NEW! Holiday POPCORN SALE!

HOLIDAY SALE DATES: Nov. 12- December 30, 2010

• UNIT INCENTIVES:
• Commission 30%!
• Bonus Commission 5%!
• $100 Cash!
• SCOUT INCENTIVES:
• Enter Drawing for an iPad!
• Bonus Gift Card!
• Qualify for Scout Day with the Hokies!

PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE NOW for Show-N-Sell and Show-N-Deliver (contact your district executive today!)

 

EARN YOUR REWARDS BY PROMOTING "SUPPORT THE TROOPS"

ONE Military Donation Supports a Scout, a Unit, the Council AND OUR MILITARY!

 

In honor of our long-standing and special relationship with the United States Military, we are partnering with "Support our Troops" and Trail's End to show our unwavering support and appreciation for the men and women who serve this incredible nation!

 

Our goal is to send 1,000 popcorn military donation through our holiday sale to our service men and women. All we are asking you to do is support the program yourself by purchasing a military donation (online) or go out and solicit the support of your friends, family, clubs, churches or Sunday School groups to help in this great cause.

 

DETAILS:

Dates:            Nov. 12- Dec. 30 Holiday Sale

 

Goals:            Council: 1000 Military Donations

Units: $1,000 in sales will earn your unit $100 in cash, and a

          30%  commission, PLUS another 5% commission if your unit 

          qualified for the bonus commission during the main sale, and must

          meet the deadlines of the Holiday Sale.

Scouts: $300 in sales (including Military Donations) during the Holiday Sale

            will have their name entered into a drawing to win an iPad (Drawing

            is Dec. 31). In addition, any Scout who sells $300 worth of pruducts

            online by Nov. 24 (midnight) will receive a bonus $20 Wal-Mart gift

           card from Trail's- End, and these added sales can help Scouts

           qualify for Scout Day with the VT Hokies.

 

How it works: Place orders now with your District Executive for show-n-sell and show-n-deliver products. Take-Order purchases will be provided from our existing stock (if available). Special Order items (Sweet-n-savory, 5 way, chocolatey-caramel crunch, or 3 way cheese) or items not in stock with your District Executive will be ordered online through Trail's End.

 

Deadlines:    Dec. 6- "Special Orders" (Sweet-n-savory, 5 way,

                                      chocolatey-caramel crunch, or 3 way cheese) orders

                                      must be placed online with Trail's-End by Dec. 6 to

                                      ensure holiday delivery.

                        Dec. 15- Delivery

                        Dec. 30- All Holiday sale money due

 

All military donations will count toward a unit's $1,000 sales goal and the Scout's $300 sales goal.

 

HOLIDAY SALES DO count towards the Trail's-End Scholarship Program.

HOLIDAY SALES DO NOT count toward prizes offered during the main sale.

HOLIDAYSALES DO NOT toward the Council Top Seller Awards.

 

HOLIDAY POPCORN SALES- START NOW! 

 

Philmont 2011

Imagine, 214 square miles of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico.

Imagine, taking part in living history programs, learning all about mountain men, gold miners, Indians and the Old West. 
The Philmont Scout Ranch provides an unforgettable adventure along its hundreds of miles of rugged, rocky trails. Program features combine the best of the old West: horseback riding, burro packing, gold panning, chuck wagon dinners, and interpretive history, with exciting challenges for today: rock climbing, burro racing, mountain biking and rifle shooting. Scouting has always been an adventureand a challenge. At Philmont you will be put to the test.

NOW accepting registrations!

The Blue Ride Mountains Council is sending three 12-men crews to the Philmont Scout Ranch June 16 - 29, 2011. Each crew will be organized with three adults and nine Scouts on a first-come-first-served basis. The expedition is a 12-day program with 10 days of hiking rugged mountain trails, carrying everything you need in your 35-pound pack and living on your Scouting skills. If you are interested in this amazing opportunity, clickHERE

 

 for the brochure and registration information.

Registrar's Corner: You Unit Recharter is due...are you ready?

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, your unit should begin to think about who will be submitting your unit's recharter.  Has the person that will be doing the recharter process had training so the recharter process will go smoothly? Do all your unit leaders have current Youth Protection Training or will their training expire before the end of your current charter?   Has your unit completed a youth inventory to make sure every youth in your unit is on your advancement roster?

 

Here are a couple of ideas to help your unit's recharter go smoothly.  First , it will be beneficial if the person doing the recharter has gone  to the Council website and done the tutorial for the recharter process.  This tutorial shows how to mark a leader "multiple" so the leader will pay in only one position . The tutorial also shows how to up-date personal information for a youth or adult.  This is vital in order to ensure our Scouting family is receiving important information pertaining to Scouting.

 

Effective June 1, 2011 BSA required all adult leaders to have current Youth Protection Training (YPT). YPT is good for a 2 year period, so it must be up-dated every two years.  The person submitting the unit recharter should log into the unit recharter process, click on "preview unit roster".  Looking at this roster from the recharter process will allow the unit to know if each leader has current youth protection training. If the youth protection training is expired or will expire before your unit's current charter, the leader will need to go to the MyScouting.org website and take youth protection training.  Packs and Troops will need Y01 Youth Protection Training.  Venture Crew leaders will need to take the Y02 Youth Protection Training.  Explorer Posts and LFL Groups will need the Y03 Youth Protection Training.

 

Unit inventory of your youth and adults prior to recharter will help your unit's recharter process go smoother.  Any adult or youth that is not listed on the advancement roster will need an application completed and turned into the Council office.   Having all the youth and adults registered prior to recharter time saves your recharter processor the time of entering them.  (Also, remember youth cannot earn rank or advancement if they are not registered.)

 

The BSA training website is www.myscouting.org

 

.  Youth Protection Training is available on this website.  There are also many other valuable training modules available at this site.  If you have not taken the opportunity to visit this site, I encourage you to do so.  Remember the quality of y

 

I Fought For You By The Sound Tank

Bell Ringers for the Christmas Season

Hi,

The Salvation Army is looking for Bell Ringers for the Christmas Season. We would hope that every Troop needs a project or wants to share in the

Christmas Spirit. The Boy Scouts say that we cannot collect money for another organization if we are in uniform, so the Bell Ringers can represent the troop but not in uniform. We will need some adult supervision.  To get signed up with the Salvation Army, please Call Kim Jones at 792-3963

Thanks

Bob Warren

District Commissioner

Veterans Day 2010

And the WINNER of our Final Popcorn Prize Drawing is...

NEWS FLASH And the WINNER of our Final Popcorn Prize Drawing is...   Jacob McDaniel - Pack 353, Dan River District  Congratulations to Jacob McDaniel in the Dan River District, his name was drawn this morning as the winner of this week's prize- an iPod Shuffle! There were 199 names entered into today's drawing, of those, 63 have sold $600 or more, and 27 have sold over $1,000! Congratulations to everyone who worked hard to meet their goals!  __________________________________________________________ Don't forget to "Hold A Place" now for Summer Camp 2011!

Forward email This email was sent to dhyler99@gmail.com by marlab@bsa-brmc.org. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Boy Scouts of America Blue Ridge Mountains Council | 2131 Valley View Blvd., NW | Roanoke | VA | 24012

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/blog/534.asp

Top 10 Cheap Recruiting Tips

Boy Scout Trail New Resources 

There are many things you and your scouts can do to promote your troop to prospective new scouts that don't require a huge effort or expense. If your troop is hoping to grow, think about giving these tips a try:

1. Eagle Scouts - Tell Webelos den leaders you have two Eagle Scouts that would love to visit a November or December den meeting and answer questions about Boy Scouting, not to promote your troop. If you have no Eagles, go with Life Scouts. Make sure they wear their uniforms, sashes, high adventure patches, and take other mementos from their adventures.
2. Communicate - Call the Cubmaster and Webelos den leaders in May to let them know what you have planned for their scouts in the fall to help with Arrow of Light and transitioning. Call them again in September to remind them, make sure you still have the correct contact, and ask how many scouts they have in their dens.
3. Scout Skill Day - A scout-o-rama is a great way to show Webelos some fun scout skills and impress their parents and den leaders. It doesn't have to be a big deal, but does take some planning effort.
4. Pinewood Derby - offer to help with running the races, moving cars, anything they need on that one day.
5. Special Awards - Our council has a Summit Achievement Award for scouts that earned the Arrow of Light, joined a troop, and did a few other requirements. Check if your council has any special awards for Webelos and promote them to the dens so they are aware.
6. Open Troop Meetings - Invite Webelos to visit any troop meeting in the fall.
7. Catch One Early - If you get one Webelos scout to commit to join your troop early in the fall, chances are good that many of his den mates will follow him, especially if he lets them know where he's going.
8. Twofers - When a Webelos decides to join, or when he has his scoutmaster conference for the Arrow of Light award, let him know that this is the perfect time to have a non-scouting buddy join him in Boy Scouts. He can get a Recruiter strip if he gets a friend to join with him.
9. Den Chief - This one does take a big effort on the part of one scout, but it is also a troop Position of Responsibility for advancement. In May, help one of your First Class scouts decide to be a Den Chief for a 5th grade Webelos den from October to March. This gives the Webelos contact with your troop right up to their transition from Pack to Troop. And, he might continue on as a Troop Guide for the next 6 months.
10. Use Roundtables - Make an effort at every district roundtable meeting to look for and say "Howdy" to the leaders of the Packs in your area. It's easier to send their scouts to someone they know than just to a troop number.

Top 10 Tent Tips

Scoutmaster Musings courtesy of The Boy Scout Trail .com

Top 10 Tent Tips

Our troop has 32 tents currently in service. With 80 scouts in the troop, I've had lots of opportunity to see how tents wear out, break, or get damaged. Sometimes it is due to nature, other times it is neglect, and on rare occasion it is malicious.

We need to remember that learning is our goal, not perfection. When a person is first learning to do something, he makes mistakes and equipment can take a beating. Teaching how to use equipment will save a lot of money, hassle, and frustration along the way. Teaching early and reminding often for the first few campouts will help the learning become habit.

Here's my Top 10 Tent Tips to help extend the life of your troop tents, the more important first:

1. Mind the Door - When entering or leaving the tent, always open the zipper almost all the way, but not all the way. Opening just a crack and squeezing through is the biggest cause of tent damage I've seen. The stress on the zipper causes failure which is impractical to fix. Opening it all the way causes failure at the end of the zipper.
2. No Clutter - The best way to keep a tent floor intact is to keep gear outside. Pulling gear in and out through the door is hard on the zipper and fabric. If the tent has a vestibule, that is fine for items you'll need during the night or first thing in the morning, such as boots and raincoat, but packs covered and kept outdoors are even better. Teaching this one behavior to scouts is probably the one best way to improve their tenting experience.
3. Clean and Dry - After every use, turn the tent inside out to get everything out and wipe it clean. Set it up to dry completely and then pack it away. Store it in a dry area. This prevents mold and mildew.
4. Complete Setup - Poles break because stress is not evenly distributed. Ensure all clips, sleeves, velcro, guy lines, and hooks are connected correctly, completely, and sturdily. Leaving a couple velcro straps unhooked during high wind places increased pressure on single spots on the poles instead of spreading it out and SNAP! A broken pole instantly makes a hole in the rainfly.
5. Use a ground sheet - This protects the floor from the outside, mostly from the dirt. A ground sheet is just a cheap piece of painter's 6mil plastic. It comes in 8.5 foot side rolls, so it's simple to slice off a piece for a 2-, 3-, or 4-man tent's width. Have scouts request a new piece from the quartermaster when their piece is too ripped to continue.
6. Be Consistent - Always leave the zipper in the lower-right corner of the door if it is a double zipper, or the lower-left if it is a single zipper. It makes it easier to find and ensures the door gets opened fully each time.
7. Store the Bag - When setting up, put the stake bag and pole bag inside the tent bag immediately. Bags blowing away is an all too common waste of gear. Store the bags inside the front-right corner of the tent - it's easy to get to and consistently easy to find.
8. Mind the Wind - Set up your tent to protect it from wind. The rainfly on an A-frame style tent makes a great kite when the wind blows directly at an end. Instead, set up so a side is facing the wind. A dome-style tent with full rainfly to the ground can weather very strong winds and it doesn't matter much which way the wind hits it. Be sure to stake down all points and use the longer, higher guy lines at least on the upwind side for that bit of extra support to protect the poles.
9. Seal It, Tape It - Using a seam sealer annually will help keep the rain out. Duct tape on both the inside and outside of holes and tears works well. Colored duct tape is available so the silver won't stand out so much. Higher quality tape stays much better and doesn't fall off leaving a gooey mess.
10. No Fires - never, ever, ever have fire inside a tent. That's candles, stoves, matches, any flame.

A couple more tips:

• Know how to set up, use, and take down your tent before ever stepping into the wilds. Teach and practice the right way to use the tents before scouts go on their first campout. Friday night, in the dark, fighting the wind and rain, is not the time to learn how to set up the tents.
• Stakes don't usually break, but they get lost all the time. Painting a couple stripes of bright colored nail polish on each one makes them much more visible when breaking camp. If they have been driven into the ground, the only part you'll see is the head, so painting it bright is key.
• No matter how well you take care of your tent, an animal can destroy it easily. Having any food or smellables in your tent is inviting disaster, and much more than just a ruined tent.

You should strive to create an environment in your troop where experienced scouts understand the value of maintaining their gear and passing that understanding on to newer scouts. Having a couple Instructors or Troop Guides or Eagle Scouts teach these ten tips to new scouts as soon as they join the troop will do wonders for your budget and quality of camping experience. If it's just the scoutmaster lecturing them about how expensive tents are and how they have to use their tent for seven years and blah, blah, blah, ... there's not nearly the impact.

Do you have other tips about tent use to share? comment away.

Scout On

Improve your Scouting for Food drive with these 10 tips

Improve your Scouting for Food drive with these 10 tips

Happily serving others is a fundamental part of the Boy Scouts of America. 

And the Scouting for Food program, an annual drive to collect and distribute food to those in need, is a key element of Scouts' service to their community.

Scouting for Food involves a simple, three-step process: (1) Distribute bags to houses, (2) Collect bags full of canned food and other nonperishable goods, and (3) Deliver the food to a local food bank or aid group.

Seems easy, right?

But even though the fundamentals of the program are simple, there's still some finesse involved in making sure things run smoothly.

That's why we polled our friends on Scouting magazine's official Facebook page and our followers on Twitter to see if they had any suggestions.

All of the suggestions were great, but here are 10 of our favorites:

1. "We are in a rural area, and we take extra trash bags and pick up any trash that we see in the neighborhood. The neighbors love that extra help." (Micaela H.)
2. "Our area is large and centered around the school, so we set our dens off with maps and highlighters so they can indicate what sides of the street got done and where they stopped. Then on pickup day, they know exactly what areas to re-canvas." (Jon P.)
3. "Our troop mans the collection point and serves hot chocolate and homemade donuts to the Cub Scouts. Great for recruiting and retention." (@troop407)
4. "Organization, organization, organization. Get as many kids as you can that way they are not out there as long and will be in better spirits." (Darrick B.)
5. "We send two or three Scouts to each door. Many people want to give one item to each Scout so instead of one item we get two or three." (J.T. H.)
6. "If your unit is big enough set up shop at a local grocery store in addition to the door-to-door pickup!" (@ScoutingNews)
7. "We include a nice letter in the bags explaining what we're doing as well as leave a thank you note when we pick up. And on the initial bag letter I always leave my contact information in case they miss the pickup and still want to donate." (Jon P. again)
8. "Where we are, there are only so many entrances to the neighborhoods. So we made up signs that we stick at the front of each area letting everyone know when we would be picking up bags." (Jason M.)
9. "Have each boy bring in food to their next meeting that they collect from friends and family." (Patricia R.)
10. Finally, the always-popular pie in the face: "You can set a goal, and if every den gets that goal, then they get to put a pie in their den leader's face." (Chris C.)

Thanks for your contributions!

[link to original | source: Scouting magazine | published: 4 hours ago | shared via feedly]