Simsbury Troop 175

25 More Things You Didn’t Know About Scouting

26. The Soviet Union turned to the BSA in 1993 for help in producing the first Russian Scout handbook;
20,000 copies were distributed.

27. The 20 millionth Scout was registered with the BSA in 1952; by 2000, that number reached 100 million.

28. The gravestone of worldwide Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell is marked with a trail symbol of a circle with a dot in the center, which means “I have gone home.”

29. While Robert Baden-Powell’s English Scouts had nine points in their Scout Law, the Boy Scouts of America added three more: A Scout is brave, clean, and reverent.

30. In 1929, an African American Boy Scout from Fort Worth, Texas, found and returned a woman’s pocketbook that contained more than $300 in cash. The boy declined her liberal reward, saying, “No, madam. I am a Boy Scout and cannot take a tip for doing my duty.”

31. Scouts have served at every presidential inauguration since Woodrow Wilson’s in 1913. Boy Scouts who helped out at the Wilson inauguration were Honor Medal recipients.

32. Portions of the 1963 movie “PT 109,” the story of the sinking of John F. Kennedy’s PT boat during World War II, were filmed on Big Munson Island at the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.

33. When America entered World War I in 1917, membership in the BSA outnumbered the 200,000-man U.S. Army by more than 68,000 members.

34. American passenger railroads helped boost the population at the first national Scout jamboree in 1937—they offered fares at a special price of 1 cent per mile.

35. Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton became an Eagle Scout at age 13, businessman and philanthropist H. Ross Perot at 13, and President Gerald R. Ford at 14.

36. The first Scouts to live in the White House were the sons of 30th U.S. President Calvin Coolidge: John and Calvin Jr.

37. In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Scouts from New York and New Jersey helped reignite the American spirit, collecting more than 153,000 bottles of water for Ground Zero rescue workers—and placing handwritten messages of appreciation and encouragement in their hard hats.

38. The Boy Scout Memorial in Washington, D.C., marks the site of the 1937 National Scout Jamboree. One of the few D.C. memorials to commemorate a living cause, it was accepted in 1964 by Associate Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark on his 50th anniversary as an Eagle Scout.

39. More than 8 million people read Boys’ Life each month.

40. In Scouting’s first decade, dozens of composers turned out Boy Scout sheet music, including John Phillip Sousa, who wrote the “Boy Scouts of America March” in 1916.

41. More than 1.5 million pinewood derby cars are sold each year. If the cars were lined up end to end, they would stretch 166 miles.

42. At the outbreak of World War I, the Boy Scouts of America was the largest uniformed body in the United States—twice as large as the U.S. Army, nearly twice as large as the National Guard, four times larger than the U.S. Navy, and 11 times larger than the U.S. Marine Corps.

43. Each year, the BSA awards 6 million pocket certificates. If stacked on top of one another like a deck of cards, they would be as tall as the Empire State Building, the Washington Monument, both Sears Towers (now Willis Tower), and the John Hancock Conservatory combined.

44. The first African American Boy Scout troop was organized in 1911 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

45. The Florida National High Adventure Sea Base is one of the largest scuba-diving operations in the United States, conducting more than 25,000 individual dives annually.

46. These days, boys may earn the rank of Eagle Scout only until age 18, but until 1965, both boys and men could achieve Scouting’s highest rank.

47. Of the 12 men who would eventually walk on the moon, 11 were former Scouts.

48. Rafael Petit and Juan Carmona of Caracas, Venezuela, hiked to the 1935 National Scout Jamboree, only to find that it was canceled due to a polio outbreak. They returned for the rescheduled 1937 Jamboree—a total of 8,000 miles.

49. The only recorded Tyrannosaurus Rex footprint cast was discovered at Philmont Scout Ranch.

50. Norman Rockwell designed the first 12 Scout medals for the BSA.

25 Things You Didn’t Know About Scouting

1. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, is an Eagle Scout. When he said, “The Eagle has landed,” he wasn’t kidding. In 1969, Armstrong became the first Eagle Scout to be portrayed on a U.S. postage stamp— called “The Man on the Moon.”

2. The Invention merit badge (1911–1918) required the candidate to obtain a patent.

3. Boys’ Life magazine, which goes to 1.1 million Scouts each month, was started by an 18-year-old Scout, Joseph Lane, in 1911. A year later, the Boy Scouts of America bought the magazine for $6,100—about $1 per subscriber.

4. James E. West was the BSA’s first Chief Scout Executive. When he took the position in 1911, he agreed to serve six months. At his retirement in 1943, he was given the title of Chief Scout.

5. The BSA is the second-largest Scouting organization in the world. The largest is in Indonesia.

6. One of Scouting’s most popular traditions, patch trading, has bloomed into a full-fledged hobby. Some rare patches are worth thousands of dollars.

7. For all but two years from 1925 to 1976, illustrator Norman Rockwell illustrated the annual Brown &
Bigelow Boy Scout calendar—for free.

8. Former Congressmen Alan Simpson and Norman Mineta served together from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s. They met as Boy Scouts during World War II, when Simpson’s troop from Cody, Wyoming, visited the internment camp where Mineta and his Japanese immigrant parents were being held. The two became—and have remained—close friends and political allies.

9. The first Eagle Scout to earn all available merit badges was Leon Wallace in 1922.

10. In May 1964, 29 of American’s 30 astronauts visited Philmont for a two-week training trip to learn
geological mapping and seismographic studies in preparation for the Apollo programs.

11. Three important Eagle Scouts all have names beginning with “A.” The first Eagle Scout is Arthur Eldred (1912) of Long Island, New York; the 1 millionth Eagle (1982) is Alexander Holsinger of Normal, Illinois; and the 2 millionth Eagle (2009) is Anthony Thomas of Lakeville, Minnesota.

12. Scouts collected more than 65 million containers of food during the first Scouting for Food drive in 1988.

13. The Cub Scout sign (the index and middle fingers extended in a V shape) symbolizes the ears of an alert wolf. It replaced the Indian “how” sign, which looked too much like the Nazi salute.

14. The BSA sells 2.3 million merit badges—one for each person in the state of Utah—every year.

15. After eating candy when he had promised not to, a repentant Howard Hughes returned his Buckskin Badge to Daniel Carter Beard with a note that read, “With love, from Howard.”

16. By the BSA’s centennial in February 2010, more than 1.2 billion Boys’ Life magazines will have been printed.

17. At age 12, Seattle Mariners Chairman and CEO Howard Lincoln posed for Norman Rockwell’s painting The Scoutmaster.

18. On February 8, 1910, William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America. He personally donated $1,000 per month to keep the organization afloat—on the condition that boys of all races and creeds be admitted.

19. In 1920, the BSA sent 301 Scouts to the inaugural world Scout jamboree in England, where they joined Scouts from 33 other countries. The American Scouts represented all 48 states plus the territory of Hawaii.

20. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt requested the Boy Scouts’ service in collecting 1.8 million items of clothing, household furnishings, foodstuffs, and supplies for victims of the Great Depression.

21. After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Scouts set up first-aid stations and emergency kitchens, helped evacuate civilians, served as messengers, and manned 58 air-raid sirens around Honolulu.

22. During a three-month drive in the spring of 1942, Scouts collected 318,000 tons of paper for the war effort.

23. In a nationwide nonpartisan get-out-the-vote campaign in 1956, Scouts distributed more than a million posters and 36 million Liberty Bell doorknob hangers.

24. In 1954, the BSA conducted a National Conservation Good Turn, distributing 3.6 million conservation posters. In parks, rural areas, and wilderness areas, Scouts planted 6.2 million trees, and built and placed 55,000 bird nesting boxes.

25. Scouts collected more than 1 million tons of litter on Scouting Keep America Beautiful Day in 1971.

Simsbury Celebrates 100 Years of Scouting

Troop 175 will host all of the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts in Simsbury and their families for a bonfire celebration of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910. Our plan is to build a brief but spectacular bonfire, toast some marshmallows, maybe put on a skit or two, and show our commitment to the ideals of scouting.

Boy Scouts 100th Anniversary Bonfire

Location: St Catherine of Siena Church,
265 Stratton Brook Road, West Simsbury

Date: February 8, 2010

Time: 7:00pm-8:30pm 

Refreshments will be served

All scouts please come in uniform

All those in the community who are involved in scouting are welcome to attend to enjoy a spectacular bonfire, toast some marshmallows and show our support for the ideals of scouting.

For 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America has created a strong foundation of leadership, service, and community for millions of America’s youth. We celebrate this legacy as we reaffirm our commitment to inspire and prepare future generations.

2010 Centennial Rank Advancement Badges

The National Council has announced that all rank patches for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts for 2010 will feature special designs. The patches called the ‘2010 Centennial Rank Advancement Badges’ feature 2010, Boy Scouts of America, and the rank in text.

View the designs of the 2010 Centennial Rank Advancement Badges (pdf).

The 2010 Centennial Rank Advancement Badges will be given to scouts in Troop 175 starting at the June Court of Honor.

Your photo could be in the BSA's 100th Anniversary photo book

Did you miss your chance to enter Scouting magazine’s recent photo contest? We sympathize. So we’re going to give you another chance to win recognition for your photographic prowess.

We're talking about the Boy Scouts of America: Today photo contest. It shares its name with the title of a book of photography scheduled for release in October. The book will use professional and amateur photos to document the image of Scouting across America.

Submit your photos in any, or all, of 12 categories that, as you no doubt have guessed, represent the 12 points of the Scout Law. The book will publish the winners, and each winning image will earn the shooter a $50 gift card to the BSA Supply Division and a copy of the book.

Before you charge up your camera's battery, though, read these rules:

• The photo must have been taken in the past year.
• The contest is open to youth and adults. You don't even need to be officially affiliated with the BSA to enter.
• Photos must be representative of Scouting activities, but they’re not limited to any specific event.
• Employees of the BSA or their families are not eligible to enter.
• All entries must be received by March 31, 2010.

For inspiration, check out the expert advice of the BSA’s official photographer, Roger Morgan: “The image should not just create a visual reaction, but must evoke a feeling about the point of the Scout Law for which it represents. We’re looking for photographs that create an emotional response.”

Scout in Action

 

Troop 175 Life Scout Keegan Rice was recently competed in the Burton Main Event Snowboarding Competition at Ski Sundown. He placed in the top 10 of the open division and competed in the finals.

His effort lead him to be invited to the Main Event Series Finals at Stowe Vt in February.

Here photographer Bryant Hughes captures Keegan during the competition using time lapse photography.

Operation Tuna

Thanks to all of the scouts in Simsbury Boy Scout Troop 175 who participated in the troop mobilization exercise "Operation Tuna".

To test our ability to reach all scouts in the event of an emergency, we used email, website, Facebook, text messages and phone calls to send a message to all scouts. Everyone was asked to bring one can of tuna to the troop meeting that night. The results were outstanding. We collected 62 cans of high protein tuna fish that was donated to the Simsbury Food Pantry.

Thank you to all who participated.

Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge

The next merit badge class for Troop 175 will be the Eagle Required Citizenship in the Community. Here are the requirements for the badge. This class is open to all scouts in the troop who have not yet earned the badge.

Download Citizenship_in_the_Community Workbook

Citizenship in the Community Requirements

Discuss with your counselor what citizenship in the community means and what it takes to be a good citizen in your community. Discuss the rights, duties, and obligations of citizenship, and explain how you can demonstrate good citizenship in your community, Scouting unit, place of worship or school. Do the following: a. On a map of your community, locate and point out the following: 1. Chief government buildings such as your city hall, county courthouse, and public works/services facility 2. Fire station, police station, and hospital nearest your home 3. Historical or other interesting points b. Chart the organization of your local or state government. Show the top offices and tell whether they are elected or appointed. Do the following: a. Attend a city or town council or school board meeting, or a municipal; county, or state court session. b. Choose one of the issues discussed at the meeting where a difference of opinions was expressed, and explain to your counselor why you agree with one opinion more than you do another one. Choose an issue that is important to the citizens of your community; then do the following: a. Find out which branch of local government is responsible for this issue. b. With your counselor's and a parent's approval, interview one person from the branch of government you identified in requirement 4a. Ask what is being done about this issue and how young people can help. c. Share what you have learned with your counselor. With the approval of your counselor and a parent, watch a movie that shows how the actions of one individual or group of individuals can have a positive effect on a community. Discuss with your counselor what you learned from the movie about what it means to be a valuable and concerned member of the community. List some of the services (such as the library, recreation center, public transportation, and public safety) your community provides that are funded by taxpayers. Tell your counselor why these services are important to your community. Do the following: a. Choose a charitable organization outside of Scouting that interests you and brings people in your community together to work for the good of your community. b. Using a variety of resources (including newspapers, fliers and other literature, the Internet, volunteers, and employees of the organization), find out more about this organization. c. With your counselor's and your parent's approval, contact the organization and find out what young people can do to help. While working on this merit badge, volunteer at least eight hours of your time for the organization. After your volunteer experience is over, discuss what you have learned with your counselor. Develop a public presentation (such as a video, slide show, speech, digital presentation, or photo exhibit) about important and unique aspects of your community. Include information about the history, cultures, and ethnic groups of your community; its best features and popular places where people gather; and the challenges it faces. Stage your presentation in front of your merit badge counselor or a group, such as your patrol or a class at school.

Photo Merit Badge Project

As part of the Photography Merit Badge, Scouts from Simsbury Troop 175 have been submitting photo projects to complete their requirements for the badge.

Here are some additional Scout presentations for your enjoyment.

Autumn Photos - Drew Veltrop takes photos to capture this colorful time of the year.
Download Autumn Photos

Historical merit badges help Boy Scouts celebrate Scouting’s past

BSA Announced today, via the Scouting Magazine Blog that in honor of the BSA’s 100th Anniversary, today’s generation of Scouts will get the unique opportunity to experience some of the activities their predecessors enjoyed. That’s possible thanks to the BSA’s new Historical Merit Badge Program, a set of four discontinued merit badges that today’s Scouts can earn.

Boys can earn any or all of these merit badges:

Signaling

• First offered in 1910 (as Signaller merit badge) and discontinued in 1992.

Tracking

• First offered in 1911 (as Stalker merit badge) and discontinued in 1952.

Pathfinding

• First offered in 1911 and discontinued in 1952.

Carpentry

• First offered in 1911 and discontinued in 1952.

The US Scouting Service Project has posted the requirements for these badges and Scouts can start working on them NOW.

The basics of the 2010 Historical Merit Badge program include:

• The merit badges will closely resemble the original designs of the merit badges with the exception of the borders. The borders will be embroidered with a shiny gold thread that will be immediately identifiable as a 2010 Historical Merit Badge.
• The original merit badge requirements will be used wherever possible. Exceptions will be made when current safety or social standards dictate. Adaptations can also be made for special needs Scouts.
• The merit badges will count for towards a boy’s rank advancement.
• Work on the badges is not to commence prior to January 1, 2010 and is to be finished no later than December 31, 2010.
• The Supply Division will not create or reprint pamphlets for the merit badges. Any and all material will be posted to a special section of the 100th Anniversary web site that can be accessed by the interested boys and their merit badge counselors.