| Religious services received the highest ratings of any program element during ScoutQuest 100, the Greater St. Louis Area Council’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.
More than 700 people participated in various surveys on the event, which was held June 4-6 in Forest Park. Religious services received a 9.46 rating on a scale of 1 to 10 in an online survey. However, 48 percent of those surveyed responded “n/a” or not applicable. Many comments revealed that units held a nondenominational service on their campsite on Sunday morning because their Scouts were tired and they did not want to walk to the services.
Three surveys were conducted. More than 100 unit leaders completed a survey that was included in the event packet. More than 400 leaders who registered units or purchased trading post items responded to an e-mail invitation to complete a survey. More than 200 responded to an open survey that was posted on the council’s website.
The breakdown by program found that 64 percent of the respondents to the online survey attended with Boy Scout troops, 30 percent with Cub Scouts and slightly more than 5 percent were Venturers. All districts were represented in the survey. However, 62 percent of the respondents were from Boone Trails, Gravois Trail and New Horizons districts.
Here are the mean ratings for the online survey:
• Friday night programs and institutions in Forest Park: 8.1
• Saturday day programs: 8.68
• Saturday campfire show: 8.25
• Mobilization to campfire show: 7.54
• Seating at campfire: 8.53
• Quality of religious service: 9.46
• Check-in on Friday (if applicable): 8.13
• Check-in on Saturday (if applicable): 8.18
• Parking: 7.83
• Campsite: 8.58
• Water, restroom facilities: 6.68
• Trading post: 7.66
• Pre-order merchandise service: 8.85
Overall communications received a 7.68 rating. The Adventure Guide and Map, distributed during the event, received an 8.66 rating. When asked the question, “Based on your experience at ScoutQuest 100, would you recommend the Boy Scouts of America and its programs to others?” 89 percent responded “definitely” and 9 percent responded “probably.”
Before ScoutQuest 100, the council received some feedback that the event was too expensive. The cost for attending started at $15 for the day or $25 for the weekend. The following question was asked in the survey: When comparing the cost of admission for similar one-day events (such as amusement parks, professional sporting events or movie theatres) did your Scouts receive a valuable experience for the price? Ninety five percent of the respondents replied, “yes.”
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| Adventure Base 100, a traveling exhibit to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, will be at Ballpark Village on Aug. 20-22 in St. Louis. Five youth members from the Greater St. Louis Area Council were photographed as representatives of various Scouting programs for this exhibit. Their enlarged photographs are on display in the National Scouting Museum's display on the Adventure Base 100 campus. We took some photos of their photos before the exhibit opened.
We thank these Scouts, their parents and leaders for helping our council represent the entire Boy Scouts of America in this national exhibit.
Cub Scout Rohan Biscuitwala
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| Boy Scout Daniel McRath |
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| Order of the Arrow member Siddarth Iyer |
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| Venturer Christina Vogt |
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Fall is a busy time for sports and Scouting.
You've probably had discussions with children and parents about the challenge of balancing sports with Scouting. If you've been a Scout leader for a while, you've probably had a discussion or two with a coach who doesn't understand what the Scouting program is about and merely sees it as an obstacle.
John Remilius, a veteran member of the Eagle Scout Association, passed along a link to a story that appeared in The Abilene (Texas) Reporter News.
Nine Eagle Scouts on one football team.
“The thing that’s amazing to me is that’s the highest level you can achieve in Scouting,” coach Steve Warren said. “I was a Scout when I was young, and that’s an extremely difficult thing to do. It takes a tremendous amount of commitment and time, much like what it takes to win a state championship. I’ve told a million people that there were a lot of special things about this last year’s team, and that was one of them.
“You don’t even think about stuff like that, then the season’s over with and all of a sudden somebody tells you you’ve got nine Eagle Scouts. You’re like, ‘no way. There’s not nine in Taylor County.’ For nine to be on one football team is pretty impressive. They brought that sort of commitment to the table every day that it took to achieve that level in Scouts.”
What do you think? Do you know Scouts who are also successful in high school athletics? Do you know a team that was influenced by players who were Scouts? Leave a comment below and join the conversation. |
| Our guest blogger today is Mark Shapland, an adult volunteer leader from our council who's serving on the National Jamboree staff.
I walked over to the Troop 1114 campsite this morning to
see if I could collect some photos from the Scouts to share with you. I took a few pictures on my walk back "home."
If
you look at the map of the jamboree site in the middle of the merchandise
catalogue we received some months before the jamboree, I can use that to help
orient you to the camp and pictures. On that map you will see that Thomas Road
runs essentially through the middle of the jamboree site, with trading post A at
the West end (along Bullock Road) and trading post C at the East end (along Lee
Drive), with trading post B in the middle. I am working at trading post C, so am
camping just East of the trading post between subcamps 8 and 9. Our Troop is in
subcamp 11 just west of trading post B. If you find the "square" road just West
of trading post B on the map, our troops are on the East side between the road
and the trading post, starting from Thomas Road in. A lot of the activities are
along Thomas Road, including the Arena, which is closed to all traffic (except
emergency vehicles) during the entire jamboree. As you can see, we have about
the best location in the entire jamboree site.
| Here is trading post
B (at 8:10am this morning), with the line waiting to get in 50 minutes before it
opens: |
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| The QBSA radio
station a little further down the road: |
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| The climbing tower in Action Center C, a bit further down
the road (toward trading post C): |
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| And the Pioneering &
Physics Center C a bit further down the road: |
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Everything opens at 9 a.m., so there are few people in
these pictures as most are still finishing breakfast and other preparations in
their respective camps for the day.
Finally, if you have not checked this out yet, the national jamboree
website has lots more pictures, information, etc.: http://www.bsajamboree.org/
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| We often receive e-mail from people who enjoyed their experiences in the Boy Scouts of America. The National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Va., is generating a lot of media coverage and interest.
We received an e-mail today from Tony (Skip) Fermann along with a scan of a newspaper (below) from the 1960 National Jamboree. He wrote, "In 1960, I was an assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 11 in Wilmette, Ill. in
the North Shore Area Council. I attended
the 50th National Jamboree in Colorado Springs, Colo., as a
visitor. What I will always remember is
the view at sunset with all the long lines of Scouts, in their red jackets,
marching into the natural bowl, from several directions for the evening
presentations. It was unbelievable how
orderly and respectful they all were."
Did you attend a National Jamboree? Do you have a memory that you would like to share. Please leave us a comment below or e-mail jmueller@stlbsa.org.
Tony Fermann
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It was raining hard with an occasional flash of lightning on Sunday as 230 Scouts and leaders faced a challenge: Load tons of equipment on a tractor-trailer for their 10-day National Jamboree experience.
There were small mounds of equipment and stacks of patrol boxes under pavilions and overhangs at Cub World at Beaumont Scout Reservation. They had two hours to pack all personal gear, patrol gear and troop gateways on a tractor-trailer that, once closed, can't be opened again for nine days. (Security regulations require law enforcement to acknowledge the contents of the trailer and a seal is placed that can't broken until inside Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia.)
The situation wasn't an optimum
one. But more all present enthusiastically completed the task in preparation for their trip to the 2010 National Jamboree.
The Greater St. Louis Area Council's contingent has six troops that will depart on six buses on Thursday, July 22. They will tour the Washington, D.C., area before the Jamboree. They
will visit Arlington National Cemetery on Friday and Williamsburg, Va., on Saturday.
After visiting Busch Gardens theme park
on Sunday, they are
scheduled to arrive at the Jamboree at 10 a.m. on Monday and meet the tractor-trailer with the equipment.
Activities run through Wednesday,
Aug. 4, 2010.
Council leaders began
planning the trip more than two years ago. The contingent’s
troops conducted monthly meetings during the last few
months and camped together in June during ScoutQuest 100, a council-wide
camporee that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the BSA, in
Forest Park.
The troops came together again on Saturday to take a swim test and make one final equipment check. They were so well prepared for the weather that tents were already folded and ready for packing when storms blew in Sunday morning.
But rain didn't hamper the Scouts as they formed two lines and began passing duffle bags, tents and dining flys from pavilions to the tractor-trailer.
There were no arguments or loud disagreements.
No one stood idle or watched others working.
"This helps them understand that they really are responsible," said Roger Engelbart, contingent leader. "This really is their event. These troops that they have been building are their troops. And every single adult leader has been guiding and telling them, 'This is your troop. You are responsible. We're here to support you, but it's your show.' "
Engelbart served as a Scoutmaster for the last National Jamboree in 2005 and was an assistant Scoutmaster during the 2007 World Jamboree. The 2010 Scoutmasters are Steve Fleming, Mike Griffin, Phil Tilghman, Dave Remly, John Weltmer and Chuck Wiese.
If Sunday was any indication, the teamwork displayed by the troops and leaders will make the 2010 National Jamboree a memorable experience for all. "If you think about it, these youth leaders are coming from boy-led troops and they had to build the same type of strong troop for the Jamboree," Engelbart said. "But they are doing this in seven months, one meeting a month, with a bunch of boys they don't know. So it's a real challenge to ramp that up and make it a really strong and high-performing troop."
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| We keep hearing some great stories about ScoutQuest 100. Sure, it was fun. But we're also hearing stories about Scout Spirit and how all who abided by the Scout Oath and Law.
Here's an e-mail we received from Matt Collins, Cubmaster of Pack 460, Chartered to Morse Mill Baptist Church, in the River Trails District:
We arrived on Friday afternoon at ScoutQuest and unloaded our trailer. We moved it to Forest Park Community College and as they pulled into the college, the GM truck died and would not restart. My other parent that drove her truck over there hooked up a tow strap and pulled him into a parking space. They made it back over to camp and told us that his truck would not start.
We thought it was the distributor cap. We got the parts and installed them but the truck still would not start. At that point, we realized it was probably the fuel filter and we would have to lower the fuel tank to get to the pump.
We were depressed and saw our hopes of getting this truck running in time to go home Sunday diminish. The leader figured that the other truck could pull the trailer home Sunday and he would come back up Sunday afternoon with his wife, drop the fuel tank and change it.
On the way back to camp, we came up with a new plan. He would take my van back down to the auto parts store and buy the fuel pump. After Saturday campfire, he would make the one-hour drive to his house and get the tools needed to change the pump.
Again, things went as planned. He got back to camp around midnight and left about 6 a.m. to go begin the process of changing the fuel pump.
Around 8 a.m., we were walking to the MUNY for church when he called me. I told him I was going to call him but didn't want to bother him. I asked how things were going and he said he was all done.
I replied, "Wow, you're good." He said he wasn't.
He was in the process of lifting the bed of his truck up to access the fuel pump from the top when two fellow Scouters showed up to get their trailer. They asked what was going on and he explained the situation. They offered to help and found out that one of the Scouters used to be a GM mechanic. The Scouter knew exactly what to do. In no time at all, they had the fuel pump replaced and the truck running.
These two Scouters were living the Scout Slogan, "Do a Good Turn Daily," and showing Scout spirit. I don't think my leader got their name, troop number or district, but they saw someone in need and helped -- just as every Scout should. Because of them our weekend ended with no problem.
I want to extend a "Thank You" to these fellow Scouters for helping to make ScoutQuest 100 a great success.
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| Guest blogger Randy Doty filed this post after ScoutQuest 100 concluded in Forest Park.
How far would you travel to attend the BSA’s second biggest 100th anniversary celebration? If you live in the City of St. Louis then maybe only a couple of blocks over to the Central West End. But if you lived in Carmel, Indiana, you would have to travel 262.31 miles for 4 hours and 20 minutes (according to MapQuest) to get to ScoutQuest 100. That’s the dichotomy between Troop 258 of the Grand Towers District here in St. Louis and Troop 131 of the Del-Mi District, Crossroads of America Council, in Carmel, Indiana.
For Nick, Rashad and Ted from Troop 258, the best thing about camping in Forest Park is that it is so close to home. “It’s really convenient to be in the city and be able to do all of this” said Nick. When asked of his first thoughts, Rashad said, “Wow, this many people and all these things to do.” Ted agreed but added, “I had fun but I’m really tired from all the walking.” All the Scouts from Troop 258 enjoyed the Saturday night show with the fireworks display being the favorite of all.
For the boys from Troop 131, this trip was more than just ScoutQuest. “We really wanted to see the City Museum, so we went there first thing Friday,” said Adam, “but the real reason we’re here is because this has been a fun campout.” Nathan and Colten both liked the Science Center and Will said his favorite thing so far was the fireworks on Saturday night. The driving force behind all of this is Scoutmaster Greg Borgard, who grew up in St. Louis. “My dad was the Scoutmaster for Troop 631, New Horizons, when I was a scout” said Greg.
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| We're amazed by the number of Scouts, parents and leaders who are publishing their photos and videos of ScoutQuest 100 throughout the Internet. Plus, the number of wonderfully positive comments on www.facebook.com/scoutquest100 have been overwhelming.
On behalf of all staff and volunteers who helped make ScoutQuest 100 an oustanding event, we say, "You're welcome! It was a labor of love!" Our reward was the smiles on the faces of all Scouts, parents and leaders.
Watch your e-mail as we will be sending survey invitations to all adults who made a reservation or purchased merchandise. A seperate survey will be published for other Scouts, leaders and parents to provide their feedback.
Click here to view one of those videos that's posted on YouTube.
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| The tents are folded, the grass has sprung back up, and all the exhausted Scouts and Scouters are safely home. Forest Park is just that again. Nothing remains of our weekend adventure except the memories (and a few Port-A-Potties).
Over the last few weeks I have talked to a number of ScoutQuest staffers -- adult and youth, some who've been in on the planning for two years, and some who were just asked to help in the last few weeks. Over the weekend I ran into many of them -- usually tired, often dirty, but always with a smile on their face.
I asked everyone what their favorite part of the weekend was, or what they would remember most. Most of the Scouts had an event or activity that they loved. But the staff, both young and old, all said it was the faces of the kids they would remember. Having the chance to put that big grin on the face of a Webelos or First Class Scout, and helping them make a memory that will last a lifetime, was worth all the temporary discomfort.
And now that we are all back home, cleaned up, and recovered (or will be after a good night's sleep), we have the memories for a lifetime -- for some memories of what we did, for others memories of what we helped others to do.
And that's why we put in our one hour per week -- for the kids. And that's why, exhausted as we are, we're ready to do it all again... in another 10 years. |
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The Duffle Blog:
Conversations about Scouting in the Greater St. Louis Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. |
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