ARE YOU SIGNED UP FOR DAY CAMP?
2009 brings new and exciting changes to the Cub Scout Day Camp program. This year our day camp will be 2 days of action packed activities including BB Guns, Archery, Climbing Wall, Slingshots, and much more. The second day will conclude with the popular egg drop, family picnic and a closing campfire complete with skits and songs performed by campers.
With this new program the dates are guaranteed to fill up quickly. Call the Scout office at 223.7204 and register your pack today!
DISTRICT SKI TRIP
The ski slopes at Bridger Bowl and Big Sky challenged the Boy Scouts, Venture Scouts and adults who participated in the Frontier Trails District inaugural ski trip over President’s Day weekend. 52 youth and adults enjoyed the charter bus trip, pizza dinner at the motel and of course two days of great skiing and snowboarding. No major accidents or personal injuries were reported, but memories were made to last a life time! Plans are already underway for another trip in 2010.
CUB SCOUT WINTER FUN DAY
What do you get when you put about 200 Cub Scouts in a snow covered Hillside city park on a sunny but chilly Saturday afternoon? Chaos would be one answer, but a fun filled Cub Scout Winter Fun Day would be the right answer. Thanks to the Boy Scouts and adult leaders of the Bismarck and Mandan Scout troops, Cubs and parents enjoyed a day filled with games and contests in an outdoor setting. The weather cooperated as Cubs moved from station to station, ending the day with a snack and closing ceremonies. A Scout salute to the Cub pack parents and leaders for providing the leadership for the Cub Scouts and a big thank you to the troops that provided a great program.
Mark A. Zimmerman
District Chair
SCOUTING FOR FOOD ACHIEVES RECORD COLLECTIONS IN FRONTIER TRAILS DISTRICT
“For the first time in a number of years, every Pack and Troop in the Bismarck-Mandan area participated in this year’s Scouting for Food Drive and the results were outstanding,” according to Alan Stumpf this year’s Scouting for Food chair for the Frontier Trails District. With reports still coming in estimates of over 10,000 lbs of food was collected as the Cubs, Scouts and adults fanned out across the city during the last weekend of March. “Thanks to the outstanding support of First Lady Mikey Hoeven, with the public service announcements, the communities of Bismarck and Mandan responded
BIKE RIDE RETURNS TO FRONTIER TRAILS DISTRICT
Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and their family members will be hitting the bike paths of Sertoma and Pioneer Parks on Tuesday, June 23, for the annual Scout Bike Ride. Five stops along the trails will highlight the Scout Oath, with presentations made by community leaders and long time Scouters. Starting at Barry’s Bikes on South Hannifin St. in Bismarck, Scouting families can bring their bikes by for a quick safety check before the ride begins. Registration begins at 4:30 p.m. with the ride to begin at 6:00 p.m. Hot Dogs & Brats will be served at the conclusion of the ride, scheduled for around 8:00-8:30 p.m. Information was provided to all units at the April roundtable with additional material available at the Bismarck Service Center.
19TH ANNUAL TREE PLANTING
In celebration of Earth Week and Arbor Day, the Tesoro Refinery, the Bismarck City Forestry and Parks Department, the Mandan City Forestry and Parks Department and the Northern Lights Boy Scout Council are teaming up for the 19th Annual Tree Planting event on Saturday, May 16.
Registration materials have been mailed to unit leaders. Please make sure to mark you calendar to include this fun and worthwhile community event. Please call the Scout Service Center at 223-7204 if you have questions.
2009-2010 CUB SCOUT LEADER PROGRAM PLANNING ROUNDTABLE
All program planning materials for the next year will be distributed at the May 14 Roundtable at 7:00 PM at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Bismarck. A well planned program meets the needs of Cub Scouts and family members to guarantee their continued participation in Scouting.
Throughout the program planning process, leaders should remember that their prime objective is to deliver a high quality Cub Scout program to each boy.
A high quality program has two elements. It must be fun and exciting for boys and it must achieve the purpose of Cub Scouting. To make sure that all leaders are familiar with the purposes, it would be a good idea to review them at your annual program planning conference.
Veteran Cub Scout leaders often use the word “KISMIF” to remind themselves to put fun into the program. KISMIF stands for “Keep it simple, make it fun.” Simple does not, however, mean simple minded. Most Cub Scout age boys are quite willing and eager to tackle fairly big projects, if they anticipate fun and satisfaction from them.
Three other factors should be considered in your program planning. 1) The need to make sure that each boy has opportunities for advancement. 2) Summer programs; do not drop Cub Scouting in the summer when the boys have the most time for it. 3) The need to orient parents to Cub Scouting, so that they know how it works and what they must do to make it work for their sons. To make sure that your Pack is meeting its program objectives, have periodic evaluation sessions by the adult leaders. These evaluations could be held at a monthly Pack Leaders meeting every third or fourth month. The agenda for the evaluation could be the list of Cub Scout purposes. Are you still meeting each one?
Make sure to attend the May 14 Program Planning Roundtable to learn more about successful year round program planning and receive all the necessary materials to jump start the 2009-2010 program in your Pack.
DOES YOUR PACK OR TROOP HAVE A GOOD STORY
Let Cory in the Bismarck office know if you have a story and pictures you would like to share with the district. Our local units are very busy with many fun activities and let us show your unit off in the Highlights. Cory may be contacted at cwrolstad@nlcbsa.org or 223-7204.
A SPECIAL THANKS
We would like to thank the YMCA and all the adult leaders for making our annual swim tests a success again in 2009. About a 150 youth and adults plunged into the pool to past their swim tests so that they can participate in local summer camps. Thank You to everyone that made this happen.
WELCOME TO NEW BOY SCOUTS
Over the past couple months many Webelo Crossover ceremonies have taken place and the district would like to welcome all of our new Scouts to their Troop. A very high percentage of our Webelos crossed over into Boy Scouts this year and many already signed up for Summer Camp. Now the real adventure starts for these boys.
FAMILY FRIENDS OF SCOUTING
The Frontier Trails District is asking all Scouting Families to strongly consider supporting us once again in 2009. You already paid your $10 fee for your son to be in Scouting. Now, you ask- there’s more? The Northern Lights Council needs to raise an additional $150 plus your registration fee to support each scout. Your next question probably is-where does all that money go? Well, the answer is 80% of the Northern Lights Council budget of $2,500,000 is spent on direct service to your pack or troop.
FOS contributions support programs such as Camporees, Cub Scout Day Camp, Boy Scout Camp, and Scout Shows to name a few. The funds are also used towards the maintenance of Camp Wilderness, and purchasing necessary equipment for the scouts to use at camp. Your financial support also keeps the Council Service Center open and provides support staff and professionals to be of assistance to you.
If you have not made your 2009 pledge yet, please consider doing so by calling 223-7204.
