Camping Update for our Den
Hello Den 4 Families!
We had a good meeting to get the year started. The Scouts should be asking to use the internet to figure out what is in the “poppers” or “snaps” they enjoyed last night that makes them “pop” upon impact…pretty sure it's not “gunpowder” which was the scout's primary answer before doing their research. It should be interesting to see what they discover.
We missed several Scouts, but as I discussed, our scouts have time to finish Webelos and Arrow of Light ranks while working around football, baseball, karate, golf, robotics – These young men and women are going to do amazing things in their future and scouting can be a part of that journey. This is one of the reasons we will have a few meetings on Sunday afternoons – to make it fun and not quite so much of a rush.
For all parents and scouts, there was a lot of discussion on doing more camping with our Scouts. It's pretty amazing that they are about 15 months from bridging over to a boys or girls Scout Troop and we will be doing a lot to prepare so they will be ready to fly, so to speak.
If we want the flexibility to take our Webelos camping as a Den, we need several parents that are willing to go through BALOO Training. A BALOO trained Leader must be present at all times – we have a number of BALOO Trained Leaders in our Pack, but none that I know of in our Den. If you have BALOO training, let me know. The next BALOO training will be October 8 and 9 – there will be others, just not sure when the next one will be!
Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) Training
Who should take this training?
Any Cub Scout adult leader or parent who will go on Cub Scout Den or Pack outdoor events, including pack camping overnighters and Webelos Den overnight camping
Why should I take this training?
Many Cub Scouts want to do stuff outdoors, including camping. It’s probably why they joined in the first place! In order for your den or your entire Cub Scout Pack to have an outdoor activity or go camping, you must have someone complete the Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation, also known as “BALOO”, training course.
BALOO Training is made up of two parts: an online course available on My.Scouting.org, and an in-person, hands-on course. You must complete both parts to qualify as a trained outdoor Cub Scout leader. The hands-on course involves camping overnight (after all, that’s what the course is about – camping). You’re going to learn a lot, from cooking to first aid to campfires to hiking to aquatics and much, much more.
When is this training available?
You can complete the online part of the training anytime through the Training section of My.Scouting.org. The in-person, hands-on outdoor part of the training is generally offered in the fall and spring – The training in October will be Saturday 10/8 at 7am to Sunday 10/9 at 5pm at the George W. Pirtle Scout Reservation.
Information is available at https://scoutingevent.com/585-2022FallIOLSBALOOTraining I don't know if the plan to go over the online part as well, but if anyone is interested I can check. To be compliant with BSA policy, we have to have one BALOO trained adult to be able to do our own camping as a Den. This won't affect Family Camp coming November 11 – 13, or Mom & Me (October 22 – 23)