Chief Scout Days

I'm using this post as a bit of an experiment to avoid meetings. We all have busy young families, so I'll give this a try. Please participate by posting your comments. You can also feel free to e-mail me.

In May and November 2010 we'll be holding "Chief Scout Days", where we want to have some fun while getting some badges required for Chief Scout. In some cases the requirements can be a little dull or tough to do in small groups. If we put our collective minds together, I'm sure we can come up with something really cool.

For May, I was thinking of an "Amazing Race" around Ottawa to knock off as much of the Citizenship badge (both Voyageur and Pathfinder levels) as possible. There are lots of places around town (actually within a few blocks) that could help us. Parliament Hill, Rideau Hall, Garden of the Provinces, the Supreme Court, the National Archives, museums, etc. Lots of resources. Maybe it can be a photo or video scavenger hunt. Maybe we encourage teams with skateboards or bicycles (and helmets of course). Maybe there's a speed component, a completeness component, whatever. Give them a list of things to do, have them find them, document the answers, and we all meet somewhere maybe for a BBQ and ice cream.

In November, one idea might be to find a way to collectively work on the World Conservation Badge. This is usually a pretty tough thing to do in small groups, and sometimes one of the things that gets forgotten on the way to Chief Scout. Maybe each troop comes up with a project, and we split up and get them all done. With a year to figure it out, I'm sure we can come up with something.

Your ideas are most welcome for both activities.

October 2009 Update

Hope your Scouting year is off to a great start! I just wanted to let you know of a couple news items and upcoming events:

Voyageur Council Food Drive (November 7, 2009): Chapel Hill Troop is participating in the Council Food drive, and is wondering if any other groups are.

Stake Scout Winter Camp: There will be no Stake Winter Scout camp this year. Traditionally this is held around New Years Day, which falls on a Friday this year. We've picked this day usually because Scouts are out of school and leaders usually are available. The camp has got to be two nights in order to get the winter camping requirement out of the way. With New Years' Eve on the Thursday, I just don't think it will work on that particular weekend.

Scout Klondike Derby (February 13, 2010): This is the 45th year for this fantastic day-long activity run by Heritage Area. For the last few years Champlain and Riverside Scouts have participated and really enjoyed themselves (Champlain ward is the reigning intermediate division champion!). For more information, here's a link to the 2007 version. The location is generally the only thing that changes.


Stake Chief Scout Days: As a result of a conversation at August's LDS International Camp, I'm planning for two Stake "Chief Scout Days" in 2010. Tentative dates are May 15 and either November 13 or 20 (I don't recall). The idea is to have a day-long activity where we can get together for a fun and knock off some Chief Scout requirements. My early thoughts are:

May - "Amazing Race" themed activity to fulfill Citizenship Award
November - World Conservation Badge activity. Completely open to suggestions, but it's often a tough requirement.

I will start a separate thread for comments and ideas.

Border crossing information

As of June 1, 2009, passports will be required for all adults crossing into the United States by land. However, Scouts will not be required to have passports.

Children: Beginning June 1, 2009, U.S. and Canadian citizen children under age 16 arriving by land or sea from contiguous territory may also present an original or copy of his or her birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, a Naturalization Certificate, or a Canadian Citizenship Card.

Groups of Children: Beginning June 1, 2009, U.S. and Canadian citizen children under age 19 arriving by land or sea from contiguous territory and traveling with a school group, religious group, social or cultural organization, or sports team, may also present an original or copy of his or her birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, a Naturalization Certificate, or a Canadian Citizenship Card

For more information on border crossing issues, please see the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative website here.

For information on how to get your Canadian passport (or renew it if it will expire in 2009) click here.

2009 LDS Scout Camporee

There is a great level of interest in this year's LDS Camporee! It will be held August 12-15 in Freedom, NY. The official website is here, although there's not much there yet.

There are between 20 and 25 interested Scouts from Champlain, Chapel Hill, Fallowfield, and Riverside wards. That a great number and I'm sure we can have even more fun than the legendary Mohawk tribe a couple years back.

Freedom, NY appears to be a smallish town south of Buffalo:


View Larger Map

Stay tuned for more information as I get it, and feel free to post your questions, comments, etc. as we go along.

Mark your calendars...and more to come!

Winter Camp Report

Thanks to everyone who helped make the winter camp so much fun. We had 27 youth and leaders from Champlain, Fallowfield, and Petawawa that ate well, slept sort of well (especially the folks in Petawawa's heated tent at right - note the chimney for the stove), and had a whole lot of fun.

The youth earned their winter section of the year-round camper badge as well as the Winter Scouting challenge badge. They also fulfilled several Duty to God requirements.

Highlights included 15" of air sliding down Dead Man's Hill, the shootout-winning boot hockey goal, and a great potluck on the second night of camp. Kudos to Champlain's hamburger soup, Fallowfield's meatballs, and Petawawa's stew.

Particular thanks to Petawawa for the preparation and support.

For those that missed it, here's the view from the top of Dead Man's Hill. This ain't the hill at the Experimental Farm.

2009 Stake Scout Winter Camp

Date

Thursday, January 1 to Saturday, January 3, 2009. I suggest you arrive before 3 pm on Thursday so you have time and daylight to set up camp. You can expect to return home by later afternoon on Saturday.

Location

Petawawa ON. I will e-mail you a Google Maps link if you would like.

Scouting Badges and Duty to God Requirements

The point of the camp is to have a great time (as we did last year) while helping the boys earn these badges:

1. Winter Camp portion of Year-Round Camper (required for Chief Scout)
2. Winter Scouting challenge badge

It also links to the Duty to God program for Deacons by fulfilling these requirements:

1. Deacon Physical Development requirements 7 and 8 (the camping ones)
2. Teachers Physical Development requirements 9 (2 of 3 nights of camping), 10, and 11 (all could be done)

Agenda

Thursday January 1
1300-1700	Arrive and set up camp
1800-1930	Chili dinner provided by Stake
1930-2100	Night games
Friday January 2
0700-0900	Breakfast (patrols on their own), clean up
0900-1130	Badge activity rotations:
	Fire-making contest Shelter building Winter survival skills Winter camp cooking
1200-1330	Lunch (patrols on their own), clean up
1330-1500	Boot hockey game
1500-1700	Sliding
1700-1830	Cooking by patrol
1830-1930	Cooking contest and potluck
1930-???	Bonfire
Saturday January 3
0700-0900	Breakfast (patrols on their own), clean up
0900-1100	Finish badge activities
1100-1200	Eat, clean up, and leave

Badge Activities

Ventures or Leaders from each patrol (or ward) will run one of the "stations" and instruct the Scouts. The idea is that after doing all the rotations, the Scouts will have met all the requirements for the badges and Duty to God items. It'll be first come, first serve, so let me know what your preferences are. I encourage you to find the coolest way you can think of to run your station (if it's fun for leaders, it'll be fun for the boys). Contests work well, whether it's head-to-head or timed. Firelighting can be the fastest to boil a litre of water or to burn through a rope. Shelter building can include lashing skills or igloos and lead to a snowball fight, ambush with surgical tubing slingshots, whatever. If you need inspiration, let me know!

Sliding on Dead Man's Hill

During last year's inaugural Petawawa Winter Camp we cleared a fantastic sliding hill on Brother Brown's land, so please bring sliding accessories. This is not a hill for Cubs...

Food

As noted above, the stake will provide the first evening's meal. The second night we'd like each patrol to cook a dish enough to feed their own patrol, then we'll all get together and share each other's meals. The most delicious (as chosen by a brave member of the Stake Presidency) will receive tremendous recognition.

Patrols are responsible for the remainder of their meals.

Hygene, water, firewood, shelter, safety

A latrine will be provided. You should bring some drinking water. We can refill at the Browns in a pinch. Firewood is readily available.

Patrols are responsible for their own shelters. I encourage you to build shelters as they will likely be warmer than tents.

We are hoping to provide a heated respite shelter.

We will have a first aid kit available, but patrols should have their own. There is a hospital nearby that I hope not to use.

Suggested Personal Equipment List

Wool/Fleece Balaclava or Toque
Brimmed Hat
Ski Goggles or Sunglasses (UV Protected)
2 Sets Long Underwear - Medium Weight (Polypropylene or equivalent)
Regular Underwear & T-Shirts
Heavy Weight Jacket
Medium Weight Pants (Fleece)
Snow Pants (Nylon or Gore-tex)
Fleece Vest
Belt
Gloves (Fleece/Wool)
2 pairs Mittens (Fleece)
Over-Mitts (Gore-tex or leather)
2+ pairs Liner Socks (Polypropylene)
2+ pairs Heavy Socks (Wool Blend or Fleece)
Sorel or other Winter Boots
4 plastic bags (in case your boots get wet)
Hiking Boots (as spare footwear)
2 Sleeping Bags and blanket OR
1 winter sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Insulation Pad (Reflective)
Fleece Toque (reserved only for sleeping)
Medium Weight Socks for sleeping
Pillow
Insulated Cup
Bowl and/or Plate
Knife, Fork & Spoon
Toboggan (for transporting your gear) with rope to tie down equipment
Container or bag to hold your gear (pack, bag, or Rubbermaid bins - they slide well)
Water Bottle
Snow Shovel
Chair

Cancellation Policy

In the unlikely event that nighttime temperatures dip below -30°C or daytime temperatures go above 3°C we may cancel. Stay tuned.

What you need to do

Please let me know:

• number of people attending
• which badge requirements you'd like to lead

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I will be travelling the week of 15 December, but I'll be available by cell phone in the evenings.

Cheers,

Rob Graham
Stake Scouter