As the summer outdoor activity season in Vermont winds down, I felt compelled to reflect back on the success of the programs conducted by many persons that had a positive impact on the Scouts and Scouters of the Green Mountain Council.
First and foremost, our summer camping programs received nationally accredited recognition for operating safe and high quality camping programs for all campers. These included Frontiers Camp, Mt Norris Summer camp, Camp Sunrise Cub Scout camp, two Cub Scout Day Camps, a weeklong National Youth Leadership Training (N.Y.L.T.), program and two Cub Adventure Weekends. This accomplishment did not just happen. It took a great amount of time, planning and organization to ensure the camp facilities, program and staffing met or exceeded the high standards imposed on the local Council by the National BSA camp assessment teams. In each case the camp leadership set the tone for this achievement and I would be remiss if I did give a shout out to the top leaders and their staffs as a personal thank you. At Mt Norris Scout Reservation, Dave Sem and Al Koch (and a volunteer staff) kicked off the summer with a fantastic Frontiers Camp program. Clint Buxton and Russ Baker and their team came in on the heels of Frontiers Camp and launched five solid weeks of Boy Scout Resident Camp, including a “Specialty Week” under the leadership of Kevin McCullen. With those programs came the behind the scenes work of the Camp Ranger Gordie Moulton and his wife Julie, along with the many key volunteers from the Mt Norris Alumni Association. At the same time at Camp Sunrise Cub Scout Camp, John Dyer and Peter Massari, Jr were leading their seasoned staff providing a variety of safe and fun camp activities to the Cub Scouts and their parents. No sooner than Camp Sunrise camp ended, Lucy Neel and Dean Silloway came into the camp with their staff and provided a high caliber week long training session for future Boy Scout troop leaders via the N.Y.L.T. course. Interspersed with our resident camps were two Cub Adventure weekends under the direction of Judy McCullen and Dave Schuler and a small but very efficient volunteer staff. Sandwiched on each end of the camping season were two Cub Scout Day Camps. The first in late June in Three Rivers district under the guidance of Alison Hampson and Gary Croyer and the second in early August in Long Trail District under the leadership of Leslie Sanborn and Sonja Wallbridge.
If you know any of these individuals or their staff, please be sure to say thank you for their success with their respective camps. In addition to the high ratings for the national camp accreditation, the entire camping season was a huge success! More Scouts participated in our camps, they were safe, they had fun, the programs were exciting and innovative, and the staff in each case was excellent!
I am excited that we as a Scouting family can carry this momentum of great summer camp programming back to the local packs and troops as we prepare to launch our strategic fall recruitment campaign, focusing on new parents and boys of Cub Scout age from kindergarten through fifth grade. Our summer camp leaders really put the “outing” in Scouting, and is one of the biggest reasons boys join this movement.
I will conclude by first asking each of you who read this to do whatever you can with your time and talents to work with the Scouting unit in your community to attract more youth to join Scouting. You know what it can and does do for our youth, so the more families we can convince to become involved in Scouting, the better chance we have of making our state better prepared with future leaders. Second is to say thank you! Thank you for volunteering your time, talents and/or treasures to accomplish our mission of helping young people make ethical and moral choices over their lifetime by instilling in them the values found in the Scout Oath and Law. It is recognized and very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Ed McCollin
First and foremost, our summer camping programs received nationally accredited recognition for operating safe and high quality camping programs for all campers. These included Frontiers Camp, Mt Norris Summer camp, Camp Sunrise Cub Scout camp, two Cub Scout Day Camps, a weeklong National Youth Leadership Training (N.Y.L.T.), program and two Cub Adventure Weekends. This accomplishment did not just happen. It took a great amount of time, planning and organization to ensure the camp facilities, program and staffing met or exceeded the high standards imposed on the local Council by the National BSA camp assessment teams. In each case the camp leadership set the tone for this achievement and I would be remiss if I did give a shout out to the top leaders and their staffs as a personal thank you. At Mt Norris Scout Reservation, Dave Sem and Al Koch (and a volunteer staff) kicked off the summer with a fantastic Frontiers Camp program. Clint Buxton and Russ Baker and their team came in on the heels of Frontiers Camp and launched five solid weeks of Boy Scout Resident Camp, including a “Specialty Week” under the leadership of Kevin McCullen. With those programs came the behind the scenes work of the Camp Ranger Gordie Moulton and his wife Julie, along with the many key volunteers from the Mt Norris Alumni Association. At the same time at Camp Sunrise Cub Scout Camp, John Dyer and Peter Massari, Jr were leading their seasoned staff providing a variety of safe and fun camp activities to the Cub Scouts and their parents. No sooner than Camp Sunrise camp ended, Lucy Neel and Dean Silloway came into the camp with their staff and provided a high caliber week long training session for future Boy Scout troop leaders via the N.Y.L.T. course. Interspersed with our resident camps were two Cub Adventure weekends under the direction of Judy McCullen and Dave Schuler and a small but very efficient volunteer staff. Sandwiched on each end of the camping season were two Cub Scout Day Camps. The first in late June in Three Rivers district under the guidance of Alison Hampson and Gary Croyer and the second in early August in Long Trail District under the leadership of Leslie Sanborn and Sonja Wallbridge.
If you know any of these individuals or their staff, please be sure to say thank you for their success with their respective camps. In addition to the high ratings for the national camp accreditation, the entire camping season was a huge success! More Scouts participated in our camps, they were safe, they had fun, the programs were exciting and innovative, and the staff in each case was excellent!
I am excited that we as a Scouting family can carry this momentum of great summer camp programming back to the local packs and troops as we prepare to launch our strategic fall recruitment campaign, focusing on new parents and boys of Cub Scout age from kindergarten through fifth grade. Our summer camp leaders really put the “outing” in Scouting, and is one of the biggest reasons boys join this movement.
I will conclude by first asking each of you who read this to do whatever you can with your time and talents to work with the Scouting unit in your community to attract more youth to join Scouting. You know what it can and does do for our youth, so the more families we can convince to become involved in Scouting, the better chance we have of making our state better prepared with future leaders. Second is to say thank you! Thank you for volunteering your time, talents and/or treasures to accomplish our mission of helping young people make ethical and moral choices over their lifetime by instilling in them the values found in the Scout Oath and Law. It is recognized and very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Ed McCollin
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