I had a great time at Pow Wow leading the Ceremonies session for Cub Scout leaders today.  I could see that you were all catching the spirit and I had some good discussions with some of you afterward.  I look forward to hearing how you have brought this back to your units.  I have attached all of the ceremonies that were presented today along with some others that we didn't have time for.  Feel free to modify these to suit your needs. 

I failed to mention a couple of ceremonies that I have seen on the internet that have officially been banned by the Boy Scouts of America.  One involved turning the boy upside down to pin his rank award on and the other involves soaking a neckerchief in a water & liquid fuel mixture and igniting it.  Please avoid doing these.

Tim

DALLAS, Texas—September 7, 2011)—Scouts will be able to add a new patch to their merit badge sash—a patch for playing a game. However, it’s a game that requires critical thinking skills, deep concentration, and abstract reasoning. The Boy Scouts of America will introduce the Chess merit badge in September, encouraging Scouts to enjoy an ancient game while acquiring life skills necessary for today.

Requirements for achieving the Chess merit badge include things such as learning scorekeeping using the algebraic system of chess notation and explaining the four rules for castling. Additionally, Scouts must teach someone else how to play chess, play in a chess tournament, or organize a competition.

“The chess community is excited about this new merit badge from the Boy Scouts of America,” stated Bill Hall, executive director of the United States Chess Federation (USCF). “We believe that chess has the potential to positively impact young people from every background.”

Full announcement from Scouting.org

Calling all SPL's and ASPL's to come on over to the Lakeshore District Roundtable at the Ridgepoint Community Church at 7:00 PM on the second Thursday of every month starting on September 8.  We will be offering this new breakout session just for the top youth leaders in your troop. We will be offering all kinds of tools, tips, and activities to help the top youth leaders be more effective leaders. Some of the items that will be covered are communications, conflict resolution, motivating scouts, strengthening patrols, utilizing the patrol methods and the importance of it, meeting planning skills, and much more. All this will be done in a hands on manner with activities and role playing and most of all it will be

FUN and EXCITING!!

The last half hour or so of all sessions will be an open roundtable discussion.

So come and join us on September 8, 2011 at 7:00 PM

Ridgepoint Community Church - 340 104th Ave. Holland, MI

If your troop is using Troopmaster you should be *very* careful with the latest update that is available (v4.04).  Several users in the Troopmaster User Group are reporting issues with corruption in the database.  This appears to happen when one user updates to the new version but others don't.  When new versions come out you should do a "coordinated update" where all users update their Troopmaster installation.  First make a backup of the database in case the update goes badly, then all users update, then verify that there are no problems.  If there are you can always revert to your backup.

If you have already run into problems, contact Troopmaster for a fix.

Write a one-page report titled “The Best Book I Read This Year” and enter it in the Boys’ Life 2011 “Say Yes to Reading!” contest.

The book can be fiction or nonfiction. But the report has to be in your own words — 500 words tops.

First-place winners in each age category will receive a $100 gift certificate good for any product in the Boy Scouts official retail catalog. Second-place winners will receive a $75 gift certificate, and third-place winners a $50 certificate.  All participants will receive a patch.

More Details are available on the Boys' Life website.

Are you and your Scouts tired of the same old outings in the same locations?

Have you found a really great place to have an outing?

How many times have you been at Roundtable and someone talks about an outing they really enjoyed, but there was not enough time to get the details?

With the assistance of Tim Logan and Lakeshoredistrict.com we have created a place to share outing ideas. I am very excited about this new way for us all to share our outing experiences and ideas!

Do you have trail maps that you keep losing? Important notes from your last outing? In addition to the main outing information, there is an option to upload additional files. So you can scan and save the files on the site for yourself and others to use.

Check out the “Outings Ideas” page.

Any one can view the outings, if you are a registered user, you can also create your own outing page, as well as add comments to existing pages! (Registration is quick and easy!) 

If you are not comfortable with completing your own outing idea page, you can also fill out the attached “Outing Idea Template” file attached and send it ( along with a picture if possible ) to

YIS
( Almost done with my tickets . . )

Nick Hahn
C-17-09 Buffalo
Scoutmaster, Troop 157
email:

Samual Gardner, an Eagle Scout from Michigan, has set out on what he calls "The All-In Trek" that will include through hikes of the North Country Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and finally the Appalachian Trail.  He plans to hike the trails one right after another and hopes to complete this incredible task in 1 year but states that he will continue the trek even if it takes longer than that.

Sam is keeping an online journal chronicling his journeys at his website http://www.theinitiativesite.com.

The following Board Resolution was passed during the recent National Executive Board and Committee Meetings in Washington DC:

WHEREAS, the current age and grade eligibility requirements for participation in the Venturing program is 14 years of age and completion of the eighth grade, and
 
WHEREAS, the Program Content Committee has recommended that, effective May 1, 2010, the age requirement be changed to 13 years of age and completion of the eighth grade;
 
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Article VII, Section 2, Clause 2 (a) of the BSA Rules and Regulations be, and hereby is, amended to read as follows:
  Venturer- Be 13 years of age and have completed the eighth grade, or be 14 years of age or older, and not yet 21 years of age.

Need a Christmas gift for Boy Scout or Scoutmaster? The DVD is out. I don't know what stores would carry it but I know it's available from Amazon and also from the movie website.

Looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for your water-loving Boy Scout? Here's one: the Scuba Diving merit badge pamphlet, hot off the presses.

The merit badge, the first new one in three years, will officially be released on Dec. 1 when it will be available in Scout Shops and online at scoutstuff.org. It's the result of a newly announced partnership between the BSA and PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. Officials at the BSA determined that 84 percent of Scouts were interested in the merit badge, and so it was fast-tracked for adoption.

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