Shelley MacMillan opened our February 20 meeting with an Inspiration that mapped the Four Way Test to the 12 Points that guide the behavior and decisions of Scouts. The twelve fit snuggly into the four guiding principles of Rotary.
Joey D and Joan the Jammer (aka Joe Diederich and Joanne Knoertzer) led us in a rousing rendition of Poison Ivy, advising Scouts to beware of the nasty vine when camping.
President Greg thanked the people who make the meetings run smoothly, introduced Guests and announced birthdays.
Bev Seifert announced a Rotaract meeting after lunch, and reminded us that Rotaractors are collecting supplies and/or donations for their Spring Break trip to Honduras.
Lauren Heinonen announced a Peace Committee meeting at 1:30 after this meeting. The Peace Committee has its own page, which is under the How We Help tab on our website. It is loaded with good information about Peace efforts around the region.
Spring Fling will be Sunday, May 12 at the Ypsilanti Heritage Car Museum. Mickey Ichesco from the Museum gave a short presentation on the Museum, and invited us all to visit. More detail on Spring Fling is forthcoming, but mark your calendars now
Notes from the Program
Joe Diederich introduced our speaker, Dr. Tim Johnson. Tim is a professor of Maternal and Fetal Medicine at U of M and a member of our club. He is addressing us today in his capacity of Southern Shores Field Service Council, Boy Scouts of America President. The Southern Shores Council includes seven counties from Monroe west to Kalamazoo and St. Joseph and attaches Livingston County.
Tim began his remarks showing a picture the outdoor campout during that miserable week of February 4 – and the campers were all girls!
Tim told us that the mission of the Boy Scouts is to train the next generation of leaders. He asked for a show of hands of Eagle Scouts, and then Scouts at any level, and as we looked around the room at the forest of hands raised, we see that many community leaders among our membership were Scouts.
Scouting has demonstrated benefits, including significant increases in character areas, greater likelihood of embracing positive social values, and that regular meeting attendance longer tenure, better program selection and greater involvement lead to better character attributes. Boy Scouts is an international organization.
Tim addressed the accusations of sexual harassment leveled at scouting, noting that more than 200 sexual harassment charges not covered by a technicality in insurance have forced Boy Scouts of America to consider bankruptcy. Boy Scouts have faced this issue squarely and are taking a transparent and aggressive leadership role in resolving the problems.
Scouting stands for equality, inclusion and diversity, believing that every child should have the opportunity to join regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
There are four levels of programming running from Cub Scouts ages 5 – 10 years old, Scouts BSA ages 11-17 years old, Venturing, which is co-ed, ages 14-17, and then Explorers, which let young people explore many career opportunities, ages 14 -17 years old. The newest Program is HEROES, or Scoutreach, which involves removing barriers that may prevent a youth from joining Scout programs.
Family Based Scouting was introduced across the nation in the fall of 2018. A Scout unit (Cub Scout Pack or Scouts BSA Troop) is formed with the support and leadership of a chartering partner (i.e. churches, service groups, PTA) Their role is to work with the leadership of the unit to determine if they wanted to be a family-based (co-ed) Cub Scout Pack or to be in the older program, Scouts BSA, or to have a linked girl troop. Demographics dictated this change. Millennials and Gen Xers want programs that give their daughters the same opportunities and advantages as their sons.
At this date, 9,975 boys and girls are served in the Southern Shores Council by 4,156 adult volunteers. Two hundred twenty-five boys became Eagle Scouts, and soon there will be girl Eagle Scouts. Scouts performed over 52,000 hours of community service, worth over $1.3 million. Seventeen hundred boys attended camps last year.
In Washtenaw County, 2,389 boys and girls participated in scouting. Sixty-five boys became Eagle Scouts. Community Service hours topped $16,000, worth almost $400,000. Six hundred Scouts attended camps.
The HEROES program is the outreach initiative of the Southern Shores Field Service Council. It raises money and develops resources to enable inclusion of children who may not be able to participate in scouting for a variety of reasons, like the expense of uniforms and activities, lack of transportation, or absence of a caring adult to encourage and support Scout activities and mentor Scout goals. Funds in the amount of $17,000 are needed for HEROES.
The Boy Scouts run eight camps in Michigan, several concentrating on specific skill areas, STEM and horseback riding are examples. Almost 600 Washtenaw County Scouts attended camps last year. Campership funds are needed in the amount of $9500.
The Southern Shores Field Service Council is hosting Celebrating Women is Scouting on May 3, 2019 at Cobblestone Farm. This event will award Congresswoman Debbie Dingell the Outstanding Women’s Leadership Award for her work in so many facets of our community and national life. The Council will also recognize the many contributions of women volunteers to scouting. Check out the event at Scoutingevent.com/272-WIS19 or contact Missy Stricherz: Melissa.stricherz@scouting.org.
Joe Deiderich came back to the podium to present two very special awards. The Cliff Dochterman Award is sponsored by International Fellowship Scouting Rotarians, the purpose of which is to bring together Rotarians who are part of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. This award recognizes an individual Rotarian or Rotaractor who acts a role model and renders distinguished and dedicated service to Scouting.
Joe called upon Roy More to present the first of two awards to Jim Miller.
Tim Johnson then presented the Dochterman Award to a very surprised Joe Diederich!
On February 27 our Speaker will be Ann Arbor Christopher Taylor discussing the State of the City.
President Greg closed the meeting with a quote from Abraham Lincoln: The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
