Staff Changes
I am pleased to announce the selection of Steven Dunn as Scout executive of the French Creek Council in Erie, PA, effective June 1, 2022.
Steven began his Scouting career in 2007 as a District Executive at the Golden Empire Council in Sacramento, CA. He moved on to become the District Director at the Redwood Empire Council in Santa Rosa, CA, and Assistant Scout Executive at the Twin Rivers Council in Albany, NY.
Steven has spent the past four years supporting the volunteers and programs in our Council, has been a dedicated servant leader throughout the challenges of Covid-19, and has willingly accepted each new responsibility that has come his way. He will take the successes and lessons learned in TRC with him as he begins the next stage of his career.
Please join me in congratulating Steven as he joins in partnership with the volunteers and staff of the French Creek Council to deliver quality Scouting experiences to the young people of the communities they serve.
Mark D. Switzer
Scout Executive
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Friends,
Summer is right around the corner!! This is an incredibly exciting time for all of us. Resident Camp at Rotary for both Scouts and Cubs, Day Camp at Rotary and Wakpominee,
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Family Camp at Bedford, Adventure Programs at Wakpominee, high adventure, and scores of units planning their own adventures! Summer is when Scouting comes alive and there are so many opportunities for any age. It is never too late to sign up for one of our programs or plan your own adventure.
Scouting is working it's way back from a long couple years. Our focus on growing membership is paying off, but we have a long road ahead of us to get to where we need to be. We are going to have to keep recruitment of youth and leaders in the forefront of every discussion that we have as unit leaders.
- Recruitment is a year round effort that cannot stop. Promoting your unit is vital to ensure it's success. Let the community know you are there and the support will follow.
- Scouts BSA units must understand that in order to succeed they must have recruitment plans for youth outside of crossovers from local Packs. You will need to plan one to two events a year to entice new interest in your unit.
- Everyone involved in Scouting must step in to the role of ambassador for this program. "Someone else" is not going to do it. We need to rely on each other to do our part to ask not only youth, but adults to join our adventure.
These three items are a new reality for us that we cannot dismiss. We have staff and volunteers waiting to help, but the effort must be owned by the unit.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the several events plan for this month, including camporees and the University of Scouting!
Yours in Service,
Council Commissioner
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Membership and Unit Service
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Scouts BSA Recruitment: Tips to growing your Troop!
For a troop to stand the test of time, it needs a constant flow of enthusiastic scouts to be joining year after year. That’s why creating a process to recruit new members should be a vital part of any healthy troop’s program!
While recruiting scouts into your troop might seem like an overwhelming challenge, don’t fear — there are tested and true methods of recruitment your find in this article. However, all of your troop’s recruiting efforts will be useless if you don’t get one thing right: retaining your scouts.
To have the most success possible, you’ll need to appoint someone to be in charge of your recruiting process. Having someone (or a small team) to spearhead your recruitment efforts is critical, as decisiveness around events and following-up with prospects is key.
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There’s no easy way to recruit a lot of scouts at one time. This means you’ll need a well-thought-out, ongoing process to continue bringing new scouts into your troop.
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When recruiting scouts, I’d urge you to focus more on quality over quantity.
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Even the best recruitment efforts will fail if the scouts in your troop don’t seem welcoming toward new members. It’s crucial to impress on your scouts the benefits of having new members join, so they’ll be extra enthusiastic and friendly.
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It’s extremely difficult to recruit scouts by just bringing them to meetings (Make sure to plan fun programs so that your prospects can get a full taste of Scouting before making their decision.
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Try to take great photos during your troop’s events. Having exciting Scouting photos to use during open houses or send at a moment’s notice to prospective families is a great way to get them interested, even when your events aren’t running
Unconventional But Effective Tips for Recruiting Scouts BSA!
1. Hold most of your troop’s recruitment efforts a few weeks before and a few weeks after sport team tryouts.
- If someone trying out for a team doesn’t get in, checking out Scouting will be their next logical option if you’ve gotten them interested ahead of time!
- Typically, this will mean recruiting 3 times a year over the course of about a month. Pretty reasonable, right?
2. Wearing the full Scouting uniform, hold community service events in public, well-trafficked areas. During those events, have flyers and free snacks to pass out to any interested kids and families!
- It’s best to hold these events nearby to where your troop meetings are held. This way, if any young people are interested, the commute to meetings won’t be an issue!
- In my troop, we’d often help local schools plant vegetation, and also passed out water during races. This led to us becoming known as a helpful group within our community!
3. Try to fully understand the Scouting program and what it offers.
- Scouting has something that practically every kid is looking for, whether that’s friendships, outdoor skills, merit badge learning opportunities, or a chance at leadership.
- Try to think of how Scouting is best suited to each type of person that’s considering joining your troop.
4. Be respectful but persistent when trying to recruit a new scout and their family. Make sure to follow up.
- Continually extending a friendly invitation, without pressuring or guilting them, is one of the most successful ways of recruiting new scouts.
5. Keep adapting your approach by doing more of what’s working.
- Thinking about your recruitment efforts from the perspective of a scientist will help you to create a more effective system over time!
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For more info and tips for scout recruiting, check out the awesome 26-page recruiting guide put out by the Northern Lights council!
6. Once your troop has decided upon a plan for recruiting and retaining scouts, try to implement it as soon as possible.
- Recruitment isn’t an exact science. Taking action is the most important key to success, so get started ASAP!
7. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Your current scouts come first. 🙂
- Some recruiting seasons will be slow, and that’s fine. The most important thing is to make sure that your current scouts are growing and having fun!
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Camping and Program
For assistance contact Steven Dunn Assistant Scout Executive
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NYLT
National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) is an exciting and powerful program designed to provide members of the Boy Scouts of America (ages 14 and over) with leadership skills and experience they can use to lead themselves and others. More...
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Cub Scout Day Camp @ Rotary Scout Reservation & Camp Wakpominee
Join us this summer for an incredible camping experience with safe COVID prevention and health and safety standards. Register now to reserve your spot! Registration is open and LIVE, see you this summer!
- For girls and boys, Scouts and non-Scouts, ages 7 (or 6 and entering 1st grade in the Fall) to 11
- All campers entering 1st grade in the Fall must be accompanied by an adult partner
- STEM activities included!
- Healthy, fun outdoor activities
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Archery, BB guns, slingshots, nature, crafts and games.
- Busing available for Rotary Scout Reservtion details on our webpage
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Go Cub Scouts!
Join your Pack and bring your friends for an awesome summer Cub Scout adventure! Cub Scout Resident Camp returns to Rotary Scout Reservation July 24-27, 2022.
Cub Scout Resident Camp is a four day, three night outdoor Cub Scout Adventure featuring an exciting program including:
- Aquatics: Swimming and Boating
- Shooting Sports: Archery and BBs
- Crafts
- Nature Hikes and Environmental Science
- STEM
- Sports and Games
- First Aid
- Scout Skills
- Fishing
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Build An Adventure Today @ Rotary Scout Reservation Summer Camp
Citizenship. Character Development. Fitness. These are the aims of Scouting and the ever-present goals of the Rotary Scout Reservation Scouts BSA summer camp program. RSR offers instruction in over 45 merit badges, including Eagle-required and STEM badges.
In addition, we are pleased to offer a number of fun and exciting non-merit badge programs, such as COPE, BSA Lifeguard, and Trail to First Class, designed to give each Scout the summer adventure of a lifetime.
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