Two Connecticut shooting victims were Tiger Cubs; here’s how to help

17 December 2012

It breaks my heart to report that the horrendous school shooting in Connecticut has hit the Scouting family.

The Boy Scouts of America learned that two of the victims, 7-year-old Chase Kowalski and 6-year-old Benjamin Wheeler, were new Tiger Cub Scouts with Pack 170 in the Connecticut Yankee Council.

Three other families in Pack 170 lost children at the school, and Tiger Cub Den Leader Peter Baressi was a first responder hero who stayed with the families throughout the ordeal.

Victoria Soto, one of the heroic teachers who was killed, was an Explorer as a youth in Stratford EMS Post 4911.

When you live several states away from those in pain, it’s easy to feel helpless. In addition to keeping the families in your thoughts and prayers, I’ve learned of an opportunity to send cards, letters and donations to those in mourning.

The Pack 170 leadership has asked Connecticut Yankee Council to set up a Memorial Fund to support the five families. Donations can be made out to “Pack 170 Memorial Fund” c/o Connecticut Yankee Council, P.O. Box 32, Milford, CT 06461.

Your family or your Scout unit may wish to send condolence cards and letters. Those can also be addressed to “Pack 170″ c/o the Connecticut Yankee Council, P.O. Box 32, Milford, CT 06461.

After the jump, a letter from Wayne Brock. Continue reading »

Boston harbors some top-class Scouts and Scouters

5 December 2012

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boston-goodturn-2 Some Good Turns are truly great.

Take the impressive individuals from the Boston Minutemen Council, who traveled 300 miles to help fellow Americans who had been affected by superstorm Sandy.

Last weekend, they loaded 75 Scouts and Scouters onto a charter bus, packed a rented Budget truck with supplies donated by the community, and headed down Interstate 95 to Little Egg Harbor along the New Jersey Shore.

They offered service at the damaged Joseph A. Citta Scout Reservation, cooked supper for more than 300 residents, and dropped off supplies to a local distribution center.

Then, they went into the neighborhoods and personally delivered relief buckets filled with paper towels, scrub brushes, laundry detergent, and disinfectant to people who had been devastated by the October storm.

Those who weren’t able to make the 10-hour round trip donated money, clothing, food, cleaning supplies, water, school supplies — pretty much everything seen in the photo above.

“What an awesome group of young men and their leaders,” volunteer Bill Keating said in an email to Scouting magazine. ”And what an impact that had to have not only on the people who were affected by Hurricane Sandy, but also on the Scouts themselves.”

What he said.

Hawaiian Boy Scouts stitch their place in history

21 November 2012

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A close-up of the nearly 100-year-old flag.

On a Saturday in 1913 on the island of Oahu, Queen Lili‘uokalani drove past a group of boys doing Scouting drills.

Intrigued, she walked over and asked what kind of military exercise the boys were doing. We aren’t military, the Scouts replied, we’re Boy Scouts.

The boys explained the concept of Scouting to the queen, and a month later she returned with a silk Hawaiian flag. Onto the red, white, and blue flag with the Hawaiian royal crest the queen had hand-stitched the word “Onipaa,” which means “stick together” — a message for Scout troops that still resonates today.

For decades, the flag belonged to the Lili‘uokalani Trust. Then, in 2010 the trust presented the flag to the Aloha Council to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the BSA.

And now, as we approach a century since that regal meeting, the Aloha Council has “paid it forward” and donated the flag to the Bishop Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of Hawaiian and Pacific artifacts. And as you can see above, proud members of Honolulu Troop 33 served as the color guard in the opening ceremony. Continue reading »

Eagle Scout Manti Te’o sees awards pile up

21 November 2012

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UPDATE (Dec. 10, 2012): Added mention of all of Manti’s impressive awards.

Manti Te’o is a brave, confident leader with an impressive collection of awards on his shelf. He’s comfortable in a uniform. He’s a loyal teammate.

But enough about his time in Scouting — I hear he’s pretty good at football, too.

Long before Manti became an All-American linebacker for top-ranked Notre Dame, he became an Eagle Scout.

And now that he’s piled up tons of awards for his play (see a partial list below) and is projected as a Top 10 pick in next year’s NFL Draft, he’s become a household name.

To fully grasp the ways in which Scouting prepared Manti for life, check out this excellent South Bend Tribune article from April. In it, the author describes a time early in Manti’s life where his character was tested. Continue reading »

Train on board for closing stadium show at 2013 jamboree

19 November 2012

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Three-time Grammy winners Train will headline the closing stadium show at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve, the Boy Scouts of America announced today.

For my money, this is the biggest musical act to perform at a national Scout jamboree since the Beach Boys in 1985. And I’m told it’s the earliest in the jamboree planning cycle that a headliner has signed on. That’s good news for participants and staff already registered for the jamboree, and it’s yet another enticing reason for Scouts and Scouters not registered to join us next summer in West Virginia.

You surely know Train, the pop-rock group from San Francisco that has performed together since 1994. And you know their hits, including “Meet Virginia,” “Drops of Jupiter,” “Calling All Angels,” “Hey, Soul Sister,” and recent singles “Drive By” and “50 Ways to Say Goodbye.”

Train — consisting of Pat Monahan (vocals), Jimmy Stafford (guitar), and Scott Underwood (drums) — will perform Saturday, July 20, at the closing event, called the “Celebration of Scouting” show. They’ll light up the new stage at the stadium (the area called the arena at past jamborees) in front of tens of thousands of excited Scouts, Scouters, and visitors.

Train’s a big name for the jamboree, but they certainly aren’t the first recognizable people to speak, sing, or perform on the event’s big stage.

This isn’t a complete list, but here are some big-name guests at past arena/stadium shows (note that I’m only including in-person guests, not those who appeared via video):

In Sandy’s wake, BSA Chief relays call for help

9 November 2012

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I mentioned a few ways to help Scouts and Scouters affected by superstorm Sandy on Tuesday, but today we’re getting more details about the toll on local Scout councils and what some units are doing to help.

In a letter sent this morning, BSA Chief Scout Executive Wayne Brock said that council camps in the northeast have suffered downed trees and destroyed buildings. Council offices have been severely damaged. And Scouts, Scouters, and BSA professionals have lost personal property and valuables.

Brock writes that Scouts and units have almost certainly lost “camping gear, uniforms, trailers and other supplies.”

In addition to suggesting ways to help through donations of money and time, he also spotlights two examples of Scout units doing what Scout units do whenever there’s a tragedy: cheerfully serving others.

Read our Chief’s complete letter below: Continue reading »

Sea Scouts rewarded for STEM research, with more than just a payday

30 October 2012

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Members of Ship 41 show off O’Tumbler.

Today’s Scouts will go on to careers where they solve some of the world’s biggest problems.

But apparently the boys and girls in Sea Scout Ship 41 aren’t waiting till they’re grownups to make a difference.

The Scouts of the ship Intrepid out of Bay Village, Ohio, researched harmful algae blooms in nearby Lake Erie. With no easy solution available, they invented their own, developing O’Tumbler, “a vertical wind turbine that circulates oxygen-rich water to help stimulate the growth of plankton and provide a food-rich habitat for fish.”

For their efforts, the Sea Scouts were named the national winners of Interlux’s 2012 Waterfront Challenge, a title that comes with a $20,000 prize. Skipper Richard Gash says the ship will use the money to educate the Lake Erie community and demonstrate ways to help protect the world’s 10th-largest lake.

“This has been a super opportunity for our Sea Scouts to study, brainstorm and develop practical solutions to real-life environmental problems,” Skipper Richard Gash said in a statement. “We look forward to using the Interlux award to further educate our community to help protect our great natural resource, Lake Erie.” Continue reading »

Far out! Jamboree on the Air event crosses the final frontier

22 October 2012

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How do you expand the reach of an event that’s already global?

Find something out of this world.

This weekend, the National Scouting Museum became the only Jamboree on the Air location on earth to enable 10 Scouts to directly communicate with the International Space Station as it hovered 255 miles above Earth.

The turnout was great, and — as you can see above — the event caught the eye of local news stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The Scouts chatted with NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds the record for the longest space flight by a woman. It was all part of JOTA, the annual event that links Scouts around the world.

The long-distance call was made possible through a program from NASA and the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. It is one in a series of educational activities in the United States and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

If you weren’t there in person, you can watch a stream of the event here.

Final thought: Anyone want to guess how long until Scouts are talking to someone on Mars?

What’s the longest pinewood derby in the world? Guess again

16 October 2012

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The track stretched 335 feet, 6 inches. That’s 111 yards, for you football fans out there.

If most pinewood derbies are sprints, consider this one the Boston Marathon.

Earlier this month, the Boston Minuteman Council broke the Guinness World Record with a pinewood derby track stretching 335 feet, 6 inches. That beat the previous record by more than 70 feet.

Just how long was the track? Imagine you’re standing on the goal line of a football field. The track would stretch just past the back of the end zone on the other side.

Or consider this comparison: Most tracks, including the one I raced on as a Cub Scout, are 30 to 40 feet long, making this one roughly 10 times longer.

The design was inspired by the Zakim Bridge in Boston.

And they did it in style. The track, which started at a height of 15 feet, was modeled after Boston’s Zakim Bridge (seen at right), the world’s widest cable-stayed bridge.

The record-breaking attempt was part of the council’s SOAR (Scouting’s Outdoor Adventure on the River) event. Just from browsing the event’s Web site, it looked like a blast.

Congrats to all involved in this exciting accomplishment!