Are you and your Cubs looking forward to another exciting summer of activities? Look no further than the Cradle of Liberty Council camping opportunities. We offer everything from a week of day camp in your local area to a half or full-week resident camp where the boys can sleepover at camp!

Schedule a promotion night and our trained promotion team will come to your meeting with updated information about camp, fliers and plenty of camp excitement. The presentation only takes about 10-15 minutes, and is sure to get your Cubs excited about attending camp! 

Contact John Bickel at john.bickel@scouting.org to schedule your camp promotion! 

If you loved your experience at camp last summer, we hope you will join us in spreading the good word about camp by helping as a camp promoter! If you want to help spread the word, contact John Bickel.

Pay your 2014 Pledge Online

Because of the continued support from Scouters, parents, businesses, and members of the community, 2014 was a great year for the Cradle of Liberty Council! Your support truly helped us deliver the promise of an outstanding program for our Scouts.

Next year is shaping up to be another exciting year for Scouting in the Delaware Valley. With your continued support, we can and will succeed. If you made a Friends of Scouting pledge in 2014 and have not had the opportunity to fulfill your commitment, please send a check to the Cradle of Liberty Council or pay your 2014 pledge online.

2015 Campaign

The 2015 Friends of Scouting campaign will be underway shortly. Friends of Scouting is the annual campaign where Scouters, parents, alumni, and community members are asked to financially support Scouting in the Cradle of Liberty Council.

The true cost of Scouting is much greater than what local dues and event or camping fees cover. Yearly registration fees directly support the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America and help provide program development and research, literature, and local council support. The Cradle of Liberty Council uses contributions made through the annual Friends of Scouting campaign to:

• Maintain camp properties and a service center.
• Organize new Scouting units and support existing ones.
• Provide professional support and leader training.
• Distribute program resources and regular communications.
• Organize activities and events.
• Offset general liability insurance costs to chartered organizations.
• Criminal background checks for adult leaders.

Each unit is asked to schedule a presentation date for this campaign during the months of January, February and March. If your unit hasn't scheduled a presentation yet, please firm-up a date over the next several weeks so district volunteers to have enough time to plan for the campaign. Your unit FOS coordinator may schedule a presentation by contacting your district Family FOS chair or your district professional, or may schedule your unit's presentation online by completing a short form.

Thank you for your support!

The Cradle of Liberty Council Exploring Program has collaborated with the University of Pennsylvania to hold a college awareness initiative with the Wharton Business School.

Come explore college, tour around campus, meet student leaders in sports, arts and college file, and learn all you need to know about applications, essays, extracurriculars, financial aid and more. Lunch and snacks are provided!

Register at: tinyurl.com/boy-scouts-college

Our Program Partners offer a variety of opportunities and discounts to Scouting families and are continuous supporters of our council.  

colbsa.org/programpartners

Please visit the website to see all the great offers available from our Program Partners!

Welcome to our newest Program Partner...

 Cradle of Liberty Merit Badge Days:

 Saturday, January 31 or Saturday, April 18

Click here for more information >

If you purchased a 2014 Cradle of Liberty Council Camp Card, you can use the Modell's tab to save 15% on regular AND sale price merchandise from November 28 to December 25!

A limited supply of Camp Cards are available to purchase from the front desk at the Firestone Scouting Resource Center in Wayne.

Throughout their season, the Philadelphia 76ers are offering Scouts the opportunity to conduct the flag presentation during the national anthem and get discounted tickets. Each game, four to five Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts or Venturers, preferably in full uniforms, may participate in the ceremony and the unit must provide the flags. Participants will be able to watch warm-ups court side! Color guard Scouts, as well as other Scouts and their families, will get a special discounted price and a 76ers drawstring backpack. All Scouts will also receive a special patch. Discounted tickets start at $15 to $16; pricing varies depending on the game and seats. 

If your unit is interested, please complete this short online survey  requesting contact information and your first and second preferences for game nights. The information for interested units will be provided to the Sixers and the team's group events staff will be in contact directly with the unit to make arrangements.

Brotherhood Blitz... Have you been a Ordeal member for the past 10 months or more, then come out and join us for a one day event to achieve your Brotherhood. For more information, click here

Online Store... want to purchase Unami Lodge properties, like the new holiday ornament, then click here

Go to www.unamilodge.org for more information about these events and any Lodge information.

Hold the dates as Cradle of Liberty Council presents its second Merit Badge College on Saturdays April 11 and May 2, 2015 at the Valley Forge Military Academy. A Scout will be able to earn up to four Merit Badges by completing prerequisites in advance of the first session, completing additional requirements between the two sessions, and of course by attending and participating in the two Saturday class events.

Fifty badges are being offered including seven Eagle-required badges, many STEM badges, and other seldom-offered badges. There will be a limit of 500 Scouts so continue to monitor the BSA Today for further information. The badges being offered and sign-up instructions which will be forthcoming shortly. The cost is $26 per Scout which will include lunch for both days and a patch.

Calling all Merit Badge Counselors

We are need of merit badge counselors to staff the college. If you are free those two Saturdays and can teach a badge on those days, please contact Steve Perrone at sperrone@ppciga.org with your name and the badge.

The Cradle of Liberty Council is looking for the most enthusiastic and friendly Scouts to help us staff our summer camp operations at Musser and Resica Falls! 

If you or a Scout you know is interested, go to www.colbsa.org/campstaffapp to fill out an application or email John Bickel for more information.

Checking Availability and Making a Reservation

Property descriptions, maps and program ideas are available at: www.colbsa.org/rentals

1. To check availability and make a reservation go to www.colbsa.org/rentals

2. Click on the "Book Now" Green Button for either Resica Falls Scout Reservation or Musser Scout Reservation.

3. Select a category: choose if you want a lodge or a tent site and then click on the facility you are interested in. It will highlight the facility and then you can check what openings exist for your weekend of choice. Availability is confirmed if the date blocks show in grey.

4. Select your arrival and departure dates by clicking on the appropriate dates, it will then give you a "reserve' button to click.  This will create a reservation box at the top right of the calendar with an orange check out box. Click there and follow the steps to complete your registration.

5. Use your current Doubleknot user ID and password. If do not have one you will need to create a profile-use your "Unit #, Council", and your contact information.

6. Follow the steps to check out and select the appropriate payment type-pay online with a credit card or mail in a payment.

The National Jewish Committee on Scouting established the Shofar Award to recognize outstanding service by adults in the promotion of Scouting among Jewish youth. Just as the Shofar (Ram's Horn) calls people to the service of God, so the Shofar Award is a recognition of the individual who has answered the call to serve Jewish youth in Scouting. Self and spouse nominations will not be accepted.

For more information, click here

The Boy Scouts of America provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness. A key responsibility that we all share is providing an effective program that meets the needs of young people and provides the proper health and safety of everyone concerned.

It is important that we sustain the safe operation of our programs and promote continuous improvement through organizational learning. Timely and complete incident reports support analysis that is critical to identifying needed improvement of the programs offered by the Boy Scouts of America.

The Cradle of Liberty Council provides supplemental insurance (the $2 per year that each registered member pays at recharter). To file a claim, the form must be completed by the unit leader, signed by a district executive (or other professional staff member) and a parent and mailed directly to the insurance company at the address on the form. We recommend that copies of all paperwork submitted are kept by the parents. 

All leaders on 2014 Cradle of Liberty Council charters must be position-specific trained, along with having current Youth Protection Training. This includes all Scoutmasters and assistant Scoutmasters, Cubmasters and assistant Cubmasters, den leaders and assistant den leaders, Venturing crew advisors and assistant advisors, Varsity coaches and assistant coaches, Sea Scouting mates and skippers, committee chairs, and committee members.

• All assistant Scoutmasters and assistant Venturing crew advisors must complete their basic training or they will not be registered in that position. Assistant Scoutmasters and assistant Venturing crew advisors age 21 and older can register and function as a member of the troop or crew committee if they choose to not complete their classroom-style leader training.
• All Cub Scout leader training and committee training for both troops and packs is available online at myscouting.org.
• Venturing committee training is expected to be available from BSA National in spring of 2014 and will be mandatory for crew committee members at that time.

By dedicating 30 minutes of your time to complete this training, we are helping to ensure a quality program for all of the youth we serve through Scouting.

To read more, click here. To receive monthly email updates about training opportunities offered throughout the council, subscribe to TrainedToday or view past editions here.

The committee is open for Scouts and leaders with international Scouting experience to join our next conference call to share ideas and initiatives. If you are interested, please contact Mr. Frank Yeung (Chairman of International Committee) at lonewollfy@verizon.net or Robert (RJ) Wiechecki at robert.wiechecki@scouting.org for more information.

2015 World Jamboree

The World Scout Jamboree is a Scouting jamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, (WOSM) typically attended by several tens of thousands of Scouts from around the world, aged 14 to 17 every 4 years.

The BSA Contingent is now open for registration - Don't miss out the biggest Scouting event in the world.

World Jamboree 2015

or contact Mr. Frank Yeung, lonewolffy@verzion.net