The First Wood Badge Course of 2009

The first Wood Badge course recently concluded at Camp Kiesel. The course was conducted the second and fourth weekends of March. It was a winter wonderland setting for the 50 participants. The camp received a fresh 12” of snow the night before the second half began allowing the staff and participants to put into practice the team building skills that had been explained and demonstrated the first weekend. All were able to make it Back to Gilwell and complete the course.

The experience was enjoyed by all and was considered by many to be a life-changing experience. Jared Olschewski, who served as the course director, commented that is was as good a staff and group of participants that he has ever had the opportunity to work with in 10 years of Wood Badge experience.

Special thanks to Jared Olschewski for his devotion to the Wood Badge program in the Trapper Trails Council.

A Record Year For Scouting For Food

The 2009 Scouting For Food Drive, held on March 28, was a huge success for the Trapper Trails Council. Food was delivered to local food pantries throughout Weber, Davis, Morgan, Cache, Box Elder, and Rich Counties in Utah as well as pantries in Southeast Idaho and Southwest Wyoming.

Nearly 600,000 pounds of food was collected on what will go down in the record books as the largest and most succesful Scouting For Food Drive in council history. Nearly 10,000 Scouts and adult leaders participated in the delivery of bags, collection of food, and sorting of food at the various drop off locations.

Special thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who helped to organize and coordinate the drop off locations.

"When times are tough, people tend to be more generous," said Marcie Valdez, director of the Northern Utah Catholic Community Services. This certaintly was the case this year.

Thanks for your efforts to make a diference witht this "good turn" activity. Scouting for Food does make a difference!

Council Hosts Western Region Cub Scout National Camp School at Camp Kiesel

Cub Scout Camp Directors, program directors, and other leaders decended upon Camp Keisel from March 19-March 21 to become cretified to run Cub Scout Day Camps throughout the Western Region.

Leaders were placed through an intense training that began at 7:00 AM and concluded by 10:00 PM each day they were present. Cub Scouts and Leaders will be blessed by the camp leadership they come in contact this year. The Trapper Trails Council will be no exception to that! Several leaders attended this mandatory course from our council.

The purpose of National Camp School (NCS) is to help participants to become familiar with the National Day Camp Standards for Cub Scout Camps. Within these standards are many safety, administrative, and program standards that both camp directors and program directors should understand. Camp leadership also discusses specific ideas to help make camp programs fun, educational, successful, and safe.

Thanks to Janell Koeven, a Trapper Trails Council Scout, for serving as a staff member along with 6 other well-qualified instructors from every reach of the Western United States.

Where ever you Cub Scouts attend Day Camp this year, have confidence that they are in good hands!

Trapper Trails Council Hosts Annual Western Region Conference

On March 5-7, 2009, nearly 50 excited Varsity and Venture leaders from all parts of the Western Region of the Boy Scouts of America came together to take part in the annual Powder Horn / Kodiak Course Directors conference. This is the 2nd year that the Trapper Trails Council has hosted this event.

The purpose of the Course Directors Conference was to instruct Powder Horn and Kodiak course directors in the basics of managing and running an effective training course. The Trapper Trails Council will be hosting 4 Kodiak courses and 1 Powder Horn course in 2009.

Both Kodiak and Powder Horn are fairly new training activities.

Kodiak is youth training. It is different than NYLT, in that it is geared for an older age group. Kodiak is oriented around a high adventure trek or setting with leadership training built into the six-day program. The course prepares Venturer, Varsity Scout or older Boy Scouts to be a “servant leader” as they lead their crew, team, or troop. Servant leadership as a philosophy teaches that the leader works with and through a team to accomplish the mission. At the heart of Kodiak are 5 commissions which focus on Character development. The beauty of Kodiak is that these commissions are instilled through fun-filled high adventure activities.

Powder Horn is adult training, and is designed to help adult leaders safely conduct outdoor activities of a fun and challenging nature. It provides an introduction to the recourses needed to successfully lead their youth through a program of outdoor adventure. This course is based upon the Ranger requirements giving participants an exposure to some outdoor/high adventure activities and not a certification event. Even though the course is based upon the Ranger program, it is still useful for any adult involved in delivering a unit-level high adventure program.

Please go to http://www.trappertrails.org/ for details regarding Powder Horn and Kodiak, or call your local service center for more details.

2 Trapper Trails Council Varsity Scout Earn Denali Award

Several weeks ago, Colby and kyler Wright went the extra mile by earning the Denali Award.

The Denali Award is the highest award in Varsity Scoutng. Denali is the name American Indians gave Mount McKinley in central Alaska. The Denali Award is presented to Varsity Scouts team's youth members who complete additional requirements have already earned the Varsity Scout Letter.

These two young men are led by Kevin Varble, Varsity Coach and Tom Powell, Assistant Varsity Coach. Colby and Kyler are now a part of the Venturing program with Tom Powell as their advisor.

Congratulations to these 2 young men for their efforts!

Requirements for the Denali Award are as follows:

1. Be a registered Varsity Scout team member.
2. Advance at least one rank in the Boy Scout program (or earn a Palm for those who are already Eagle Scouts).
3. Hold leadership positions in a Varsity Scout team for at least six months.
4a. While serving as team captain or program manager, act as primary leader on at least two activities. Program managers should choose activities in their the field of emphasis. Team captains may serve as primary leader any of the five fields of emphasis.
4b. While serving as program manager or team captain, demonstrate shared leadership skills in supporting roles in each of the three remaining fields of emphasis.
5. Satisfy to the team captain that you know and live by the Varsity Scout Pledge.
6. Complete a progress review by a review board that includes a district or council representative and is lead by the advancement program manager.

PILOT NRA FIREARM INSTRUCTOR COURSE HELD IN TRAPPER TRAILS COUNCIL

On March 21, 2009, 18 adult Scout leaders completed NRA Shotgun Instructor certification at the Cache Valley Shooting range. This first phase of this course actually began in February when particpants completed the NRA Basic Instructor course. The second phase, held on March 21st, was an intensive 10 hour course of classroom and range instruction. 17 of the particpants are from Golden Spike district.

Successful completion of the NRA Shotgun Instructor course allows individual Venture Crews flexiblity in participating in shooting sports events.

Additional courses will be offered this fall through the Trapper Trails Council. By 2010, a council-wide certification course will be in place and be held at a variety of locations. Stay tuned for more information.

21 Districts = 21 Centennial QUALITY Districts

Something rare has taken place in the Trapper Trails Council. For the first time council history, all 21 districts in the council Have been designated as Centennial Quality Districts for the year 2008.

You may ask, "So What?" The reality is that this is a big deal. What it shows is the true reflection of the sincere dedication of the Hundreds of district volunteers and dedicated District Executives who work tirelessly to make Scouting happen from every corner of the council - and everywhere in between! What is says is that the leadership of each distrcit set worthy, yet lofty goals and worked hard to accomplish them.

Specific requirements for the centennial quality distrcit are as follows include unit and membership retention and growth, meeting financial goals, and quality recruitment of a strong volunteer corps.

Kudos to ALL who make the districts function! We appreciate your efforts.