Dear Advisors and Crew Committee Chairs:
This is
your monthly e-bulletin to all top Crew leaders in the Golden Arrow
District. Please delete or edit items not relevant to your Crew, then
forward to all your volunteers.
***If
your current Adviser / Committee Chair are not receiving this email and
passing it on to you. Please send me full contact information and Crew #
for the missing person(s). Thanks!
***
*** To add
a new recipient, please send me full contact information, volunteer
position, and Crew #. ***
***
Please check
that we have your Crew leadership info correctly listed on the Golden Arrow
web site at
http://www.goldenarrow.org/venture-units.html contact
James Cauble with updates***
*** Please
forward the EVENTS
AND
OPPORTUNITIES Section on to your Crew Officers ***
*** This
plus the last two months of this e-bulletin can be found on http://www.goldenarrow.org/news.html
**********
ROUNDTABLE, DISTRICT,
AND
COUNCIL MESSAGES **********
1) MAY
ROUNDTABLE:
This is it,
Program Preview! Roundtable is Thursday May 1 at
7:30 p.m.
sharp. If you only go to one Roundtable a year, let this
be the one. The 2008-2009 calendar is ready for your
pick-up, along with handouts and flyers for a number of upcoming activities,
along with informational displays on various Venturing topics.
The point is that with these materials, you can best take advantage
of the opportunities provided for you. Plan your CREW activities on dates
that the DISTRICT and the COUNCIL have not already filled for you. Twice the
fun, half the work! Every Advisor, Committee Chair,
and any adults involved in planning should be there to pick up flyers, hear
the presentations, ask questions, and get a calendar.
Venturing Roundtables for the Golden Arrow District have been discontinued
until a new Venturing Roundtable Commissioner is found, see Item 2. If
interested in the position, contact contact Jeff Hutchinson (see below for
contact information) or Farrell Gerbode,
farrell@alumni.rice.edu.
2)
FRIENDS OF SCOUTING FAMILY CAMPAIGN 2008: If
your FOS Chair is holding pledges, please turn them in at Roundtable to get
them logged in and credited. The Council holds its FOS "victory celebration"
in the third week of May, so it is time to wrap it up.
If you would like to pledge electronically right now, click here:
www.shac.org/familyfos
3) TOP
LEADERSHIP CHANGES: If you become the Committee Chair or Advisor, you MUST
turn in a properly filled out and signed
NEW
adult leader application to the Scout Office. Until this happens, the old
volunteer remains as the leader of record. No form = no
official change.
4) SILVER BEAVER NOMINATIONS: The prestigious Silver Beaver Award nomination
deadline is May 31st. The Silver Beaver Award is presented for
outstanding service to youth within the Council or for outstanding longtime
service to youth by a registered Scouter residing within that Council. A
typical tenure for Silver Beaver candidates is ~ ten years or longer.
Download a nomination form here:
http://samhoustonbsa.org/Home/Events/AnnualRecognitionDinne/
5)
TEXAS
YOUTH
CAMP
SAFETY ACT: Please note that if you (an adult over age 18) are attending a
Youth Camp in the State of
Texas,
you must follow specific procedures to be in compliance with State Law.
http://www.samhoustonbsa.org/Home/Camping/YouthCampCompliancePro/
6)
EAGLE APPLICATION CHANGE:
Effective May 1, requirement #5 has changed. After this date be sure you are
using the updated form. Contact for questions:
geno.aguilar@shac.org
********** ADULT
TRAINING ********
7) ONLINE
WATER SAFETY TRAINING: Click here to take Safe Swim Defense and Safety
Afloat: http://www.scouting.org/pubs/aquatics/index2.html
8)
NEW
LEADER ESSENTIALS: This first module, which is for all
volunteers in any role, will next be offered twice in the next month. You
can take this on Saturday May 3, during the first two hours of Cub
leader training starting at
8 a.m.
The location is on the campus of
Houston
Baptist
University,
7502 Fondren immediately south of US 59, in Atwood II room 214. Contact
Mary Farley
281-649-3349
or mfarley@hbu.edu Click here: http://www.goldenarrow.org/training/adult-pack.html.
9)
VENTURING LEADER SPECIFIC TRAINING: Adults who wish to be Associate Advisers
or Advisors should sign up for Venturing Leader Specific Training.
Out of district, there is a course on
Saturday 17 May 2008
in the Polaris District, contact Cindy King at polarisbsa.org. The next
opportunity for this in Golden Arrow is on
Saturday
6 September
2008
location to be determined. Please contact Kelia Ballou
at kelia@Ballou.cx or
713-661-1309
(H) before
1 September
if you plan to attend. A minimum of 5 people are needed
for the course to happen.
Requested donation for the training is $7 (due at the training), which
covers training materials and lunch. For those trainees who have not taken
the New Leader Essentials training, an NLE will be offered immediately
before the VLST (i.e., at
7:30 am).
NLE is required along with VLST for one to be considered a trained Venturing
adult.
To
complete your registration please arrive at least 15 minutes before the
training (7:15
am
or
8:45 am)
that you will be taking. To pre-register or for more information please
contact Kelia Ballou (713-661-1309 or keliascout@ballou.cx).
10) WOOD
BADGE: Wood Badge is a mentally-intense 6-day leadership course designed for
all adult Scouters. It is hoped that every Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity
Scout, and Venturing leader, as well as Council and District leaders and
professionals, will take it to help you focus on your responsibilities,
identify a goal, help you work toward that goal -- and give you the personal
tools to reach it. Upcoming classes in 2008 include:
·
SR-921 September 26-28 &
October
10-12, 2008
(begins Friday at
7:30 AM,
ends Sunday at
5:00 PM)
·
SR-922
October 9-11 &
November
13-15, 2008
(begins Thursday at
7:30 AM,
ends Saturday at
5:00 PM)
For more
information and applications go to: http://www.shac.org/Home/Training/WoodBadge/
11) POWDER
HORN: Powder Horn will happen over three 2 day weekends;
21/22 March 2009, 4/5 April 2009 and 2/3
May 2009.
The first session will be at El Rancho Cima and we’ll have people
there starting Friday afternoon 20 March to let those in to a camp site.
The other two weekends will be at different, closer to home camps.
More information to follow, stay tuned. Bill Berry our course
director can be contacted at
scoutmaster@SR637.org if you’d like to join before the rush.
You also
might consider a course at Bear Creek Scout Reservation (near
Kerrville),
Sept. 19-21 and October 3-5. More info is
available at <http://www.alamopowderhorn.org/>
You can register online at <http://www.alamopowderhorn.org/register.php>
12) CANOE
TRAINING: Prepare for adventure safely by training all your adult volunteers
with these classes:
http://www.samhoustonbsa.org/Home/Camping/Activities/CanoeProgram/
************ EVENTS
AND
OPPORTUNITIES **********
13)
CAMP
HAMMAN
SUMMER
JOB
OPPORTUNITY:
Camp
Hamman
is looking for staff this summer. Needed: Back Packers,
Canoeing Guides,Rock Climbers. (we will train, you just need to have the
dizzier) Minimum: age 18 Camp
Hamman is by Tarpley, near Bandera
Texas.
Room and board are provided. Dates for Camp: June 1 to
July 26 Salary: Starting $225 per week
If
interested and you want more information, contact Steve Stolzer at
hamman@hctc.net
**********
HIGH ADVENTURE OPPORTUNITIES **********
14)
PHILMONT FOR ADULTS: Philmont is open to adults only
during the September through November for hikes (Autumn Adventure).
Need 7 to 12 adults. For more information talk to
John Curry and/or go to website:
www.scouting.org/philmont/camping/season/autumn.html
15)
INTERNATIONAL SCOUTING OPPORTUNITIES: Germany – Bavarian Jamboree
2008 – August 1-10, 2008 – Take a troop, patrol or crew (coed allowed)
for a Jamboree near Schwangau, Germany (It will be in a valley below the
famous castle of Neuschwanstein - Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland) –
Age limit 11+, 800 German Scouts and Guides from Bavaria and the rest of the
world. Participation Fee — $200.00 (includes meals, program) flight to
Munich,
Germany
>$1,000.00…. Total Cost — $1500.00. www.spuren2008.de
<http://www.spuren2008.de/>
If you would like more information contact Dan Ownby at
713-256-3019
**********
IN CLOSING **********
16) You
can contact your Golden Arrow District staff by email:
Jeff Hutchinson, District Director (jeff.hutchinson@shac.org) or
713-756-3337
Shannon Harlan, District Executive (shannon.harlan@shac.org) or
713-756-3338
The new
mailing address for the Scout Office is
P.O. Box 924528, Houston TX
77292
17)
Thanks to our dedicated webmaster James Cauble, our Golden Arrow
District website has a wealth of information: www.goldenarrow.org
Mike
Fitzgibbons - Golden Arrow District Crew e-bulletin Editor – with material
supplied from the GAD Troop e-bulletin, Claudia Hackbarth Editor
"The information presented here is not
an official document of the Boy Scouts of America, but is solely
my volunteer work and responsibility."