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Trail Signs
June - July 2024
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Service above self! Trail Signs newsletter is our bi-monthly newsletter.
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Please take note of upcoming Council Service Center Closings:
- June 19th - Juneteenth
- July 4th - Independence Day
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Unit Program Planning - The Ideal Year of Scouting
Providing a year-round, quality Scouting program should be the goal of every Scouting unit. Using our program planning calendar and links below, start planning your Scouting year now!
Now is the time to start thinking about your program for the upcoming Scouting season just a few short months away. This is the start to the Ideal Year of Scouting and creating an adventure for your unit. Hoosier Trails Council would like to help you get things kicked off and give you the materials you need and the support you want. Learn new ways to support your members and leaders, tips on recruiting, fundraising and much more. Please visit our website for your resources to start planning your best year ever!
Prepared, for Crunch-time!
“Prepared, for Crunch-time!” is the Hoosier Trails Council’s plan to help your unit to have ONE fundraiser this year. Trained popcorn staff and volunteers will help your unit to plan and execute the best and most efficient fundraiser that your unit has ever had. Popcorn experts are primed to meet with your unit to determine your needs and to get things rolling.
Mark your calendar to attend a Popcorn Sale Kickoff Event:
Popcorn Sales Training West – Thursday, August 8th – 7:00 pm
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church 4201 W Third St., Bloomington, IN
Popcorn Sales Training East – Tuesday, August 13th – 6:30 pm
First United Methodist Church, 240 W Poplar St., North Vernon, IN
Check out the 2024 Sale Toolbox!
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National Summertime Pack Award
This award encourages a pack to be active when school is out for the summer, by doing one activity per month. Your pack can qualify for the certificate and streamer by planning and conducting three pack activities—one each in June, July, and August, or during other school vacations if your p ack is in a year-round school.
Dens with an average attendance of at least half their members at the three summer pack events are eligible for a colorful den participation ribbon.
Scouts who participate in all three pack events are eligible to receive the National Summertime Pack Award pin, which they can wear on the right pocket flap of their uniform.
How To Get the Award
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Hoosier Trails Sporting Clays Classic
June 14, 2024
Sugar Creek Sporting Clays & Hunting Preserve
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In just two months on Friday, June 14th the 3rd annual Hooser Trails Sporting Clays Classic will take the course for a half day of fun and fellowship all while supporting the Hoosier Trails Council. Registration is now open on the council website, and we welcome individual shooters, teams of four, both expert and novice shooters.
The registration fee cannot be beat at $200 per shooter which includes a 100-bird course, 20 or 12 gauge ammunition, lunch, a limited-edition commemorative hat, and if you have attended in the past you know, a very special take home gift from one of our greatest local supporters. This year you will be able to purchase a limited number of “mulligans” which will allow you to attempt a second shot at a bird (not serve as a “gimme”). There are additional shooting competitions being planned after the shoot for prizes and that will be announced the day of the event. For businesses, there are station sponsorships available at $250 to advertise their business and show their support for local Scouting.
Another addition this year is a donation for an opportunity to win one of (3) attractive firearms. Tickets are (3) for $25, (7) for $50, or (15) for $100. The firearms are a Mossberg Patriot in 350 Legend with a Vortex 3-9x40 scope, a Mossberg Silver Reserve 12 gauge over/under, and a Henry H001 lever action .22 caliber rifle. Contact your territory executive or Jon Ocheltree at jon.ocheltree@scouting.org for more information. Plan to join us for a great event and even more fun.
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It’s official! The Cub Scout program will be updated for the 2024-25 program year. Over the past several years the National Cub Scouting Committee under the leadership of past chair Lisa Wylie and current chair Audrey Oakes have identified four areas to improve the Cub Scout program to ensure that it is fun, simple, and easy.
Over the past five years the National Cub Scout Committee has been working on these updates. These updates are based on feedback from over 23,000 parents and Cub Scout leaders through various surveys and data. Listening to and identify the key opportunities to improve the program the National Cub Scout committee is excited to finally reveal these improvements. Over the past year these improvements have been socialized to thousands of individuals with overwhelming support.
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Summer Adventures for Everyone, Maumee is Ready! | |
Maumee Scout Reservation is nestled in the northern section of the Hoosier National Forest providing an environment surrounded by pristine wilderness with a crystal-clear private lake. You may see deer, turkey, hawks, osprey, snakes, frogs, birds of all types and even bald eagles, not to mention the beautiful night sky and sunrises over Lake Tarzian. | |
This is a “don’t miss event” for all Cub Scouts (Kindergarten - 3rd Grade) that is sure to be the most enjoyable Scouting experience of the year. Spend time in our different program areas throughout camp, learning and having fun. You will have an opportunity to enjoy beautiful Lake Tarzian to fish and swim or perhaps try a kayak for the first time. Spend time in our Handicraft area to make a special project to take home or advance your Scout skills at our Scoutcraft area. Shooting Sports will be open so you can see how well you can find your target, or you can go on a beautiful hike to see all that Maumee has to offer. Bring your own tent, sleeping bags, and personal gear. All meals will be provided.
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Webelos can get a taste of what the Scouts BSA program is like by attending Resident Camp. At camp your Scouts will experience what is like to attend a Scouts BSA summer camp at Maumee Scout Reservation but is a smaller setting designed for Cub Scouts. This will include a Scouts BSA experience where your Scout will become part of a patrol, elect a patrol leader, make a patrol flag, patrol yell, and use the patrol method. We will have all our program areas open for Scouts to enjoy fishing, waterfront activities, shooting sports, Scoutcraft, nature, STEM, and much more while camping under the stars! Our staff is ready for a great time with your Webelos, teaching them the very things that will help them advance to the Scout Rank. Bring your own tent, sleeping bags, and personal gear. All meals will be provided.
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Webpages to Support Scouting Operations | |
We have been hard at work developing resources to broaden communications and improve the level of service provided by the council website, check them out today:
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FUNDING AWESOME SCOUTING ADVENTURES | |
Don’t forget to hold the date on your calendar for the Hoosier Trails Council’s 15th Annual Wine-A-Ree. As always it is the first Saturday in November, and this year it will be November 2nd.
VIP tickets are available through registration on the council’s website and that will allow you early admission and an additional commemorative shot glass. VIP tickets are $60 in advance and the doors open at 12:00. General admission tickets are also available for $30 in advance and $40 the day of the event and doors open at 1:00. This year the silent auction will move to a virtual platform to allow for easier bidding if you choose not to stay for the entire day, and more information will be put out soon.
There are already 12 confirmed vendors and there are plans to add several more wineries, breweries, and distilleries to the mix. Plan to come out and support this great event while spending time with your friends.
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Scouting License Plates
These plates can be used as standard vehicle registration plates for passenger cars, recreational vehicles and trucks weighing less than 11,000 pounds. This is not a vanity plate, so special numbers or messages cannot be accommodated. Your plate selection is good until your next registration renewal. When you purchase an Indiana Boy Scout license plate, you indicate your personal support of Scouting and add financially to the Hoosier Trails Council Endowment. How can you participate? When you renew your plates, an additional fee is added on to your basic renewal fees, and that money is contributed to the Hoosier Trails Council endowment fund.
Renew Plates Online: Currently, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles offers Online Registration for your vehicle. Once you create an account, you can choose your specialized license plate. It's fast, easy and best of all - no standing in line!
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Support the Hoosier Trails Council in Non-traditional Ways
One way in which you and your family can help support the work of our council is through registration in the Kroger Community Rewards Program! By simply buying your family’s groceries, you can help contribute to our council’s overall success. Sound easy enough? Get on board today.
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ADULT & YOUTH TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES | |
National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT)
July 14-19, 2024, Maumee Scout Reservation
Is your Scout ready to find the meaning of leadership – what a leader must BE, what a leader must KNOW, and HOW a leader is most effective?
In Hoosier Trails Council, Youth Course Lead, London O., Senior Patrol Leader, Ella L., and Assistant Patrol Leader, Alex K., and their youth staff will lead NYLT Troop 241 through a month in the life of a joint troop within a six-day course.
NYLT, simply put, it is fun with a purpose. Participants from all over central and southern Indiana come together to form patrols of four to six members. Throughout the week, as the team builds, they learn how to incorporate modern ideas of leadership into their own leadership styles, while developing friendships and lifelong memories. NYLT delivers the concepts of leadership through presentations, activities, games, and hands-on experience, allowing the youth to understand and employ their newly-learned skills much faster.
Participants graduate with a greater confidence in their ability to communicate, teach, solve problems, and a vision of what they can do to make a difference with their troop and beyond.
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Using a Safety Moment in Scouting Activities
Safety Moments are exactly what the name implies: opportunities to prepare for an activity, review safety measures and report incidents correctly. Topics of this new series include incident reporting helps, safe use of medication in Scouting, weather-related safety, winter activity, and winter sports. Search for Safety Moments Here
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New Council Safety Webpage
This new page has been created to bring safety resources to your fingertips, so that our Scouting participants have safest adventures possible. We invite you to become familiar with this great resource: https://hoosiertrailsbsa.org/program-resources/scouting-safely/
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