The Green Mountain Council spring popcorn and peanut sale is a great fund raiser that benefits everyone! It is fun, fairly easy and a great way to turn fund your events for the year.Sign up today and get ready to have some fun. For more information about this sale, click here. Sign up now online by clicking on this link.
 Since the 1930's when it was first introduced by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Silver Beaver Award has been the highest award a Council can give to its Scouters. It is presented for outstanding service to youth within the Council by a registered Scouter.
Nominations are due by March 8, 2019 at the Green Mountain Council Service Center. If you wish to nominate someone, click here for the most recent nomination form: This is a modifiable PDF. Registration information required can be obtained from Janet Ruggles-Power at the Green Mountain Council Service Center, 802-244-5189. If you are thinking of nominating someone, you can click here to see if they already have the Silver Beaver Award. If you nominated someone and they did not receive the award, they may be re-nominated. If you plan to do this, please submit a new updated nomination form. Yours in Scouting, The Green Mountain Council Advancement Committee Don’t delay, sign up today. The $23 early bird registration deadline is March 1st. The University of Scouting training course is shaping up to be a very good one. Chairman, Marc Poulin has been recruiting an all-star class of instructors who collectively have hundreds of years of experience in a vast array of Scouting topics. This course has something for everyone, and you are invited and highly encouraged to attend. You can see the course offerings and registration form on the GMC University of Scouting page.
PLEASE share with the other leaders in your unit including committee members and any interested parents. The travel and time spent on a Saturday in March (16), will be well worth the return you get when you take the new learned knowledge back to your unit and begin applying it with the Scouts and other leaders. These events are fun, informative and provide many opportunities to meet other leaders from around the state who are in similar positions and tenure as you. Many friendships have been carved through Scout leader training events. This can be the one for you. A new safe has been purchased for Mt. Norris Scout Reservation to store our fleet of rifles2/15/2019 A new safe has been purchased and delivered to Mt. Norris Scout Reservation to allow storage of the .22 rifles used by the shooting sports program. Chris LaFrance and Al Wasilewski purchased and delivered the safe to the camp and helped Camp Ranger Gordie Mouton place the safe where it is already being used for the storage of the .22 rifles. Many thanks to the Federation Fund for Conservation & Training, Inc., Montague-Keenan Grant Program for their generous donation of the funds needed to purchase the safe. Their continued support to the shooting sports in Green Mountain Council is greatly appreciated!
NYLTNational Youth Leadership Training is an exciting, action-packed program designed to provide youth members with leadership skills and experience they can use in their home troops and in other situations demanding leadership of self and others. The course focuses on teaching advanced leadership skills through the patrol or crew method. The participants will be challenged to accomplish activities and projects using the leadership skills taught in the course. Participants will experience the simulation of a month in the life of a unit, complete with meetings, activities, and planning for the big monthly outing (the outpost overnight trip at the end of the course). NYLT is not like summer camp and is not designed for rank advancement or earning merit badges. NYLT is an intense and challenging hands-on leadership training program. It is essential that NYLT participants be physically, emotionally, and mentally prepared to handle the demands of this advanced training. In order to get the most benefit from this unique experience, participants must exhibit emotional maturity, a positive attitude, proficiency in basic camping and outdoor cooking, and have an ambition to serve in leadership roles. Do you know a Scout that would excel in this environment? If so, let us know by completing this form. We'll reach out and invite them to our upcoming course. You can learn more about NYLT here. Wood BadgeThere are two parts to Wood Badge training: the practical course and the application phase. Both must be completed to receive the Wood Badge recognition – two wooden beads to be worn around the neck on a leather thong.
The practical part is a two-weekend experience to demonstrate as practically as possible the aims and methods of Scouting. The course is a multifaceted presentation of leadership skills, organizational tools, and participatory activities based on the best Scouting traditions and the latest in team development theory. In addition, participants enjoy the fellowship of learning with many other Scouters, and along the way we have a great deal of fun! The application part of Wood Badge is a period of up to 18 months during which the participant practices and demonstrates a working knowledge of the leadership principles presented during the course. This is accomplished by the use of the Wood Badge “ticket,” which represents the participant’s commitment to complete a set of personal goals related to his/her Scouting position. Completing these goals significantly strengthens the program in which the participant is involved. Each participant is assigned a ticket counselor who serves as a resource, mentor and Scouting friend. When the counselor and participant determine that the new skills are understood and can be applied to his/her Scouting position, a recommendation is made for the Wood Badge to be awarded. Do you know a Scouter that would excel in this environment? If so, let us know by completing this form. We'll reach out and invite them to our upcoming course. You can learn more about Wood Badge here. 
The Green Mountain Council Finance team has officially kicked off its annual Family Friends of Scouting campaign in all four districts across the state. With a goal of $74,425 the campaign is off to a good start raising 15% of its goal in the first month. Many unit leaders have already set a date, time and place for the presentation to parents of Scouts. For those units that have not yet scheduled a presentation, the finance committee is asking and encouraging all unit leaders to work with their respective committees to schedule a presentation as soon as possible, preferably a Pack Blue and Gold Banquet and a Scouts BSA Court of Honor. For more information on Friends of Scouting and how you can support it, contact the Council Service Center at 802-244-5189 or your local District Executive. The campaign typically runs through the end of March.
What is Friends of Scouting? Friends of Scouting (FOS) is:
Why should I support it? Whether you are a parent of a Scout, a leader of a unit or an alumnus of the Scouting program, the Friends of Scouting dollars impact the ability of the local Council to serve and support the local unit and the community in a variety of ways. Many of the reasons listed below don’t always seem obvious to most donors but are essential in ensuring that Scouting can “Deliver the Promise” to the almost 4500 Scouts and leaders in the state. Below are just some of the areas where Friends of Scouting dollars help:
 NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR GREEN MOUNTAIN COUNCIL SCOUTING ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR AWARD-2019
Nominations due no later than March 8, 2019. “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow”, so the saying goes. The Green Mountain Council Scouting Alumni and Friends (GMC SAF) are seeking nominations for a very special award that may be bestowed by a Scout Council upon an individual who has demonstrated commitment to promoting and sharing the gift of Scouting through their careers, avocations, or exemplary efforts and influence in inspiring lifelong engagement by others in Scouting service and values. Such service enables Scouting to remain healthy for future generations. So, the chosen symbol of this award is the acorn, a reminder that Scouts and Scouters plant trees under which they may never sit. The Green Mountain Council has no shortage of Scouters, Scouting Alumni, and Friends—those whose lives have seen the positive impact of Scouting—who would make worthy candidates for this honor. Please help us provide well deserved recognition to an outstanding GMC Alumnus of the Year! Nominations for the GMC Scouting Alumnus of the Year Award must be submitted in writing on or before Friday, March 8th, 2019 to Green Mountain Council, B.S.A. , P.O. Box 557, Waterbury, VT 05676, ATTN: Walt Morris, GMC SAF Chair. Alternatively, nominations (and any questions) may be sent via email to walter.m.morris@gmail.com. Each nomination should identify your nominee, including name and address; contain a short description of the nominee’s Scouting history, and current connections to Scouting service and community presence; and a statement of how the nominee, by reason of profession, avocation, or Scouting service, inspires others to lifelong engagement in Scouting and practice of Scouting values. The nominating committee will meet in late March or early April, to consider all suggestions. Your nominee should not know of your recommendation for receipt of this award. Detailed nomination criteria, and a nomination form itself, can be found on the web at http://www.scoutingalumni.org “For Alumni” and “Awards” pages. Camp Director, Clint Buxton and Asst Program Director, Russ Baker will be conducting interviews for Camp Staff positions for the 2019 summer camping season. Interviews will be conducted at the Council Service Center, 838 US Route 2, Waterbury (unless other arrangements are made), on the following dates (additional dates will be scheduled): Sunday, February 10, 2019 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Sunday, February 24, 2019 from 10:00AM to 4:30 PM Interviews will be approximately 30 minutes in length. Any persons who are 15 years of age or older (or will be by July 1, 2019), interested in a position should contact Clint Buxton via email at clint.buxton@gmail.com or call 802-578-8806 to set up an appointment to meet. To learn more about the positions available click on the 2019 Norris Job Descriptions.   Barry Simays has been selected by the Northeast Region Award and Recognition Committee to receive the Silver Antelope Award.
The Silver Antelope Award is the regional-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America and recognizes outstanding service to young people within one of the four regions of the BSA. The four Regions that make of the Boy Scouts of America are; Northeast, Central, Southern and Western. Barry, along with seven other volunteers from across the Northeast Region will be recognized with the presentation of this award at the BSA National Annual Meeting, which will be held May 29-31, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. Barry is a member of the Green Mountain Council Executive Board and Chairs the Council Risk Management Committee. In addition, he has been instrumental in providing leadership and administrative direction to the BSA National Camp Accreditation Program (NCAP) for the Council camps. Barry is very active in the Order of the Arrow and has a keen interest in the history of this Council and its camps acting as the unofficial Council historian. Most recently Barry was appointed to the Northeast Region NCAP committee charged with advising and supporting all the Councils Northeast Region, and their respective camps in the NCAP and camp assessment process. The Green Mountain Council staff, Executive Board, and the many volunteers who know and have worked with Barry on Scouting programs and projects. are extremely proud of his accomplishments, knowing “one of our own”, has earned this award. Please feel free to extend your congratulations to Barry at barry.simays@gmail.com. |
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