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The Official
Web Log of Crew 344
5 February 2006 - 15:13 hrs
River Run August 2006 - Photos from Troop 269
See:
http://target.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lunchdinero/album?.dir=/46ae&.src=ph&.tok=phawW6DBYdKtsnKv
For photos of one of last years River Runs taken by our good friends
of Troop 269.
5 February 2006 - This week - 15:12 hrs.
I am gne to a meeting this Thrusday. Crew guys should continue
to work on Personal Mangement. We are going to focus on advancment
for the next few months and get you done with all your required
Merit Badges. Meeting is at 6:30, Troop is invited to work on advancment
with us. Troop has asked that we join them in flags at 7:00 p.m.
and either stay for their program or do our own thing. We will alternate
between Fellowship and the large meeting room each week. We are
now at a 4 meeting per month format again. See below for joint agreement
between Troop and Crew Committee that happened yesterday.
I will be starting the Dundas Planning Commission next Thursday
night and so we are having GPC that evening. Have a good time.
Don
5 February 2006 - 15:11 hrs.
Joint Operation agreement between Troop and Crew Key
Committees reached.
This is a message from yesterday:
It has been a very productive day. The Troop Key Committee
met this morning and I have since then spoken with the Crew Key
Committee on the phone and in person.
We had in the past decided to develop an interim operating
plan however Bill Grabosky our District Executive Extraordinaire
asked that we work hard to set up a more permanent structure right
away, he felt that would be better for the Unit Set taking a quicker
approach. Bill has started a Crew in New Prague when he was Scoutmaster
of 323 and has experience in this.
So here is what we came up with, I think it is a good solution
for both groups.
Crew meetings continue at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Bethel
Lutheran Church and perhaps one of those nights at the St. Peter's
Youth Room.
Troop meetings are at 7:00 p.m. on those same Thursdays, Note
we have 4 meetings a month now for both groups.
The Crew will do a flag ceremony in a Crew format at 6:30 at
the meetings.
We will do joint flags at 7:00 p.m. run by the Troop in the
Troop format. The Troop would like the Crew help create a bigger
mass at the flag ceremony so that we can attract even more Scouts
to our program.
We will take turns using the Fellowship Hall and the large
room next to the nursery.
If the Crew wants to stay for the Troop program - which now
will introduce a rotating merit badge system again, they can. If
the Crew wants to meet separately and work on Merit Badges or planning
they can. We will continue to work on boy planning however we will
be introducing parent planned events too. We will need help from
the parents in instruction of the Merit Badges and in helping the
boys run the boy planned events and also in running the parent planned
events.
The Crew is encouraged to put on events for the Troop too.
Once we get back to Dudley a similar system will take place
as we have two main meeting areas with the new Council Fire John
and Brandon Brantner built. We can rotate those meeting areas too.
The Crew and Troop will be more independent of one another
yet still do some programming and camping together. Mark Olson,
Terry Barck, Jay Kuivinen and Larry Alderks have committed to taking
charge at the Troop level. They welcome more as the more parental
involvement in the program the better. Advancement will become a
bigger focus at both the Troop and Crew level (hey, we needed some
time to get the boys pointed in being more self sufficient and to
work out this final arrangement with all parties involved, we may
not be that smart, but we are slow). ;~}
Jerry Jerome, Lee and Jane Senne, Terri Schwalbe and myself
will run the Crew. We encourage all others to help us just as the
Troop does too. There are many positions in each organization that
remain unfilled and there is a lot of things a few of us do that
we would like to give up to someone else.
I will be developing a list for both Troop and Crew as to what
the parents should be helping with and what they should encourage
their sons to do on their own for review by both Committees. I will
be asking Ed Buckwald to help me with this. Ed ha been a Scoutmaster
for years and started and ran a Post (precursor to the Crew) years
ago. One of our basic charges is to teach responsibility, kind of
like the teachers do in late Middle School and through High School.
In order to lead you need to learn responsibility and the earlier
the better. Boy planning and execution of events teaches this responsibility
but there is still a need for the parents to help the boys learn
this and coax them along.
Troop Committee meetings will be on the first Saturday of the
month at 8:00 p.m. at Bethel. Crew Committee Meetings will be on
a Thursday night at the Crew meeting, which one is still yet to
determine. I will be gone on the third Thursday of each month as
I have been appointed to the Dundas Planning Commission.
Crew will have separate events at times from the Troop but
will do some joint events as outlined above.
The Aquatics Division remains unchanged however Jay has asked
that the Crew help more with these programs. Jay is now certified
to teach and certify BSA Lifeguards so we have a real asset here
for fundraising and I hope the Crew can step up to this opportunity.
It has taken us some time to come to this final arrangement
however it is what the boys are asking for and what will work good
for both Units and allow them to grow and thrive. Special thanks
to Bill Grabosky for coaching us along. It is so nice to have an
active DE that takes pride in each and everyone of his Units.
Special thanks all to the joint Committees for working this
matter out and bringing the Crew to full fruition.
We have once again arrived at our next plateau. Hmmm.... I'm
wondering what we should try to do next....... :-)
Good work all, really good work!
YIS
UC Don
5 February 2006 - Message from UC - 15:10 hrs.
This is a message I sent to Pack and Troop yesterday. We really
have such a great thing here.
It has been a very productive day. The Troop Key Committee
met this morning and I have since then spoken with the Crew Key
Committee on the phone and in person.
We had in the past decided to develop an interim operating
plan however Bill Grabosky our District Executive Extraordinaire
asked that we work hard to set up a more permanent structure right
away, he felt that would be better for the Unit Set taking a quicker
approach. Bill has started a Crew in New Prague when he was Scoutmaster
of 323 and has experience in this.
So here is what we came up with, I think it is a good solution
for both groups.
Crew meetings continue at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Bethel
Lutheran Church and perhaps one of those nights at the St. Peter's
Youth Room.
Troop meetings are at 7:00 p.m. on those same Thursdays, Note
we have 4 meetings a month now for both groups.
The Crew will do a flag ceremony in a Crew format at 6:30 at
the meetings.
We will do joint flags at 7:00 p.m. run by the Troop in the
Troop format. The Troop would like the Crew help create a bigger
mass at the flag ceremony so that we can attract even more Scouts
to our program.
We will take turns using the Fellowship Hall and the large
room next to the nursery.
If the Crew wants to stay for the Troop program - which now
will introduce a rotating merit badge system again, they can. If
the Crew wants to meet separately and work on Merit Badges or planning
they can. We will continue to work on boy planning however we will
be introducing parent planned events too. We will need help from
the parents in instruction of the Merit Badges and in helping the
boys run the boy planned events and also in running the parent planned
events.
The Crew is encouraged to put on events for the Troop too.
Once we get back to Dudley a similar system will take place
as we have two main meeting areas with the new Council Fire John
and Brandon Brantner built. We can rotate those meeting areas too.
The Crew and Troop will be more independent of one another
yet still do some programming and camping together. Mark Olson,
Terry Barck, Jay Kuivinen and Larry Alderks have committed to taking
charge at the Troop level. They welcome more as the more parental
involvement in the program the better. Advancement will become a
bigger focus at both the Troop and Crew level (hey, we needed some
time to get the boys pointed in being more self sufficient and to
work out this final arrangement with all parties involved, we may
not be that smart, but we are slow). ;~}
Jerry Jerome, Lee and Jane Senne, Terri Schwalbe and myself
will run the Crew. We encourage all others to help us just as the
Troop does too. There are many positions in each organization that
remain unfilled and there is a lot of things a few of us do that
we would like to give up to someone else.
I will be developing a list for both Troop and Crew as to what
the parents should be helping with and what they should encourage
their sons to do on their own for review by both Committees. I will
be asking Ed Buckwald to help me with this. Ed ha been a Scoutmaster
for years and started and ran a Post (precursor to the Crew) years
ago. One of our basic charges is to teach responsibility, kind of
like the teachers do in late Middle School and through High School.
In order to lead you need to learn responsibility and the earlier
the better. Boy planning and execution of events teaches this responsibility
but there is still a need for the parents to help the boys learn
this and coax them along.
Troop Committee meetings will be on the first Saturday of the
month at 8:00 p.m. at Bethel. Crew Committee Meetings will be on
a Thursday night at the Crew meeting, which one is still yet to
determine. I will be gone on the third Thursday of each month as
I have been appointed to the Dundas Planning Commission.
Crew will have separate events at times from the Troop but
will do some joint events as outlined above.
The Aquatics Division remains unchanged however Jay has asked
that the Crew help more with these programs. Jay is now certified
to teach and certify BSA Lifeguards so we have a real asset here
for fundraising and I hope the Crew can step up to this opportunity.
It has taken us some time to come to this final arrangement
however it is what the boys are asking for and what will work good
for both Units and allow them to grow and thrive. Special thanks
to Bill Grabosky for coaching us along. It is so nice to have an
active DE that takes pride in each and everyone of his Units.
Special thanks all to the joint Committees for working this
matter out and bringing the Crew to full fruition.
We have once again arrived at our next plateau. Hmmm.... I'm
wondering what we should try to do next....... :-)
Good work all, really good work!
YIS
UC Don
7 January 2005 - 10:52 hrs
New Troop Committee Chair and Treasurer
On behalf of the Troop and Crew I would like to extgend a warm
and gentle welcome to Terry Barck in his new duties as Troop Committee
Chair. Terry has extensive Scouting background and was Cubmaster,
Committee Chair, Den Leader and Webelos Leader of Pack 344. Terry
is also going to take on the Treasurer duties for a while. Thank
you Terry! Please support Terry in his new role, this was the last
peice of the cog in our Troop/Crew startup transitional plan (see
below). We will be well poised to continue to grow the Troop and
Crew while we await the influx on new Leaders a year from next February.
The Committee Chair leads the Key Committee which sets direction
for the Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters to follow.
Terry is also a member of Bethel Lutheran Church our Chartering
Organization and having Terry in this capacity will help in delivering
the message Bethel wants to portray in our program as well as continue
to build the bonds between our Unit Sets and the Church.
The Troop Key Committee on Saturday voted that Terry's appointement
should go to a year from this next February before it is up for
discussion again (February 2007). Typically we vote each year as
a Key Committee on all adult Leadership positions. We do this each
February as per BSA Guidelines during Charter renewal and our Troop/Crew
Guidelines.
Terry will be a very strong assest to our program in this capacity.
Again a special thanks to Terry for this time committment, for the
strength and for this leadership gift he brings us.
YIS
Don
7 January 2005 - 10:41 hrs
Crew Charter Officially Established
As of December 31st 2005 we have an official Crew. Please welcome
John and Chris and their dad Steve to our membership. John and Chris
are my nephews and will be joining us occassionally in our journeys.
Steve my brother-in-law was a past Scout and Leader here in town
and will be helping as he can. With these additional two youth we
had the 5 boys required to charter the Crew. This also helped the
Council to achieve the Quality Council Award this year as they needed
a couple of Crews to qualify for that award.
The Venturing Patrol will become official Crew members and join
the "Chartered Five" at the end of May.
Thank you to all who helped in making our dream a reality. We finally
have officially completed our mission of a unified Unit Set and
now have a program that offers Life and Leadership skills for boys
and girls from kindergarten through college. We should all be very
proud for our accomplishments!
YIS
Don
7 January 2005 - 10:32 hrs
Meeting this Thursday - The Stock Market Game begins......
It is Roundtable this Thursday however at the last Troop Key Committee
meeting we decided to start to have Troop/Crew meetings each Thursday
night. Leaders will take turns going to Roundtable like we did a
couple of years ago.
This Thursday we are starting the Stock Market Game. All Scouts
are encouraged to attend this meeting as it is the start of the
game. There are prizes for the most profitable player. First prize
is $20.00, 2nd prize is $10.00 and 3rd prize is $5.00. Terry Barck
has found a cool internet gaming site and will be presenting this
to the Scouts this Thursday. See "Cool Internet Site that Terry
Barck Found.com" for a preview of the information. Terry will
be bringing a laptop and projector to explaine the rules of the
game to the Scouts this Thursday. So do not miss the meeting or
you will miss the opportunity to win the prizes. If you have to
miss, please contact Terry Barck at tbarck@redwingtechnologies.com
This event works with the Personal Management Merit Badge and helps
fullfill requirements.
See "The
Stock Market Game" for a preview. (large
download powerpoint file)
We will be going back to 4 meetings a month as our norm so remember
Thursday for Scouts.
7 January 2005 10:17 hrs
Transitional Operating Plan Complete!
Our past three Troop/Crew Key Committee meetings have been very
productive. Good work to everyone. Here is a short recap of the
events.
The Troop and Crew Key Committees are now two separate entities.
This is in keeping with our goal to establish a "Total Program
Concept" Unit Set. The Crew is going to stay close to the Troop
for the rest of this School year but have some sepatate programming.
The objective of moving the Troop back to being more boy-led Troop
is complete and the Crew Committee and Crew are committed to helping
the Troop through this transitonal process. With the introduction
of a Crew to the equation it changes the operating scheme slightly.
Luckily and as always the BSA has this thought through and we are
simply following BSA guidelines with respect to Troop and Crew integration.
Crews are designed to teach Leadership through service as all top
leaders in all organizations are generally the most helpful people.
This is why they are moved up the ladder. A simple thought yet a
harder skill to aquire. Help others and others will help you. They
will also see your helpfullness as a form of Leadership. The best
leaders no one even knows they are leading. People follow because
they want to not because they have to. This higher level learning
is the focus of a Crew's instruction.
Our tranistional plan is generally a tweaked copy of how we started
the Troop from the Pack hoepfully we will enjoy the same success.
At this point it appears we are but we still will have a few bugs
to work out.
Troop Committee meetings are on the first Monday evening of each
month at 7:00 p.m. at Bethel. Crew Committee meetings are on the
forthThursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. and at the location of
the Crew meeting.
Troop and Crew now (see above) meet each Thursday.
Troop New Monthly Schedule
First Thursday - Regular Troop Meeting
- 7:00 p.m. Bethel or Dudley.
Boys conduct and run the program, Crew assists.
Second Thursday - Regular Troop Meeting - 7:00 p.m. Bethel
or Dudley.
I am suspecting we will be introducing advancment
sessions at this meeting but a full
conclusion was not reached at the last Troop
Key Committee Meeting.
Third Thursday - Patrol Meetings - 7:00 p.m. Bethel or
Dudley.
Boys meet as Patrols and work on planning
of events.
Fourth Thursday - Patrol Leaders Council - 7:00 p.m. Bethel
or Dudley.
Crew New Monthly Schedule
First Thursday - Regular Crew Meeting
- 6:30 p.m. Bethel or Dudley -
Advancment - Upper
level Merit Badges. Eagle Project Review. Help Troop with Program..
Second Thursday - Regular Crew Meeting - 6:30 p.m. Bethel
or Dudley -
Advancment - Upper
level Merit Badges. Work on Eagle Projects.
Third Thursday - Patrol Meetings - 6:30 p.m. Bethel or
Dudley -
Plannng of upcomming events.
Fourth Thursday - Game Players Conference- 6:30p.m. Bethel
or St. Peter's (maybe I have to ask). -
Crew Committee Meeting, representative from
Crew to Troop PLC.
WIthin this "Total Program Concept" approach the Crew
becomes the finishing school where the higher level skills are learned.
The Troop becomes the advanment and learning phase of the equation.
After completing the 7th grade, boys can elect to join the Ventruing
Patrol which meets with the Crew as a transitioning tool to Venturing.
The Ventruing program while it does restructure a typical Troop
format has proven Nationally to keep boys in the program longer,
which gives more of them a chance to make Eagle and all of them
the chance to learn life skills that will lead to success, financially,
emotionally and spiritually.
As I have said a hundred times, the longer and more exposure I
get to the BSA system, the more I respect and admite the thought
that has evolved over the past 100 years, from people like you and
me.
As Unit Commissioner I am very proud of our dedicated Leaders and
committed Parents to our program. Establishing new Units is very
hard work and takes a lot of thought. Establishing a "Total
Program Concept" Unit Set from our intial 6 boys (5 years ago)
is remarkable accomplishment.
Thank you all for your continued support and help. We could not
do what we have done without each of us helping in our own small
ways. Keep up the good work all!
YIS
Don
5 January 2005 - 10:20 hrs
Message from Floyd and Lila about Training
Due to a conflict with scheduling a Saturday at United Methodist
Church in Northfield we have cancelled the January 21st Troop Committee
training.
The Order of the Arrow is having a "skiing" weekend on
January 28th at Phillippo Scout reservation. They have offered us
the use of the Powell cabin to use for training while they are off
skiing.
Following is the new schedule.
9:30 am pre-registration, coffee, rolls, hot chocolate.
10:00 Youth Protection training
10:55 break
11:00 Committee training combined with New Leader Essentials.
12:00 lunch (Bring a can of non-cream soup and eating utensils).
The rest will be furnished.
12:30 continue committee training
2:30 Award certificates
If your troop is participating in the ski weekend be sure to have
adults that will be able to go with their troop skiing.
Why attend this training:You will learn the important functions
of your position on the committee. Scoutmasters & Assistant
Scoutmasters are invited. This is the time for you to learn what
you are not supposed to be doing.
Bring your enthusiasm to have fun and learn. We should have at least
10 participants to really get the most from this training. We would
love to have up to 30.
Notify us by January 22nd so that I have time to gather enough supplies
and food.
Lila
4 January 2005 - 14:14 hrs
This Week
Thursday: Crew Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Bethel
- working on Personal Managment. Troop invited.
Troop Meeting at 7:00 p.m. at Bethel - Ventruing Patrol has program,
they want to work on advancment. Also need to coordinate the Klondike
Derby, January Outing (Snow Base) and the OA Ice Fishing Contest.
Derek may have other things to talk about too.
Saturday:
Key Committee Meeting at 8:00 a.m. at Bethel.
Topics:
Committee chair
FOS
Scount accounts
Program
Philmont
more to come.....
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.
See you Thursday.
YIS
Don
18 December 2005 - 12:34 hrs
This Week
This week the Crew asked to work on Personal Management Merit Badge.
Troop memebrs are invited. We will start at 6:30 p.m. at Bethel.
Troop Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. Mark Olson and Jay Kuivinen have
been helping the Raven Patrol with the January Outing. We need to
tie this down at this meeting and get sign up sheets going and dates
picked. It is looking like the first or second weekend in January
as the third weekend is Super Saturday and the forth is Pinewood
Derby (Troop and Crew emmebrs invited to see if yuo can beat Alec
- he is really easy to beat).
One option for the campout is SNOWBASE see:
http://www.northernstarbsa.org/Camping/SnowBase.asp
February is the Klondike Derby. Troop 337 is sponsoring this event
and Mr. Buckwald has asked that the SPL coordinate this with him.
It is going to be a lopt different than last year and really really
cool as it is an historic reenactment of the first expedition to
Anartica.
See:
Klondike
page one
Klondike
page two
Klondike
page three
Klondike
page four
There are lots of other activities to choose from and scheudle
for the rest of the year. See BLOG items below for a complete listing
of Council and District Events.
18 December 2005 - 10:19 hrs
Governor's Ball
We braved the cold and ice, we slipped around in fancy cars, our
guests were very happy. Special thanks to all of you from the Pack,
Troop, Crew and Campfire Girls that helped last night parking cars
for the Governor's Ball. The guests were very gracious and we had
a large donation just just about full by the end of the night.
Just about everybody who is anybody was at the Ball last night.
This type of service is very good for our local image. Thanks to
Kristen Stets and the rest of the Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee
that helped make this event one of Northfield's best ever. Members
of the Rolvaag and Thye Families were there along with Governor
Quie to represent our local Governors that have served our State.
A very impressive organizational system developed by our own Tracy
Barron helped us find the cars in record time. One of our Crew Scouts
even helped with car retrieval. Some of our boys also helped with
coordination and getting guests up and down the stairs. It was a
great turn out on our part. GOOD WORK ALL!
YIS
Don
15 December 2005 - 21:27 hrs
Awesome Court of Honor
Other than I forgot Brandon's second class and Peter's FIshing
and Danny's Surveying badge it went real well. Derek did an excellent
job of running the show. Pastor Craig Ellingboe had a wonderful
talk that we all enjoyed thouroughly. Thank you Craig!. The boys
ran and planned this event themselves. Good work guys! Oh and I
forgot my memory stick for my camera (actually could not find it
in haste) and so I only got two pictures. If anyone else took any
digital ones and yuor e-mail server will handle it lese send them
to me and I will put in Q-Pics.
Bill Grabosky our District Executive (DE) was in attendance. He
has been instrumental into helping us get our Crew going. Bill is
an excellent DE and we are very fortunate to have him.
We will need to have the boys do another Court of Honor before
the end of February to insure our Quality Unit and SUper Quality
Unit Award this year.
My apologies for the three awards I forget, I ususally muck up
at least a couple of things. I will try to fgure out how to get
the twopictures I have off of my resident memory in my camera and
post them to a future BLOG.
YIS
Don
Leader's Breakfast Cancelled.
15 December 2005 - 21:30 hrs
I forgot I had my Mom's Christmas tommorrow and so I need to cancel
Leader's Breakfast to get ready for that as there is SSSAS and the
Swim at 10:30 and 12:30 respecively.
Sorry, have to do next time.
YIS
Don
15 December 2005 - 21:27 hrs
University Of Minnesota Scout Wrestling Day
Tuesday January 3rd at 7:00 p.m.
Minnesota vrs Arizona State. $10.00 - Ticket, Candy, Pop and a
Scout Patch.
See QN344-03121-UofMWrestling.pdf
14 December 2005 - 17:42 hrs
Troop Committee Challenge Training.
Floyd and Lila are offering Troop Committee Challenge Training
- see message from Lila below:
From: Floyd & Lila Caron [mailto:csc@cvtel.net]
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 7:01 AM
We are planning a training session for Troop Committee members
(this counts for supplemental training for Scoutmasters, and Assistant
Scoutmasters).
Date: January 21, 2006
Location: Probably at United Methodist in Northfield.
Time: Let us know am or pm. (Majority rules but we need to know
by January 10th).
Pre-requisite: On-line Youth protection training. Bring your training
proof. Available at northernstarbsa.org (training section)
This email was sent to those that we have email addresses for. If
you have leaders on your committee that are not listed here please
forward this to them and also inform me of their name and email
address.
Lila
Rolling Hills District Training Chair
12 December 2005 - 16:36 hrs
Northfield Troop Leader's Joint Breakfast with Bill.
This Friday the 16th Bill Grabosky has invited the Northfield Troop
Leaders to breakfast at the Tavenr at 7:00 a.m. to discuss how we
can handle some new boys from the Northfield Middle School Youth
Center who want to become Boy Scouts. This is a great opportunity
for Leaders to get to know the other Troop leaders in town. We have
a great opporunity here to touch the lives of even more young men.
Hope to see you there.
YIS
Don
12 December 2005 - 16:36 hrs
SNOW BASE - Possibly a go!
Jay and Mark are working with the Raven Patrol on the Janaury outing.
Snow Base is an option and is open on the first, second and forth
weekends of the month. There are two programs to choose from. See:
http://www.northernstarbsa.org/Camping/SnowBase.asp
Mark McCaib the Council Camp Director says that they have lots
of gear at Tomahawk and no one gets cold. Boys age 10-12 camp inside
while boys age 13 and above can opt to sleep one night in an igloo
they build (or they can camp inside too). Sounds like a fun program
and it is at Tomahawk which means it will be the best.
Boys will need to decide what they want to do. A Troop that comes
on our River Runs has also invited us winter camping or we could
go elsewhere.
12 December 2005 - 16:36 hrs
The 50 Miler - August 3rd to 7th.
Get the coveted 50 mile Afoot Afloat Patch
on yet another program from the 344 Aquatics Division. This event
coincides with one of our River Runs but goes two days longer. See:
QT344-04400-50miler.htm
for more details.
11 December 2005 - 16:46 hrs
The Crew begins!
I just got two membership applications from my two nephews and
a Leader Application from my brother-in-law and so we now have enough
members to start the Crew officially! We will need all Crew leaders
to sign a membership application and our 3 High School members (you
know who you are, - no names on web you know). Please get these
to me at the Court of Honor on Thursday, we are under a time crunch
the Council needs this complete this year to make Quality Council.
Youth application = YOUTH
at http://www.scouting.org/forms/28-303.pdf
Adult application = ADULT
at http://www.scouting.org/forms/28-501.pdf
This is good news as we can get a quicker reservation to Philmont
this way. Troops are 4 year waiting list (or lottery system) and
Crews are a 1 year waiting list.
We are almost official gang, please get your leader and Scout forms
in to me this Thursday.
YIS
Don
11 December 2005 - 16:23 hrs
New Web Construction Complete
The 344 Unit Web Site updating has been complete. All pages should
be up to the date with information, leaders names and other contacts.
You will note you will never see a boys names on these pages. If
you want to submit documents for this web log or for storing on
our Server just
e-mail Don at mailto:don@starrarch.com
.
You will note that the Pack, Troop and Crew sites are all reflecting
Alec's new motif. It is way cool. I will beusing this and the Crew
Blog to assimilate information so that you can cathc up on your
Socut news at your liesure rather than feeling like you ave to read
your e-mail all the time. Check the BLOGS from time to time Troop
and Crew . Also see the schedule pages for
Troop and Crew
to see what is going on.
You boys should be working on getting your phone chain refined
and up and running so that you can learn to assimiliate the information
on your own.
We have also added some new sites that now brings our web strucutre
up to 11 sites and over 10,500 files. Check out the new 344
Web Site Controller at "The
One SIte" at http://www.344Units.com
from this site you will see in addition to
http://www.pack344.us,
http://www.troop344.us,
http://www.crew344.us,
http://campfiregirls.us,
http://northfieldscouts.indianhead.org,
http://www.qdocs.us,
http://www.qsystem.us
we have added
http://www.pack344.com,
http://www.crew344.com
Now you can select frames or no frames (enhanced) version of our
Unit Set sites as well as access recent photographs, our server
and our operations guide.
Remember "The
One Site" at http://www.344Units.com
or look for the following symbol scatered throughout our many pages.
"The One
Site"
http://www.344Units.com

One simple name,
One great solution.
"The One
Site"
YIS
Don
11 December 2005 - 16:18 hrs
This Week - December 11th through
December 17th
Court of Honor
Thursday December 15th at 6:30 p.m. the Crew is hosting the Troop's
Court of Honor. Pastor Craig Ellingboe of St Peter's Lutheran Church
is the guest speaker. Come for a fun filled night and meal at the
Northfield Retirement Center Chapel.
Super Saturday is also this
weekend on the 17th.
Leader's Breakfast - 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
at Tavern - Pack, Troop, Crew, Ship and Campfire Girl Leaders come
for a fun filled breakfast. Get help from veteran Scouters, find
out what is going on, help coordinate the effort between the various
Units for joint programming. Help us keep our "Total Program
Concept" Unit Set running smoothly at all levels. Troop is
paying for the first $20.00 of the breakfast
SSSAS (Super Saturday Supplemental Advancement System)
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Work on open Merit Badge work or participate
in Environmental Merit Badge Class currently running. Note we are
looking for more Merit Badge Councilors to teach classes. Meets
at Northfield Middle School Library.
Family Swim
Our monthly Rolling Hills District Family Swim program runs fro
12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Northfield Middle School Pool. See the
Ought Four Thousand
at QT344-04000 on
the Q-Server
for more info. Work on Swimming requirements for advancement and
Merit Badges (Cub Scouts too).
11 December 2005 - 14:16 hrs
Junior Leader College
Whole day event on April 8th, 2006. Put on by the Council. Includes
training for youth and adults. Get Junior Leader Training at this
event. Giant Midway, cook, have fun, play games, see what Units
from the entire Council are up to.
Junior
Leader College - on "Q-Docs"
11 December 2005 - 14:14 hrs
Klondike Derby - February 18th 2006
Byrd and Gould in Antarctica - An Historic reenactment
at the Science Center
at the Maltby Nature Preserve
This should be Way Cool!!!!
See the following links for info:
QD344-03109-KlondikeFlyer2006.pdf
QD344-03110-KlondikeFlyer2006002.pdf
QD344-03111-KlondikeFlyer2006003.pdf
QD344-03112-KlondikeFlyer2006004.pdf
This event should be coordinated by the PLC and Senior Patrol Leader
with Ed Buckwald at ozark@rconnect.com
or 645-9823 before 2200 hrs.
11 December 2005 - 14:09 hrs
Valley Fair with the Scouts - Super Event - Council wide
On Saturday May 20th 2006 come to valley fair.
See flyer at:
QD344-03117-ValleyFair-2006.pdf
11 December 2005 - 13:58 hrs
District Ice Fishing Contest
Saturday February 26th - 9:00 a.m.
The yearly District Fishing Contest is coming again. Alec always
loses you know. :-)
See flyer at:
QD344-03116-Ice
Fishing Derby.pdf
11 December 2005 - 13:57 hrs
Rolling Hills District Ski event at Welch Village and camp out
at Phillippo.
Saturday January 29th 2006
See flyers at:
QD344-03118-Welch
Village-2006.pdf
QD344-03119-Welch
Village and Phillippo Campng -2006.pdf
11 December 2005 - 13:56 hrs
Trollhaugen
Sunday February 5th 2006 come ski and snowboard. Council Event.
Bring the whole family.
See flyer at:
QN344-03115-Trollhaugen2006.pdf
11 December 2005 - 13:55 hrs
Camp Rippley Extreme Program
April 22, 22, 23
Come to Rippley for some fun and extreme excitement!
See flyer at:
QN344-03113-X-TREME
Program.pdf
11 December 2005 - 13:54 hrs
Wanna watch some bull riders?
Target Center December 30-31 - 8:00 p.m.
See flyer at:
QN344-03114-Bull
RIders Target Center Program.pdf
11 December 2005 - 10:21
SNOW BASE!
Mark and Jay are working with the Raven Patrol to pull together
their January event. I will be calling up for availability. It looks
like the 7th or the 14th are the only dates open on our calendar,
however we could move JLT and go ont he 28th too.
There has been interest in going to Tomahawk in the winter. Boys
age 11-12 spend two days outside and one night sleeping inside.
Boys 13 and older can opt for the more advanced program and spend
one night inside, two days outside and one night outside (camping).
Build the Legend
of 344, come to Snow
Base! see: http://www.northernstarbsa.org/Camping/SnowBase.asp
for more information. More to come.
10 December 2005 - 08:19 hrs
University of Scouting
Here is where you learn it all! Come take training from the Council's
best. See message below from Steve Stobbs. Learn how a Crew and
Troop operate and achieve the Aims of Scouting.
My Fellow Scouters:
Kelly Glover's University of Scouting committee met last night
and
decided to hold this Spring's University of Scouting at St. Thomas
Academy in the Southeast metro on April 1st.
Schedule for the event will be the same as the October 29th
event, 7:30
registration, 8:30 start, 5:00 conclusion. Many of the courses from
the
October 29th event will be repeated (and a uniform course numbering
system finalized, so we can use it from year to year, Fall and Spring),
and there will also be some new course offerings. The Cub Scout
portion
of the event will be the College of Cub Scouting (not a Pow Wow).
This decision enables us to spend a little more time in the
area of
promotion and organization, and the later date enables us to get
a
facility that better meets our needs.
Please help me spread the word.
--Steve Stobbs
9 December 2005 - 14:04 hrs
Message from Dave Arola - Excel Energy Events
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Arola
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 2:04 PM
To: All Staff
Subject: Xcel Energy Events
Attention Staff:
Bellow is a link to our special Scout offer page at the Xcel
Energy
Center. This link will be added to our council web page soon. All
Scouting Youth, families, volunteers and staff may take advantage
of the
special offers. Our special offer page is imbedded in their web
site so
if you click on any other tabs other than our offers, you will need
to
use your back button or click on the link again to get back.
http://www.xcelenergycenter.com/boyscouts/index.jsp
The Northern Star Council does receive proceeds from every
ticket
purchased. The amount varies from event to event. Feel free to send
out a personalized email with the attached link to any units you
think
may be interested.
Dave Arola
Development Director
Northern Star Council, BSA
P:(651) 254-9146 F: (651) 224-7239
9 December 2005 - 09:51 hrs
Message from John Andrews Chief Executive Officer
of NorthernStar Council:
-----Original Message-----
From: John Andrews
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 1:51 PM
Subject: Miscellaneous Matters
Greetings to our "Official Family"! Coming from a
great council
nominating committee meeting this morning, I am reminded that we
do not
always know just who receives these emails, or who is included in
the
"official family" roster of Scouting volunteers (which
we seek to
strengthen on a constant basis). Please feel free to forward these
communications to other volunteer groupings, if you find them to
be of
value in between your Scouting newsletters, roundtables, board and
committee meetings, etc. Those who are receiving Miscellaneous Matters
emails directly from me are: Board of Directors members, President's
Cabinet members (which includes council committee and district committee
chairs), Members at Large, Honorary Members, District Commissioners,
and
all Staff members.
Our headline story this chilly Friday is the Million Dollar
Day of
Scouting. I most certainly hope you are planning to attend either
the
morning or the afternoon event next Wednesday! We truly need your
support and attendance at one or both of the programs - and we truly
need you to bring your friends and associates! We guarantee you
will
not regret the time you devote, or your friends' appreciation for
what
they will learn and experience. Hit this link for details and to
register. http://www.northernstarbsa.org/News/MillionDollarDay.asp
Watch for the short TV Ads on Channel 4 over the next few days,
plugging
Scouting as we build awareness of our programs and Friends of Scouting
campaigns.
Scouters in the News: President's Cabinet Member and longtime
Scouter
BILL DAVIES has just been selected as Chair of the National Catholic
Committee on Scouting! This is a huge honor for our Council, and
we
know Bill will be a wonderful leader for councils across the country.
We also extend our hearts and prayers to TED and LINDA SELBITSCHKA,
as
Linda undergoes ongoing cancer treatment. Ted is our Council Treasurer,
of course, and a longtime Scouter.
General Mills Information Technology Explorer Post 3633 will
be one of
only four Explorer Posts in the nation to receive an excellence
award to
be presented at the National Learning for Life Conference! The
conference will be held March 2-4, 2006 at the Harvey Hotel in Irving,
Texas. Congratulations to Post Advisor MIKE RUESWALD!
Have you ever heard of EUROJAM2005? Our own Scouters DAVE NOVY
and JIM
RUPERT were part of a Help Desk Team at this international Scouting
event that was recently awarded the United Kingdom IT Service Management
Foundation's Service Management Award for Innovation of the Year!
The Order of the Arrow is one of the primary traditional Scouting
programs that is longest remembered by our alumni, and that has
accomplished as much as any other Scouting program to build leadership
skills and improve retention among older Boy Scouts - as the two
Lodges
of our former councils are planning and implementing the merger
of their
identities, we are lucky to have TOM WELNA as the Lodge Adviser,
and SUE
KETEL, ALEX KAHLER, and BRIAN UHLENHOPP as the Co-Advisers! The
two
Lodge Chiefs CURTIS KLINT and KEN MARTIN are among the youth leadership
team that is providing joint governance to the project.
Cub Scout Membership has been the "holy grail" of
Scouting for the past
several years, both locally and nationally. Our volunteers and staff
continue to be very excited about our progress toward showing growth
in
this and all membership categories in our first year as Northern
Star
Council! We were only .8 percent behind this time last year (in
traditional membership) as of the end of November!
Quality District Awards are certainly being earned by many
of our
wonderful district teams, even as we seek to add Quality Council
to the
boasting list: In addition to Rolling Hills as of the last
communication, we now add Metro Lakes (Key Three are RICK ZACZEK,
DENNIS
MEDD, and NATE BURHANS), Huron District (PAUL COUSINEAU and the
Neighborhood Guide staff), and Challenger (SARA AMBERG and JODI
WANG).
Congratulations - who will be next?!
Lastly, I would like to recognize the outstanding STAFF of
the Northern
Star Council. The volunteers who own and operate our programs should
be
proud to know that even with six fewer top managers than we had
one year
ago, our staff has exceeded 2004 giving to the United Way Campaign.
Our
employees have collectively pledged $30,000 (100% of them, I should
add)
as a Scouting team - this puts our council in a leadership position
among other non-profits funded by the United Way, with per capita
giving
of well over $300!
We are all busy, with more opportunities and dreams than can
possibly be
served, and that is a good thing. Our strategy on behalf of 100%
of our
children is all about stretching limited resources to fit ambitious
aspirations. Thank you for doing your part, and a little more.
John R. Andrews
Northern Star Council, BSA
651 254 9140
763 231 7240
8 December 2005 - 20:03 hrs
IT IS ALIVE!!!
The Crew Web Log is alive. Check here regularly for all your Scouting
information. E-mails will be less now and you will need to rely
on the BLOGS for your information. See also Troop
Blog for cross programming with the Crew. See Troop
and Crew Schedules for up to the date
changes in programming.
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