![[TIDEWATER COUNCIL]](images/tidewater.gif)
This document was last updated on October 19, 2008.
Greetings from the Tidewater Council,
Welcome to Scouting.
The Tidewater Council is one of 306 councils that operate under a charter issued by the National Council, Boy Scouts of America. The Tidewater Council is a 501(c)3 Non-profit organization, incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We also proudly serve 7 counties in Northeastern North Carolina.
Scouting was first formed officially in 1907 in England. Scouting was organized in America in 1910. The Tidewater Council was formed in 1911 making it the 5th oldest council.
The purpose of this communication is to point out some very helpful tools.
1. The council operates their official website at: www.tidewaterbsa.com 2. A website called: www.scoutparents.org is an official Boy Scouts of America website that will give parents a lot of helpful information on how to get the most out of the Scouting program. 3. On the council website (home page, scroll down the right column) one will find the most current copy of the “Electronic Knapsack”, the oldest publication of its kind in the Boy Scouts. This newsletter will have the latest up to date information. In the newsletter you will find sections at the bottom that refer to districts. You will need to locate the one that you live in and remember which district you are in, so you can get information for your local area. 4. On the council website you will also find on the bottom menu bar, a training button. One can go here and take all kinds of training courses. 5. On the council web site from the home page one can locate a current calendar and summary information that is available for that event.
On the council website you will find a map on the home page that tells you how to get to the Scouting service center. This is also where you can buy your official uniforms. Please note that anything purchased in our store returns money to our local Scouting program. We unfortunately do not operate a website for making official purchases because our national office in Texas prevents us from doing this. So we pass on the word to you, so that hopefully you’ll shop with us, which can be done by phone, fax, e-mail, etc.
If you ordered Boys’ Life magazine, which is the largest publication of its kind in the United States and is published by the Boy Scouts of America, you will be sent the magazines directly from the Magazine Division. If you would like to order a subscription, you can order the magazine directly through our office or your Scouting leader. Boys’ Life is also the magazine that helped Norman Rockwell get his start and he painted many covers for the Boy Scouts of America.
We want you to enjoy all the benefits of our program, from the exciting meetings to our 916-acre camping facility known as Pipsico Scout Reservation, located near Surry, Virginia. This great camp is located right on the James River across from historic Jamestown. The first owner of this property was none other than Captain John Smith himself. You can find out a great deal more by going to the council website and clicking on the camping button.
As mentioned earlier, some of you may subscribe to the e-mail notification to our newsletter the “Electronic Knapsack”. We will keep you in our new member e-mails for a couple of months, but the best way to stay in the newsletter is to subscribe to it.
Please note the Boy Scouts of America is a private organization and as such will not sell or give away your information to other organizations. We know how important protecting information is. With this in mind, please note that we allow only one official source of information for our council which is our website and newsletter.
Youth Protection is what we call in the Boy Scouts our safety program and it is the collective results of everyone involved in the Scouting program to operate a safe environment for all our members. We ask that you help keep our program safe by following the guidelines as printed in your handbooks. There is a short 30 minute training program which we encourage everyone to take at our website located at: www.tidewaterbsa.com . In addition, there is a publication known as the “Guide to Safe Scouting” which you can find at the end of this training program or on our forms (bottom menu bar) page on the council website.
We hope you are excited about the Scouting program and hope that you invite all your friends to be a part of this great program. There is even a great way to start collecting patches by just recruiting one new youth member….this is listed on our the council’s homepage.
One might ask before we leave this document, how is Scouting paid for? The Tidewater Council is funded through many sources and they include direct contributions, the United Way, our popcorn sale, sales of merchandise in our Scout Shop, fees for activities, and contributions of materials such as paper, tools, etc. However, we also find it extremely important to point out that we receive no government funding. The Scouting unit that you belong will also collect dues and fees for various things. The long short of it, Scouting is funded mostly by those of us in the Scouting program and those in the community that appreciate all the service that we do for the youth of our community.
The registration fee that you paid to join the Scouting program goes directly to the national council. Those funds are used by the national council to pay for research and for national programs.
Again, we are especially proud of what we do for the youth in our Tidewater Council and we are proud to have you as a part of our “family.” Remember our strength lies in the complete participation of everyone involved in the Scouting program.
The staff and volunteers of the Tidewater Council, Boy Scouts of America
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