Reconnecting with our Chartering Organizations

Hello Montgomery Scouters!

Over the last few days I have noticed a plethora of institutions that sponsor Scouting units along my commute from Damascus to the Southern part of Montgomery County. We are sponsored by churches, civic organizations, mosques, temples, synagogues, parks, PTOs, parents' groups and a whole host of others. Though these groups have a wide berth of different philosophies, all sharing the common desire to perform great service in our community and to help the people in it. They sponsor Scouting units as a way to connect directly with families and other community leaders in hopes of having an impact on future generations.

This is a great bond for Scouting. It is the cornerstone of how our program works.By having an active role in the selection of our leaders, Chartering Organizations can easily mesh theirs ideals and beliefs with the values and outdoor education that Scouting provides.

In the time that I've been involved as a professional Scouter, I've noticed that a lot of our units have become very self-sufficient. It is no longer a requirement for the Church pastor to be at pivotal meetings; they don't need the PTO president to help select the new Committee Chairman, and the relationship between Scouting Unit and Chartering Organization dilutes to Scouts needing a building for meetings, storage space, and once a year, signatures on the charter. More frightening is when a Scouting unit loses it's momentum and finds itself at collapse. A professional Scouter or district volunteer will meet with a Church Pastor who'll say something along the lines of "The Boy Scouts are Strong here...." when in reality, the Troop stopped meeting 3 months previously.

I urge you to really look at your relationship with your chartering organization. Is it strong? When was the last time you invited the Institutional Head to see all of the amazing things you're doing? Did you know that every Chartering Organization has a voting seat on the District Committee?

Please add your own comments about your relationship with the organization that charters your Scouting unit? Does anyone have any good stories? Anything that we should avoid?

Thanks for your participation!

GC

Boy Scout Recruiting

Greetings Scouters near and far,

Today I want to touch on the topic of recruiting for outside of the Cub/ Join Scout night arena and into the vast chasm of Boy Scout recruiting. This seems to often be a subject that rarely gets any face time when it comes to our membership agendas, as (and rightfully so) the prevailing theory is that if you get Cubs in early, they're more likely to stay in the program.

However, I find that this theory is not enough to sustain any type of growth within our organization and in our District. If we simply wait for boys to join our Troops, then what happens to those who we missed? What happens to those who were not interested in Cub Scouting? Does this mean that every boy is asked to join Scouting between the ages of 6 and 10 years old and that's it?

I have heard much discussion on this subject. What I'd like is to have your thoughts about what we can do better, both as a Council, District, and in your own Troops to put forth a truly concerted effort to recruit boys. I'd like this to remain positive and I'll ask that those who respond please refrain from finger pointing, i.e., "Council doesn't provide enough materials" or "Our feeder Pack doesn't feed into us anymore."

Thanks in advance for your participation and I look forward to reading your responses.

Gary

Why Go to Cubworld?

If you're a parent and you are wondering what type of activities Scouting has to offer during the summertime, wonder no more! The National Capital Area Council of Boy Scouts has many summer offerings for you that can be found here.

This Posting is specifically for the Parents and Leaders of Cubs that are Wolves and Bears. Our Council built a Camp, Camp William B. Snyder with your sons in mind. We offer programming that challenges the imaginations of boys, gives them a sense of excitement and adventure, and provides growth opportunities for them in a positive atmosphere. Our hope was that families and Packs would excitedly anticipate attendance at Camp Snyder every year.

By and large, Camp Snyder remains severly under capacity. Last year we served close to 1,600 scouts at Snyder in our overnight camping activities. Currently, we are not on track to match or exceed that number of boys.

Kevin Costner told us, "If you build it, they will come." Yet, you are not coming. It means that there's something missing that will attract you. I'm asking for your help, leaders of Montgomery County, to tell me what you are looking for when selecting summer camping activities. We know that boys join Scouts to go camping and be in the outdoors--it is my goal to expose them to a quality program in a natural setting.

Please post your comments about what it will take to get you to our Camp this summer. I'd love to have some very healthy discussion about this and more topics to come.

Thanks for supporting Scouting!

GC