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Bay-Lakes Council's 36th Annual Scouting for Food Drive is fast approaching! 


Saturday, April 20th, is the first weekend where Scouts will canvass their communities with Scouting for Food bags. Bags are available from your District Staff & Volunteer Chairs. Find your District Staff & Volunteer Chair here.


Saturday, April 27th, will be collection day. Scouts will again canvass their communities to collect food that morning and deliver it to their specific pantries or collection areas. New this year, some communities will have Scouts at Festival Foods and other grocery stores collecting food directly from shoppers. 


If you missed our Scouting for Food Unit Coordinator training, a recording is available to view on the Scouting for Food webpage.

Scouts in grades 5-12 are invited by the Green Bay Catholic Committee on Scouting and the Milwaukee Archdiocese Catholic Committee to join them on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, WI. The program starting at 9:00 AM. The event concludes at 3:00 PM. Many fun and faith-lifting activities are planned, as well as, a rosary walk and an opportunity for Reconciliation.


The event costs $15 per participant, which includes lunch, program materials, and a patch. Online pre-registration is required.

2024Golf

Join us at the Bay-Lakes Council Golf Classic at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms in Sheboygan Falls, on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Please consider sponsoring with a foursome, non-playing sponsorship, donating an item or gift certificate for our silent auction, or a cash gift to support local Scouting. If you are looking forward to getting out and enjoying spring, this is a great event for your business to support Scouting. Get your registration in by May 1. Click the link below.

ONLY 2 DAYS REMAIN FOR DISCOUNTED EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION

The NYLT Traditional course will take place at Camp Hiawatha (E6350 Doe Lake Road, Munising MI) June 16-22, 2024. In this 6-day course, content is delivered in a troop and patrol outdoor setting with an emphasis on immediate application of learning in a fun environment. Participants will work within their patrols to set up campsites, cook meals, construct team projects and plan and carry out other activities without direct adult supervision. Participants must have sufficient maturity to function in a team or patrol of individuals they have not previously met.


Course fee is $300 or $280 if paid by April 13. Space is limited to the first 48 participants. Registration closes May 13. If you have any questions, contact Course Director, Tod Salfai,at (920) 360-4246.

The NYLT Pack and Paddle course will take place at Camp Hiawatha (E6350 Doe Lake Road, Munising MI) August 3-11, 2024. This 9-day course adds value to the NYLT leadership training syllabus by executing the course of instruction in the context of a wilderness backpack and canoe trek, where participants put leadership theory to immediate, real-world practice.


Participants must have passed a BSA swimmer's test within the last year or be able to pass it upon arrival. They must be able to live and work in a rugged environment, including the ability to eat 9 days’ worth of backpacking food, and have the emotional stability to readily work in a team environment for an intense and extended period of time.


Course fee is $320 or $300 if paid by May 26. Space is limited to the first 30 participants. Registration closes July 12. If you have any questions, contact Course Director,  Amanda Tuttle, at (251) 753-0021.

Details On the Update to Scouting’s Barriers to Abuse
Concerning the Policy for 18–20-year-old Adult Leaders/Program Participants

Follow the link below for an update to the Guide to Safe Scouting and help communicate this important information to your units.

Okay, let’s face it. Recruiting new folks into Scouting is not a slam dunk! It takes planning, effort, and ideally the full participation of everyone in or associated with the unit. We all celebrate a new member and his or her family, and so we should. From that moment on, retention becomes the order of the day and central to retention of both new and continuing Scouts is full engagement in the unit and its programming. The initial process of welcoming new members can be called an on-boarding process. On-boarding is essential to establishing a meaningful relationship with new members and their families.

Join us in congratulating these recent Bay-Lakes Council Eagle Scouts:

John Murphy, Troop 1139, De Pere, WI, Voyageur District

Abby Searl, Troop 6114, Neenah, WI, Gathering Waters District

We feature those Eagles who submit their Eagle Board of Review news.
Please send an email to Warren Kraft or use our Submit A Story Link and help us continue to tell the great stories of Scouting.

I spent the earlier part of this week in downtown Louisville and the training meeting organizers built in eclipse-watching time in the Monday agenda. Armed with appropriate glasses and a phone camera filter, I walked deep into a park and away from other skygazers. Got some really cool pictures, one of which was unfiltered. So, I will try to describe.


There is a sun streaking "northwest" of the dimming sun and a jet trail coming across from the northeast. A multi-colored refraction of sunlight to the "east" Looking closely were two black blots also coming across the sun from the "east." Two birds loudly chirping as they headed directly across the sun, perhaps to safety in the ever-dimming sky. The park lights came on and near totality descended on our area. Being the good social media student I've been trained to be, I am frantically uploading, keeping an ever watchful eye on time to actually record the two minutes around peak dimming. Not as cool as the NASA-TV pictures showing total blackouts, but quite worth the effort.

 

We are given certain tools, be physical or otherwise. And challenged to do our best with what we have. Time and again, we experience this in our work places, the spaces where dedicate our time to serve others, even in our homes. It starts with a willingness. It continues with efforts to study, evaluate, execute, review and repeat. I might have other equipment for the next eclipse in 20 years, but right now, I have today's "stuff."

 

So, do we all!

Thank you for not wasting today.


Warren Kraft

Program Development, Bay-Lakes Council #635

Feedback: Have a thought or question? We'd love to hear from you. Please share your comments with us. It is easy; just reply to this email or send a message to guide@baylakesbsa.org.