News Briefs
Edited by John Clark
Rockwell revisited
Brushstrokes tell stories as
effectively as words in Joseph and Jeff Csatari’s book Norman Rockwell’s Boy Scouts of America.
This unique collection chronicles the nearly 100 years of Scouting in America: campouts, hikes, pack and troop meetings, high-adventure treks, public service projects, pinewood derby races, and more.
Using all of the more than 50 paintings Rockwell created for the Scouts, and more than 40 images Joseph Csatari painted after taking over from Rockwell as the official artist of the BSA, the book celebrates the boyhood joy of Scouting—illustrating the code of honor and ideals that have shaped generations of young men.
The Csataris, father and son, don’t stop at just the sumptuous color reproductions of the paintings. They also offer the back-story of each artwork, providing historical context and insightful perspective on the times that inspired the images.
Magazine covers and calendar art depict the evolution of Scouting’s focus and fashions from 1913 through 2001, with vintage comments from both Rockwell and Csatari.
Starting in September, you’ll find Norman Rockwell’s Boy Scouts of America (DK, $24.95) in a bookstore near you. It can also be ordered from www.scoutstuff.org.
Scouting magazine blog debuts
Can’t get enough of Scouting magazine? Get a daily fix of news, information, and inspiration with the official Scouting magazine blog, called “Cracker Barrel.” We’ll update it with stories about your favorite Scouting moments, tips for improving your unit, and breaking news from the BSA. Check it out at blog.scoutingmagazine.org.
Words to live by
This fall’s national recruitment campaign highlights the 12 points of the Scout Law to motivate young people to join Scouting. Called Words to Live By, the recruiting package provides tools to find and create tomorrow’s leaders.
Targeted at Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers, the campaign uses the Scout Law as a foundation for resources that reflect cultural, ethnic, regional, and age diversity. The customizable materials allow leaders to announce local “Join Scouting” information such as dates, times, and locations for Scouting roundups and open houses.
Contact your local Scout council service center for more information about the campaign.
Giving boys a purpose
Want a well-adjusted, happy boy? One who’s traveling a path toward service to family, friends, and community?
Give him a purpose.
That’s the theme of Michael Gurian’s new book, The Purpose of Boys: Helping Our Sons Find Meaning, Significance, and Direction in Their Lives.
Published by Jossey-Bass, The Purpose of Boys ($26.95) delves into how a boy develops both strengths and weaknesses as he matures. Gurian writes of the “immediate and profound mission” to help each boy build morality, character, selflessness, and personal and community responsibility, as well as to teach them how to set career goals and develop intimate relationships.
“I believe every boy wants to find his purpose in life…,” Gurian writes in the introduction. “We cannot walk the road for him every step of the way, but we must at least bring him to it and help point him in the right direction.”
More than a decade ago, the Spokane, Wash.-based Gurian, a family therapist and author of 25 books, launched what became known as “the boys’ movement.” His books include The Wonder of Boys, A Fine Young Man, and The Good Son.
Enter Our Celebrate the Adventure Photo Contest
Recall your most exciting moments in Scouting as the BSA prepares to observe its 100th anniversary in 2010.
Pull out the images that capture your personal adventures in Scouting and share them with us by entering our Celebrate the Adventure photo contest. Send us your favorite photographs—active pack events, troop camp-outs, high-adventure trips—and consider photos of all your exciting moments in Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Varsity Scouting, and Venturing.
If you’re named a winner, you’ll receive a BSA Supply Group gift card—Grand Prize: $400; 1st Place: $300; 2nd Place: $200; 3rd Place: $100; Honorable Mention: $25.
Also, our 1.2 million readers will see your winning photos in the March-April 2010 issue of Scouting magazine.
Rules:
- The contest is open to all BSA registered adult members.
- We must receive your entries by Oct. 1, 2009.
- No more than three entries per person (digital and print combined).
Print entries:
- We’ll accept only unmounted color prints, from film or high-resolution digital cameras (JPEG format), to a maximum size of 8 by 10 inches. Mounted prints or transparencies (slides) or other media will not be accepted.
- All photographs must have the following information taped on the back: name, address, daytime and evening phone numbers, unit number and position (if applicable), council name, and e-mail address.
Online entries:
- Readers may enter digital photos online by uploading images at www.scoutingmagazine.org/photocontest.
- Digital photographs should be taken using the camera’s highest quality setting.
- Only compressed JPEG files with a minimum size of 750KB and a maximum compressed file size of 1MB will be accepted.
- If selected for publication, an uncompressed JPEG image file of at least 9MB will be required.
- The same identification information required for print photos must be submitted with the uploaded entry on the Web site.
All entries become the property of Scouting magazine. Winners must certify that photographs are their original work. For reproduction of photographs in the magazine, all winners may be asked to provide original media, either the color negative or (if digital) a JPEG file of their entry.
No photographs will be returned. The BSA, Scouting magazine, and its agents are not responsible for loss of photographs. The decisions of the judges are final.
Mail print entries to Celebrate the Adventure photo contest, Scouting Magazine, S304, 1325 W. Walnut Hill Ln., P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079.
 Scouts present the BSA’s 2008 Report to the Nation to President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House in March. From left: Tory Green, an Eagle Scout from Birmingham, Ala.; Javier Castillo, a Second Class Scout from Raleigh, N.C.; Ruben Hipolito, a Sea Scout from Santa Ana, Calif.; Douglas Buck, a Cub Scout from Wilmington, Del.; Cameron Clark, a Cub Scout from Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Jack O' Neill, national chief of the Order of the Arrow from Columbia, Mo.; and Amanda Vogt, national Venturing president who lives in St. Louis. |
Go online to join the Scouting Community
If you’re a member of Scouting, you can join our online community. Share ideas, ask questions, get feedback, or start discussions on any Scouting topic.
Adult leaders find the site an especially valuable resource for discussing ideas and sharing best practices with other volunteers.
As a large-scale networking site, Scouting Community is available 24/7—wherever you have an Internet connection. And because it’s a closed community, it’s also a safe environment.
To join, simply create your personal account on www.scouting.org (just click on MyScouting). Don’t forget to include your member ID in your profile. You’ll receive a reply by e-mail that completes the registration process.
Serve as a voice for Scouting’s future and start building Scouting friendships today
Values: past and future
Take a break from your 27th viewing of Die Hard and load your DVD player with the Boy Scouts of America’s 100th Anniversary video.
The video takes just seven minutes to watch, but the insight gained will surprise you.
Instead of simply taking you through the history of the BSA—although it does that, too—the video gives valuable perspective on the impact Scouting has had on both prominent figures and everyday Americans and offers tantalizing glimpses of Scouting’s future.
“Early on, we recognized that if our anniversary were nothing more than blowing out the many candles on our birthday cake, we’d miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tell the Scouting story to America,” says Bob Mersereau, 100th Anniversary project director.
Themes stress the value of heritage, the impact of the BSA’s potential to shape young lives, the importance of fun, and the power of giving an action-oriented experience to youth.
Check out the video on the 100th Anniversary Web site (www.scouting.org/100years), in the Planning, Materials section of YourSource, or on YouTube.
You can also purchase the 100 Years of Scouting DVD from www.scoutstuff.org. The DVD retails for $10.49 and is available now.
Be Prepared for the 2010 national Jamboree
Start now to earn the 2010 National Scout Jamboree Emergency Preparedness Award. Earning the award encourages jamboree participants to be prepared to take care of themselves in the event of an emergency.
Here’s how members of your 2010 jamboree unit can qualify:
- Get all your boys to complete at least one of the following: First Aid merit badge, Emergency Preparedness merit badge, American Red Cross Basic First Aid course, or American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid Basics course.
- Have at least one adult leader complete American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid Basics course or equivalent.
- Have your jamboree unit, including the adult leaders, participate in emergency preparedness training conducted by community emergency preparedness agencies such as the fire department, local or state emergency management agency, or police department.
- Prepare and share with all unit members a written emergency preparedness plan for your unit’s jamboree trip.
- Prepare a jamboree travel emergency kit for travel by private vehicle or public transportation.
- Hold a unit session on the jamboree emergency preparedness plan that offers scenarios of potential emergencies and ask unit members how they’d respond.
- Ensure that every youth and adult carries a personal first-aid kit.
- Have at least 50 percent of adults complete IS-100a (ICS 100), Introduction to the Incident Command System (http://training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp).
Applications for the 2010 National Scout Jamboree Emergency Preparedness Award will not be accepted at the jamboree site. So when your unit fulfills the requirements, submit an application (find them at www.bsajamboree.org) to your local council between Sept. 1, 2009, and July 1, 2010. The award patch can be worn on the right pocket of the uniform.
For tips on emergency preparedness, guidelines, writing plans, practice methods, discussion items, first-aid kit and travel supplies suggestions, and a list of emergency management agencies, see the “Be Prepared” tab located at www.bsajamboree.org.
Get back to the land
Boy Scout troops from across the country will pitch in to restore the beauty and vitality of America’s most-treasured spaces on the 16th annual National Public Lands Day (NPLD).
Scheduled for Sept. 26, NPLD is the largest one-day, hands-on volunteer effort on public lands held in the United States.
This year’s focus, aimed at water conservation and protection, will help protect wetlands and watersheds, monitor water quality, prevent storm water run-off, and conserve water. Scouts also will take part in traditional NPLD activities: planting trees, renewing trails, cleaning up trash, repairing stream banks, and improving wildlife habitat.
Organized by the National Environmental Education Foundation in partnership with nine other federal agencies, NPLD provides an opportunity for Scouts to improve America’s public lands and give something back to their communities, as well as to learn about nature and the environment.
To locate a NPLD event near you, or to learn how you can organize one and register your troop, visit www.publiclands.org.
 James Edwards, 12, (left) from Troop 919 in Pfafftown, N.C., and Ondre Johnson, 11, a Webelos Cub Scout from Pack 731 in Clemmons, N.C., check and add air to the tires of Ondre's bike. Later, Ondre weaves his way through a cone course as he works to test his bike-handling skills. |
National Bicycle Safety Month Pumps Up Fun, Advancement
Summer’s coming. Time to pump up your tires and grease your gears before the temperature turns hot—you and about 85 million other bike riders in the United States. But don’t become a statistic.
About 540,000 riders visit emergency rooms with injuries each year, and 27,000 of them sustain injuries serious enough to require hospitalization.
So with May designated National Bicycle Safety Month, now’s the perfect time to brush up on your knowledge of cycle-safety rules.
Scouts are fortunate. They learn the basics of bike safety from Bear and Wolf Cub Scout handbooks. The instruction teaches young boys to obey all traffic signs and signals, use proper hand signals, ride single file on streets and highways, keep to the right with the flow of traffic, don’t do stunts or weave in and out of traffic, slow down and look carefully before crossing streets, be alert for other vehicles, and more.
For Achievements, Cub Scouts also learn the fundamentals of bicycle maintenance: pedals, brakes, tires, reflectors, lights, chain, and seat. And, of course, Scouts learn they must always wear a helmet.
Kerri Taimanglo, executive director of CycleSafe.org, a nonprofit organization based in Winston-Salem, N.C., supports that requirement. “The best thing you can do to protect children, and adults, from biking injuries is to require them to wear a properly fitted helmet when riding.
“You can find helmets that are ‘cool’ and stylish that your children won’t mind wearing. And be sure that the helmet fits properly and does not rock back and forth or side to side.”
For more information on the BSA’s guidelines involving bicycle safety, check out www.scouting.org/healthandsafety.
Scouting for Food, and who should they meet?
Timing is everything, it’s said. But who would have thought a pack of Cub Scouts would be among the first people to welcome former President George W. Bush and wife Laura to their new Dallas home?
Cub Scouts from Pack 19, chartered to Lovers Lane United Methodist Church, showed up on the morning of Feb. 21 in the Preston Hollow neighborhood where the Bushes had just moved in the day before.
The boys and their adult leaders were participating in the Circle Ten Council’s annual service project: Scouting for Food.
As the Cub Scouts and Scouters walked from house to house, the former president and his wife emerged carrying four bags of food. They handed them to assistant Cubmaster Nancy Burke and a group of the Cub Scouts, including Webelos Scout Dillon Mosman, 9, and 8-year-old Wolf Scout Trevor Burke.
It turned out to be a good day in all respects. In addition to meeting the former president and first lady, pack members collected about 530 cans of food from nearby homeowners.
Browse Scouting magazine's 2008 index
Find the index for Scouting magazine’s 2008 editorial content at www.scoutingmagazine.org/about/pastissues. The PDF copy of the index is a handy way to browse the stories that appeared in that year.
To order by mail, send your request for one index to Scouting Magazine, S304, 1325 W. Walnut Hill Ln., P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079.
Please enclose a self-addressed, first-class-stamped, business-size envelope. And for more than three copies, include additional postage.
You also can order indexes of issues for each year back to 1970.