SAVE on DAY CAMP

This is the final week for the EARLY BIRD Discount when you register for Day Camp! Register today and save $20!

Please pass this message on to your fellow Scouts and Parents…

Register for these great Day Camps online HERE

Lumpkin Twilight Camp (camp #22) – Pine Valley May 28-June 1

North Forsyth Day Camp (camp #6) – Church of the Good Shepherd June 4-8

South Forsyth Day Camp (camp #7) – Midway UMC June 4-8

Dawson Day Camp (camp #9) – Lumpkin Campground June 11-15

CUMMING Day Camp (camp #14) – Christ the King Lutheran June 18-22

Register before MAY 10 to save! online registration here: http://bit.ly/12DCreg

The Etowah District Banquet 2012

COME CELEBRATE!!! The Etowah District Banquet 2012

last year's Etowah District Banquet

THIS IS YOUR INVITATION! Be sure to invite ALL of your Unit Leaders to join in our celebration at this year’s Etowah District Banquet.

The Etowah District Banquet

Join us as we celebrate another GREAT YEAR in Scouting at this year’s annual Etowah District Banquet

Tuesday May 15 at Dawsonville First Baptist Church

900 Hwy 9, Dawsonville, GA 30534

$10.00 per person if registered by Friday, May 11th (download the form below) $15.00 on the day of the banquet

Celebrating the accomplishments of the many Scouts and Scouters in our District, this evening of fun and fellowship will feature awards and recognitions from the past year of our dedicated Volunteers and Scouts. And don’t miss the highlight of our evening as we announce this year’s Scouter of the Year, Etowah Spirit of Scouting, and District Award of Merit recipients.

Sign up now for the early bird discount! REGISTRATION FORM

6:00pm Silent Auction will benefit Scouts attending an upcoming World Jamboree

6:30pm Dinner featuring the fine cuisine of our own Tim Gangwish and Tom French

7:00pm Awards Program

Come celebrate with us!

It is NOT TOO LATE to nominate someone for the

SCOUTER of the YEAR Award (one per category will be recognized, CUBS, Boy Scouts, Venturers, Explorers)

The Etowah SPIRIT OF SCOUTING Award (four individual YOUTH members will be recognized)

The DISTRICT AWARD of MERIT – email District Award of Merit nominations to Mike Scarce

Submit your ‘Urban Forest’ photos to win U.S. Forest Service Contest

Submit your ‘urban forest’ photos to win U.S. Forest Service contest.

as posted to BRYAN on SCOUTING>>

While you may dream of a picturesque backyard—dotted with mountain peaks, green trees, and acres of land for you to explore—more than 80 percent of the U.S. population resides in urban areas.

And, as our cities grow, it’s more important than ever to appreciate, conserve, and cultivate urban forests in our neighborhoods… read more

 

Cub Scout Summer’s BIG 4!

Register ONLINE NOW using THESE LINKS:

Scoutland Adventure Camp ~  Parent/Son  ~ Patrol

Day Camp/Twilight Camp

Fun with Son

Spring Family Camping

Greetings Fans! above are direct links to the online registration pages for each of the BIG 4… what’s the BIG 4, you ask? CHECK THIS OUT!

1) May 4-6 at Camp Rainey Mountain is Spring Family Camping! Go on a hike to Big Rock, fish in the lake, camp out in real Summer Camp tents, enjoy a GREAT bonfire with skits and songs… this weekend is fun for the WHOLE FAMILY – Register HERE – get Spring Family Info HERE

2) Fun With SON! You have two choices in June… June 9-10 at Camp Rainey Mountain -OR- June 23-24 at Scoutland. This is a chance for 1-on-1 time for a boy and his dad/mom. We’ll have a fun weekend trying archery, swimming in the lake, fishing, hiking, and camping out… you’ll get to sing songs in the dining hall before enjoying some awesome camp supper with the whole CAMP! – Register HERE – get FWS info HERE

3) Day Camp/Twilight Camp is the camp that comes to the Scout! You have 5 local camps to choose from: 

=Lumpkin Twilight – Pine Valley Recreation Area (Dahlonega on Hwy 9) MAY 28-June 1 5PM-9PM

=North Forsyth Day Camp – Church of the Good Shepherd (on Holtzclaw Rd off of Hwy 369) June 4-8 9AM-3PM

=South Forsyth Day Camp – Midway United Methodist Church (south of Exit 13 on Hwy 9) June 4-8 9AM-3PM

=Dawsonville Day Camp – Lumpkin Campground (behind the Outlets) June 11-15 9AM-3PM

=Cumming Day Camp – Christ the King Lutheran (Sawnee Drive and Bettis-Tribble Gap) June 18-22 9AM-3PM

Register HERE – get more info HERE

4) SCOUTLAND Adventure Camp 2012… the finest Cub Scout Resident Camp in the Southeast and it is JUST ACROSS THE LAKE! Don’t MISS OUT. Choose between 6 half week sessions in July. Cub Scouts will go on safari, earn some belt loops, take home awesome crafts and shoot bb guns. Webelos I’s can get a FAST start by taking up to 8 ACTIVITY BADGES and some cool belt loops too! Webelos II’s go on THE OUTBACK!!! A canoe trek to the far side of camp and a special overnight campout for JUST THE WEBELOS II’s who will earn some Activity Badges, learn valuable Scouting and Camping skills, all to prepare you for your Arrow of Light journey! -Register AS A PATROL (WEBELOS ONLY) – Register AS A Parent/Son TEAM – Download the Scoutland Guide or read more info HERE – SCOUTLAND ON FACEBOOK

Keep an eye out for how your PACK can earn the Summer Time Pack Award by attending ALL 4! This is the BIG ADVENTURE… THIS is the BIG 4!

see you out there ~ daniel

forward this info to your fellow Cub Scouts TODAY! – email me at davictor@bsamail.org if you have questions about how to get signed up – feel free to call the Service Centers: Jefferson – 706-699-8806; Lawrenceville – 770-962-2105

I Am Saving DAYlight! (a spring program guide)

Spring is ALMOST HERE!!

Daylight savings time signals the impending change of seasons and a time when Scouting in the Outdoors really starts to generate a lot of interest for your Scouts. Spring provides abundant opportunities for Scouts to GET OUT THERE and find the BIG ADVENTURE. If you haven’t seen these promos, take another look!

CHALLENGE MILL 2012 – An extreme High Adventure Spring Break starts Sunday April 1 and goes until Friday April 6. Scouts ages 12 and up will enjoy mountain biking, whitewater rafting, canoeing, climbing, High Ropes course, horseback riding (merit badge), hiking, and camping while getting to see the more adventurous side of East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Northeast Georgia… registration is still on-going, GO HERE for more info or download the registration form and send it in today!

SPRING FLING – I’ve already talked about this event for Bears and Webelos coming up this weekend, so if it seems like it’s a little late, you should maybe sign up for our Etowah Email Updates because you’ve been missing stuff! Register onsite at SCOUTLAND using THIS FORM… Bears & Webelos – THIS one is ALL about Sports!

SCOUT SHOW – now this event will be quite impressive. ALL SCOUTS ARE INVITED. Scout Show takes place at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds on April 14 with Camping available for Friday night and Saturday night. Lot’s of cool stuff going on like Merit Badge Midway, Belt Loops, Scout Skills demonstrations, live performances, Council Pinewood Derby Race, Explorer competitions, CAMPING… EVERY UNIT can set up a demo/camp site. Register from the Scout Show webiste. No cost involved to come visit or set up a booth for the day on Saturday if you wear your uniform! There’s more info on THE FORMS PAGE

DUTY TO GOD Campout – April 20-22 at beautiful Camp Rainey Mountain. Cub Scouts and Webelos can earn their Religious Emblem in this ACTION PACKED WEEKEND! God & Me (grades 1-3 Protestant Christian) and Light of Christ (ages 6-7 Roman Catholic) >>You need the CUB SCOUT flyer. God & Family (grades 4-5 Protestant Christian) and Parvuli Dei (ages 8-10 Roman Catholic)>> You need the WEBELOS flyer.

District Pinewood Derby – March 24… Pack winners, please pre-register for this event. ALSO, there is a FUN Open Class racing which any Scout, sibling, or parent (cheaters) can race in… (sorry, no trophies for Open Class, but you will get bragging rights!).

ADULTS! – There’s something for all of you too… TRAINING! The Etowah District is offering BALOO, Outdoor Skills for Webelos Leaders Training, and Intro to Outdoor Leader Skills (Boy Scout Leaders) in one BIG OUTDOOR TRAINING WEEKEND… Training goes on all weekend (BALOO is Saturday only) March 23-25

SPRING CAMPOREE – RANGER DAYS – This is your chance to test your Scouting Skills and put the Troop/Patol Method to the TEST! Do YOU want to take home Eddie the Otter? Don’t MISS this year’s Spring Camporee being held at Camp Frank D. Merrill April 27-29

Did I miss anything? We haven’t even got to MAY yet, but next week you’ll see a stand-alone feature on Spring Family Camping (just as soon as we get registration up and rolling on the nega site!) Check back here: http://www.nega-bsa.org

I’ll see you out there!

-daniel

visit our website: THE ETOWAH DISTRICT ~ find us on FACEBOOK ~ follow us on TWITTER ~ Subscribe to our E-newsletter

Pinewood PIZZAZZ! How to have an AWESOME RACE!

Greetings Scouts!

Well Race Fans, it is that time of year again and the Pine is out of the box for most of us… now I’m sure we’ve got some Scouts already cutting, sanding and painting, and maybe some who’re about to get underway with RACING! Here’s some tips to a successful, FUN, and safe event…

Daniel’s Rules (unofficial ones anyway):

1. Number 1, It’s gotta be FUN! We all want to win trophies when they are available, but remember that Pinewood Derby is all about the fun of creating, designing and building YOUR OWN CAR with DAD (or MOM) and SON… the Trophy is just icing on the cake.

2. If making cars is a den activity and you realize you’ve run out of stuff to do in the time allotted, KEEP SANDING. My dad did this with our Den 5 back in the day. I couldn’t figure out why at first (I was 7 or 8 at the time), which tells me that my younger contemporaries won’t know any different anyway… and not only that, you’re car comes out looking SOOOOO much smoother than others. Sand it by hand, don’t use machines for this or you’ll kill the war story for later (“We just sanded and sanded and sanded!”).

3. Don’t try to figure out the loop-holes. That’s just a big waste of time and it kills the true spirit of why we have Pinewood Derby… again, it’s about spending time with Mom (or Dad). It is really silly when I encounter a parent at the judges table at check-in for the District Race that has obviously thought out his campaign and speech for why he’s aloud to use a different wheel than everybody else… dumb.

4. If you win at the PACK level, GO TO THE DISTRICT RACE! If you don’t win at the PACK level, GO TO THE DISTRICT RACE! You always have the option of entering your car in the OPEN class (sometimes called contenders and pretenders). This class of racers is open to Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, sisters, Dad’s, your church pastor… whomever! AND you don’t have to be a PACK level winner, that’s why it is OPEN!

5. If you haven’t watched the famous Hollywood Film, Down and Derby, DO THIS NOW!!! Go rent it on Netflix or Apple TV or buy it on Amazon… whatever. WATCH IT with your kids! This will help TEMPER a little bit of the “Silly Dad” in all of you out there. Besides that, this is one of the best major motion pictures about Cub Scouts, It is family friendly, VERY FUNNY and it is also one of the last films in which Pat Morita (of Karate Kid fame) starred. So, anyway… this rule’s important!

6. If your pack didn’t give out PWD cars as Christmas presents at the December Pack meeting, you should change that for next year!… Oh and don’t forget, for the larger packs out there… you can buy cars by the CASE at a HUGE discount when you go to University of Scouting. Put that on your calendar for next year! Oh, and don’t forget to line up a good Santa, those guys are hard to book at the last minute!

7. If you have a smaller Pack or a close Den or group of Dens, you might plan a “Cutting” day at the Dad’s house who has a table saw… don’t be like my dad and go out and buy a brand new table saw and then only use it for annual PWD cutting days and have your daughters grow up being totally jealous of their baby brothers. Someone’s already got one of these, go to their house and save yourself some grief later on. OR visit a local Home Depot or Ace Hardware… these guys love Den visits!

8. Remember, It’s about having FUN. If you’re not… you’re not doing it right.

HEY… you need the official RULES. These one’s won’t work at the Pack or District Race! In fact, these aren’t even “OFFICIAL”… they’re just my personal opinion. I hope you all have LOT’s of fun at your Pack and District Race!

ALSO… if you plan to attend the District/Council Race, you’ll need to register, so you gotta use this form: DOWNLOAD PWD REGISTRATION

 

OKAY! See you out there!

daniel

A Year in Review

Greetings Scouts! Happy New Year and welcome 2012…

Here’s a look back at some of our favorite moments of 2011 and as we say goodbye… let’s say HELLO by visiting the facebook page, following us on Twitter or jumping over to our official Etowah District Website

who could forget the Spring Camporee at Scoutland? The Ultimate Classic was chaired by the Ultimate SPL… Andrew Johnson from Troop 200. Andrew earned his Eagle later in the fall!

These Scouts help out with an Eagle project in Dawson County… The Etowah District finished the year with 43 Eagle Scouts, the most ever for our area in a year!

Cubbies are “investigating” owl pellets with Tim Gangwish at Lumpkin Twilight held at Pine Valley… The theme was CSI: Cub Scout Investigation!

Mrs. Reybok tells a Cub Scout tale!

Daniel takes a group deep into the back country at Challenge Mill

Mr. Waggoman and a handful of Scouts are on hand to dedicate the Centennial Tree at the Forsyth County BOE.

…more to come!