Meridian Matters December 2014 Website: www.bsa-meridian.org Contacts District Chair Commissioner Executive Advancement Camping Camporee Communications/Website Training Finance Friends of Scouting Membership Meridian Matters Editor Kent Screechfield Sue Oki Tim Welty George Gavrell Dave Newton Dave Newton Jim Bergsten open open Rand Mahoney Dan Chevez Chris Knaus (925) 570-1999 (925) 831-9380 (925) 674-6125 (925) 837-6248 (925) 963-8065 (925) 963-8065 (925) 838-4615 OA Advisor Popcorn Program & Activities R/T Commissioner R/T – Cub R/T – Scout R/T – Venturing Scouting for Food Eagle Packets Eagle Projects Eagle Board (925) 899-3840 (925) 837-0936 (925) 934-3493 Dennis Bleile Mike Hoffman Adrianne Kordelos Gregg Ankenman Steve Tom Ray Chan James Reeve M’Lu Knaus Debbie Wiley Nicholas Hall Brent Henderson (925) 973-0420 (650) 224-2143 (510) 813-8051 (510) 772-0229 (925) 548-6179 (925) 552-6582 (925) 934-3493 (925) 788-4805 (925) 837-3165 (925) 212-5453 Calendar December 2014 4 Eagle Orient./Packet & Proj. Review (D-LDS) 11 Recharter Assistance (SR-LDS) 18 Eagle Board of Review (D-LDS) 31 Recharters due No Roundtable! Enjoy the holiday season! January 2015 No Eagle Orient./Packet & Proj. Review 14 District Committee (D-LDS) 15 Eagle Board of Review (D-LDS) 17 FOS Orientation (Tentative, location TBD 22 FOS Orientation (SR-LDS) 22 District Roundtable (SR-LDS) 31 LEAD (Pleasant Hill – DVC) Save the Date April 24-26 District Camporee attend discussions with BSA Executives, create magic and games. And…see the new cafeteria (very impressive), and best of all, see old friends and make new ones! Wow, that’s a lot to offer! You’ve heard about the “ice bucket challenge”…..Take the L.E.A.D. challenge!! The challenge is for all of you to recruit at least 3 people from your scouting organization. Spread the Scouting word – MARDI GRAS is in the air at L.E.A.D. 2015 Registration is now open! EARLY BIRD Discount through Dec 15th. Grab your Mardi Gras beads and register at http://www.bsa-mdsc.org/training/adult/leadereducation-and-discovery-lead $45 for adults, youth only $10. Includes lunch! L.E.A.D Challenge is ON! December Roundtable Our December Roundtable program will be focused on ways to better enjoy the hectic Holiday Season and tips for spending time with your family. No official meeting this month, we’ll see you in January! Recharter It is recharter season again! Don’t forget charters are due by December 31st. We will be holding our annual Recharter Workshop, Thursday December 11th from 7PM-8PM at the San Ramon LDS Church. District representatives will be there to help with recharter questions, collect any new applications, and/or collect any completed recharters. Rechartering is very important as it renews the bond between Scouting and your charter organization. Plus it secures BSA insurance! Note that current Youth Protection training certification will be required for adult leaders in order to recharter! January, 2015 Roundtable Our next Roundtable meeting will be Thursday January 22nd 7:30-9:00 p.m. at the LDS Church, 5025 Crow Canyon Road, San Ramon. Break-out session topics include: - FOS Pre-meeting at 6:15 - Cub Breakout: Advancement! A successful Blue & Gold Dinner! Litter to glitter! - Boy Scout Breakout: Advancement! Secrets and resources to help your Scouts get the most from the wonderful journey to Eagle! Items on the web to help. - Varsity: The Varsity Letter - Order of the Arrow: Moluk Apanuc Monthly Meeting. Don’t miss it! Bring a friend! LEAD – Leadership, Education and Discovery Come checkout what L.E.A.D. has to offer on Saturday January 31, 2015 at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. There is something for everyone; so whether you are a district executive, scout leader, charted organization representative, parent or friend and join in the fun. This is also a great way to introduce new parent volunteers to the adventures in scouting. Just a small snapshot of the 100+ classes offered: Position Specific Training, upcoming changes to the Cub, Boy Scout and Venture Programs, cook in a box or Dutch oven, run a troop, sustainability, leave no trace (LNT), magic, chemistry, courts of honor & ceremonies, where to go hiking, kayaking, STEM, and Issued: Thurs 20 Nov 2014 -1- Meridian Matters December 2014 Website: www.bsa-meridian.org scheduled dates of Thursday Dec 18th and Thursday Jan 15th. Friends of Scouting (FOS) Thanks to all who contributed to the successful 2014 FOS campaign. Thanks, too, to the Unit contacts for their efforts in driving the success of the campaign. Building on the success of our 2014 campaign, we will start the 2015 FOS campaign with training for our FOS unit coordinators in January. Please make sure you have a person identified to be the FOS coordinator for your unit. 1-hour FOS orientation/training on: - Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015; 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. (tentative) - Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015; 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. (just before Roundtable) at the San Ramon LDS Church For questions, contact Rand Mahoney, (925) 899-3840, rand.mahoney@gmail.com. Youth Protection Training Did you know that it is a requirement that all Scouters are trained in youth protection? MDSC policy is that all Scouters to submit proof of YPT with any original registration or recharter; there will no longer be a 30-day grace period. The good news is that as of mid-September the Meridian District has 74% of its members trained, 21% had expired training and 5% have never been trained. The other bit of good news is that Youth Protection Training is easy and readily available online at www.scouting.org/training/adult.aspx. Beat the December rush! Ensure your YPT training is up-to-date for your benefit and the benefit of your Scouts. Scouting for Food Meridian District was able to raise over 33,000 lbs of food to support the food banks in our area at this critical time. Thanks to all of the Packs and Troops who were able to contribute to this outstanding achievement! Adult Training For a great training website and to get more detailed information, go to http://www.bsa-mdsc.org/basicleader-training or http://www.3districttraining.org/ For more info, contact Jerry Dees, jerry@jerrydees.com, Camporee 2015 All together now! (Lennon & McCartney) Camporee 2015 will be Friday April 24th – Sunday April 26th at Rancho Los Mochos. More details soon! For now, Units should note the date on their calendar and begin selecting Unit youth leadership and adult coordinators! Contact Dave Newton dnewton318@gmail.com (925) 963-8065 Order of the Arrow Attention Arrowmen! Meridian OA Chapter (Moluk Apanuc) would normally meet at the time of the December Roundtable, but since there is no Roundtable, you get the night off! To confirm details or for more information, please contact Christian Campbell (Moluk Apanuc Chief) at c_campbell98@yahoo.com; or Dennis Bleile (Chapter Advisor) at (925) 216-1086 or dmbleile@comcast.net. Meridian Summit Our November Meridian District Round Table will be hosting the FIRST Meridian District Summit THEME: "A Time to Gather" where we will gather all Committee Chairs, Scoutmasters, Coaches, Crew Advisors, and all interested parents to meet and chart out relevant topics that we will like to discuss and plan out future Round Table meetings to cover those topics. We are all in this together and we would like to use Round Table as a forum to share ideas, continue to learn, and create inter-unit relationships. We need your help to reboot our Boy Scout Round Tables and make them FUN, ENTERTAINING, and RELEVANT for YOU and your UNITS. We hope to see ALL of you at the November 20th Round Table! -- a Good "Time to Gather" Recruiting It is never too late to bring a new family into Scouting. If you need ideas or assistance with recruiting, contact District Membership Chair, Dan Chevez, at 925837-0936. danchevez@sbcglobal.net. Opportunities to Support the District! Our committees are recruiting for additional support. If you’d like to get involved more at the District level just let us know – there are always opportunities. All levels of commitment are possible; it’s only an hour a week.  In particular we are seeking to fill the following roles: - Unit Commissioners Communications Coord. Finance Chair Asst FOS Chair - Training Chair No January Eagle Project Reviews Happy New Year! With the holiday, there will be no Eagle Project Reviews and Orientation/Packet Hand-out in January. Project Review and Packet distributions will be held on Thursday Dec 4th and Thursday February 5th. Board of Review sessions will be held on the normally Issued: Thurs 20 Nov 2014 Contact: - Asst Camping Chair - Asst Finance Chair -Youth Protection Coordinator Kent Screechfield, meridian.chair@bsamdsc.org, or Sue Oki, meridian.commish@bsa-mdsc.org -2-