Scouting magazine

January-February Where Am I? winner announced

The January-February edition of our popular “Where Am I?” reader contest turned out to be the toughest yet.

It’s our own fault. All the facts about the mystery location were true, but some of them might have thrown you off the scent.

Let’s review: You probably recognized New York City right away. It was hard to miss the taxis in the photo—and our mentions of Broadway, pizza, and a hotdog stand. But identifying one building among the Big Apple’s sea of skyscrapers? That’s not easy.

To help you find this needle in a haystack, we gave you these clues:

• “I toy with the idea…”
• “…[an old] photograph [of the building] was probably a century old…”
• “I find a bench at the park across the street and try to iron out the details…”

The first clue references the building’s current inhabitant: the International Toy Center. The last clue, “iron out the details,” plays on the building’s location in the Flatiron District of Manhattan (several of you picked up on those right away).

Hundreds of readers put the pieces together and came up with the correct address: 200 Fifth Avenue in New York City. But merely telling us the building’s address wasn’t enough. We wanted to know what makes the building noteworthy.

Of the 1,000 answers we received, only 128 correctly identified 200 Fifth Avenue as the original headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America. The “Where Am I?” location seemed a fitting selection to commemorate the BSA’s 100th Anniversary.

We assigned a number to each of those 128 right answers, and then we used a random-number generator to select our winner: answer No. 6, belonging to George Colflesh of Troop 7 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

George will receive a $100 gift card to the BSA’s Supply Group. Congratulations!

If you didn’t win this time, try again with our March-April “Where Am I?” contest. You have until April 23 to send us your thought. Good luck!

November-December Where Am I? winner announced

When you opened up the November-December Scouting to page 42 and saw the photo for our “Where Am I?” reader contest, did you recognize the inverted boot kicking its way toward the Texas sky?

We received more than 700 responses, but only 133 of them correctly told us the location: Boot Canyon in Big Bend National Park (we also accepted nearby “Boot Spring”).

From those correct entries, we used a random number generator to pick the winner: assistant Scoutmaster Gregory Schadt, response No. 36, of Troop 380 in Arlington, Tex.

Gregory told us that he had hiked Boot Springs Trail in 1975 to hear and see birds native to the area. Twenty-five years later, his memory of the location paid off.

As our winner, Gregory earned a $100 gift card to the BSA Supply Group. He can use that to stock up Scouting gear for a repeat trip to Big Bend—or wherever life’s adventure takes him. Congratulations, Gregory!

Do you want a $100 gift card of your very own? Enter the January-February edition of our contest. Just click here and give it a try.

Face-to-face with Scouting's community

Connect with like-minded Scouting magazine readers from across the country—easier than ever before. Check us out now on Facebook!

Click here to find Scouting's new Facebook page, and become a fan today. If you aren't already one of the 300 million active Facebook users, you're missing out on the hottest, easiest, and most-exciting way to connect with Scouters from around the world.

Facebook also offers a great way to give feedback directly to Scouting magazine's editors. Here are just a few ways you can use our new Facebook page:

• Post exciting photos from your recent Scouting trip to our wall for other volunteers to see.
  
• Comment on Scouting magazine stories to provide insight and perspective about BSA-related subjects.
  
• Participate in discussions about topics affecting your unit. Or start your own discussion to get feedback from others.

We will empower Scouting magazine's community of readers, with you helping us enhance your pack, troop, or crew!

September-October "Where Am I?" winner announced

We asked, and you responded big time.

After presenting Scouting magazine readers with a mystery location, complete with a photo and description, we asked a simple question: "Where Am I?" The feature appeared in our September-October issue. (If you missed it, you can read it here.)

An impressive 577 of you knew that the correct answer was the Cimarroncito Reservoir at Philmont Scout Ranch. We took those 577 answers, gave each a number, and then used a random number generator to come up with the winner: correct answer No. 151. That number belonged to Jim Weeden, a committee chairman with Troop 80 in the Mecklenburg (N.C.) County Council. 

Along with the glory of winning, Weeden receives a $100 gift card to the BSA Supply Division, which he can use at his local Scout Shop or at scoutstuff.org. Congratulations!

If you're interested in giving our "Where Am I?" reader contest a try, check out the November-December edition of the quiz here. You have until Jan. 4, 2010, to submit your answer. Good luck!

Cracker Barrel heads to Philmont

OK, prepare to be jealous after we tell you this: Cracker Barrel will be spending all of next week at Philmont Scout Ranch.

We're heading to the 2009 National Outdoor Adventure Summit, an outdoor forum for professional and volunteer Scouters. We'll learn about programs, techniques, and equipment that can make Scouting better for youths and adults.

Even though we'll be on the road, we'll still be posting to the blog and providing you with regular updates on our Twitter account. If you have anything you'd like us to keep an eye out for while we're there, e-mail us.

Deadline is here for Scouting magazine photo contest

You say you haven’t yet put away all the gear from your troop’s weeklong backpacking, canoeing, or camping trip? No big deal. But there’s one item you simply must not wait to unpack: your camera.

Why? Tomorrow is the deadline to enter Scouting magazine’s Celebrate the Adventure photo contest. Dig out that camera now and send us your favorite photographs from any Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, or Venturing adventure.

First, check out this quick reminder about the rules:

-       You must be a registered BSA adult member to participate.

-       You’re allowed three total entries.

-       Send your photos as compressed JPEGs. Each file must be between 750KB and 1MB.

-       If we select your photo, we’ll need the uncompressed image of at least 9MB, so hang onto your original files.

-       Entries become the property of Scouting magazine and must be your own original work.

What’s in it for you? Well, you’ll get your photos published in our magazine, which is read by 1.2 million Scouters nationwide. Also, winners receive BSA Supply Group gift cards:

-       $400, grand prize

-       $300, first place

-       $200, second place

-       $100, third place

-       $25, honorable mention

It’s too late to mail us prints. But, hey, this is the 21^st century. There’s still time to submit your entries online by clicking here.

Good luck! Check out the winners in our March-April 2010 issue.

Follow us on Twitter

We’re excited to announce that Cracker Barrel has officially joined the rest of the world. Yeah, we’ve created a Twitter account.

If you’re already on Twitter, just follow @cbblog. If not, click here to get to our page and for instructions about how to sign up.

For the uninitiated, Twitter is a great way to keep up with the latest news, information, or random musings from friends, family, celebrities, politicians, athletes, companies, news organizations, and, well, everything. These 140-character-or-less messages, known as Tweets, are organized chronologically in a handy list. That makes it easy to see the latest buzz about topics that interest you.

Cracker Barrel’s Twitter page will tell you when a new blog post arrives, but that’s not all. We’ll also dish out news about Scouting, tips for leaders, and links to Scouting-related news stories.

What are you waiting for? Follow @cbblog today!

News of Scouting magazine redesign hits the Internet

While you’ve been busy taking your troop to summer camp, preparing for next year’s jamboree, or getting Cub Scouts ready for an exciting program year, we’ve been kinda busy ourselves.

What has occupied our time? Oh, just a complete redesign of Scouting magazine.

That’s right. When you pick up the September-October issue of the publication (seen at left), you’re going to notice a cover-to-cover makeover of the top resource for Scouting leaders.

We don’t want to give away all of the exciting changes you’ll see when Scouting hits your mailbox at the end of August, but expect to find 84 pages of valuable information to help you better lead your pack, troop, or crew. And expect that content delivered in a slicker, easier-to-use package.

Hungry for more details? Here’s a link to a press announcement that should whet your appetite. But be warned: Reading it may make you want late August to show up even sooner.

Scouting magazine wins two AEP awards

You don’t mind if we toot our own horn for just a second, do you?

Scouting magazine picked up two Distinguished Achievement awards over the weekend from the Association of Education Publishers.

Our own John Clark, Scouting magazine’s senior editor, won for his money-management article, “Shut Down the Parental ATM,” which appeared in our October 2008 issue. The piece grabbed the award for best Interview/Profile in the adult periodical division.

We also won best Article Design in the same division for “Guys Read Guy Books,” a look at the challenges of motivating young male readers. You can read that story here, but to see the award-winning design in its original format, you’ll want to dig up your September 2008 issue and flip to page 26.

Congratulations to our design team—Scott Feaster and Beth Morgan—and to our photography staff—John Fulton and Edna Lemons—for their work on this story.