The Dispatch
Monthly News
for Marin Council Leaders
and Friends

As you know, October was a very busy month for Scouting. Not only was there training and camping opportunities, units were busy recruiting and doing their own activities. Oh, and don't forget popcorn sales!

In November, we slow down a little. The big activity of the month is our annual gathering of food for the Marin Food Bank. You can read the article below for details, but plan to be involved in every way you can. The need is greater than ever!

Then, let's take time to give thanks of not only a great program through Scouting, but also for the friends and families with whom we participate. Years from now, we can look back and be thankful for the memories and time spent together in Scouting.

Read through this newsletter for all the valuable information. Not everyone is on our mailing list. So if you can, use the Forward button on the right to send it to others in your pack, and encourage them to subscribe. 

• It will be held at the normal location: LDS Church, 220 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael.
• At 6:45, a Scouting for Food orientation will be held in the gym. This is where you can pick up your maps and door hangers.
• At 7:30 sharp, a representative from the Marin Food Bank will speak briefly on the importance of the food drive and what the MFB does.
• Immediately following that in the gym, there will the town-hall-style meeting with the council leadership addressing the recent media attention toward the BSA membership policies and ineligible volunteer files. 

The 2012 Cub Camping program has officially concluded with two successful camps, running in parallel at Tamarancho, in October: Tiger Cub Expedition and Cub Scout Adventure Weekend. Starting with Family Fiesta in spring, three sold-out weeks of Cub Scout Day Camp, an oversold Webelos Woods, and our October events, adult and youth volunteers delivered an outstanding program to more than 600 Cub Scouts as well as their parents.

The Cub Camping Committee would like to thank Venturing Crew 76, Boy Scout Troops 15, 24, 27, 38, 42, 50, 59, 73, 82, 200 and 2000, all of the Cub Scout Day Camp staff, camp & program directors Pat Townsley, Greg Spry, Ken Mayer, Chris Wells, Leigh Ann Bostian, Mary O'Donnell, Stacy Mendenhall, Laura Hunerberg, waterfront director Tim Davidson, camp chef Mike Morrison, rangers Dana Hanley and Andy Sawdon, the Shooting Sports Committee, and the Properties Committee for their contributions. Putting on a great camp is no small feat!

We are always looking for creative input, program support, and new committee members. Come help drive the next generation of 2013 Cub camping programs including Webelos Woods, Tiger Cub Expedition, Cub Scout Adventure Weekend, Family Fiesta, and Cub Scout Day Camp. For more information on meeting times, events and ways you can get involved, please contact David Pearce, Cub Camping Committee Chairman. 

Congratulations to Michael Swalberg, Joe Barton, and Bill Barton, who received Vigil Honors. The Vigil Honor is the highest honor that the Order of the Arrow can bestow upon its members for service to lodge, council, and Scouting.

The lodge held its fall Ordeal at Camp Tamarancho on Oct. 19-21. Seven new Ordeal members were inducted and two Arrowmen became Brotherhood. Congratulations to all.

Elections for lodge officers is Nov. 13. Please notify Michael Swalberg or Robert Tong by Nov. 1, if you plan on running.

Mark your calendar, the annual lodge banquet is set for Dec. 1 at the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Belvedere. More information will be coming soon.

As many of you know we are approaching the end of the calendar year which means that all units should be focused on their Journey to Excellence score and preparing for their annual rechartering. In preparation for your rechartering your unit should have someone responsible for gathering the appropriate information needed for rechartering, such as member information, including new member application forms with appropriate signatures.

Your unit should use the online tool, Internet Rechartering, which can be found as a selection in the left hand menu of you're MyScouting home page. Internet Rechartering allows you to

• Select members from your existing charter roster,
• Promote members from another unit,
• Add new members,
• Update member information, and
• Print a summary of costs associated with the new charter.

If you are a new user of this tool there is an online tutorial located on the Internet Rechartering start page that has instruction on using the tool. Once you have completed your Internet Rechartering, you will need to turn in your charter paperwork, including forms and payment, to the Scout service center.

In addition to rechartering your unit should be seriously looking at your Journey to Excellence progress. As you know Journey to Excellence (JTE) is the balanced scorecard of your unit's annual performance. JTE measures 10 to 13 performance criteria which allows you to earn one of three levels of recognition: bronze, silver and gold. Each of these levels has individual goals to earn the levels appropriate points. The summation of these points across the 10 to 13 items is the unit's overall annual JTE score.

Your unit commissioner probably has already worked with your unit in setting goals for each of the performance measurements. As the year winds down over the next two months you should be looking at your JTE performance and using the JTE Worksheet to record your scores and certifying the results by obtaining signatures from your unit leaders, commissioner and your charter org. rep. Your completed JTE worksheet should be turned in to the Scout service center or your commissioner with your charter renewal paperwork.

All of the resources for Journey to Excellence can be found on your My Scouting home page which can be found by logging in to www.myscouting.org.

Yours in Scouting,

Brad Stevens

Council Commissioner

Yes you did, and it is time to do it again. The "Of the Year" nomination forms are out and ready for your unit to complete! Nominating a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Venturer, or Explorer of the year is easy.

For most units, there are probably a few stand-out members. Maybe it is the Webelos with all the belt loops or the Venturer who earned her Ranger Award. Then again, maybe it is a Scout who saved someone's life or an Explorer who overcame adversity to better her life and give back to the community. Of the Year candidates can be whoever your unit decides. But the most important thing is to nominate someone.

Selecting an Of the Year candidate allows units to recognize someone for their exemplary behaviors, allows your unit to be involved at the council level, and sets examples for the other members to strive for. So however you do it, select a member, encourage him/her to attend the Marin Council Recognition Dinner (many units sponsor their candidate and family for the dinner), and cheer your candidate on.

And don't forget about your volunteers. Many units bypass nominating a volunteer of the year because they don't want to single out one adult over all the great volunteers they have. Selecting a volunteer of the year is a great opportunity to say THANK YOU to all of your volunteers while acknowledging the specific efforts of one individual. It is easy, it builds morale among your volunteers, and it can be fun putting one member in the spot light for just a few moments.

Many camp improvements have been completed this year with our committed group of volunteers who contribute substantial time and effort in maintaining and improving the council properties. We continue to work on challenges and opportunities for the coming year in moving towards our goals outlined in the new strategic plan and our goal of first-class facilities to support the council programs.

Rob Flatland has completed the formation of test surveys to assess camp improvement needs for the updating of our camp strategic plan, and we hope you have or will have an opportunity to reply to one of the surveys. A work party at camp Tamarancho is scheduled for December 1, which will focus on the archery and rifle ranges. We can promise a fun filled day in fellowship with the shooting sports and properties committees. As many of you have experienced camp was excellent this year, and we would like next year to be even better with our facilities in top shape.

Read more . . . 

In the spring of this year, the executive board of the Marin Council approved a new funding initative as part of the council's strategic long range plan: the Camp Preservation Fund. This fund will hold donations perpetually in the council's endowment accounts, and each year, earnings from those donations will support annual capital needs of Camp Tamarancho and Camp Marin Sierra.

It is our goal to raise $1,000,000 in the Camp Preservation Fund by 2016. This fall, we publically announced the Camp Preservation Fund, and we are pleased that we have secured our first major gift for that fund: $100,000 from William and Joanne Murray, Jr. In addition, Deanne Wilson has been recognized as a James E. West Fellow through a gift made to the fund in her honor by Troop 48. These gifts will support our camps for generations and ensure they continue to make great Scouting memories.

For more information about the Camp Preservation Fund, contact Michael Dybeck.