Finding BSA Councils

December 16, 2008 5:59 am

bsa-councils-map-usssp

Here are a few internet resources to help you find information about the 300-plus BSA local councils.

Dave Hultberg is a Pennsylvania scouter who has put together an Excel spreadsheet listing all current and former BSA councils. It has the dates the council has been (or was) in existence as well as the current council web address. Link (Excel file)

The BSA National website has a Local Council Locator that permits you to find any council by zip code or by council number. Link

The National website also has a Local Council Websites page providing council website addresses. Link

And at the Locations of BSA Councils page on the U.S. Scouting Service Project site is the map shown above indicating the location of every BSA council headquarters (as of 1995). Link

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Posted by Mike Newman

Color Pinewood Derby Wheels

December 15, 2008 5:54 am

color-pd-wheels

BSA Supply Group now has official Pinewood Derby wheels and axles ($1.99/set) available in 5 colors:  Black, Ragin’ Red, Screamin’ Yellow, Outrageous Orange, and Blazin’ Blue.

Pretty cool.

Link

Leave a Comment » | CUB SCOUTS, Merchandise, Pinewood Derby | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

Geologist Requirements

December 14, 2008 5:10 am

geologistbadge

One of the official suggested Webelos activity badges for July is Geologist.

Here are the requirements for the Geologist Webelos activity badge:

Do five of these:

1. Collect five geologic specimens that have important uses.
2. Rocks and minerals are used in metals, glass, jewelry, road-building products, and fertilizer. Give examples of minerals used in these products.
3. Make a scale of mineral hardness for objects found at home. Show how to use the scale by finding the relative hardness of three samples.
4. List some of the geologic materials used in building your home.
5. Make a drawing that shows the cause of a volcano, a geyser, or an earthquake.
6. Explain one way in which mountains are formed.
7. Describe what a fossil is. How is it used to tell how old a formation is? Find two examples of fossils in your area.
8. Take a field trip to a geological site, geological laboratory, or rock show. Discuss what you learned at your next Webelos den meeting.
9. While you are a Webelos Scout, earn the Cub Scout Academics belt loop for Geology.

Link [Photo via Meritbadge.org]

Leave a Comment » | CUB SCOUTS, Geologist | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

2009 Scout Sunday Emblem

December 13, 2008 5:54 am

2009-scout-sunday

Here is the 2009 Scout Sunday participation patch ($1.49) available from BSA Supply Group.  This is a very nice-looking dove-shaped emblem featuring a full color photo of a dove.

Link

Leave a Comment » | CUB SCOUTS, Faith, Patches | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

Handyman Resources

December 12, 2008 5:19 am

handyman-badge

As with all the Webelos activity badges, the best resources for Handyman are the Webelos Handbook and the Webelos Leader Guide.

Here are some other Handyman resources that may be helpful:

Leave a Comment » | CUB SCOUTS, Handyman | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

Standardized Council Sites Coming Soon

December 11, 2008 5:51 am

bsalogo-sm

BSA National has announced a new plan that will feature standardized websites for all local councils.  According to the December 3 press release, BSA has partnered with Sitecore Corporation and mindSHIFT Technologies Inc. for development of a Content Management System that will eventually operate across all BSA national and council websites.

The first phase of the project was implemented in February of this year with the unveiling of the new scouting.org website which was developed by mindSHIFT using Sitecore CMS software. (See April 18 press release at this link.)

The second phase will involve putting the new CMS software in place for all of BSA’s national sites as well as the 300-plus local council websites.

BSA and mindSHIFT have developed a site creation wizard that will permit creation of individual or region-specific content while maintaining a uniform brand standard for items such as fonts, colors and corporate content.

No dates were announced as to when the new council websites will be unveiled.

Link [Via BoyandGirlScouts.com]

Leave a Comment » | CUB SCOUTS, Tech | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

HalfEagle.com

December 10, 2008 5:14 am

halfeagle

HalfEagle.com is website I check out almost daily.  It is a scouting blog aggregator featuring about a half dozen scouting blogs as well as scouting-related photos from Flickr and scouting headlines from Google.

Most of the blog postings are about Boy Scouts rather than Cub Scouts, but there also is a lot of information and commentary about the scouting program in general.

Link

Leave a Comment » | CUB SCOUTS, Tech | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

December Hike

December 9, 2008 8:46 am

Having a monthly campout or Saturday hike has been very good for our pack. An active outdoor program is what many families are looking for when their son signs up for Cub Scouts.

But a Saturday event in December is more challenging attendance-wise because people are busy with so many other things preparing for the holidays.

On Saturday, our pack went on a three-mile hike on a wooded pedestrian/bicycle path in town.  We are fortunate here in Arkansas in that most of the winter is really not that cold, and it’s usually not a problem to do things in the outdoors. The temperature was in the upper 20′s when we got started so this was a chillier winter hike than usual for us.

Even though we had only 9 boys in attendance, it was a very pretty morning, and everyone seemed to enjoy the hike.

Leave a Comment » | CUB SCOUTS, Hiking | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

2009 Blue & Gold Emblem

December 8, 2008 5:25 am

b-g-20091

Here is a new Blue & Gold Banquet participation patch ($1.19) available from BSA Supply Group. Most boys get a big kick out of receiving patches.

In our pack, we usually give a patch to all the boys who attend our Blue and Gold Banquet.

Link

Leave a Comment » | Blue and Gold Banquet, Patches | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

Dec. 2008 Cubcast (Jan. Theme: A-MAZE-ing Games)

December 5, 2008 5:14 am

schonbusch4

The December 2008 Cubcast from BSA National is available (free). It has ideas for den meetings and more utilizing the January “A-MAZE-ing Games” theme.

The program also has information about combating the problem of childhood obesity.

Link [Photo: Wikipedia]

Leave a Comment » | A-MAZE-ing Games, CUB SCOUTS, Games, Health and Fitness | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

Buckeye January ‘09 Packet (A-MAZE-ing Games)

December 4, 2008 5:46 am

jan-09-buckeye

Simon Kenton Council’s Buckeye District roundtable packet for January 2009 (A-MAZE-ing Games) is now on the SKC website.

The Buckeye District puts together a very good roundtable packet each month, and it is posted on their website. It has games, cooking ideas, crafts, songs, skits, ceremonies, and more.

Link (pdf)

Leave a Comment » | A-MAZE-ing Games, CUB SCOUTS | Permalink
Posted by Mike Newman

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