Bill's Blog |
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| 8/31/2009 - Bills Blog-MAGIC | |
TO: Fellow Scouters FROM: Bill Garrett
I just got back from a 3 day conference in Detroit, Michigan called Top Hands. Each year, scout executives and regional and national staff gather to chart the course for our future and to update everyone on new happenings.
During the conference, we were treated to a presentation by a magician/comedian/motivational speaker. It was one of the best presentations I’ve seen. One comment really stuck with me –ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. What does it take to accomplish ANYTHING? MAGIC, of course. M=Momentum, A=Attitude, G=Goals, I=Imagination, and C=Care……………….. More later!
National Scouting News
In case you haven’t heard, the National Boy Scout Council is in the process of closing purchase on nearly 14,000 acres of land adjacent to the New River Gorge in West Virginia for use as a new high adventure base and camping center. Since I have spent countless days hiking, rafting, climbing/rappelling, fishing and spelunking in the same area (believe it or not, even I have done those things!), I know our Scouts are in for an MAGICAL experience. This past week, I also had the pleasure of hearing about the first major donor for the new facility. Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. of the Bechtel Corporation has made a gift of $50 million to help make this dream a reality. Even in times of economic uncertainty, ANYTHING is POSSIBLE!
Bill Gates also attended our recent conference. Bill Gates, Sr., that is. He is the co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He help us launch the Nothing But Nets Campaign. Through this partnership, Scouts will help build awareness about malaria and malaria prevention by conducting service projects, such as removing standing water in parks—a breeding ground for mosquitoes—and creating educational tools and activities that illustrate the impact of malaria on the global community. By doing some of the activities in the BSA/Nothing But Nets toolkit, Scouts can work toward earning the “A Year of Celebration, A Century of Making a Difference,” Service award. A Year of Celebration is one of our core programs for our 100th Anniversary Celebration.
We also just announced plans to partner with the National Safety Council to promote programs for addressing problems of distracted driving, encouraging first aid/CPR training, and developing driver training programs for teens and parents.
These are great things that our National Organization is doing to support our local councils.....and to increase the awareness of Scouting.
Fall Marketing
In addition to flyers, yard signs and boy talks, we are working with the local media to air Words to Live By ads. Right now, we are in the process of targeting the timeslots that will benefit our campaign. In addition, I just learned that CBS has agreed to air the new Words to Live By PSAs on the entire their national network. They will try to start airing our PSAs with the September rotation. I’m sure this will help our fall recruitment campaigns.
Membership
I’ve talked a lot about membership over the past several blogs. For now, I’ll just say…..please do everything you can to help us deliver the Scouting MAGIC to every youth in our territory…….they deserve it!
Alumni Connection
In my travels, and during my conversations with unit, district, and council leaders, the number one issue I hear is that we need more volunteers. I couldn’t agree more. Wouldn’t it be great if people called us to ask… “how can I help?” Our newest project will do just that. Through www.bsaalumni.org past Scouts, Scouters, and parents can reconnect to Scouting by submitting their contact information. To date, we have 10 submissions and that’s without any publicity! In the next few weeks, we will advertise this website through letters to the editors, placement on our advertising, and will produce business cards for our current volunteers and staff to give to alumni when they find one. There is a link on our website already. In the meantime, if you have the opportunity to meet a Scouting alum, please give them the website www.bsaalumni.org and encourage them to reconnect to the MAGIC of Scouting.
Council Scout Shop
From uniforms and handbooks to “sporks” and walking sticks, our council’s Scout Shop is stocked and ready for the influx of new Scouts this fall.
In the past, we have not sold left over items from our camp trading posts. However, this year we have a full assortment of “camp branded” t-shirts, mugs, water bottles, fleece pullovers, and jackets. The make great holiday presents!
If you have a Scout and would like to order the essentials electronically, please visit our website at http://www.scoutingcny.org/RTC_Scout_Store.cfm . We have a Cub Scout Uniform order form posted so you can download, fill in your order, save it and email directly to Dave at the Scout Shop. You can either pay a modest shipping charge to have your order shipped or we can hold it at the store for you. We are also working on designing a Boy Scout form and a camp item form. Look for updates soon!
We also have copies of the new Boy Scout Handbook available.
Remember, when you shop at the council store, you support the programs of YOUR local council.
Website Updates
We’ve heard your comments and have made a few changes to the site. The calendar page now offers two files to download and print-a .pdf file and an Excel spreadsheet. If you use Outlook as your calendar, you can download and save the excel file and then import to Outlook. Here’s a link to the page…. http://www.scoutingcny.org/cal.cfm .
On the front page of the web, we have placed information on the 100th Anniversary CSP Design Contest. Please refer to http://www.scoutingcny.org/userfiles/file/patch%20(2).pdf for more information. I hope your Scouts get involved! First prize is $500!
Finally, we have information on earning the 100th Anniversary patch at http://www.scoutingcny.org/userfiles/file/BSA_Year_Patch_Earning.pdf .
If you are interested in helping us maintain and update the site, you can attend our first training scheduled for 1pm on September 9th at the Scout Service Center. We will also be scheduling an evening training, in the near future, to accommodate schedules. More information to follow.
Program Night
On September 15th we will hold our first Program Night at Our Lady of the Rosary at1736 Burrstone Rd in New Hartford, NY 13413 at 7pm. In addition to our program committees, we would request that District Chairmen, District Commissioners, and council Vice-Presidents attend for a separate breakout on operations. We will send more information soon!
Yours in Scouting,
Bill Garrett
Scout Executive & CEO
Boy Scouts of America
Revolutionary Trails Council
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