Scouting for Food & Good Turn for America

Is your unit participating in Scouting for Food this week? Today, more people are going hungry in this country than at any other time in the past 25 years. The latest studies show that more than 20 million Americans, including 4 million children, go hungry at some time every month. Your participation this week will directly aid families in your community. It takes just a little time and can mean so much.

Don't forget that the time your unit spends in support of Scouting for Food is a service to the community that should be recognized by filing your unit hours in the Good Turn for America program. Good Turn for America {site} provides an avenue for councils to highlight the service that's going on now, including individual service projects and efforts conducted in partnership with organizations such as The Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, the American Heart Association, and others. Each year through 2010, the Boy Scouts of America will sponsor a national reporting day. This event will provide a platform to report service successes back to our communities. Each unit has received a registration number to use to enter your service hours. If you do not remember yours you can contact the council office to get the information.

Boeger Leadership Lodge Construction

I was at Camp Lowden this morning with Dave Savone to check on the progress on excavation. Because of the colder weather we were able to get permission to get the equipment back into camp and start digging. The excavator brought in his hammer tool to help break up the sandstone. It is expected that the digging will take a couple of days to finish. Then they can start on the footing. I uploaded the video to the Boeger Leadership Center blog.

Award Reciepients, Walneck and Rauschenberger

Congratulations are due to Chuck Walneck who was selected by the BSA to receive the Silver Buffalo. Created in 1925, the Silver Buffalo Award for distinguished service to youth is awarded to those persons who give noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth. This award is Scouting's highest commendation of the invaluable contributions that outstanding Americans make to youth. The service must be national in scope and can be independent of, or directly through, the Boy Scouts of America. The award will be presented at the National Convention in May.

Chuck joins Frank O. Lowden (1942), R. Ray Wood (2006), and Mary Anne Rounds (2007) as Blackhawk Area Council recipients of the award.

Another award recipient is Mark Rauschenburger from Wanchanagi District. Mark was awarded the Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award by the Masonic Lodge. The Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award is an honor available to members of the Masonic Lodge who act as role models and provide dedicated service to the young men in the BSA. The Award not only supports the Masonic relationship through the man who brought Scouting to America, but proclaims the integrity of the recipient who is honored by receiving the award. Mark is believed to be the first in Blackhawk Area Council to have received the award. Congratulations to Mark.

Tobin Bead Presentation

Monday night was back to Wetassa to present Wood Badge Beads. I was invited to a Court of Honor for Troop 19 in Freeport to present Rich Tobin, one of the participants in my C-23-07 Wood Badge course. Rich, the Scoutmaster for Troop 19, and Chuck Hass, the Committee Chairman, were both in the Buffalo patrol.

Scoutreach Blue & Gold

I attended the Scoutreach Blue & Gold Banquet today at the Northwest Community Center in Rockford. Thanks to the Scoutreach District Chairman, Willie Ashford, and the District Director, Everette Sherrod, and their staffs, the families of our Cub Scouts were treated to a pot luck lunch and some entertainment by the scouts. The Cub Scouts have been working very hard and many of them were awarded their Bobcat ranks today. Others received Wolf, Bear, and Webelos ranks.

Tiger Time

Today I was out staffing the Sycamore District Tiger Time event. Howard and Kathy Thorson did another great job putting on an event for about 80 Tiger Cubs. This event is limited to Tiger Cubs and each one is asked to bring their favorite stuffed animinal. They have several activities followed by a picnic lunch of hot dogs, chips and cookies. It wraps up with the Parade of Tigers where the Tiger Cubs parade around the room showing off thier stuffed animinals. It gives the Tigers an opprotunity to be and do some of the things that they may not be comfortable doing with older scouts around. Thanks again to Kathy and Howard for putting in the time and effort to organize this event.

Fireside Chats

We wrapped up our annual Fireside Chats this week with sessions at Wetassa and Sycamore Districts. Thanks to Terry Miller and Blair Piotrowski, the respective District Commissioniers, for allowing us time at their Roundtables. We always get good input as a result of these sessions.

So what happens now? Well, we take all of the comments and catagorize them by function (e.g. training, camping, etc.) and refer them to the appropriate council committee for consideration at our April meeting. Each district should have a representative, usually your district chair for the equivalent committee in the district, attending the council meetings who can relate back to your district committee the results of those meetings.

Something that I've found this year is that many of our volunteers are unfamiliar with the interaction between the council and their districts. Our annual Fireside Chats are not your only opportunity to be heard during the year. Each district has a committee that meets monthly. Each of those meetings are an opportunity to discuss concerns or suggestions as to various functions within the district which mirror the council functions. Using Membership as an example, if there is a suggestion for the council, the district membership representative, the District Vice Chair of Membership, can take that suggestion to the next Council Membership meeting for consideration. So you do not have to wait for our annual Fireside Chats to have your suggestions heard.

Leadership Breakfast and more

On Monday I attended the Leadership Breakfast in Rockford which was sponsored by Ranger District and organized by Jef Heckinger. It was a unique breakfast as we had a video link to live coverage of the Continuous Fire. Our MC for the breakfast, Executive Committee Member Jon Krause, was connect live via video link with Executive Committee Member Dr. Kris Tumilowicz who provided remote commentary during breakfast. Even thought it was breakfast we had desert consisting of cobbler that was brought over hot from the continuous fire, thanks to Troop 181. The breakfast was a success in raising some much needed funds for the council.

Following breakfast I spent the morning in Rockford meeting with a couple of our Board Members. One was Jim Boeger, the benefactor of the leadership lodge we are constructing at Camp Lowden. Jim looked good and was headed out for the afternoon. I ended up spending the rest of the morning in the Service Center, buying more needed Scout Stuff.

I ran home to change into my uniform and was back out to Rockford, actually Cherry Valley, to attend Troop 181's Court of Honor. I was there to present Wood Badge Beads to Phil Reece, a member of the Bobwhite Patrol of course C-23-07, and new staff member for the upcoming C-54-09 course. If you ever need an example of a well run troop, stop out and see Terry Nichols at Troop 181.

Wanchanagi Continuous Fire

Saturday evening I stopped by the Continuous Fire. For those of you outside Wanchanagi, the Continuous Fire is a district tradition where a fire is built that burns throughout scouting's anniversary week - the week that includes February 8th. This year the fire was lit Saturday, Feb. 7th. For the next week, 24 hours a day, troops in Wanchanagi will take eight hour shifts caring for the fire until it is extinghished next Saturday at 5:00pm. If you get a chance, stop and have hot chocolate with oru scouts who will be braving the elements over the next week. They are at the Harlem United Methodist Church, 8411 North Alpine in Machesney Park (just north of Rockford).

For more information on the Continuous Fire check out the Wanchanagi District Web Site {here}.

The 12th Point

This coming week is the scouting anniversary week. Scouting anniversary week kicks off with Scout Sunday on February 8th and concludes with Scout Sabbath on February 14th. These dates give us an opportunity to publicaly demonstrate the 12th point of the Scout Law ... a Scout is Reverant. Many units will work with the church/synagogue to set a particular service that their scouts can attend together others will have their scouts participate individually with their families. Whichever your unit does, I'd encourage you to have all scouts and scouters to attend in uniform.

Busy Scouting Weekend

The last weekend in January seems to be the annual kick-off for scouting events. From here on through the spring we have a calendar with every weekend loaded with activities and events. Three of our districts had Klondike Derbies this weekend.

My weekend was filled with scouting activities. I was at the Sycamore District Klondike Derby most of Saturday helping with the crate stacking event. There was plenty of snow for the sleds and the temperature was cold enough that it didn't get slushy.

After Klondike I stopped at the pasta dinner that Troop 131 offers following the event. With the location right next to the Klondike it makes for a very convenient place to stop and talk about the day.

Sunday was right back into activities. The Sycamore Venturers got together for climbing at North Wall in Crystal Lake. In between belays I was able to get a couple of climbs in myself. A couple being my limit.

That was followed by our regular crew meeting at the neighboring pizza place for further discussion about our summer activity.