Tidewater Council BSA

Ever build a sandcastle? Want to win a prize or just try?

The Tidewater Council through the ScoutFest committee is going to hold the great American Sandcastle contest. Your den, troop, crew, ship etc can participate. Click here for more information.

Why didn’t my son receive his Boys’ Life Magazine yet?

Did you pay for it? Yes

Did they turn in your application? I don’t know.

What is your son’s name? John Smith

And your street address? 1313 Mockingbird Lane

Your son is not registered….

When did you sign up? June

To fix this, call your unit and ask them to always send in applications promptly and compare rosters with the office.

When did you sign up? September

He will receive his first issue either in October of November. However, he will receive every issue he paid for.

Now if the boy joined in September and you haven’t turned in Johnny’s application. Well, you are holding up his Boys’ Life magazine, in fact, he won’t get it now until November, but probably December. If you wait until recharter time, his first issue won’t be until February most likely.

He paid in September, he deserves to be registered. Can you imagine what you would do if you found out you gave a check to your car insurance agent and you got into a car accident?

If you have a problem with Boys’ Life, resolve them by sending a note with what the problem is, to the registrar. We can fix it or find a solution somehow.

****

What does Akela stand for?

Where do all these titles mean?

What training courses are available?

Do we eat lobster at training events?

I don’t know about the last question, but you can get the other answers answered at the training button on the council web site.

Requirements: Attend or make a presentation on religious emblems & make a commitment to Duty to God

This patch came about after learning that less than 3% of Scouts earn their religious emblem in any given year. We want to put
the focus back on Duty to God and encourage Scouts to earn the religious emblem for their faith.

The requirements are simple: attend or make a presentation on religious emblems, and make a commitment to Duty to God.

We encourage you to make a presentation on the religious emblems to your unit and present your Scouts with this new patch.

You can find a video, sample scripts, and slide presentations on our web site. We also offer these resources on DVD.

Patches may be pre-ordered so that you can distribute them at the conclusion of your presentation.

If your young people have recently earned their religious emblems, they would automatically qualify for the first year segment. The patch is a four-segment puzzle patch to encourage leaders to make presentations every year.

Please visit our web site for additional information. You may view the video, print scripts and handouts; read Frequently Asked Questions all at www.praypub.org.

Thank you for promoting DUTY TO GOD through the religious emblems programs! Contact Jay Greene at 486-6133 for more information.

Fast Start training -- It's required!

Fast Start training is designed for all leaders in all Scouting programs. It consists either of a video tape and a read along book or an online course. All the videos and the companion books are conveniently located on our Web site in our Video Vault.

These same videos are available from the service center. The Fast Start guides are currently only available as a download from the council Web site.

If your unit is not able to supply Fast Start Training, your district has a training team ready to assist you.

A quality program normally means it is being delivered by leaders that have taken training and are current in the materials. The overwhelming majority of new leaders are hungry for information and the job of every Scouting unit is to help them tap the vast resources of training.

For online training, these are the links for Fast Start Training:

Cub Scout Fast Start

Boy Scout Fast Start

Venturing Fast Start

Gift certificates are always appreciated

Eagle Scouts and people who know Eagle Scouts are encouraged to send their NAMEs to the service center at 1032 Heatherwood Drive, Virginia Beach, Va. 23455 or by e-mail to Tide596BSA@aol.com.

How do I stay current on news in the Tidewater Council?

The council has a "no spam" policy which means that we don't add e-mail addresses without permission. We might send a trial subscription but nothing more. If a person doesn't wish to join that is their choice.

Who can join? Right now we have no restrictions on who can join. We have a large database that includes individuals from around the country, but mainly it's a Tidewater Council resource.

The newsletter is known as the "Electronic Knapsack" or "EK" and is the oldest and most continuous electronic newsletter in the Boy Scouts of America.

For our records so that we can properly add you to the list and provide the best service, we ask that you send us an e-mail with the following information:

Your Name
The city that you live in
Position that you have in Scouting (youth and parents can join too)
Any and all e-mail addresses you want the e-mail sent to

A unit can also ask their leaders and parents if they wish to be added to the newsletter. In this manner, one person in your unit can send requests to tide596bsa@aol.com to add multiple people at one time, but please make sure you have their permission before submitting their information.

If you wish to remain without a name on our newsletter list that is ok, but our experience has shown that we can serve you better if we do know the above information.

To get off the list: send an e-mail from the e-mail account that gets the newsletter and ask to be removed.

The newsletter is a great resource and rather than tell you about it, let us give you the links to our last edition and let you decide for yourself.

News from around the Council

Current headlines

Fast Start training -- It's required!

Gift certificates are always appreciated

Eagle Scouts wanted!

How do I stay current on news in the Tidewater Council?