Simsbury Troop 175

Boy Scouts on Jeopardy!

The venerable quiz show "Jeopardy!" paid tribute to the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America last week with a special category about Scouting.

The "Jeopardy!" Clue Crew took a special field trip to California's Camp Winton for footage to complement the category. And even though the contestants saved the category for last (none of them were Scouts, apparently), the group got each question right.

Were you watching? If not, here's a chance to test your knowledge with the answers and questions from the show. You'll find the five answers below. Write down the questions on a piece of paper, and then check your work by following the jump below.

$200: In 1940 this composer gave the Boy and Girl Scouts all future royalties from the song "God Bless America."

$400: To be a First Class Scout, you have to able to find directions. One way is to place a stick in the ground and wait for the afternoon shadow, which will point this way.

$600: A popular Scouting activity is the throwing of this type of hatchet or axe native to North America.

$800: A traditional skill in Scouting is knowing how to build a fire; one good method is named for this Native American shelter.

$1,000: The first Boy Scout to go on to be the president was this man who, in a youthful letter to his father Joe, asked for a bigger allowance to buy canteens and other Scout supplies.

Follow the jump below to check your work. Good luck!

QUESTIONS:

$200: Who is Irving Berlin?

$400: What is east?

$600: What is a tomahawk?

$800: What is a tepee?

$1,000: Who is John F. Kennedy?

Source: BSA Cracker Barrel

Boy, the Scout Handbook Keeps Changing

The Wall Street Journal is the most widely read newspaper in the United States. Last week it ran a very interesting opinion piece entitled Boy, the Scout Handbook Keeps Changing, by Tony Woodlief.

The article discusses some of the changes the BSA have endured over the past century as well as some of the issues it has faced. It is a very interesting read.

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The contest ends April 15th.

25 Still Even More Things You Didn’t Know About Scouting

76. Dr. E. Urner Goodman, the founder of the BSA’s national honor society, the Order of the Arrow, was once a volunteer Scoutmaster of Troop 1 in Philadelphia.

77. Early Scouting leaders James E. West, Daniel Carter Beard, and Ernest Thompson Seton sat on first Eagle Scout Arthur Eldred’s Eagle board of review.

78. The Kansas City Area Council has had an exceptionally productive advancement program and won the distinction of “Most Eagle Scouts” from 1912 to 1969, totaling 13,943. The council still ranks in the top 10 today.

79. Edward VIII, former Prince of Wales, is the only person who received the BSA Silver Buffalo Award (1929) and later became a king. The Silver Buffalo Award is awarded for distinguished service to youth.

80. On September 10, 1910, S. F. Lester of Troy, New York, became the first person to hold the Scouting leadership position of Scoutmaster (commissioned by the BSA).

81. Today, approximately 100,000 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers with disabilities are registered with the Boy Scouts of America in more than 4,000 units chartered to community organizations.

82. In 1912, five of the 23 Eagle Scouts came from West Shokam, New York.

83. Chess legend Bobby Fischer was the author of a chess column called “Checkmate” in Boys’ Life from 1966 until 1969.

84. Eagle Scouts who served as Chief Scout Executive include Joseph Brunton Jr. (1960–1966), Alden Barber (1967–1976), Harvey Price (1976-1979), James Tarr (1979–1984), Jere Ratcliffe (1993–2000), and current Chief Scout Executive Robert Mazzuca.

85. Charles Scruggs of Cuero, Texas, was reportedly the first recipient of the Honor Medal for lifesaving in 1911.

86. Ernest Lawrence was the first Boy Scout to have a chemical element named in his honor: lawrencium. He was also the first former Scout to win the Nobel Prize for Physics, in 1939.

87. In June 1942, Time magazine dubbed the BSA “Public Scavenger Service #1” for its outstanding wartime collection drives.

88. It is believed that Robert Baden-Powell and W. D. Boyce never met.

89. Raymond Cobb was 25 when he reportedly became the first “Complete Scout,” completing all merit badges and earning Eagle, Ace, Ranger, Silver, and Quartermaster Awards.

90. The seven Mercury Project astronauts designed the original requirements for the Space Exploration merit badge.

91. Mickey Mouse, who was created in 1928, was the authorized name of a patrol in the 1930 Bronx Council Troop 246.

92. “Uncle Dan” Beard wrote that his greatest honor was having a mountain named after him—Mount Beard, which adjoins Mount McKinley.

93. During the Depression, the BSA employed special railroad executives who started and supported Scout troops in some 300 rural communities along railroad lines.

94. Ralph Bunche was the first Boy Scout to earn the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1950. (Robert Baden-Powell was nominated in 1939 but did not win.)

95. In 1952, the World Book children’s encyclopedia published a special book on each of the merit badge subjects.

96. The BSA was the first youth-serving organization to have a U.S. combat vessel, the USS Esteem, dedicated in its honor. It launched in December 1952.

97. During World War II, Scouts collected 7,000 tons of clothes for people in Europe and Asia.

98. In 1964, 41 Scouts were the first to earn merit badges for Oceanography, presented to them by Rear Adm. Denys W. Knoll.

99. The pages of Boys’ Life have been home to noteworthy writers such as Alex Haley, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Van Wyck Brooks, Ernest Thompson Seton, Bobby Fischer, Catherine Drinker Bowen, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur B. Reeve, and John Knowles.

100. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Gerald R. Ford, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama were Scouts as youth, and Jimmy Carter was a Scoutmaster. President Kennedy was the first Scout to become president; Gerald Ford was the first (and to date, only) Eagle Scout president.

Thank you to the BSA for putting together the 100 Things You Didn’t Know About Scouting from which these posts were taken from.

2010 Advancement Requirements Changes

Each year the Boy Scouts of America update different aspects of the advancement program. A summary of all of the changes can be accessed on the US Scouting Service Project web site at:

http://usscouts.org/advance/changes/advchanges10.asp

This page does a great job showing what has changed by showing deleted text in red and new text in green. There are links from the summary to the full requirements for each badge, both with and without highlighting, and from the new requirements to the old requirements for those still using them.

One other item of note is that BSA has clarified the positions of responsibility lists for Star/Life/Eagle to specifically include Webmaster and LNT Trainer as valid for all three ranks in any unit (Troop/Team/Crew/Ship), and that Bugler is valid for Star/Life, it is NOT an eligible position for Eagle (correcting an error in the new Handbook). They also reworded the Eagle "Scout Spirit" requirement, but that is not noted on the inside cover. And the "age requirement" for joining was clarified, but not listed as a change.

17 merit badges have changes. Of those, 5 have major changes, and the other 12 have just a few changes (some of those are really quite minor in scope or just editorial, really), and Scuba Diving is included, of course. Some of the changes bring the book into conformance with merit badge books issued in the past few years (such as Graphic Arts).

New Merit Badge pamphlets are available for 8 subjects: Communications, Computers, Fishing, Fly-Fishing, Home Repairs, Medicine, and Oceanography, plus Scuba Diving, of course.

25 Even More Things You Didn’t Know About Scouting

51. Robert E. Peary discovered the North Pole in 1908. When his article on the adventure appeared in print in June 1914, it was not in Harper’s or Collier’s. Only Boys’ Life had it.

52. In April 1937, Cubmobiles, patterned after soapbox derby racers and described as any contrivance on wheels (one, two, three, four, or more wheels) became an annual feature of Cub Scouting.

53. At his family’s request, two separate honor guards of Eagle Scouts played a major role in the 2006 memorial services for President Gerald R. Ford, the first U.S. president to achieve the Eagle Scout rank as a boy.

54. A young George Herman “Babe” Ruth was a Tenderfoot Scout in Troop 23, promising to do a Good Turn daily.

55. The BSA sells almost 1 million neckerchiefs each year. If laid out flat, they would cover 120 football fields, or 124 acres.

56. In 1927, the BSA created Honorary Scouts to distinguish “American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration, and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys.” Among the Honorary Scouts were Orville Wright and Charles Lindbergh.

57. In 1981, real Life Scout Harrison Ford made film history, playing fictional Life Scout Indiana Jones in the first of four adventure films.

58. Of 121 merit badges, the one earned most by Scouts across the country is First Aid; more than 84,419 Scouts earned the badge in 2008.

59. The BSA is eco-friendly! In addition to publishing the first “green” Boy Scout Handbook in 2009, BSA magazines Boys’ Life and Scouting have been certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

60. A Boy Scout was selected to read Abraham Lincoln’s address at the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1913, one of among several national notices the BSA received that year.

61. Home to the world’s largest collection of Norman Rockwell paintings, the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas, is 53,000 square feet—it would take some 3.2 million merit badges to fully cover the museum’s floor.

62. When Orville Wright wrote how he and his brother Wilbur got to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, for the first engine-powered airplane flight, only Boys’ Life printed “How I Learned to Fly.”

63. Nearly 1.2 million volunteers donate an average of 20 hours per month to the BSA, which totals 288 million hours of time during one year. Independent Sector projects the average value of volunteer time to be $20.25 an hour. Given this hourly rate, the approximate value of the time given by Boy Scout volunteers is more than $5.8 billion annually.

64. A project for Cub Scouts and their parents, pinewood derby cars made since 1954 could form a line stretching from Los Angeles to the island of Tahiti in the Polynesian Islands—a total of more than 5,500 miles.

65. If a Boy Scout attends his weekly patrol and troop meetings, participates in a monthly weekend troop outing, and attends long-term summer camp with his troop, he will have spent as much time with Scouting in a year as he spends in the classroom.

66. The Boy Scout Handbook has had Braille editions for many years; merit badge pamphlets have been recorded on cassette tapes for the blind; and closed-caption training videos have been produced for those who are deaf.

67. Former Sea Scout Paul Siple coined the term wind chill. He experienced the phenomenon firsthand when he accompanied Commander Richard E. Byrd on an 18-month voyage to Antarctica.

68. Inspired by an article he read in Boys’ Life about the adventures of reporters working around the world, Boy Scout Walter Cronkite went on to become the face of television news in the United States.

69. During the 1970s, Kenner Products developed a line of Scout action figures whose right arms, when raised, made the Scout salute.

70. The “turn” in Philmont’s first Scout name, “Philturn,” came from the Scout slogan “Do a Good Turn Daily.”

71. In Scouting’s early years, institutions such as Cornell University, Columbia University, and the universities of Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas, and California offered training courses for Scout leaders. More than 400 colleges and 34 seminaries offered such courses by the mid-1930s—half for college credit.

72. As part of the two-year “Strengthen the Arm of Liberty” campaign in 1949–50, Scouts erected more than 200 81⁄2-foot-tall replicas of the Statue of Liberty across the country. Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the statue on Seattle’s Aiki Beach became an impromptu memorial and gathering place for stunned Seattle residents.

73. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has dived from the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.

74. The total number of merit badges earned in 1911 was 85; the number earned in 2008 was 1,913,676.

75. Virtually unchanged since 1911, the design of the Plumbing merit badge is a water faucet.

Scouting Magazine Uses Photo From 100th Anniversary Bonfire

Simsbury Scouting is once again in the national news.

Scouting Magazine's Cracker Barrel Blog, an Official website of the Boy Scouts of America, requested that photos from anniversary celebrations be sent in. In a recent post entitled "Your 100th Anniversary celebration photos", a photo of people looking at the historic Boy Scout handbooks and Merit Badge pamphlets at St. Catherine's was included.

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.

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.”

Hiking Trails in Simsbury

Here is a online link to maps of hiking trails in Simsbury that is provided by the Simsbury Land Trust.

So next time someone tells to to "take a hike", you'll have plenty of choices.

Ann's Banana Oatmeal Muffins

3/4 stick of butter - soft

1 cup sugar

3-4 mashed bananas

1 egg

3/4 tea cinnamon

1/4 tea nutmeg

1 tea salt

1/2 tea baking soda

1/4 tea baking powder

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 and 3/4 cups oatmeal

1 cup of Stuff - dried cranberries, walnuts, raisins - use one or mix, really anything you like, just one cup total

 

Bake at 375 for 20 - 25 minutes for muffins, less for mini muffins - until golden brown.

 

Also, the recipe is easy to double.
 
Ann Carabillo's muffins are a favorite on many boy scout troop trips.

Eagle Scout Used Training and Knowledge To Act Quickly

Here is a video from Scouting News that highlights the difference one Scout with the proper training can have.

 

History of The Boy Scouts of America on YouTube

Here is an excellent video history of the Boy Scouts in America that has been broken down into four parts on YouTube.

University of Scouting for Adult Leaders

SAVE THE DATE! MARCH 13, 2010 The Connecticut University of Scouting will be at Crosby High School in Waterbury, Connecticut again for 2010. This annual training extravaganza gives all adult leaders a chance to expand their horizons by attending classes and workshops with seasoned instructors. 2010 marks the 12th year of the Connecticut University of Scouting, and our catalog of courses has been improved and updated again to keep current with the terrific BSA scouting program.

The University has something for everyone. Tiger Den Leaders, Cub Den Leaders, Webelos Den Leaders, Cubmasters and all their Assistants, Scoutmasters, Assistant Scoutmasters, Venturing Leaders, Committee Members of all unit types, District and Council members, Commissioners, interested parents…any and all scouting volunteers will find courses that will help them to become more effective in their role(s), accomplishing more in less time. Attending the CUoS is an investment in YOUR effectiveness and in the quality of program that you can provide or guide for the youth in your unit or district.

No prerequisite training is necessary, but Fast Start Training (now available on-line) may be helpful The University provides a full spectrum of classes and workshops that cover all scouting programs in a university style atmosphere. You pick the ones you want from a catalog of nearly 100 available courses.

10 reasons to attend the 2010 CUoS
1. To broaden your commitment to scouting.
2. To deepen their understanding of the impact Scouting has on youth.
3. To better understand the various roles of a successful unit.
4. To better appreciate the value of all Scouting programs.
5. To strengthen your Pack, Troop, Committee, Crew, Post, or Den meeting.
6. To improve your leadership skills.
7. To learn “how to” sell Scouting better…to parents, community, and youth.
8. To share successful ideas and pick up new ideas from others.
9. To deliver quality Scouting programs.
10. To have fun and learn.

So save Saturday, March 13, 2010, for attending the new and improved Connecticut University of Scouting. More information will be included in the next issue of the Scouter. Remember – every scouting youth deserves trained leaders!

Troop 175 in Alaska

As we begin the planning for our summer trip to Alaska, here is an article from Travel & Leisure Magazine about a family RVing in Alaska.

Another article from the same magazine is Trekking Alaska's Wilderness.

If this does not get you excited for an exciting adventure, I don't know what will!

2011 World Scout Jamboree

 

Be a part of “Simply Scouting”, the 2011 World Scout Jamboree on the fields of Rinkaby, not far from the town of Kristianstad, in the province of Skåne, southern Sweden. Hosted by The Swedish Guide and Scout Council, the 22nd World Scout Jamboree will run from July 27-August 7, 2011. The purpose of the event is to bring together Boy Scouts, Venturers, leaders, and staff to share international friendship and adventure for personal growth and development.

The upcoming World Scout Jamboree in Rinkaby, Sweden, promises to be one of the best ever. With 40,000 Scouts expected to attend from six continents and more than 114 countries, it’s going to be a world-class event, one you can be a part of if you start planning now. At Rinkaby, you will get to live and learn with fellow Scouts and leaders from around the world. You’ll be housed in tents along with the BSA contingent, but you’ll soon venture out to mingle with tens of thousands for two weeks of activities and adventure. That’s right, a world fellowship exercise on an enormous scale!

If you are a Boy Scout or Venturer who will be between the ages of 14 and 17 on July 27, 2011, that is, specifically born between July 25, 1993 and July 27, 1997, you may qualify for one of the coolest Scouting events you’ll ever attend. Councils are normally assigned a number of youth slots to fill for the contingent troop. We have not yet been notified as to how many youth will be able to attend.

The basic package plan is $3,525 (plus a nonrefundable application fee of $10). The basic package includes travel from the assigned gateway city, all meals, unit and patrol equipment, accident and sickness insurance, regional and national office administrative/program support, and buses for ground transportation to/from the jamboree site. Cost does not include travel to or from the gateway city. The basic package does not cover the cost of ticketing because of early or late departure from the jamboree site due to medical emergencies, family emergencies, and/or problems based on our Code of Conduct. See www.scouting.org/worldjamboree for the payment schedule.

Applications are available at www.myscouting.org under Event Registration.

Team America Rocketry Challenge

The Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) is the world's largest rocket contest, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). It was created in the fall of 2002 as a one-time celebration of the Centennial of Flight, but the enthusiasm about the event was so great that AIA and NAR were asked to hold the contest annually.

Approximately 7,000 students from across the nation compete in TARC each year. Teams design, build and fly a model rocket that reaches a specific altitude and duration determined by a set of rules developed each year. The contest is designed to encourage students to study math and science and pursue careers in aerospace.

The top 100 teams, based on local qualification flights, are invited to Washington, DC in May for the national finals. Prizes include $60,000 in cash and scholarships split between the top 10 finishers. NASA invites top teams to participate in their Student Launch Initiative, an advanced rocketry program. AIA member companies, such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have sponsored additional prizes such as scholarship money and a trip to an international air show.

Registration for TARC 2010 is now open. This year's challenge is to design, build and fly a model rocket that reaches exactly 825 feet, stays aloft for between 40 and 45 seconds and returns the raw egg payload uncracked. Download the application now and be sure to submit it by November 30!

BSA 100th Anniversary Trees

The tree is an important symbol of the family—a family tree, the life of a tree that spans generations, the belief that a tree will continue to provide, long after we're gone.

Because of that symbolism—and a shared mission for service and environmental stewardship—we could think of no better Generations Connection partner than the Arbor Day Foundation! Arbor Day has designated official BSA 100th Anniversary trees for anyone to enjoy. Order yours at http://www.arborday.org/boyscouts.

For every BSA 100th Anniversary tree purchased from Arbor Day, another will be planted in Montana at the newly created Boy Scouts of America Centennial Forest. The Centennial Forest will aid replanting of the Flathead National Forest following recent fires.

Troop 76 Holding Wreath Sale

Simsbury Boy Scout Troop 76 is holding there annual wreath sale, their only fundraiser and it meets are year round needs of our troop.  The wreaths are great quality, fresh cut and made locally.  They will be delivered the 1st week of December. 

This is a great way to support scouting in Simsbury.

The sales can go through any Troop 76 scout or contact Andrew Davis at 860-651-7391 or davisfive@comcast.net.

Download Christmas Wreaths Descriptions

2009 Annual Simsbury Land Trust Photography Contest

Grab your camera and take a hike! Join over 50 other SLT members and students and submit an entry (or three) to our annual photography contest. Last year over 75 entries were submitted by Simsbury Land Trust members. The rules are simple, and there is no entry fee. All photos must be taken on an SLT property or at an Simsbury Land Trust sponsored event. The contest is open to all members of the Simsbury Land Trust (students do not need to be members.) Many of the photographs may be used in the annual report, membership and other brochures, and the website. If you would like any additional information, please contact the office at 651-8773.

Last Year, Scout Isaac Peacock and Assistant Scoutmaster Bill Rice were recognized for their photography.

Photography Contest Guidelines

• Open to all members of the Simsbury Land Trust.
• Enter up to 3 pieces in the following categories:
  1. Close-up
  2. Landscape
  3. Computer enhanced photography
  4. People in Nature – SLT Activities and Events
  5. Student photographers – can be in any of above formats, digital or traditional photography (students are exempt from the membership requirement)
• Work must be in the form of prints 8 x 10 or 5 x 7, b/w or color. Entries will not be returned. All work must be clearly marked with your name, address and phone number, along with the category and location of photo. If you have your photos on disc, a copy on disk as well as printed form would be appreciated.
• All photographs must be taken on Simsbury Land Trust Properties – see our website's Properties & Maps section for a map of properties.
• All winning photographs may be used for promotional purposes by the Simsbury Land Trust. Photographers retain rights to the photograph.
• Winners will be announced at the Simsbury Land Trust Annual Membership Dinner in early spring.

Please submit your entries to:

Simsbury Land Trust
P.O. Box 634
Simsbury, CT 06070

Adventure Base 100

  Experience Scouting like never before with Adventure Base 100! Created specifically for the 100th Anniversary Celebration, Adventure Base 100 will be traveling the country to give people an exciting, hands-on view of the history and future of the Boy Scouts of America. This 10,000 square foot campus features immersive Scouting experiences including a ropes course and zip line, interactive digital exhibits, a multi-sensory IMAX-like dome, and more! It will also house a traveling museum that will showcase artifacts from the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas.


This exciting experience will be in East Hartford CT on June 27th.

2010 Eagle Scout Scholarship Applications Now Available

According to US Scouting News, applications for Eagle Scout scholarships for 2010 are now available at www.nesa.org. Eagle Scouts who apply for a college scholarship must use the correct application, which is a mandatory requirement.

The 2010 applications can be found here:
http://www.nesa.org/applications.html

In 2009, just over 4,500 applications were received for the 109 scholarships awarded. Of those applicants, 937 used the wrong form and thus were immediately rejected. The rule is that they must use the correct application.

Please use the correct application if you are planning on pursuing a NESA Scholarship.

One Hen Two Ducks - The Lyrics

Here are the words to a favorite song of Troop 175 is this tongue twister of a song usually led by Mr. Mead on his guitar.

One hen;

two ducks;

three squawking geese;

four Limerick oysters;

five corpulent porpoises;

six pairs of Don Alversos tweezers;

7,000 Macedonians in full battle array;

eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt;

nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity toward procrastination and sloth;

10 lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who hall stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at the same time.