Patuxent Post

Patuxent Web Site — http:www.bsa.net/md/patuxent January 2001

Patuxent Happenings

Four months ahead

JANUARY 2000

FEBRUARY 2000

MARCH

APRIL

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Subscribe to The Patuxent Post e-mail edition simply send an

e-mail to chris.schwartz@ieee.org with the words SUBSCRIBE PAX POST in the Subject Line.

Commissioner's Corner

Elsie Metz- District Commissioner elsiemetz@aol.com

RECHARTERING

Rechartering Update - Most of our Units have turned in their charters. A big

thank-you for those Unit people who worked so hard to get this done on time.

Hopefully, we will have the Charters back in February along with membership

cards and field sheets. Please check your field sheets when you receive them

to be sure every boy is listed. Contact your Unit Commissioner or

Elsie Metz - 301-249-7305 or elsiemetz@aol.com

Training

Feb. 10 Venturing First Aid Training

Venturing First Aid Training, 9:00am — 3:00pm. U. S. Coast Guard facility, Telegraph Rd.

An American Red Cross Standard First-Aid and CPR course will be offered. Cost is $11.Open to all registered Venturers. Contact: Cooper Wright 703-971-0044; email coopwright@aol.com

Mar. 3 Cub Leader Basic and Youth Protection Training

Cub Scout leader and Youth Protection training is scheduled March 3, at Bowie LDS, Rt. 3 & Silvan Drive. Both sessions are required to be fully trained. Youth protection training for all Scouters is offered at the beginning of the session. Preregister by emailing Ginny Formel at vfromel@aol.com. The cost is $5 for Cub Leader Training which covers all materials.

March 10-11 Venturing Wilderness First Aid Course

U. S. Coast Guard Facility on Telegraph Rd.

Pre-requisite will be current American Red Cross first-aid certification. Cost will be $90. Space is limited and rigistration will be handled on a first come, first served basis.

Contact: Cooper Wright 703-424-8469 or email: coopwright@aol.com

Mar. 17, 31 & Apr. 6 - 8 Scoutmaster Fundamentals

Scoutmastership Fundamentals (SMF) is designed to quickly turn novice scouters and troop committee members into active participants in the program, and there are some new features in the training that experienced scouters will want to see and hear about. Mark Saturdays March 17 and 31, and the weekend of April 6-8 on your calendar and plan to attend. Sign-up sheets will be available at roundtables. Contact: Bob Herman 301-498-8407

Mar. 24 University of Scouting

Purpose of the University of Scouting Program: The University of Scouting is a supplemental training opportunity for all adult volunteer Scouters in the National Capital Area Council (NCAC).

Four colleges support the program. The College of Commissioner Science is a primary vehicle for Commissioners to continually refresh and strengthen their knowledge in a concentrated, challenging, and systematic fashion. New Commissioners are provided challenging and progressive learning opportunities beyond basic training; more experienced Commissioners are offered advanced experiences with subject matter at several levels.

The College of Adventure (Varsity, Venturing and Exploring), College of Boy Scouting and College of Cub Scouting offer Unit and District Scouters enhanced training opportunities beyond Basic Leader Training. Scout Leader Training Teams will find challenges among the courses offered.

Download the complete University of Scouting course curriculum and general information at http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/training/pdfs/uos.pdf

Basic Schedule

Participant specific personal schedule to be provided at check-in.

Mar. 24 Counselor training for God and Country Program.

Nichols Bethel United Methodist Church, 1239 Murray Rd, Odenton, MD (just off Rt. 175). A special training course for counselors mentors, and other adults for the God and Country Program series. Contact: David Williams 410-672-5190
995 Christmas Lane, Gambrills, MD 21054

Mar. 31 - Apr. 1 WELOT

Webelos Leaders Outdoor Training, German Orphan Home, Upper Marlboro. A weekend course that concentrates on the outdoor-related Activity badges for leaders of Webelos Scouts. Camp out Saturday night. Contact: Stu Stern 301-464-1678 or email: stuscout@erols.com

Events

Feb. 3 Merit Badge Day

Tim Looney, jtlooney@hotmail

Communications, Family Life & Personal Management

Date: Saturday February 3, 2001

Time: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm

St. Mary of the Mills Catholic Church

The Breen Room (located below the church)

114 St. Mary's Place

Laurel, MD 20707-4098

Uniforms: Scouts should wear their uniforms

Each Scout must provide a blue card signed by his Scoutmaster.

Contact Tim Looney at jtlooney@hotmail.com or 301-805-1352 for an appointment and let him know what badges you are prepared to work on. Walk in appointments are welcomed, but scheduled appointments will be taken first. I will return your email or your call with the time of your appointment.

To earn the merit badge all of the requirements need to be completed prior to the merit badge day.

Scouts interested in starting any of the merit badges are welcomed, but need to make an appointment. Please let me know that you just starting the merit badge. Walk in appointments are welcomed, but scheduled appointments will be taken first.

MS Word Flyer www.bsa.net/md/t214/post/mbinfo.doc

Here are some helpful workbooks.

Communications www.bsa.net/md/t214/post/comm.doc

Family Life www.bsa.net/md/t214/post/famlife.doc

Personal Management www.bsa.net/md/t214/post/prsmgt.doc

Feb. 6 - Feb. 12 Scout Sunday - Scout Sabbath

REMEMBER February 6 is Scout Sunday and February 12 is Scout Sabbath THE FOUNDER'S THOUGHTS ON RELIGION AND SCOUTING

"No man is much good unless he believes in God and obeys His laws. So every Scout should have a religion....Religion seems a very simple thing: First: Love and Serve God. Second: Love and serve your neighbor." - (Scouting For Boys, 1908)

As we celebrate the 90 th Anniversary of Scouting in America, let us begin the year by acknowledging the long and important link between Scouting and the many religious institutions which sponsor and support Scouting units. We can best do this by actively participating in Scout Sunday and Scout Sabbath activities.

Our council promote worship services on both February 6 and February 12.

Jewish Scout Recognition Night, Feb. 11

Jewish Scout Recognition Night, Kemp Mill Synagogue, Kemp Mill Rd., Silver Spring, MD 5:00pm. $3 per person. Contact: Julian Tishkoff 301-424-8469

Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner

It's that time of year again for Blue and Gold Banquets planning. This is the yearly celebration to honor the success of your Pack. Your committee should be in high gear. Typical parts are the potluck dinner, inviting your commissioner and the local boyscout leader, decorations, skits, songs and awards. Sometimes this is combined with the pinewood derby or Webelos crossover.

Patuxent Spring Camporee, Apr 20-22

Spring is in the air!--at least it soon will be. And what is spring, without a district camporee? But there is no camporee, without you and me.

All poetry aside, Patuxent OA Chapter is happy to be staffing this year's Patuxent District Camporee, but we can't do it without your help. Planning is underway right now for the various activities and you are a needed and valuable part of the process. Do you have an idea you'd like to contribute? Would you like to join us on staff? Come to our next meeting to be a part of our chapter's efforts and feel free to e-mail the webmaster if you have any suggestions, comments, or questions. Also, check back here for the latest updates!

Scout Religious Retreat, Apr. 27-29

Again this year there will be separate retreat programs for Catholic and Protestant Scouts on the same weekend, at the same site. In addition, there will be many joint activities for all Scouts to share. The Religious Retreat traditionally has been a highlight of many Troop's program year.

Put it on your troop calendar, now. Bring all your Scouts. Let them camp and have fun together, and participate in either the Catholic or the Protestant Religious Program. The theme for the 2001 retreat will be "Walk with the Spirit".

The Religious Retreat will again be held on the grounds of Our Lady of Mattaponi Youth Retreat Center in Croom Maryland.

For information or advanced registration, call Don Sparlin at 301-262-5639 or Dottie Tamai at 301-773-1995

NEWS

District Nominating Committee for 2001-2002 Named

Larry Proctor Lproctor@fdic.gov

The District Nominating Committee which will recruit and recommend volunteers to function as district leadership from June 2001 through May 2002 has been selected. The committee will consist of Reed Slack (Crofton, a district member-at-large and Chair of last year's nominating committee), Glen Henderson (Laurel, a district member-at-large and unit commissioner), Susan Kelly (Berwyn Heights, Webelos Leader, Pack 202), Boyd Campbell (Bowie, president-elect for the Prince George's Country Association of Realtors), and Mayor Andrew C. Hanko, of New Carrollton. The first meeting of the nominating committee will be in late February 2001. The District Chairman, Larry Proctor, will send a letter out to unit leaders, unit committee chairs, commissioners and district committee members with detailed information about the Nominating Committee members, encouraging everyone to feel free to contact the nominating committee members with suggestions and recommendations.

Nominating commmittee members are selected from among scouters and community representatives. We try to provided a wide spectrum of people who know cubs, boy scouts, district operations, and people who are community leaders who can help us identify NEW people to get involved and help with selecting people who can contribute to Program (the scouting part), Membership (recruiting organizations to start new units) and working with schools and organizations to help recruit new members), and Finance (fund raising for Friends of Scouting and other fund raising actitivies). This group nominates someone to become District Chairman, asks people if they would be willing, if asked, to serve in a role in scouting, and then recommends people to become chairman of the various committees (Membership, Finance, Program, Vice Chairman of the District), as well as recruit volunteers to work as members of committees. Part of the process that they go through in their meetings is to evaluate the current year staff and see if 1) those people should be asked to continue, 2) if those people are available or willing to continue, and 3) if a person should be asked to do a different job.

The District's New Webpages

The Patuxent District now has webpages which are integrated into the National Capital Area website. The NCAC site was in the works for several years and finally became active in June of 2000. Until now Patuxent District has not had a 'webmaster' to maintain the district's section.

Integrated into the site are several pages. The first district page which will provide an introduction to the district and the high level contact at the Service Center (Field Director or District Executive). There will be a list of regularly scheduled meetings on this page and a list of current news articles.

Behind the first page is a calendar of events and a page of district contacts.

News articles can be submitted to me via Email and should mirror those submitted to the Patuxnet News. The same goes for calendar events. The section of district contact information is to provide a list scouters who wish to have their name, title, address, phone, and/or Email address information made available. This section is in a secure area which is password protected. To be included in this section requires an authorization form be submitted to me and to the council. I will provide password and access information to scouters want to access the web contact information page.

One of the best features of this site is that it can be maintained without transferring files (via ftp). I hope that postings will be current and if an activity is cancelled or postponed you can find out as soon as I do. At least as long as I am near a computer with WWW access!

I hope the resources on these pages will be helpful to you as we all attempt to give our best for Scouting. Please feel free to contact me, Bill Haynes (HaynesW@aol.com) or the council webmaster, Diana Medina (Dmedina@boyscouts-ncac.org).

See you soon at

http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org

Click on District Pages

Click on PatuxentBill Haynes ,301-779-1918, HaynesW@aol.com

OA News

Nick Dunten, scouternick@telocity.com

Amangamek-Wipit Lodge approved the Goshen Order of the Arrow Trail Crew Program for 2001.  This one-of-a-kind program, based out of Goshen Scout Reservation, combines the spirit of adventure with an interactive trail maintenance and wildlife conservation project in a two week experience (June 24 through July 8) for only $100 per participant.  Designed for older Order youth (aged 15 and older), the primary focus for the Goshen OA Trail Crew Program is to offer a youth leadership program with practical applications.

The GOAT Program offers an innovative leadership program that challenges older Order youth to experience, first-hand, the integration between outdoor recreation and environmental stewardship. The Trail Crew Program combines the spirit of adventure with an interactive trail maintenance program into a two week experience. This program has a three-fold purpose:

• To provide service to our Lodge and Council Camp
• To expose youth to careers in the outdoor industry
• and, To share the legacy of our Order.

Goshen Update

Nick Dunten scouternick@telocity.com

The new COPE Course should be ready this summer and Council is looking for staff. The course will be located close to the Health Lodge and is to be one of the best in the country.

Shower houses are being power cleaned, painted and refitted with all new

fixtures. All new canvas is coming and plans are being make to build

internal frames for the tents. Bids are being let for all new cots.

If your unit hasn't been to Goshen in a few years, it's time to go back. The

program is great as are the facilities. Emphasis is being placed on staff

training this year at all staff age levels so merit badge instruction should

be stronger than ever. Contact Nick Dunten (district camping chair) at 301 927-0501 or scouternick@telocity.com for answers to your questions or a short presentation at your unit meeting.

Also, visit the Goshen web site at http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/goshen/index.html.

Dick Clark dickclark2@aol.com

Friends of Scouting (F.O.S.) is support above and beyond other giving that helps support the NCAC. Contributions range from $5 to $10,000 and come from parents of Scouts, businesses, and corporations. F.O.S. dollars provide for camp maintenance, School Night to Join Scouting, membership supplies, mailings, coordination and development of activities like camporees, and day camp, program equipment, audio visual training aids, professional staff service, and much, much more.

Why Should Your Unit Support the F.O.S. Campaign?

In order to continue to provide the best Scouting program, the best activities, the best camp, the best training for leaders and the best service to our units, and all of the other things that bring a quality Scouting experience to our children, we need everyone's support! When your unit participates in the F.O.S. campaign, you will be helping to ensure a bright future for your unit and the entire Council.

How Can You Help?

This is the time when the families of Scouts have the opportunity to support the council as a part of the annual F.O.S. effort. Each unit in the district can and should participate in the 2001 F. O.S. campaign; it's as easy as 1-2-3. Here's how to do it!

1. Pick a date in January, February or March for a Friends of Scouting volunteer to come and give a short (10-12 minute) presentation. The best times are blue and gold banquets and courts of honor. Let us know your date by contacting your unit commissioner or FOS area coordinator.

2. Pick a parent or other volunteer to serve as your unit's F.O.S. chair. This person will coordinate the campaign in your unit and ensure that every family has the opportunity to support Scouting.

3. Let the parents know the date of the presentation, put it on the front end of the agenda and promote their support and participation.

Thank you for your F.O.S. contribution.

Dick Clark Family FOS Coordinator 301 352 8606