Newsletter of the Central Region | Boy Scouts of America June Newsletter 2015
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WorldFest: An International Experience On April 24-26th, over 350 Venturers flocked to Seven Ranges Scout Reservation in Kenisington, OH where the Area 4 VOA hosted their second annual fun event! Tons of fun, socializing, and adventure occurred over the weekend where Venturers participated in games, trainings, activities, and dances all weekend! Hardly a moment occurred when programming didn’t occur! When Venturers weren’t busy eating or sleeping, many spent their time at the shooting range; participated in jousting; tried a chance at trying to dunk Emily Mausshardt, Brian Parro, and Nate Steele; tested their Crew at the COPE course; and just spent time making new friends in the dinning hall. If you didn’t get a chance to participate in the fun this year, make sure to try and come out next year! WorldFest: Pirates of the Seven Ranges will be once more at Seven Ranges and will occur on April 22-24th. Stay tuned for a message in a bottle....errr I mean registration! -Nate Steele
In This Issue... WorldFest 2015-16 CR VOA
1 2-4
National Annual Meeting
5
Sea Scout Rendezvous
6
Communications Survey
7
World Scout Jamboree
8
Advisor’s Minute
9
Area Pages
10
President’s Corner
11
Meet the 2015-2016 Central Region Vice Presidents! Hello Venturers! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Nate Steele and I will be serving as your 2015-2016 Central Region VP of Administration! I am a 19 year old Venturer from Crew 447 out of Muskingum Valley Council. Last year, I had the privilege to serve as the Area 4 President. I have earned my Eagle Scout and Silver Award. In addition to Venturing, I also am active in the Order of the Arrow where I have served two terms as Lodge Chief and currently serve as C4-b Section Chief. I also currently serve on staff at the Summit as a canopy tour guide. I am a sophomore at The Ohio State University where I am majoring in biology and finance (for now) with a pre-medicine concentration. At Ohio State, I am active in Student Government, Mount Leadership Society, and Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. When I do have free time, I enjoy skiing (both water and snow), canoeing, backpacking, and j-chilling with friends! For this term, I have a lot of exciting goals I would like to accomplish including consolidating all of the trainings within Central Region, working on CSVE, and looking at new and different approaches to creating Council VOAs! I look forward to serving as your VP of Admin this year!
Favorite... Colors: Scarlet and Gray! Season: Summer! Weekend Activity: Road trip with my friends! Quote: “Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” -Voltaire
Hello! My name is Katie Bruton and I am extremely excited to serve Central Region Venturing as the Vice President of Program this year. I am from the Greater St. Louis Area Council and am the Boatswain of Sea Scout Ship 5454, member of Venturing Crew 2783, and member of Aviation Explorer Post 2987. I joined Scouting in 2012 because I heard about an opportunity to sail on Lake Huron. We sailed a J-35 racing yacht from Port Macinac to Port Huron after it raced in the annual Macinac Race. The trip was featured in the May 2013 issue of the Boys’ Life Magazine. The adventure was an amazing way to start my Scouting career.
Favorite... Colors: Sage & Purple! Season: Spring! Weekend Activity: Sail & Hike! Quote: "The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." -Eleanor Roosevelt
Since then, I have served as the 2012-2013 Central Region Area 3 Sea Scout Boatswain, 2013-2014 Central Region Sea Scout Boatswain, and 2014-2015 Central Region Area 3 Venturing President. In these positions, I have helped plan and execute events and conferences, held webinars, trainings, and had buckets of fun. I have completed Powder Horn; Kodiak; and Rayado, “the Ultimate Wilderness Challenge,” a special individual trek at Philmont Scout Ranch designed to test one’s mind, body, spirit, and faith. I have served on staff for multiple ILSC/S courses, the 2014 GSLAC NYLT Venturing Pack and Paddle, the second pilot course of NAYLE at Florida Sea Base, and NAYLE at Philmont. I have been selected to serve on staff for NAYLE at Northern Tier this summer and the 2016 GSLAC Powder Horn Course. During my tenure in Scouting, I have earned the Sea Scout Quartermaster Award, the equivalent to the Eagle Scout in Boy Scouting; Venturing Silver Award; Ranger Award; TRUST Award; Venturing Award; Discovery Award; and Pathfinder Award. This summer, I look forward with great excitement to sail for a week on the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. Eagle is the only active commissioned sailing vessel in American military service. Some of my goals for my term include: supporting the program endeavors of all Area VOAs so they can hold successful events, working to develop program resources for crews to improve their Venturing program experience, and planning the next Central Region Venturing fun event.
Hey Central Region! My name is Jennifer Bullock and I am your 2015- 2016 Central Region Vice President of Communications. I am from Greenwood, Indiana, which is a part of Crossroads of America Council in Area 6. I have served as the founding President of Venturing Crew 545, Vice President of Communications on the Crossroads of America Council VOA, and the Central Region Area 6 Venturing President. I have earned the Religious Life Bronze Award, Venturing Gold Award, Venturing Silver Award, and the God and Life Award. I have also been recognized with the Council Venturing Leadership Award. I have completed the Introduction to Leadership for Crews training and the National Youth Leadership Training. I have staffed an ILSC course, taught University of Scouting Venturing courses, I am on staff for my home council’s NYLT course this summer, and I will be on staff for my home district’s Cub Scout Day Camp this summer. I just graduated from Greenwood Community High School three days ago, so it’s still surreal! I was involved in choir all 4 years and served as the Soprano Section Leader my senior year. This fall, I plan on attending Cincinnati Christian University to major in Youth Ministry and minor in Music & Worship Ministry. I am SUPER excited for this upcoming term! I have ideas to increase communication on our existing social media accounts, plus plans to add others! My goals include working closely with the Area Vice Presidents of Communications to increase their presence on social media and produce newsletters. The Central Region VOA will release monthly Central Points, as well as bi-monthly Central Connections. We will also keep Venturers updated with what’s happening in the Central Region via Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest! Stay awesome, Venturers!!
Favorite... Color: Purple! Season: Winter! Weekend Activity: Anything adventurous! Quote: “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
National Annual Meeting The National Annual Meetings of the Boy Scouts of America were held in Atlanta, Georgia from May 20-22. You may be wondering, “How does one meeting last THREE days!?” The event is actually a collaboration of many different meetings, several luncheons, and a few receptions. The National Annual Meetings are a chance for national committees to get together in person for a meeting. In addition, each region has a luncheon where the new Executive Board is installed and the Silver Antelope awards are presented. During the Central Region Luncheon, our own Brian Parro, Central Region Venturing President, was approved to be one of the 2 youth members of the Central Region Executive Board! Finally, there are several receptions that occur. The Venturing and Sea Scouting Reception took place on Wednesday night. During the meetings, a lot of information was released. During the National Annual Business Meeting, Dr. Robert Gates spoke about the possibility of reopening the discussion on the membership policy. A video of his presentation can be found on Scouting Newsroom at http://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/pressreleases/national-president-dr-robert-m-gatesdelivers-remarks-during-2015-nationalbusiness-meeting/. Additionally, the topic of water guns was brought up. In the 2015 National Shooting Sports Manual, there is a statement that says that Scouts cannot shoot simulated firearms, including water guns, at one another. To read this statement, please visit http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/05/06/water-guns-ok-for-target-shooting-not-for-firing-atother-scouts/. Finally, an important change for the Venturing community: the Venturing Leadership Award will be made available for both youth and adults again! Finally, the Change of Watch for the Sea Scouts happened at the Venturing and Sea Scouting Reception. During this ceremony, Peter Schmidt, 2014-2015 National Sea Scout Boatswain from our own Central Region Area 3, installed Edward Campbell, also from our own Central Region Area 6, as the 2015-2016 National Sea Scout Boatswain. We thank Peter for his outstanding and exceptional service to the Sea Scouting program and welcome Edward for his upcoming term. Those “3 whole days for one meeting” sure are jam-packed with meetings and events, creating an amazing opportunity and event for the Boy Scouts of America each year! -Emily Mausshardt
Central Region Sea Scout Rendezvous People joined from around the region to kick off their summers with a fun-filled weekend at the fifth annual Central Region Sea Scout Rendezvous. Some of the many activities included boating triathlons, sailing, swamped canoe races, kayak jousting, volleyball, and cardboard canoe races. The Central Region Sea Scout Rendezvous took place May 15-17, 2015 and annually is held at Camp Illinek in the Abraham Lincoln Council in Springfield, Illinois. Make sure to mark your calendars for May 20-22, 2016!
-Katie Bruton
Communications Survey! Hey Central Region! As the new term is starting, the Central Region VOA is asking all Venturers and adults to complete a short survey about communication in the Region. We’re curious as to which communication tools you use most frequently and what you’re ideas and suggestions are for the future. It’s only 5 questions and we appreciate everyone’s response! This will allow us to have a better understanding of how we can communicate to you. Here is the link to the survey: http://surveynuts.com/surveys/take?id=27328&c=1930450 09JPTD Again, everyone’s response is appreciated! If you have any questions regarding the survey, please feel free to email me at vp-communications@crventuring.org. ~ Jennifer Bullock
Name That Camp!
Can you name which Central Region camp this is? Find out in next month’s edition of the Central Point!
This summer from July 28 to August 8 twenty-six thousand scouts from 144 countries will gather together to celebrating scouting around the world with numerous activities, and new friends to be made. Central Region will be sending participants and contingent leaders to the jamboree who will have the opportunity to participate in this event. This is Japan’s second time of hosting the World Scout Jamboree as they also hosted in 1971. The 1971 World Scout Jamboree was remembered when a typhoon descended upon the camp and forced scouts to evacuate. In fact, several of those who attended the 1971 Jamboree are now returning to Japan as adults on the International staff also known as the International Service Team (IST) for those 18 or older. The international service team members are what is key to the Jamboree’s success as they will be helping run activities, providing food to the participants and staff, as well as countless other task across the Jamboree. Still others from the Central Region will be serving as US Contingent Management Team (CMT) or Jamboree Delivery Team (JDT) these staff members make sure the Jamboree flows smoothly for US participants and the Jamboree departments.
This summer scout expeditions plan travel to Japan and some have set out to fundraise for charities. The Karana Expedition plans to drive a Vespa from Bangkok, Thailand to the Jamboree in Japan over 7000 KM in raising funds for the World Scout Foundation in 15 days to break a Guinness World Record. Their mascot named Malenito Karuna was just named the Ambassador of the Messenger of Peace program. While another scout expedition Škodovkou is traveling from Czech Republic to Japan via the Baltics and Russia representing the Scouts of the Czech Republic. Are you over age 18 but would still like to be a participant in a World Scouting event, keep watch out for announcements on the BSA Contingent to the 15th World Scout MOOT July 25th to August 2nd 2017 in Iceland. Also make sure not to miss the next World Scout Jamboree tri-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in 2019. -Matthew Bursley
Have you bought your Central Region Venturing gear yet? Click on the photo to go visit the store!
Advisor’s Minute Hello Central Region and welcome to June! Although the weather in Chicago is still a blistery 45 degrees today, the calendar says that the official start of summer is less than a month away. Hopefully, all corners of our Region get to experience some beautiful weather soon! But, June also bring us something else; something a little more important to the world of Venturing. June 1st brings us the ending of one term, and beginning of another for our youth officers. As we have been discussing transition for the last 2 months, it is now time to recognize some amazing youth and adult leaders for a job well-done. First, to Emily Mausshardt. It has been an absolute honor to work with you through this past year. You are a fantastic, intelligent leader and will be successful in teaching and any career you decide to pursue. Throughout this year, you have kept us focused on our goals, and made sure that our Region is successful in every aspect. I consider myself very lucky that I had the opportunity to advise such an amazing young adult. Thank you for your tireless service, unending spirit, and miles of smiles. To Brian Parro, Lizzie Schneider, and Dagny Gargas, thank you for the amazing efforts through this past year as well! You have supported Emily on every occasion, and helped to make our Region shine! I am truly thankful that I also got to work with each of you to help strengthen and grow the program that we love! To Chris Sandberg, thank you for everything that you have done for Venturing, for Area 1, and for International Scouting. While I know you may only be transitioning out of the Area position, your influence and support have been crucial to our success, and to the overall exposure of World Scouting within the Region and beyond. I know we will see you on the path, but thank you so much for everything you have done. To all of our outgoing youth and adults, thank you for an outstanding and amazing year. You made it such a pleasure to do the great work that we do, and I am proud to have served with each of you. To all of our adult staff that will be staying around for just one more year, thank you for keeping me sane and helping to develop and deliver the program that we work so hard to support. And finally, to Brian, Nate, Katie, and Jenny, I look forward to an amazing year ahead of us. There is no doubt that we will encounter challenges and hurdles, but we will face them together with an amazing team of volunteers and professionals that will help us overcome them all! I look forward to working with all of you for the year ahead. As I close this month’s article, here are some final thoughts: Go Hawks, Go Venturing, and make sure you sign up for PTC!
Have a great month,
Kris Zahrobsky
Area 1
Area 2
Upcoming Events:
Upcoming Events: June 20-23, 2015, Area 2 Venturing Whitewater Rafting, Fayetteville, WV
July 4-11, 2015, Kodiak-NSC, Birchwood, WI July 10-12, 2015, BayJammer, Marinette, WI August 27-29, 2015, Wood Badge C1-635-15, Kiel, WI
June 25- July 3, 2016, High Adventure in Southwest US, Detroit, MI August 21-23, 2015, Powder Horn 2015- PFC, Twin Lake, MI
President: Rachel Cruse President: Jacob Hardy Advisor: Helen Lockwood Advisor: Jeff Geralds
Area 3
Area 4
Upcoming Events:
Upcoming Events:
August 14-16, 2015, Wood Badge C3-312-15-2, Silva, MO
June 7-12, 2015, NYLT- BC, Lisbon, OH July 24-26, 2015, Wood Badge C4-450-15, Wakeman, OH
September 25-27, 2015, Fall Fun Rally, St. Louis, MO August 7-9, 2015, Wood Badge C4-441-15, Portsmouth, OH August 28-30, 2015, Wood Badge C4-433-15, Peninsula, OH
President: Chris Mausshardt Advisor: Bob Vogt
President: Michael Gunther Advisor: Duane Zobrist
Area 5
Area 6
Upcoming Events:
Upcoming Events: July 31-August 2, 2015, 48th Annual Makahiki Festival, Warsaw, IN August 7-9, 2015, Venturing Zombie Apocalypse Weekend, Pioneer, OH
July 5-11, 2015, Venturing Summer Camp, Oskaloosa, KS July 5-11, 2015, Powder Horn, Oskaloosa, KS July 26-31, 2015, Venture Quest 2015, Eureka Springs Beaver Lake, AR
August 21-23, 2015, Wood Badge C6-157-15, Ashley, IN
President: Russell Seibert
President: Amber Richter
Advisor: Julie Dalton
Advisor: Carla Gargas
Area 7 Upcoming Events: June 14-20, 2015, NYLT-TFC, Rochelle, IL June 14-19, 2015, NYLT-DPVC, Camp Big Timber, IL June 20, 2015, Blackhawk Area Regatta, Loves Park, IL June 21-26, 2015, NYLT-NWSC, Trevor, WI
President: Kaia Ball Advisor: Rachel Zahrobsky
SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS ON OUR CENTRAL REGION WEBSITE: www.crventuring.org!
President’s Corner Happy June, Central Region! And with that, another term has closed and we all are embarking on a new journey together. I am incredibly humbled to have been selected to serve all of you this upcoming year. I would like to thank Emily Mausshardt for the phenomenal job she did this past year -- she left me some pretty big shoes to fill, but I am excited for all of the amazing things coming up this year! For those who don’t know me, I should probably take a second to introduce myself. My name is Brian Parro, and I am honored to be serving as the 2015-2016 Central Region Venturing President. I am from Rainbow Council and call Bolingbrook, IL home. I have been in Scouting since I was 6, and joined Venturing when I was 16. I go to school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and am studying Business Management and Finance. You can check out my full bio at http://www.crventuring.org/Home/Fulltext/s=1&id=346 For all of us in the Venturing world, June is just like January. It’s the start of a new year, which means its time to make a change, a “new term’s” resolution. Every one of us can set some sort of a resolution! For me, my resolution is to keep better track of all of my goals to make sure that I am accomplishing what I want to do. Other ideas include attending at least 2 Crew meetings a month, making a year long plan for your Crew, bring a friend to your next Crew activity, or maintaining a better balance between Venturing and School. Whatever you want to do, make a resolution, set a goal, and see it through! Lastly, thank you so much for welcoming me as your 2015-2016 Central Region Venturing President. Similarly to Emily, as all of the officers transition into their new positions, I would like to thank all of the amazing individuals who served Venturing this past year. Whether you were a Crew Secretary, Council Venturing Vice President, or Region Venturing President, we would not have the foundation to move forward, grow, and succeed without your tireless effort. Thank you!
Central Region Venturing President:
Brian Parro president@crventuring.org
Central Region Venturing Advisor:
Kris Zahrobsky venturing-chair@crventuring.org
Central Region Vice President of Communications:
Jennifer Bullock vpcommunications@crventuring.org
Central Region Venturing Associate Advisor for Communications:
Deb Keyes communicationscoordinator@crventuring.org
Venturing is a Scouting program for male and female youth ages 13-21 that lets youth experience new activities, build leadership skills, earn awards, make new friends, and of course have fun.
The Central Region is one of the I can’t wait to meet you all as I travel the Region this year! Until our paths cross, I four regions of the Boy Scouts of hope you have some great Venturing experiences! Don’t be afraid to say hi! America. This region includes the states of: Minnesota, Yours in Venturing, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and West Central Region Venturing President Virginia.
Brian Parro