Hello, my name is David Grubb. I am your webmaster and your new District Representative. Here’s an update on the District Award of Merit, summer camp, program preview, and our new Instagram account @negamountaindistrict
District Award of Merit
Congratulations to Jenny Stowers for earning the District Award of Merit.
Available to registered Scouters who render service of an outstanding nature at the district level.
This award is presented to registered adult volunteers by districts in the same manner that the Silver Beaver is, as a national award presented by councils;
Way to go Jenny!
Summer Camp
Finally summer camp is here. This will be the third time I missed summer camp in 11 years. The first time was before Covid when the oldest son was too old and the youngest son was too young. Then there was Covid which canceled us and we didn’t reschedule.
Finally last year we made it to Camp Rainy Mountain but it was so different than all the years at Camp Sidney Dew. The staff at CRM was huge like a small army, really impressive at flag time.
Camp Sydney Dew is a bit smaller but the interaction and games day-to-day are super fun and engaging.
There are lots of summer camp packing lists on the Internet. One thing I saw but didn’t agree with was taking your Scout Book. All the scoutmasters probably have scoutbook.com on their phones so there’s no real need to carry a book. You are better off printing and taking the pages that you need and also merit badge worksheets instead of the actual books.
You only got one Scout Book don’t lose it. Trust me you don’t want to have to try to figure out every camping and hiking trip that you’ve ever taken, all over again.
Packing Tips
Two of my least favorite things are giant fluffy pillows and cotton towels. These items take up so much space and they never dry once they get wet.
Treat summer camp like a backpacking trip. Take a small camping pillow, lightweight and compact to easily pack and store. To keep from carrying that big giant cotton towel get a large cooling towel and keep it in a Ziplock bag.
These cooling towels have antimicrobial treatments on them and are meant to stay wet.
My sons argued every time that they could not get dry with a wet towel. Trust me, it’s like a sponge, you ring it out, dry off, ring it out, and stuff it in a Ziplock bag. You will finish drying in moments in the hot sun. Then, stuff the Ziplock bag in your day bag and you’re good to go. It’s great for showers and trips to the pool or the lake or wherever. And you can keep cool!
Program Preview
With summer camp here we are beginning a new year and with that a new program year.
Maybe it’s because I got the inside scoop but I feel like we are better prepared this year than ever. On the program preview event page, we have a downloadable PDF of all the events for the year.
One big addition to our Cub Scout program will be the quarterly NOVA events. The NOVA Award has its own patch with pins for every additional NOVA completed. Each nova requires a belt loop from a specific category to be completed. once all seven NOVAs are completed a Supernova award can be earned.
NOVA Events may be conducted as a day activity, lock-in, or camping trip.
In addition to talking about the calendar for 22/23, we will discuss membership, training, and finances.
Please join us on July 21, the third Thursday in July for program preview.
Personally, I struggle against using social media. However it’s not about me it’s about our Scouts in action!
So all you parents out there if you’re proud of your Scout post a picture and tag our Instagram account @negamountaindistrict
Here is why we want action shots. Do you remember that marvel movie Black Widow? Well in the movie Black Widow’s sister makes fun of her for posing. It’s really funny but it’s true please no posers. lol. According to the BSA branding guideline, the best photos are candid and action photos.
With that said hopefully we will have some great photos to highlight every month.