A Scout Is Reverent
Over 100 Boy and Venture Scouts from the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese were honored with religious awards on Sunday, Jan. 30, in Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral.
Representing the Northwest Suburban Council were 19 Scout Units and over 50 Scouts and Leaders.
Bishop John R, Manz, presented the Ad Altare Dei Award to 7th and 8th grade Scouts, then followed with presentations of either the Pope Pius XXII Award or the Ad Altare Dei medals to high school age youth.
NWSC Scouts and Leaders from Troops 10, 23, 24, 36, 37, 49, 91, 117, 140, 149, 155, 159, 175, 182, 195, 235, 270, 401 and 461 took part in the annual ceremony.
Scouting religious emblems programs spans over 30 religions and is extended to Tigers, Cubs, Boy Scouts and Venture Scouts. The paths and requirements for awards vary by faiths and emblem earning information is available at the Scout Shop.
Next year, during Scout Sunday or Sabbath, if you see a Scout being honored with a religious emblem, thank them for their hard work, their service to God and for fulfilling the 12th point of the Scout Law ---- "A Scout is Reverent."
"National Quality Council Award” Announced
and Executive Board Elected at Annual Meeting
The night of January 19 was a joyous occasion for our Council.
At the Annual Business Meeting, held at Baxter International, Council President John Frieburg announced that Northwest Suburban Council surpassed national criteria for 2004 and had earned the "National Quality Council Award."
"This is the first "National Quality Council Award" the Council has earned since 2001," stated Scout Executive Steve Taylor. "It is a magnificent example of a team effort to work our way back up the ladder and meet some tough national standards."
Elected and taking the oath of office for this year were Council officers:President John Frieburg, Commissioner Rich Politowicz, Treasurer Al Knox;and Vice-Presidents; Ken Becker, Membership; Marie Diffley, Program;Jim Emigh, Marketing; Linda Kolbusz, Learning For Life/Educational Programs;Frank Moriarty, District Operations; Paul Pinderski, Legal Affairs; Shah Quaiyoom, Scoutreach; Ron Schagrin, Endowment; Tavis Tackett, Scouting Power; Jim Tierney, Capital Development; Ed Toczyski, Finance; and Joe Trexler, Relationships.
In addition to "National Quality Council", 5 of 6 NWSC districts and 63% of our units earned "Quality" status. Council membership climbed to 15,000 youth which is an increase of nearly 8% and is the largest growth rate among all councils in Illinois. 40 new Scouting units were organized to serve over 600 new Scouts. The NWSC saluted 126 new Eagle Scouts, and recorded 300,000 hours of community service. Popcorn and wreath sales hit record levels and the council achieved a balanced operating budget.
Retiring as council officers with the Board's gratitude for their years of service were: Bob Manning, Earl McDermid, and Hugh Smart. Honored as "Scouting Superstars" for 2004 were Marie Diffley and Joe Trexler.
3 Month Memo for Council events
MARCH:
Blackhawk District Dinner -------------- Mar. 4
Lord Baden-Powell University -- Mar. 11 – 13
NWSC Executive Board Mtg. -------- Mar. 16
APRIL:
Climbing Training at Lakota ---------April 1 – 3
BH District Camp-0-Ree ---------- April 15 - 17
Cub Scout Camp Leader Meeting ----- April 16
NW District Camp-O-Ree -------- April 22 - 24
PF District Camp-O-Ree -—----- April 22 – 24
Intro to Outdoor Leader Skills --- April 29 - 30
Jambo 1st Shakedown ------- April 29 - May 1
MAY:
Annual (Silver Beaver) Dinner ----------- May 6
Scouting For Food Pick-up -------------- May 7
Six Flags Scout Day ---------------------- May 7
Council Program Kick-off ------------ May 10
OA Spring Fellowship - Napowan - May 13-15
Executive Board Meeting -------------- May 18
Jambo 2nd Shakedown ------------ May 20 - 22
Family Camping at Napowan ---- May 27 – 30
Memorial Day ---------------------------- May 30
OKPIK Honors Its 10-yr Vets
Three went north to Ely, Minn. in 1990 and brought the fun back with them. The others liked the idea of putting tents up, sleeping, cooking and playing games in the snow. That's all it took for OKPIK, the Council's annual Winter Camping Training Course, to be born.
During the Okpik closing ceremonies in early January at Camp Lakota, 11 veteran staffers were honored for their dedicated service over the past 10 years.
Past Course Director Bill Kaisling and Staff Advisor Meg Farrell presented awards first to Course "Founding Fathers" Steve Bytnar, Bill McAllister and Jim Robb. They are responsible for attending the national-sponsored course in Ely, MN. and establishing NWSC's most popular training course.
Also honored were veteran staffers Kevin Chapman, Roberta Hamann, Bob Heuser, Tim Heuser, Carl Laub, Bob Marcanti, Russ Skyles and Chuck Taubman.
As Farrell presented Okpik Owl embroidered neckerchiefs, plaques and new lanyards with "ice cubes" and unique "crystal snow balls" to the veterans, Kaisling thanked them for their 10 years of dedication, service and endurance. "As a matter of fact," he said, "we can't get rid of them. They're still having too much fun."
Okpik is a "train-the-trainer" course that teaches older Scouts and adult Leaders how their units may camp safely in the winter and have fun. Over 700 Okpik grads since 1991 agree.
Looking For A Few Good Volunteers
The Northwest Suburban Council is developing a core group of volunteers who can provide assistance to the Council on an as-needed basis. We are looking for volunteers who are willing to help with mailings, coordination of Roundtable packets and other projects as they come up. While these activities are primarily scheduled during Council office hours, there may be an occasional evening when we can use your assistance. Please help by calling Randy Toland at the Council Office.
|
Think Spring
Think Recruitment
Tiger Cubs are born in the Spring!
The spring recruitment emphasis for Cub Scouts is Tiger Cubs. Each unit should be going into the Kindergartens, sending flyers, and holding boy talks. The key to a successful recruitment is having a program ready for the boys to join. Each district has been asked to hold a Tiger event in the spring, and each unit should have a summer program for Tigers to attend. Part of that program can be Day Camp which new Tigers can attend. Spring recruitment incentives will be announced at Roundtables.
Boy Scout Recruitment
This spring, ALL Troops are asked to hold Troop Open Houses in March or April. NWSC will help you by distributing fliers on Boy Scouting and scheduling boy talks for the 5th graders. Troops should also encourage Scouts to be recruiters themselves. Boy-to-boy recruitment is still one of the best methods. Information on how to run an open house or recruit can be obtained through your District Executive or Membership Chairman.
Venturing Membership Challenge
Every Venturing Crew is also asked to hold an Open House this spring. Look at your rosters and identify all those youth who are high school seniors or older. That number plus 1 is the number of new members you should add to your rosters this spring. Girls, girls, girls – Venturing is a co-ed program. There are many young women who would like to try some of the high adventure activities that the Boy Scouts and now the Venturers have experienced all these years. Ask them to join your Crew!
March Venturing Calendar
March 4-6 - Youth Leadership Conference - St. Charles, IL
March 17 - Venturing Activities Committee - 7-9pm
President - Andrew Brown, Vice President - Ben Korecki
March 19 - choose one of 3 events!
Orienteering - Camp Lakota, Woodstock, IL - 10-3pm
Nanotechnology Event - Evanston, IL - 9am-1pm
Whirlyball with Crew 399 - Lombard, IL - 1-3pm
Detail information available at http://venturing.nwsc.org
BSA Gift Annuity
Interested in continuing income for life while at the same time making a charitable contribution? Consider a BSA gift annuity! Contact Council Finance Director Jason Erpelding at 847-824-6910 for complete details as he has recently been trained on how to assist donors with this special type of gift to support Scouting.
Jambo Month in Review
YOU CAN STILL GET IN OUR SIX TROOP CONTIGENT GOING TO THE 2005 NATIONAL JAMBOREE! Since we added on a sixth troop, we are still accepting applications to fill it. All registered first class scouts between the ages of 12 (by 7/1/05) and not yet 18 (by 8/3/05) are eligible. Please contact Marty Schultz at the Northwest Suburban Council for more information. The NWSC Jambo Committee is also looking to full three spots for the 3rd Assistant position. That position would be a leadership one for young men between the ages of 18-20. Please contact Scott Ratter (scottratter@yahoo.com) if you would like to be interviewed.
0 Degrees of Fun
On the weekend on January 14 – 16, Boy Scouts from Troop 140 in Buffalo Grove braved nighttime low temperatures of 0 while cabin camping at Camp Dan Beard in Riverwoods. The weekend was the annual Troop 140 Winterfest outing during which, in addition to camping fun and advancement, the troop hosts Webelos from area packs on Saturday to give them some “exposure” to Boy Scout camping. Almost 30 scouts from Troop 140 and about 13 leaders participated in the weekend.
During the day on Saturday, the Boy Scouts set up various areas to show the Webelos and their leaders aspects of Boy Scouting. There were exhibits of scout camping – complete with a pitched tent, knife and ax safety, orienteering, bb gun range, cooking, hiking, fire building (A MUST with a daytime high temperature at camp of 10 degrees), first aid, and knot tying. The highlight for many of the scouts again was the 40 foot-long rope bridge and 30 foot zip line that has become an annual fixture of this weekend. Webelos and leaders from five area packs participated in the event.
Even though the cabin was nice and warm, most of the scouts spent almost the entire weekend outdoors. After hosting the Webelos, many of the scouts spent time working on advancement and playing football in the snow. On Saturday night, the Troop feasted on four deep fried turkeys and a full dinner prepared by master camp chef Michael Baumhart. The turkeys were marinated by the scouts upon their arrival on Friday. The dinner was followed by a roaring campfire.
Bob Goodman, the leader of the trip said that the “weather for the weekend was perfect – for cabin camping”
|
