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Do you want to give us your opinion on possible changes to the BSA Membership Standards?

Did you submit updated email addresses with your recharter? 

If so, you should be receiving a Voice of the Scout Survey sometime between March 8 and March 15.  As a part of that survey, all adults will be asked some questions about possible changes in the BSA membership standards, as well as their opinions about Scouting programs.

If not, you can still get the survey by clicking here to register your email.  You will need your membership ID number to register (if you don’t know it the council can help).  If this link does not work paste the following URL into your browser:  http://scouting.us.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0lecWOay3bPbczP

Commissioner Recruitment

            Have you been working as a Unit leader and now want a new challenge? Are you interested in helping other Units put on a successful scouting program? The Unit Commissioner position is for you. We are always looking for new commissioners to add to our staff. We could also use help on our round table staff. Your input on how to improve Round Table will be much appreciated. If you are interested in a District position please contact Tony Vega at barrya@epix.net

Note on training

It is essential to the development of the scouting program to have trained leaders. With new leaders hopefully starting soon it is a good time to get everyone trained. All adult leaders are required to do Youth Protection training and it is encouraged that leaders complete their specific training as well. If you are unable to attend a specific training date or if multiple adult leaders from your unit need to be trained or need a refresher let the District Training Chairman Russ Soerens know and he will work with you to get you trained. Russ can be reached at rj.soerens@verizon.net

Do you have a great story to tell? Has your troop gone on a great trip and you’d like to share your experience? Can you give a review of a campground or of some type of equipment? Want to let everyone know about a service project or community event? Send it to the Bugler!

OA Chapter Advisor

It is with great pleasure the Lenape District Committee appoints Tom Thibault to serve as Lenape District’s Order of the Arrow Chapter advisor. Tom will be charged with continuing the dedicated work Dan Moritz has lead in the absence of a full leadership team. Tom’s dedication to Scouting can be seen through his past involvement in Scouting.

After serving as an Assistant Scout Master for Troop 400 and T-135 Tom was honored to be called out for induction into the Order of the Arrow. The following year he sealed his Brotherhood with members of Troop 135. In 2012 Tom was selected for Vigil, completing this honor in May of 2012.  His service was recognized for being the Lodge’s de-facto bugler.

Since being admitted to Lodge 33 Tom has attended all Ordeal weekends.  The Order has allowed him to further gain more experience in Scouting and specifically bringing our Special Needs Brothers to a more active role in the Order.

Along with Wood Badge, Powder Horn and the Commissioner Service (having earned his Doctorate), this next challenge in Scouting will allow him to once again deal directly with our youth, to help mold them into ever more challenging positions of leadership and service to our communities, Scouting and our county.

We thank Tom for his hard work, dedication, and commitment to the Lenape District, Bucks County Council, Ajapeu Lodge, and the Boy Scouts of America and support him as we grow our chapter and Scouting programs in Lenape.

Doug Pedersen, Chairman

District Commissioner

With the swift transition of Tom Thibault to OA Chapter advisor, John Panzuric will be acting as the District Commissioner until our May 2, 2013 annual meeting. John is an Eagle Scout, Vigil member of the Order of the Arrow, and dedicated Scouter in Lenape. John is accessible by email at johnponzscouts@gmail.com.

Swim O’Ree

March 11, 2013 @ William Tennant High School

Info and registration @ https://www.doubleknot.com/upcoming-activities/swim-oree/51577

Gold Rush

March 23, 2013 @ Moravian Tile Works

Info & registration @ https://www.doubleknot.com/event/gold-rush/1276012

Pinewood Derby

April 6, 2013 @ St. Judes RCC in Chalfont

Info and registration @ https://www.doubleknot.com/event/lenape-district-pinewood-derby/1307004

Like us on facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/LenapeDistrictBucksCounty

Upcoming Events & Activities

• Recognition Dinner
  • Friday, April 12^th, 2013 – 6-10pm
  • Michael’s Restaurant, 955 Old Lincoln Highway, Morrisville
  • Who’s invited? Everyone. Friends, families, Scouters, alumni
  • Buffet dinner, silent auction, awards, and more
  • Cost: $27 per person
  • Sign up at buckscountybsa.org
• Pinewood Derby
  • Sunday, April 21^st, 2013 – 10:30am-6pm
  • Oxford Valley Mall, 2300 East Lincoln Highway, Langhorne
  • Cost: $5 per Scout, or $45 per Pack
  • Visit buckscountybsa.org for sign-ups and more information
• Spring Camporee
  • Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28, 2013
  • Middletown Grange Fair, 576 Penns Park Road, Wrightstown
  • Cost: $8 per Scout
  • Visit buckscountybsa.org for sign-ups and more information
• Chartered Organization Representative Training
  • Saturday, June 1^st, 9-11:30am
  • Council Office, 1 Scout Way, Doylestown
  • Contact Don Wiater at loso@comcast.net to sign up

Opportunities for Eagle Scout Projects and Volunteer Hours

• Makefield Elementary School has several projects they need help accomplishing:
  • Benches for the pergola in the Learning Garden
    • School already has the wood (milled from two trees felled during the school’s recent expansion
  • Storage shed for gardening supplies
  • Irrigation system to maintain moisture levels in garden during the summer
    • Families have volunteered to water the garden periodically during summer vacation, but the system is not consistent and the school is concerned about excessive water consumption
  • Weeding & general maintenance of the Learning Garden
    • The school has a system for families and community members to sign up to help keep the garden in shape, and could use more participants.
• For information or to sign up, contact Susan Mazzitelli, Legislative Assistant to Representative Steve Santarsiero at 215-968-3975, 277 North Sycamore St, Newtown

Part-Time Job Opportunity

• Do you enjoy running Cub Scout programs? Do you live in the greater Morrisville area and have access to your own transportation? The Bucks County Council is looking for Program Aides to help run after-school ScoutReach programs at the Lower Bucks Family YMCA in Morrisville. Candidates must be at least 21 years old, available Tuesday afternoons, and meet BSA membership standards.

DISTRICT FIRST-AID-O-REE

Start Date/Time: 3/22/2013 8:00 PM   

End Date/Time: 3/24/2013 10:00 AM

Cost: $7.00

For all Boy Scouts, Venturers, and Webelos

Where: Washington Crossing Camping Area (near The Thomas-Neely House)

Camping overnight is optional.

All units must supply their own water for the weekend.
Questions, please contact Sonnie at 215-949-6411 or smtroop168@comcast.net

PENNSBURY DISTRICT DINNER

Start Date/Time: 4/13/2013 7:00 PM End Date/Time: 4/13/2013 10:00 PM

The Pennsbury District Dinner will be held at the Morrisville Elks Lodge.

Cost is $25 per person

Unit Honor Scouter Award

Pennsbury Unit Honor Scouter Award nomination form Click Here

This application needs to be sent to Jim Sullivan before March 24th. Applications can also be dropped of at the District Roundtable in February or March.

All units should have a member that qualifies for this award.

PENNSBURY DISTRICT PINEWOOD DERBY

Start Date/Time: 4/20/2013 9:00 AM

Details to follow

SPRING VOICE OF THE SCOUT – IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

The Spring Voice of the Scout survey will launch March 8^th.  This survey will include an additional question(s) seeking opinions about the potential change to membership standards policy being considered at the National Annual Meeting in May.  You are encouraged to continue collecting email addresses and entering them into ScoutNET until February 27^th and/or promoting the new MyScouting tools where a unit committee chair or unit leader can enter the info for the entire unit (see instructions below). 

From www.scouting.org:  “To access MyScouting Tools, a Scouter simply logs into MyScouting.org and clicks the link located on the landing page.  A “toolkit” is equivalent to a BSA organization structure.  For example, if you’re part of a unit, your unit will appear as a toolkit.  MyScouting Tools has two main levels of access: My Dashboard and Roster Manager.  A unit leader or adult volunteer can access the My Dashboard tool, where announcements and calendar dates will appear.  Under My Profile, leaders and volunteers now have the ability to update their contact information.  This is a huge enhancement because updates to phone numbers, email addresses, and other contact information are immediate.  The unit Key 3 and district Key 3 will have a second level of access. The Roster Manager tool lets them view and export their roster information and make contact updates for anyone on their roster.”

MyScouting Tools users now have the ability to print membership cards.

Key 3 Administrators can print cards for individuals in their units as well.

In December MyScouting Tools users were also given the capability to see their most recently-completed YPT compliance date under their Dashboard tool.

Key 3 Administrators have the ability to update unit members' Youth Protection Training compliance records.

*It is important to understand that all Youth Protection historical training is retained for each member; however, this tool will only display the most recent course and date of the YPT course(s) taken by an individual (as it is displaying the state of a member’s compliance).

Go to https://my.scouting.org to access your MyScouting Tools account.

HAVING DIFFICULTY ACCESSING YOUR MYSCOUTING ACCOUNT?  We were informed from the National Office that their programs currently support IE 7, 8 and 9.  Those using Windows 8 or IE 10 should select one of the previously mentioned features.

DID YOUR TROOP BRIDGE SCOUTS THIS MONTH?  If so, it is important that you turn in completed youth applications (with signatures and fees) so that the new scouts can be registered appropriately and their new advancements can be posted as they make their trek to Eagle.  The transfer fee is $1.00 per scout as long as they were previously registered with a cub scout pack. 

March

2 – University of Scouting

5 -Tohpendel District Committee meeting

6 - Playwicki District Committee meeting

6 - Playwicki District Commissioner meeting

7 - Pennsbury District Committee meeting

7 - Lenape District Committee meeting

7 - Lenape District Commissioner meeting

9 – Area 5 Membership Summit

9 – OA Banquet

11- Lenape Swim-o-ree

12 - Tohpendel Roundtable

12 - Tohpendel OA Chapter meeting

12 - Tohpendel Commissioner meeting

13 - Playwicki Roundtable

13 - Playwicki OA Chapter meeting

14 - Pennsbury Roundtable

14 - Pennsbury OA Chapter meeting

14 - Pennsbury Commissioner meeting

14 - Lenape Roundtable

14 - Lenape OA Chapter meeting

15-17 – NYLT at OSR – Week End #1

19 – Commissioner Cabinet

21 – Council Training meeting

23 – Pennsbury First-Aid-o-ree

23 - Lenape Gold Rush

23 – Tohpendel Pinewood Derby

24 – Tohpendel District Dinner

27 – Executive Board meeting

28 – OA Executive Board meeting

29 – Good Friday - Scout Store and Council Service Center closed

April  

2 -Tohpendel District Committee meeting

3 - Playwicki District Committee meeting

3 - Playwicki District Commissioner meeting

4 – Pennsbury District Committee meeting

4 - Lenape District Committee meeting

4 - Lenape District Commissioner meeting

5-7 – NYLT at OSR – Week End #2

6 – Lenape Pinewood Derby

9 - Tohpendel Roundtable

9 - Tohpendel OA Chapter meeting

9 - Tohpendel Commissioner meeting

10 - Playwicki Roundtable

10 - Playwicki OA Chapter meeting

11- Pennsbury Roundtable

11- Pennsbury OA Chapter meeting

11- Pennsbury Commissioner meeting

11 - Lenape Roundtable

11 - Lenape OA Chapter meeting

12 – Playwicki District Dinner

13 – Pennsbury District Dinner

15 – OA Vigil Nominations due

16 – Commissioner Cabinet meeting

17 – Properties meeting

19-20 – Outdoor Leader training

20 - BALOO training

20 – Pennsbury Pinewood Derby

21 – Playwicki Pinewood Derby

24 – Executive Board meeting

25 – OA Executive Board meeting

25 – Training Committee meeting

26-28 – Playwicki Spring Camp-o-ree

26-28 – Lenape Spring Camp-o-ree

26-28 – Tohpendel Spring Camp-o-ree

One of the biggest problems we are having is processing applications lacking proper information, correct signatures and funds to register them with.  When you submit new applications (both youth and adult) to the office they need to be completed and signed by the correct individuals and include the proper payment.

All adult applicants MUST complete both forms in the application; the Disclosure/Authorization Form and the Adult Application.  The Disclosure/Authorization Form needs to be signed.  The Adult Application needs to be completed and the 6 questions must be answered.   

Adult applications need to be signed by BOTH the unit Committee Chairman and either the Chartered Organization Representative or the Executive Office.  It is amazing the number of adult applications received that have the signature of the Scoutmaster or Cubmaster.  Neither have the authority to approve an Adult Application.  Only Youth applications are to be approved by the unit leader (Cubmaster / Scoutmaster / Adviser).

Payments to be submitted with all youth and adult applications are based on a prorated fee schedule.  Registration fees are $1.25 per month.  Boys Life subscription fees are and additional $1.00 per month.  To determine the amount, count the number of months between now and December (be sure to include the month you are currently in.)  Submitting applications in September is for a four month period (September, October, November, December).  Registration for four months is $5.00 (4 X$1.25).  The Boys Life subscription for four months is $4.00 (4 X $1.00).

Greetings, Brothers!

It seems like we were only just promoting NOAC 2012, but NOAC 2015 is right around the corner!  The National Order of the Arrow Conference, or NOAC, is a time when Brothers from lodges all across the country get together for a week of fellowship and fun!  It's bigger than Conclave and better than a Jamboree, and it's truly a blast!  For more information about what a NOAC is, please watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mL9i8ZDPBE

This upcoming NOAC is going to be special, as it is the 100th Anniversary of the Order of the Arrow! This is one NOAC you don't want to miss out on.  The National Order of the Arrow Committee has decided that NOAC 2015 will be held from August 3-8, 2015 at Michigan State University!  Please block off your calendars now, as we want to do our part to help the OA reach its high goal of 10,000 Arrowmen at the 100th Anniversary NOAC.

As a part of the festivities to be held at NOAC 2015, we learned at NOAC 2012 about special milestones that our lodge would be asked to help with in order to take part in the celebration.  The first milestone passed on December 31, 2012, and it was to get a rock, engrave it with our lodge information, and send it to the National Committee for inclusion in a "Brotherhood Chimney" similar to the one that the founder of our Order, Dr. E. Urner Goodman, had in his home.  I am pleased to share with you the rock that we have sent to the National Order of the Arrow Committee to fulfill this requirement, which is attached to this email.

Preparing for NOAC 2015 is going to be a necessary task, and we are looking for someone to help pioneer the preparations for the big event.  If you or anyone you know is interested in serving as our NOAC 2015 Chairman, which would involve working closely with the LEC in planning our lodge's participation, please do not hesitate to contact me or Mr. Shavel, our Lodge Adviser.

Thank you so much, everyone!

WWW,

Raymond Pfundt

Click the Link for these exciting opportunities:

MID ATLANTIC SCOUT ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS MAY 4

USA SCOUTER TOUR 2013-NATIONAL JAMBOREE

PHILADELPHIA SOUL SCOUT NIGHT

TRENTON THUNDER SCOUT OVERNIGHT