Bayshore District

Now is the time to start getting ready for fall recruiting. All Packs need to have their dates (primary and back-up) coordinated with their schools well in advance! Committee Chairs. Start now by meeting with your school principal to talk about your School Night for Scouting plans. Each district has a range of dates approved for Rally Nights. Please turn in your date, time, location, and Pack Rally Chair contact information to Vanessa Ayala ASAP to have fancy flyers printed for your use at NO CHARGE.

Begin recruiting a School Night to Join Cub Scouting committee in your pack (for boy talks, helping with SNS, making posters, manning a table at a PTA meetings, entertaining the boys during your Rally, setting up a slide show and/or displays, collecting registration forms, ect.). Click Here For Downloads and Forms

Send your entire School Night for Scouting Committee to one of the SNFS Trainings to be held on August 7 & August 18 at University Baptist Church. Our goal is 600 is new Scouts!!!!!!!

New this year: Council is requiring that we have one date in September (TBD) where every unit turn in their SNS applications into the district on one night. Units cannot wait until October Roundtable to turn in applications. Please prepare enough volunteers to you process applications quickly at your Rally Night because the date will probably be somewhere around the 12^th.

More information on SNS coming soon.

Back-Office Jobs

As you plan your 2008-2009 Scouting program, don't forget to name three volunteers for the "back-office" fundraising jobs too: Popcorn in the fall, Friends of Scouting in the winter, and Scout Fair tickets in the spring. These are good roles for parents who do not want a full-year commitment but can do a diligent, organized job, maintain focused enthusiasm, and keep good records during a limited campaign.

Fall Popcorn - $$$ SUPERCHARGE Your Unit's Popcorn Sale $$$

It’s simple…it’s fun…it’s profitable… The annual Trail's End popcorn sale is just about to begin. The Fall 2008 popcorn sale will again feature a simplified product-pricing plan, with a straight percentage of the gross sales going back to your unit. SHAC will continue to provide new and exciting prizes or performance incentives, giving your unit the opportunity to increase your percentage of profit. With a proven, powerful product lineup and pricing plan, your unit will realize great profits.

New this year: Each scout who fills out the order form with 25 unique customers gets a marshmallow blaster, customers can send popcorn to military troops, and there are a few new products and prizes

We'll be kicking off our district sale on Monday August 19, 7 p.m. at University Baptist Church. We'll walk you through the new on-line ordering system, highlight some new product lines and give you tried and true ideas to SUPERCHARGE your unit sale. Attend to win door prizes, plus get full information, sales materials, order forms, and prize brochures. You may then distribute the materials to your boys and begin selling immediately. EVERY UNIT SELLING POPCORN THIS FALL SHOULD HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE IN ATTENDANCE. For details and to sign up, see www.samhoustonbsa.org/home/events/popcornsales. Also, if you haven't yet confirmed your unit’s commitment to sell, please contact our District Popcorn Kernel Darrell Monroe immediately.

Roundtable

August 7

7:30 Boy Scout Roundtable

7:30 Cub Scout Roundtable

Take the time to be a better, more informed leader for your unit by attending Roundtable at University Baptist Church. You'll be in the best of company. We have lots of information for all leaders, Committee Members, Cubmasters & Scoutmasters.

Calendar

The Bayshore District Calendar is available through June 2009 at http://www.boyscouters.org/bayshore/calendar/.

New Local Tour Permit

Please note that a new Local Tour Permit has been posted to the SHAC web site (under Forms):

https://www.samhoustonbsa.org/Home/Forms/LocalTourPermit/Local%20Tour%20Permit.PDF

Expiration dates for training are asked for, as appropriate for that activity:

* Safe Swim Defense - 2 years

* Safety Afloat - 2 years

* Youth Protection - 2 years -- time is new for tour permit -- effective 1/1/09

* CPR

* Hazardous Weather Training - 2 years - new - see note below - effective 1/1/09

Beginning January 1, 2009, Planning & Preparing for Hazardous Weather Training must be completed by at least one adult prior to any activity requiring a tour permit. This training is available online at MyScouting and takes 30-45 minutes to complete.

Effective for tours beginning January 1, 2009, Youth Protection Training will be valid for two years from the date completed.

NOTE: The form is PDF-fillable and can be saved to your computer!

Criminal Background Checks for Leaders

The Boy Scouts of America has conducted criminal background checks on all new adult leaders since April 2003. Some leaders have not changed leadership positions since that time, and have not been checked. Leaders who have not been checked will receive a letter from the national Chief Scout Executive in early June. The letter will give recipients instructions to visit a website, to "opt in" to a criminal background check. Recipients who decline to authorize a background check will lose their BSA membership. For more information, VIEW THIS LINK.

Uniforms Needed

The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Inc. located in Pasadena is a shelter for women and children in domestic violence, sexual abuse and homeless. Services provide emergency shelter, long term shelter for women and children.

Right now - they need some cub scout uniforms. They don't need to be new, in fact "experienced" uniforms are the best kind! We need probably 10-12 of them, mostly the blue shirts (various sizes) and 3 of the khaki shirts worn by Webelos. (5th grade and up). If you have any extra, please contact Corina Coronado, NMA Community Activities Director, (281)-212-6261.

Fall Training

Our goal is 100% trained leaders. This consists of a "Fast Start" online training, then online Youth Protection Training followed by live training "New Leader Essentials" and "Leader Specific" training available in May or in the fall. Finally, outdoor skills are taught for Cub Leaders at BALOO & OWL in the fall, and for Boy Scout leaders at IOLS in May or in the fall. See below for the specific opportunities.

Sept 20 Boy Scout Leader Specific Training (Part 1-3)

October 10-11 Introduction to Outdoor Leaer Skills

October 11 BALOO Training

October 17-18 Webelos Outdoor Leader Training

October 18 Cub Leader Training (NLE, CSLT)

October 27 Cub Leader Training (NLE, CSLT)

CUB SCOUT LEADER SPECIFIC TRAINING

October 18 or 27

CSLST provides skills that can help you save time and effort in your position as well as to help keep your pack program a lively, active, and fun experience. Part 1 covers New Leader Essentials. Part 2 covers specific training for leaders and their assistants (Tiger Leader, Wolf Leader, Bear Leader, Committee Chair, Committee Member, Cubmaster – please note that the Webelos Leader training will be conducted with the OWL training below). You may attend the Saturday course on October 18 or the evening course on October 27. For more information, contact Mike Archibald.

BSLST (Boy Scout Leader Specific Training)

September 20

BSLST teaches practical ways to instill the Scouting methods into troop programs and covers the roles of the Scoutmasters & Assistants in a boy-led troop. Bring Scoutmaster Handbook, Boy Scout Handbook, & lunch or $$$$ for Subway. 8:00-5:30ish at University Baptist Church. Topics covered: Outdoor & Advancement Programs; Program Planning; Troop Administration. For more information, contact Mike Potts.

IOLS (Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills)

October 10-11

Participants work as a patrol during a weekend campout while learning the basic Boy Scout skills needed to advance from Tenderfoot to First Class. Items needed for this event will be discussed at BSLST. Fr 6:00pm to Saturday late night. Topics Covered: Campsite Selection; Ropes – Whipping, Tying, and Lashing; Wood Tools – Knife, Camp Saw, and Ax; Fire Site Preparation and Building; Cooking; First Aid; Plant Identification; Animal Identification; Packing and Hiking Techniques; Map and Compass; Leave No Trace. For more information, contact Mike Potts.

BALOO

October 11

Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation is a training designed to prepare the Cub Scout about overnight camping activities. All packs must have a BALOO trained adults attend every pack campout. BALOO covers camping, outdoor activities, games, ceremonies, selecting & using camping equipments, health & safety, campfire programs, cooking, and more. The training will be held on October 11.

WEBELOS LEADER OUTDOOR TRNG & WEBELOS LEADER SPECIFIC TRAINING

October 17-18

Both trainings recommended for Webelos leaders will be offered in one weekend: Every Webelos leader and assistant will want to attend this awesome training on October 17-18 to get the tools needed to prepare your boys for the transition form Webelos to Boy Scouts. During the WLOT training you will learn about knots, wood tools, first aid, fire building, site selections, tents, bedding, weather, cooking, sanitation, flag ceremonies, campfire planning, Webelos badge activities, helpful Webelos Woods hints, and more. The Webelos Leader Specific Basic Training will also be taught to give you the tools you need to plan a successful Webelos program for your boys.

Council Training Courses

· August 16 - Trainer Development - Cockrell Scout Center – (for any unit, district, or council trainer)

· Sept 26-28/Oct 17-19 – Wood Badge - SR-921

· Oct 10-12/ Nov 14-16 – Wood Badge - SR-922

· Nov 1 - Akela's Trail (formerly PowWow)

· Nov 15 - Trainer Development - Polaris District (for any unit, district, or council trainer)

· Dec 6 – Commissioner Conference

· Dec 26-31 – NYLT (for Boy Scouts)

· Feb 7 - University of Scouting

· Mar 21-22/ Apr 4-5/ May 1-2 - Powderhorn (for Boy Scouters and Venture Crew leaders)

Training Updates

· The new Local Tour Permit has new training requirements – Note 2-year requirements for YPT, Safe Swim Defense, Safety Afloat, and new Weather Hazards training (see more info below)

· National is releasing new Cub Scout Leader Specific Training this summer. You should see it in during the fall courses.

· Den Chief Fast Start Training can be found on the Online Learning Center (NOT through MyScouting). The link is at the bottom of the right-hand column.

· Cub Scout RT Fast Start Training can be found by clicking the Supplemental Training link. It is currently listed within the Boy Scout training modules, so the link may be changing soon.

· Online NLE is not expected until the end of the year or early 2009. The name will be changing.

Stu Update

If you would like to check up on Stuart Lloyd (previous Bayshore Scouter), then check out his website. His wife, Tab, wrote a book about free things to do and see in the Lone Star State that Scout leaders may be interested purchasing called “Free Texas.” Tab and Stu will be at the Clear Lake Barnes and Noble on the 5th of July from 2-5pm for a book signing.

Scout Shop Sale

20%-40%-60% -on various items through out the store. New markdowns every third Wednesday of each month.

Scout Shop Help Wanted

The Clear Lake Scout Shop has an opening for a part time position. It would vary between 8 to 12 hours a week. You need to be able to work during the week, Fridays and at least 2 Sat. a month. Job responsibilities would be stocking, lifting boxes, waiting on customers, cleaning, etc. If interested please contact Debbie Buford at 281-282-6067.

Be Prepared for Severe Weather – Hazardous Weather Training

Scout leaders should always help their Scouts to be prepared for all types of weather. The National Council offers an online weather training called, "Are You Weather Smart?" Click here to go to the Online Learning Center to learn about severe weather safety or begin other training regarding health and safety matters. Floods, lightning, high winds and many other threats are reviewed.

Severe weather cannot be prevented, but Scouts and leaders can be adequately prepared for most situations in the outdoors. The council's summer camp staff and directors of Cub Day Camps receive training on severe weather procedures. At Boy Scout summer camp, a weekly fire drill is conducted to help prepare all campers for possible emergencies. The health and safety of all youth members and adult volunteer leaders is the council's highest priority.

CUB SCOUT SPECIFIC NEWS

Summer Camp at Bovay

Parent-child 3-day camps at Camp Bovay are a very fun get-away for adventure and closeness. Sessions run between July 24-August 9. More

Cub Scout Fishing Tourney & Scout Day

September 27

Silvan Beach, LaPorte

8:00 – 11:30

Get out your fishing rod and tackle box. Bait will be provided; however, you may bring your own bait. Activities will include fishing, archery, water rockets, rope bridge, obstacle course, sling shots with paint balls, and more. This will be a great opportunity to invite kids who may be interested in joining scouting. Make sure you have lots of registration forms at your Rally Nights so that your new scouts have an activity to attend right away. Registration forms will be posted soon.

*****Each pack must send two volunteers to the Scout Day staff meeting on September 4 at 7:00 at UBC to get their duty assignments.

National Summertime Pack Award

Your Pack can qualify for the National Summertime Pack Award certificate and streamer by planning and conducting three Pack activities--one each in June, July, and August. Twilight Camp can count for June. Dens with an average attendance of at least half their members at the three summer events will be eligible for a colorful den participation ribbon. Boys who participate in all three pack events are eligible to receive the National Summertime Pack Award pin, which is worn on the right pocket flap of the uniform. This is an individual recognition for boys. http://www.usscouts.org/baloo/bb9806/bb9806tt.html

Free Fun Fishing

McGovern Lake at Hermann Park (next to the zoo) is open for free, catch-and-release fishing for those ages 12 and under, or 65 and older. You can angle for channel catfish, largemouth bass, and bluegill sunfish. map

Cub Program Helps

http://www.scoutingthenet.com/Training/Roundtable/Handouts/

Cub Scout Pictures

Check out hundreds of Twilight Camp and other District Event photos. Your son may just be in there!!

www.kodakgallery.com/hopeunderwood/scouts password: bayshore

Cub Scout Themes

To help in planning, here are all the Cub Scout themes through the year 2011.

CubCast Highlights Program Themes

Visit each month for a new CubCast featuring the monthly program themes. More support for Cub Scout leaders is available online 24/7. Click on "Adult Leaders" for Cub Scouting. You can download the current Program Helps, complete training for new leaders and learn answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

Camp Strake Cub World

Major renovations have added covered pavilions with picnic tables, flush toilets and showers, and huge parking lots.

To make Pack camping arrangements, see http://www.samhoustonbsa.org/Home/Camping/Camps4/Strake/CubWorld/

BOY SCOUT SPECIFIC NEWS -

New Boy Scout Uniform

Check out the new Boy Scout uniform with a retro look in 21st century fabric: http://www.goldenarrow.org/news/BSA-new-uniform-2008.pdf. The gossip columns report: the new uniform should be available in August, you will be able to mix and match the new uniform with the current uniform, and it will be the official uniform for the 100^th anniversary Jamboree.

Crews and Ships:  Bovay High Adventure Luau

August 19-30

Crews and Ships from all over SHAC will meet for a weekend of camping, small boat sailing, swimming, hand gun shooting, archery, volleyball, limbo, great food, a dance, Guitar Hero Rock Off and more. The cost is $25 and includes 3 meals. Registration Deadline is August 1. For more information, contact Traci Talley at (713-491-6020).

New Eagle Scout Application rules ***important***

As of May 1, 2008 a new form for Eagle Scout Rank Application will be required. You must use Form 58-728A dated 2008 Boy Scouts of America. These forms are available NOW at SHAC, all Scout Shops, or online from www.scouting.org or www.nesa.org. The only change is for Requirement 5 where now the Project Name and Grand Total of Hours must be listed. In order to meet the deadline for National Council BSA, the district will not be accepting any old forms after February 15, 2008 to make sure that the May deadline is met. Scoutmasters and Advancement Chairmen, please contact Bob Keller at 281-660-7122 with any questions.

2008 SHAC Summer Camps

Hamman Scout Camp Reservation (Pack & Paddle; Topping Out)
Super Troop (46kb pdf)
Trail to Eagle (35kb pdf)
Boots & Saddles (69kb pdf)

Boy Scout Summer Camp-An Investment in Youth and Leaders

Boy Scout Summer Camp-Benefits Every parent Should Know

2008 SHAC Summer Camp Forms are available

Super Troop

The Council offers a "Super Troop" opportunity at Camp Cima every week during the Summer Camping season. This opportunity is for those boys in your troop that may not for whatever reason get to go to Summer Camp with your unit (e.g., family vacation, sick, no $), OR for those boys that would just like to take a second week of Summer camp to work on more merit badges, or BSA Lifeguard. more

NRA Certification Courses (see end of email for FAQs)

This is the first call out for anyone to register for the NRA Instructor courses. Please pass this announcement on to everyone.

WHAT: NRA Instructor courses… as required by Guide to Safe Scouting. The NRA Instructor course is actually a two-part program. There is a mandatory 6 hour class, usually called the INDOOR CLASS. This course is broken into two sessions at 3-hours each. After the completion of the INDOOR CLASS, there next is a RANGE SESSION CLASS, held at Camp Strake in September. This first class is the RIFLE INSTRUCTOR CLASS. After the completion of the RIFLE INSTRUCTOR COURSE, you can take the follow-up courses (Shotgun, Pistol, Muzzle Loader Rifle) with a review of the overlapping materials taught in all Instructor classes. YOU MUST BE REGISTERED WITH SHAC IN ORDER TO TAKE THIS COURSE.

Therefore, you should plan to take the RIFLE INSTRUCTOR COURSE if you are interested in becoming an NRA Instructor for any discipline.

WHEN: The INDOOR CLASSES are set for Monday, August 11 and Wednesday, August 13. Class times are 7 PM until 10 PM each night. You must attend both nights. The RANGE SESSION class for RIFLE INSTRUCTOR has been set for September 20 at Camp Strake. Start time for the RIFLE INSTRUCTOR class will be 7 AM. The SHOTGUN INSTRUCTOR Range Session class will be held at Camp Strake on Sept 27, with a Start Time of 9AM.

WHY: The Guide to Safe Scouting requires at all BSA firearm outings be controlled by an INSTRUCTOR and a RANGE SAFETY OFFICER. It actually works best when there are two people handling these requirements. The INSTRUCTOR must be certified in the discipline being conducted. If you are shooting rifles, the Instructor is a NRA RIFLE INSTRUCTOR. If shotguns are being discharged, then the event has a NRA SHOTGUN INSTRUCTOR.

WHERE: The INDOOR CLASSES will be held at the Cockrell Scout Center in rooms 100 and 101, so goes the plan. As noted, the start time is 7 PM. The RANGE SESSION will be held at Strake.

HOW … and HOW MUCH: The Rifle Instructor Course is $50 and that includes the material for the INDOOR CLASS. People who are already an NRA INSTRUCTOR and wishing to take the class may pay $30. If you secured your certification through SHAC, then you may take only the Range Session course. If you secured your certification through an agency other than SHAC. Please make your check payable to SHAC and send the check to Bruce Robinson at 919 St. Andrews, Kingwood, Texas, 77339.

We will order course materials on July 20. The deadline for payment for the course is July 20. People wishing to pay after July 20 will be charged $10 extra. There is a chance that late-ordered course materials may not be available for late registrants in the course. Such course materials for late registrants will be left at the Scout Shop with Chuck Coates for you to pick up. PLEASE PAY ON TIME and we all can be happier. Course registrants should include with their check the following information:

Name, Home Address, Home Phone, PREFERRED PHONE CONTACT IF NOT HOME PHONE, email addresses, NRA Membership number if you are a member of the NRA, Scout Unit affiliation, SHAC District Affiliation. You must provide your home address for Scouter registration verification purposes. Please do not use your work address as your only address.

Course registrants will receive email confirmation when they mail in their check.

Please read the questions at the end of this email. If you still have a question, please contact Bruce Robinson at boss@kingwoodcable.com

Powder Horn

Spring 2009

Powder Horn is a 6-day course on high adventure resources. It is not a personal development course like Wood Badge or even a skills course. It will let you experience many high adventure skills, learn where to get the resources to support high adventure programs, and how to offer those programs in such an exciting, out-of-the-box way that teens will keep coming back to meetings and activities.

The course is designed to introduce and expose Venturing and Boy Scouting adult unit leaders to the activities and resources necessary to operate a successful outdoor/high adventure unit-level program. It is based on the eight core and eighteen electives found in the Venturing Ranger program. It is intended to help adult leaders get out of the box in finding and using resources and in the way they lead their unit-level high adventure programs. No high adventure skills are taught in this course. It is designed to have some disciplines introduced with a hands-on segment. Participants will not learn how to rock climb or shoot a skeet course, but will learn where to go to find those who can teach these skills to Boy Scouts and Venturers. The dates for the course are: March 20-22, 2009 at El Rancho Cima; April 4-5, 2009 at Camp Strake; and May 2-3, 2009 at Bovay Scout Ranch. more

Canoe Training

Prepare for adventure safely by training all your adult volunteers with these classes:

http://www.samhoustonbsa.org/Home/Camping/Activities/CanoeProgram/

Merit Badge.com

www.meritbadge.com is switching over to www.meritbadge.org. The Boy Scout Merit Badge Worksheets are at: http://meritbadge.org/index.php?title=Merit_Badge_Worksheets or http://usscouts.org/mb/worksheets/list.asp

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