December 2009 January 2010

4-5 – Kodiak Venture Training at Camp Belzer 1 – New Year’s Day, Scout Offices/Shops closed

5 – Take Order Popcorn Pickup at DMI 8-11am 4 – Cub Scout Camp Sign-ups open

7 – Governor’s Lunch for Scouting, Indy, 12-1:15 4 – District Committee Meeting at Scout Office, 5:30pm

10 – District Commissioner at Ivy Tech, 6:30pm 14 – District Commissioner Meeting at Red Wing, 6:30pm

10 – Cub Scout Roundtable at Ivy Tech, 7pm 14 – Cub Scout Roundtable at Red Wing, 7pm

10 – Boy Scout Roundtable at Ivy Tech, 7pm 14 – Boy Scout Roundtable at Red Wing, 7pm

10 – Post Recharters DUE!! 14 – Recharter Training at Roundtable

12 – Scout Night with the Indiana Ice 18 – MLK Jr Day, Scout Office/Shops closed

18 – Final Popcorn Payments Due 23 – University of Scouting , Warren Central HS

24-25 – Christmas, Scout Offices/Shops closed 29-31 – Winter Camporee

28-30 – All Scout Shops closed for inventory 30 – Monster Truck Jam

31 – New Year’s Eve

February 2010

5 – Scouts in Government Day

5 – GE Recognition Dinner

7 – Scout Sunday

Action Scout Patch Final.jpg

100^th Anniversary of Scouting

Crossroads of America Council, BSA

2010 Silver Beaver Award Recipients

“...For distinguished service to youth in the area served by a

local Boy Scout Council.”

Golden Eagle District

Jay Pugsley

Jay will be presented his award at University of Scouting on January 23, 2010. And, the Golden Eagle District Recognition Dinner, Friday, February 5

Voyageur Training

As this is being written, the first snowflake has not yet fallen, but it is never too early to plan start planning that high adventure canoe trip. Qualified leaders are needed for every outing. The Voyageur canoe training, for adults, Spring Class will be held the weekends of April 24-25 and May 1-2, 2010 at Camp Belzer . The Fall Class will be September 11-12 & 18-19, 20010. Learn to safely prepare for and lead canoe outings, including high adventure outings. New this year is Paddle Craft Safety (Canoe) which will be required in the near future for canoeing trips. Also taught are Safety Afloat and Safe Swim Defense which are now required. Return for one additional day as part of the training staff and earn the Instructor Arc, which authorizes you to rent Voyageur equipment for unit training and activities. All meals, PFD’s, paddles, and canoes are provided in the fee of $79.00. Bring your own tents and camping gear for Saturday night. If you are already Voyageur trained, a test-out option is being developed to become Paddle Craft Safety (Canoe) certified. This will be a one day program involving on water and written tests. Dates for this option are May 1 and September 18, 2010 at a cost $15.00. Registration forms can be found at the Scout Office and online.

Jon Fischer, Voyageur Staff, jefischer@iquest.net, 765-215-4276

DISTRICT EXECUTIVE Megan Luecke

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 role 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 2^nd year Webelos! If there are any questions concerning Webelos transition, please feel free to give Matt Gossage a call at 765-760-4092 or Leslie Anderson or Megan Boots at the Scout Office at 765-288-0223.

Family Friends of Scouting 2010!

Can you believe it is that time of year already?! The annual Friends of Scouting Campaign is starting up 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 Keith Heckman at 765-468-6805 or turtle.310@hotmail.com. Thank you!

Fall Open Houses/First Nighters

Has your Troop, Team, Crew or Post scheduled their Fall Open House or First Nighter? Fall is right around the corner! Please set a date for your Fall Open House/ First Nighter now and get it on our calendar. Set your date ASAP please and let the office know! If you have questions about setting a date or have already set one please contact Garry Reece (Boy Scouts) at 765-284-4913, Bill Wesley (Venturing) at 765-284-2698, JB Bilbrey (Exploring) at 765-289-2705 or Leslie Anderson or Megan Boots at the Scout Office at 765-288-0223.

Annual District Leader Recognition Dinner

The Annual District Leader Recognition Dinner will be held on Friday, February 5, 2010 at St. Mary’s Noll Hall. This is a wonderful time to thank all of the leaders for their hard work over the course of the year. Please nominate fellow Scout leaders for awards to be given out that night, there will be many volunteers recognized for their service, but only if you nominate them. Nomination forms are available in the Muncie Scout Office or electronically by contact Megan or Leslie. If you have questions, please contact Megan Boots or Leslie Anderson at the Scout Office at 765-288-0223. More information and reservation form will follow soon. Nomination forms are due by January 25, 2010 .

Scouts in Government Day

Scouts in Government Day will take place on Friday, February 5, 2010 . Please be thinking about Scouts who could be nominated to attend. Nomination forms and more information will be available soon. If you would like to help coordinate this please contact Megan Boots or Leslie Anderson at the Scout Office at 765-288-0223.

DISTRICT CAMPING CHAIR Joseph Railey

Unit Leaders,

For those of you that do not know me, my name is Joseph Railey and I am the Camping Chair for Golden Eagle District. My job in the district is to provide each unit with assistance in planning and getting your boys excited for summer camp. Every year, thousands of boys experience something at camp that changes their lives, makes them want to stay in scouting, or inspire them to help others. The council highly values these experiences that happen at camp, and for that reason want attending summer camp to be a priority in every unit. For this reason my committee and I are very excited about helping each of you in planning for your time at Summer camp.

By this time you should have all received a summer camp promotion packet (if not there is one for each unit available at the Muncie Scout Office). These packets have a lot of great information in them including: the dates of all council summer camps, planning information, payment schedules, Workership forms (scholarship program to help boys attend camp), unit leader guides, promotional DVDs, health form, staff applications, Firecrafter lone troop request forms, and many other forms. These packets are invaluable resources in planning for camp. In the next week each unit leader should be receiving a call from me, or a member of the district camping committee. Every person on this committee has seen the benefits of camp and is very excited about helping you plan for camp. The committee members will even come to your units to promote to your boys the fun that they can have at camp!!

For those of you who are new to your positions or your units have not attended camp in the past, I would like to briefly tell you about each of the council camps and programs.

For Boy scouts the council offers long-term camping (one week sessions) at Camp Ransburg , in Bloomington , IN , and at Camp Krietenstein , near Terre Haute , IN. We also offer the Dan Beard and Baden Powell day camp programs at Belzer.

Camp Ransburg is the largest property in the council and constantly ranks as one of the top Boy Scout camps in the nation. Ransburg averages around 500 scouts a week and provides over 50 merit badges in skills such as scoutcraft, aquatics, handicraft, shooting sports and ecology. Ransburg also has a horse corral, C.O.P.E and Climbing course, rank advancement classes and the Firecrafter program. Ransburg is better suited for older boys because of its size and the nature of some of its programs.

Camp Krietenstein is a much smaller alternative to Ransburg. Krietenstein usually averages about 150 scouts in a session. Krietenstin offers the same programs as Ransburg with the exception of C.O.P.E. and Climbing and the horse coral. Kritenstein is best suited for younger first time campers because of the smaller size of the camp. Krietenstein also has a smaller staff to camper ratio than Ransburg.

Both Dan Beard and Baden Powell day camps are held at Camp Belzer , in Indianapolis . Both of these programs are designed as supplements to the longer programs offered at Ransburg and Kritenstein. Each of these are merit badge and rank advancement based camps and are very good for young first year scouts.

The council also offers many high adventure trips for older boys. This coming summer we have a contingent going to the National Scout Jamboree in Virginia , Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron , New Mexico , and Hawaii . Troops are also encouraged to do their own high adventure trips (and report them to the council).

Finally for the youth leaders in your units, the Council offers 2, one weeklong sessions, of White Stag NYLT at Camp Redwing in Muncie . White Stag is the National Youth Leader Training program and speaking from experience, is a quality program that troop leaders should attend. There is both a June and July course offered for this training.

For Cub Scouts the council offers Webelos Adventure Camp at Camp Kikthawenund ( Camp K ) near Anderson , IN. The council also offers day camp at Camp K and Belzer. And, the district offers a Day Camp at Camp Redwing .

Webelos Adventure Camp is a three day camp that is similar to the Boy Scout programs at Ransburg and Kritenstein. At camp first and second year Webelos will earn requirements toward the completion of the Arrow of Light, they will also be better prepared to cross over into Boy Scouts after a summer at camp.

Day camp is open to both Webelos and other Cubs (tiger, wolf, bear). Each day camp offers a similar program with different activities for each age group. The activities concentrate on the requirements for different skill awards and the next scout rank. After a week at camp cubs usually have earned at least one award.

As you can see the council offers many options for summer camp. If your unit has never attended a camp before then there is no better time to go. There is no greater way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of scouting then by a trip to summer camp. It is my hope that every unit will be able to attend camp this year and I am willing to help out however necessary to help each of you attend camp. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 765-744-0151 or jreaglescout07@gmail.com. I look forward to helping all of you in getting ready for a great summer at camp!

Yours in Scouting,
Joseph Railey
Camping Chair

Golden Eagle District

CAMP RED WING COMMITTEE CHAIR Mike Dowd

Spring Do-It To-It Workday is Saturday, April 17.

9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Fall Do It To It Workday is Saturday, October 16.

Boy Scout Roundtable Chair Ginnie Jennings

The Dec Roundtable will be on the 10 at Ivy Tech 7pm . This is very special one come and bring a finger food and we will give you the info for 100th Scouting year everyone needs to come and you will not leave empty-handed.

Jan Roundtable, will be at Redwing 7pm on the 14 This one will be GREAT Scouting 100th Birthday Kick off with a Birthday Cake and something we ate 100 years ago. Come Dec 10 and find out (Special Contest)