district for the past three
years. Last week he left this area
to pursue a new job in Yours
in Scouting Golden
Eagle District Commissioner (765)282-4759,
(c) (765) 730-1549 Crossroads
of 2009
Quality Unit Goals Membership:
Design
and implement innovative and effective year-round activities to maintain or
grow unit membership. Specific emphasis should be given to Cub Scouts and
Webelos in grades 4 through 6 in order to retain them in the Scouting
movement. Retention Packs:
In addition to ongoing activities to retain youth in packs, plan and implement
activities to reach “forward’ to troops to maximize opportunities for Cubs
to continue their Scouting experience at the troop level. Troops/Crews:
In addition to ongoing activities to retain youth in troops and crews, plan
and implement activities that reach “back” to Packs to maximize
opportunities for Cubs to continue their Scouting experience at the troop
level and “into”
Troops to maximize opportunities for Scouts to continue their Scouting
experience at the crew level. All
Units: Appoint and maintain a year-round
Webelos-to-Scout transition coordinator. Recruiting All
Units: 1. Through collaboration with
Council professional staff, strengthen relationships with local schools, clubs
and organizations in order to improve access to youth. 2.Conduct effective recruiting
activities tailored specifically to the needs of your local community in order
to recruit new youth and adult leadership. Troops:
Through collaboration with other troops and crews in your area, partner with
adjacent Packs with a specific focus on Webelos and their parents, to create a
focused, integrated approach to raising the awareness of the potential of the
Boy Scout program. Crews:
Through collaboration with other troops and crews in your area, partner with
adjacent Troops and Crews with a specific focus on Venture age youth and their
parents, to create a focused, integrated approach to raising the awareness of
the potential of the Venturing program. Training:
Ensure
that all unit leaders are trained for their respective positions 1. Achieve goal of 100% trained
direct contact adult leaders 2. Achieve goal of 75% trained
status of all non-direct contact adult leaders 3. Appoint and maintain a
year-round Unit Trainer Planning
and Program: All
Units: 1. Through the use of a strong
unit committee structure, create an annual calendar and program to enhance
unit health. 2. Provide opportunities for youth
to participate in regularly scheduled monthly activities including summer camp
and high adventure Packs:
75% of youth advance one rank annually Troops:
75% of eligible youth reach first class within one year of joining Crews:
Provide yearly program that makes advancement available to youth Financial
Health: 1. Through the use of a strong
unit committee structure, create and utilize an annual financial plan 2. Actively support council
fundraising initiatives including FOS and popcorn sale. DISTRICT
PROGRAM CHAIR There are several changes occurring in the GE District. I have been ask to serve as the District Program Chair. Hope to see you at the
Spring Camporee: Western
Rodeo Camporee
SCOUTING
IN THE EARLY DAYS BE PREPARED – it’s the Boy Scout Motto! During
the next issues of EQ we will be rerunning some of the valued articles that
Jack Spears submitted.
…and remember – wherever you go and
whatever you do always be a good Scout. Jack
Spears If
you have pictures or articles from the past, please send to me and we will
carry on: Jack’s Scouting in The Early Years -
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Order of the Arrow, Wahpekahmekunk Chapter -
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Order of the Arrow unit elections are wrapping up and letters to the new
Ordeal Candidates will soon be in the mail.
The Wahpekahmekunk Chapter Spring Ordeal will be held May 8-10, at Camp
Red Wing. Arrowmen are encouraged
to participate in this big event. Plenty
of help is needed to make the Ordeal a meaningful experience for the
Candidates. This is also a good
time for Arrowmen to complete their Brotherhood requirements, which are listed
in the OA Handbook. Any youth
Arrowmen wanting to be on a ceremony team should contact Dave Largent at DLLargent@Comcast.Net.
All Arrowmen must have their dues paid in order to attend.
You may pay your dues when you register at the Spring Ordeal.
Callout will be held at the Golden Eagle District Spring Camporee at
the end of the campfire. Remember
to bring your OA sash to this ceremony. The
next chapter meetings are April 5, -
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Jon Fischer, Chapter Adviser, jefischer@iquest.net,
765-215-4276 -
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2009
Monjenikyah Calendar May 2nd- Ember
Meeting @ Redwing July
10-12th- Mid-Summer Ritual @ Bear Creek August 14th-16th-
Grand Ritual @ Kikthawenund September 6th-
Ember Meeting @ Redwing September 12th-
Firecrafter Officer Training @ Belzer November
1st- Ember Meeting @ Redwing December 13th-
Ember Meeting @ Redwing *All
Dates and Locations Subject to Change Jordan Sandoe
The
Voyageur canoe training, for adults, Spring Class will be held the weekends of
April 25 & 26 and May 2 & 3, 2009 at Jon
Fischer, Voyageur Staff, jefischer@iquest.net, 765-215-4276 EAGLE’s EYE [unit-level questions, concerns, items
to donate, sell, etc.] Help Wanted:
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