Join us for some aquatics fun at Cub Scout Wet and Wild! This new program is for Cub Scouts and their parents to escape the colder temperatures outside and learn some valuable boating and lifesaving skills in the pool. Participants will be using boats in the pool at the downtown Appleton YMCA on January 29, 2023, from 12:00 - 2:00 PM. Cub Scouts can also complete their swim tests for rank advancement and/or summer camp (parents too)! Cost is only $5 per person. Follow the link below to see which Elements Cub Scouts can earn and register for the event.

Polar Cubs is a unique winter program for Cub Scouts and their families, held at Gardner Dam Adventure Base in February 2023. Campers will be grouped into “Super Dens” keeping those from the same Pack together. Led by staff members, these dens will rotate through various outdoor winter adventure focused activities. Overnight registrations include a bunk in one of our heated cabins (with indoor showers and restrooms), meals, and a participant patch. We offer two weekend options so you can conveniently fit this event into your family or Pack schedule

Arctic Adventure is a winter adventure program for Scouts BSA and Venturers with a variety of outdoor and indoor activities. Enjoy the pristine Northwoods winter environment at Gardner Dam Adventure Base or Camp Hiawatha with the freedom to do nearly any winter activity you want like snowshoeing, cross country skiing, broomball, outdoor hiking, sledding, and much more! Overnight registration includes a bunk in one of our heated cabins, meals, and a participant patch. Also, back again is the new and exciting Ice Climbing Adventure, based at Camp Hiawatha in Munising, MI. You will have three weekend sessions to choose from in February and March 2023.

Save the date for the return of Stem Pi Day! The Stem Committee is currently looking for Cub Scout Programming assistance. If you or someone you know is willing to offer Cub Scout programs at Pi Day, please reach out to Amanda Tuttle. Registration and programming will be announced soon. 

Through the years, you have read a statement that goes like this: the health, safety, and well-being of our Scouts, their leaders, and their parents when accompanying the Scouts, is our top priority. All sorts of policies and procedures for pretty much every Scouting activity, from checklists to safety moments, from Health forms to Youth Protection Training here.

There is a weekly email from Scouting Wire (the official voice of the Scouting movement) which reports on several news items. Showing my age, this being Medicare Supplement renewal time, the article about insurance caught my eye. As unit leaders and scouting parents, we always need to have our liability coverage in place…for those just-in-case cases.

Though I will not reprint the full article, you can read it for yourself. Scouting insurance is considered “secondary” to the adults’ principal policies. One example given: if a youth falls during a hike and breaks a wrist, the parent’s health coverage may pay for the ER visit minus a $500 deductible; this insurance can reimburse the $500. It is similar for automobile coverage, the owner/driver’s policy is first, then the Scouting insurance will step in to help.

The article even dismisses a common statement circulating among Scouting adults: have you ever been told that your insurance is dependent upon wearing your field uniform? (It is a myth, by the way.) OOPS, I may have removed one rationale for units who require their Scouts and leaders to travel in the field uniform. But that’s for another day.

See you on the trail!

Warren Kraft
Program Development
guide@baylakesbsa.org

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