I hope your summer plans include time at Camp Baker or Camp Melakwa this summer.  Camp Baker has something for everyone and Cub Scout packs should plan now to participate in Cub Scout resident Camp as dens or a pack because it is a great way to recharge your pack program.  Troops and Teams won’t want to be shut out of the Centennial year of Scouting at either Camp Baker or Camp Melakwa.  My troop’s going to Camp Melakwa this summer but there’s room for your troop too.  Complete and send in a summer camp reservation by clicking here and I’ll see you in camp this summer.

Finally, thank you to all our leaders, donors and friends. Your gifts of time and money have made it possible for Scouting to thrive during difficult times. We are in the business of changing lives and to be partnered with you is an honor.

Happy holidays to you and your family and Happy New and Centennial Year.

 Gap Narrows 

Thank you to so many Friends of Scouting who have helped our council get through a difficult time (maybe our most difficult year). High unemployment levels, lower camp attendance, stock market plunge, you name it, haven’t prevented Oregon Trail Council from advancing Scouting’s mission.  We’ve cut our budget drastically and thinned our staff to respond to our local economy. Fortunately, our council acted early in the year so that our cuts would not be so deep and hurt so much. In spite of our economy,  in 2009 we launched internet re-chartering and advancement, added 1,000 new families to Scouting so far this fall, conducted our largest council event in recent council history (1,300 people at Jambo/Rendezvous), and raised nearly $500,000 in Friends of Scouting!

The council does, however, have a small gap of $39,000 we need to raise in new Friends of Scouting before December 31st and you can help with a new gift or an additional gift by clicking here.  $39,000 sounds like a lot of money, but with so many Scout supporters and family members, we can achieve that and more if everyone made a gift.  Please help keep Oregon Trail Council strong by helping us get through this year with a balanced budget.

Silver Beaver Award

Internet Rechartering Made Easy
Internet Rechartering is the new online system that will help units through the rechartering process.  Using the Internet Rechartering website, you’ll be completing the charter renewal information yourself – ensuring it is correct – before delivering the final product to the district.
All units should have recharter packets in their possession, and have started or have already completed the process.
For more information, visit the 2010 On-Line Rechartering page.

 

 
 

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A Klondike Derby 2010
Are you ready to go camping in the snow? Then Klondike Derby 2010 is the place! Doug-fir District is once again hosting this high adventure, winter camping, and survival skill event January 22-24, 2010, at Lemolo Junction, 73 miles east of Roseburg.
Plan to arrive Friday, pick your premier camping site and get ready for the fun on Saturday. Registration begins Saturday morning at 8am, with competition starting at 9:30am. The main event will conclude at 4pm with award presentations. Plan on staying Saturday night and enjoying the fellowship with other Scouts and Scouters.
Webelos are invited to attend this event to watch and learn, and counts as attending a Boy Scout activity for the Arrow of Light requirement. Webelos may camp overnight, but must stay with a troop and make prior arrangements with that troop.
Information and registration forms will be posted on the council website. Please register by January 15, 2010 online or through the Council office. Event chair is Mike Rice, phone (541) 679-4505, (541) 430-5045, or email at mnarice2@msn.com.

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  2010 SUMMER CAMP SITE AVAILABILITY

 

Camp Baker 2010 Campsite Jul 11-17 Jul 18-24 Jul 25-31 Aug 1-7 Aug 8-14 Applegate   (T)           Arrowhead (T) CPC 108         Capt. Gray (T) CPC 611         Chinook      (T)           Conestoga (T)           Douglas      (T)           Friendly     (T)           Heceta        (T)           Jason Lee   (A) CPC 731 OTC 31     CPC 702 Oceola        (T)           Ogden        (T)     CLC 112     Smith         (T) CPC 108 OTC 54     CPC 592 Talapus     (A) CPC 503 CPC 27     CPC 442  Tsiltcoos    (T) OTC 244  CPC 7006       ,, Tsisqan     (A) OTC 100 ORE IDA 400 CPC 207 OTC 22     Tyee      (A) CPC 685 CPC 260   CPC 100   Wauregon (T) OTC 260

(A) = Adirondack                                                                      (T) = Tent platform

 

 

CAMP MELAKWA 2010 Campsite August 1 - 7 august 8 - 14 Bruckhart 1     Bruckhart 2     Craig OTC 99   Eaton     Firm     Glacier     Kalatowa     Many Lakes OTC 114 OTC 3 Pine Point 1 OTC 109 OTC 761  Pine Point 2     Prouty     Rickabaugh I OTC 68   Rickabaugh II     Scott

 

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10  Things You Didn’t Know About Scouting

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

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

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

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

7. 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.

8. 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.

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

10. 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.

   2010 National Scout Jamboree

The 2010 National Scout Jamboree, celebrating 100 years of Scouting, will be an exciting event reflecting the skills of Scouting – physical fitness, environmental conservation, our national heritage, and the true spirit of Scouting.  Scouts will have the opportunity to try rappelling, discovering scuba, experience trap shooting & archery, bike-a-thons, confidence courses, and much more.  The jamboree is Scouting at its very best!  All Boy Scouts meeting the age requirements are invited to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. 

To read more about the jamboree, click here

National Eagle Scout Association

The Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout
Service Project of the Year Award

The National Eagle Scout Association has established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award to recognize valuable service of an exceptional nature by a Scout to a religious institution, a school, community, or other entity, recognizing the Scout for his Eagle Scout service project. 

Each local council will choose a council-level winner through consideration of complete applications received by January 21, and from that pool each region will pick a region-level winner. From the four regional finalists, an overall winner will be selected.  The national award winner will receive a plaque, an Eagle knot device, and a cash award of $2,500 to be available for the Scout’s future educational purposes or to attend a national or international Scouting event or facility.  Regional winners will receive an award of $500.

 'Celebrate Scouting' Stamp Unveiled

The U.S. Postal Service has given Scouting ‘a stamp of approval’ to honor 100 years of the U.S. Scouting movement. The Celebrate Scouting stamp, which will be sold in the summer of 2010, coincides with the Boy Scouts of America’s 100th anniversary.

The new stamp design was unveiled November 12 during an event at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. The design, created by illustrator Craig Frazier of Mill Valley, CA, depicts the spirit and outdoor adventure of Scouting through a backpacking Scout and a large silhouette of a Scout surveying the landscape.

The new Celebrate Scouting stamps will go on sale nationwide and will be dedicated in July 2010 at the Boy Scout Jamboree at Ft. A.P. Hill, VA