Scouts BSA Units Assist Rotary Club with Flags for Heroes Program

The Rotary Club of Robbinsville Hamilton recognized Scouts BSA Troops 91G & 91B for the Scouts’ help with the recent Flags for Heroes program.

Club President Joe Cavone presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Scoutmaster Jerry Appert, thanking him for the multiple roles the scouts played in assisting with the flags display.

Scouts led the Pledge of Allegiance at the Flags for Heroes ceremony, helped take down the flags after they were up for two weeks at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, and spent a recent scout meeting properly folding the flags for mailing to purchasers.

“The Scouts love doing community service work,” said Jerry. “So providing them with an opportunity like this is really neat. It also provides them a window into other community-based organizations.”

MAD/TAM Klondike Derby 2025

Pinewood Derby 2025

The Mercer Area District Pinewood Derby will take place on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at the Quaker Bridge Mall. Check-in and inspection will begin at 10AM with the race at 1PM. The cost to participate is $90 per team (6 Cub Scouts; 1 of each rank). Winners will earn a trophy, and participating Cub Scouts will receive a patch. Spots are limited, so use the button below to register as soon as possible!

Unit Renewal & Member Renewal

Good Citizen Award

From The District Chair: Advancement is Based on Experiential Learning

“The most important object in Boy Scout training is to educate, not instruct.” - Robert Baden-Powell

Once upon a time there was a very wise senior patrol leader and scoutmaster who worked together to make advancement an important part of all patrol and troop activities. These wise leaders had determined the culture in their troop would be that advancement was going to be as a result of the patrols’ activities and not the focus of the patrols’ activities. Learning necessary advancement skills was going to be a natural, necessary part of conducting their fun activities.

Some sort of trick? If so, what these wise leaders were actually doing was to put one of Scouting’s’ “best practices” into action. The concept is spelled out in the Section 2.0.0.2 of the Guide to Advancement, which says, “Everything done to advance - to earn ranks and other awards and recognition - is designed to educate or to otherwise expand horizons.” The GTA goes on to explain, “Experiential learning is the key: Exciting and meaningful activities are offered, and education happens. Learning comes from doing.” Finally, the GTA reveals “the trick” by telling its readers that “Advancement should be a natural outcome of a well-rounded unit program, rich in opportunities to work toward the ranks.”

Our fictional wise leaders knew learning and practicing a skill through practical application in an experiential setting—as opposed to “classroom” instruction - would improve retention of the skill. Perhaps for a lifetime. So, they planned fun activities that just “happened” to result in advancement.

For example, a patrol leader who knew that second class Scout Richard needed to identify two ways to obtain a weather forecast for an upcoming activity might ask Richard during a patrol meeting to help him out by taking out his phone and looking at the local news station and national media forecasts for the date of the activity. The patrol leader should reinforce the lesson by asking Richard why he thought knowing this information might be important for the activity.

Or, the troop’s leadership might plan an athletic field day that included a plan for Audrey and the other Tenderfoot Scouts in the troop to improve and follow up in 30 days, without ever mentioning the advancement requirements they would complete by doing so.

In either case, usually at the next patrol or troop meeting, the leader could ask for each Scout’s Handbook and announce as they were signing off on those requirements, “Congratulations! You completed requirements X, Y, and Z last week because you did…”

You might ask, “Aren’t the Star, Life, and Eagle Scouts wise to the ‘trick’?” Of course, by that point they were in leadership roles and had become “insiders” in perpetuating the advancement culture of the troop. As the Guide to Advancement says, “Advancement is simply a means to an end, not an end in itself.” It is one of several methods of Scouting, all of which are important.

Mercer Area District Roundtable

Roundtable is an opportunity for all Mercer Area District adult leaders to have an equal exchange of Scouting ideas. We meet once a month to learn and discuss today’s relevant topics for Packs, Troops & Venturing Crews.

Some things you may have missed at the December Roundtable:

• News, updates, & hot topics applicable to all units
• Games & other activities to liven up those dark, cold, wintertime unit meetings
• Raffles, giveaways, & refreshments
• Fellowship

The next roundtable will be held on January 8th, 2025, at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Hamilton starting promptly at 7:30PM.

We will continue to host roundtables on the second Wednesday of each month thru June 2025 and then break for summer.

Garden State Council Scout Shop

Diocese of Trenton Eucharistic Revival Workshop

This DOT-CCS Eucharistic Revival Workshop is open to all Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturers, Girl Scouts & Adult Scouting Volunteers who want to learn more about their Catholic faith.  The event will consist of Eucharistic Adoration and Eucharistic Procession. There will also be programs about Eucharistic Miracles and Praying the Rosary (Rosaries will be provided).

Saturday March 1, 2025

1pm-4pm

Followed by Mass at 4pm

Church of the Epiphany

615 Thiele Ave

Brick, NJ 08724

Cost for the workshop $5

Eucharistic Revival Patch $3*~Rockers $1 each*

Registration Deadline February 15, 2025

Please send registrations and checks made payable to DOT-CCS

Care of: Barbara Dudek

128 Pheasant Drive

Bayville, NJ 08721

Questions please contact Barbara Dudek at superbarb3@aol.com or 732-575-4080

*patches will be available after the workshop

Advancement News

Liven Up Those Winter Meetings by Celebrating Obscure Holidays!

The training and discussion portion of the December District Roundtable centered around fresh ideas for winter unit meetings. One the ways that units can liven up the cold, dark, winter months is to celebrating some of the obscure, whacky, and bizarre national holidays that occur during January and February.

January National Holidays:

• Trivia Day, Jan. 4th
• Bird Day, Jan. 5th
• Argyle Day, Jan. 8th
• Static Electricity Day, Jan. 9th
• Rubber Ducky Day, Jan. 13th
• Squirrel Appreciation Day, Jan. 21st

February National Holidays

• Tator Tot Day, Feb. 2nd
• Thank a Mail Carrier Day, Feb 4th
• Pancake Day, Feb. 13th
• Thumb Appreciation Day, Feb. 18th
• Polar Bear Day, Feb. 27th

Scouting America - What Does the Name Change Mean?

From Aaron on Scouting:

“For more than 114 years, our organization has been dedicated to serving the youth of our country. As our country has evolved, so has our organization, all of which has led to this: The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name to Scouting America, as announced this morning [May 7] at the 2024 National Annual Meeting. The new name should be used immediately and will become official on Feb. 8, 2025, the organization’s 115th birthday. This is exciting news, and it’s a big deal to a lot of people. Let’s dive into what it means to the youth and adult members of Scouting America…”



Upcoming Events! Mark Your Calendar

Plan Ahead:

• January Roundtable: January 8th @ 7:30PM; Our Lady of Sorrows, Hamilton
• Klondike Derby: January 31st - February 2nd; OSR
• Pinewood Derby: February 8th; Quaker Bridge Mall @ 10AM
• February Roundtable: February 12th @ 7:30PM; Our Lady of Sorrows, Hamilton
• March Roundtable: Martch 12th @ 7:30PM; Our Lady of Sorrows, Hamilton