Newsletter of the Central Region | Boy Scouts of America

June Newsletter 2015

In This Issue...

WorldFest 1

2015-16 CR VOA 2-4

National Annual Meeting 5

Sea Scout Rendezvous 6

Communications Survey 7

World Scout Jamboree 8

Advisor’s Minute 9

Area Pages 10

President’s Corner 11

WorldFest: An International Experience On April 24-26th, over 350 Venturers flocked to Seven Ranges Scout Reservation in Kenisington, OH where the Area 4 VOA hosted their second annual fun event! Tons of fun, socializing, and adventure occurred over the weekend where Venturers participated in games, trainings, activities, and dances all weekend! Hardly a moment occurred when programming didn’t occur! When Venturers weren’t busy eating or sleeping, many spent their time at the shooting range; participated in jousting; tried a chance at trying to dunk Emily Mausshardt, Brian Parro, and Nate Steele; tested their Crew at the COPE course; and just spent time making new friends in the dinning hall. If you didn’t get a chance to participate in the fun this year, make sure to try and come out next year! WorldFest: Pirates of the Seven Ranges will be once more at Seven Ranges and will occur on April 22-24th. Stay tuned for a message in a bottle....errr I mean registration!

-Nate Steele

Follow us on...

Meet the 2015-2016 Central

Region Vice Presidents!

Favorite...

Colors: Scarlet and

Gray!

Season: Summer!

Weekend Activity:

Road trip with my

friends!

Quote: “Life is a

shipwreck, but we

must not forget to

sing in the

lifeboats.” -Voltaire

Hello Venturers!

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Nate

Steele and I will be serving as your 2015-2016 Central

Region VP of Administration! I am a 19 year old Venturer

from Crew 447 out of Muskingum Valley Council. Last

year, I had the privilege to serve as the Area 4 President.

I have earned my Eagle Scout and Silver Award. In

addition to Venturing, I also am active in the Order of the

Arrow where I have served two terms as Lodge Chief

and currently serve as C4-b Section Chief. I also

currently serve on staff at the Summit as a canopy tour

guide. I am a sophomore at The Ohio State University

where I am majoring in biology and finance (for now) with

a pre-medicine concentration. At Ohio State, I am active

in Student Government, Mount Leadership Society, and

Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. When I do have free time, I

enjoy skiing (both water and snow), canoeing,

backpacking, and j-chilling with friends! For this term, I

have a lot of exciting goals I would like to accomplish

including consolidating all of the trainings within Central

Region, working on CSVE, and looking at new and

different approaches to creating Council VOAs! I look

forward to serving as your VP of Admin this year!

Favorite...

Colors: Sage &

Purple!

Season: Spring!

Weekend Activity:

Sail & Hike!

Quote: "The

purpose of life is to

live it, to taste

experience to the

utmost, to reach

out eagerly and

without fear for

newer and richer

experience."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Hello!

My name is Katie Bruton and I am extremely excited to serve

Central Region Venturing as the Vice President of Program this

year. I am from the Greater St. Louis Area Council and am the

Boatswain of Sea Scout Ship 5454, member of Venturing Crew

2783, and member of Aviation Explorer Post 2987. I joined

Scouting in 2012 because I heard about an opportunity to sail on

Lake Huron. We sailed a J-35 racing yacht from Port Macinac to

Port Huron after it raced in the annual Macinac Race. The trip

was featured in the May 2013 issue of the Boys’ Life Magazine.

The adventure was an amazing way to start my Scouting career.

Since then, I have served as the 2012-2013 Central Region Area

3 Sea Scout Boatswain, 2013-2014 Central Region Sea Scout

Boatswain, and 2014-2015 Central Region Area 3 Venturing

President. In these positions, I have helped plan and execute

events and conferences, held webinars, trainings, and had

buckets of fun. I have completed Powder Horn; Kodiak; and

Rayado, “the Ultimate Wilderness Challenge,” a special individual

trek at Philmont Scout Ranch designed to test one’s mind, body,

spirit, and faith. I have served on staff for multiple ILSC/S

courses, the 2014 GSLAC NYLT Venturing Pack and Paddle, the

second pilot course of NAYLE at Florida Sea Base, and NAYLE at

Philmont. I have been selected to serve on staff for NAYLE at

Northern Tier this summer and the 2016 GSLAC Powder Horn

Course. During my tenure in Scouting, I have earned the Sea

Scout Quartermaster Award, the equivalent to the Eagle Scout in

Boy Scouting; Venturing Silver Award; Ranger Award; TRUST

Award; Venturing Award; Discovery Award; and Pathfinder

Award. This summer, I look forward with great excitement to sail

for a week on the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. Eagle is the only

active commissioned sailing vessel in American military service.

Some of my goals for my term include: supporting the program

endeavors of all Area VOAs so they can hold successful events,

working to develop program resources for crews to improve their

Venturing program experience, and planning the next Central

Region Venturing fun event.

Hey Central Region!

My name is Jennifer Bullock and I am your 2015- 2016

Central Region Vice President of Communications. I am

from Greenwood, Indiana, which is a part of Crossroads of

America Council in Area 6. I have served as the founding

President of Venturing Crew 545, Vice President of

Communications on the Crossroads of America Council

VOA, and the Central Region Area 6 Venturing President. I

have earned the Religious Life Bronze Award, Venturing

Gold Award, Venturing Silver Award, and the God and Life

Award. I have also been recognized with the Council

Venturing Leadership Award. I have completed the

Introduction to Leadership for Crews training and the

National Youth Leadership Training. I have staffed an ILSC

course, taught University of Scouting Venturing courses, I

am on staff for my home council’s NYLT course this

summer, and I will be on staff for my home district’s Cub

Scout Day Camp this summer.

I just graduated from Greenwood Community High School

three days ago, so it’s still surreal! I was involved in choir all

4 years and served as the Soprano Section Leader my

senior year. This fall, I plan on attending Cincinnati Christian

University to major in Youth Ministry and minor in Music &

Worship Ministry.

I am SUPER excited for this upcoming term! I have ideas to

increase communication on our existing social media

accounts, plus plans to add others! My goals include

working closely with the Area Vice Presidents of

Communications to increase their presence on social media

and produce newsletters. The Central Region VOA will

release monthly Central Points, as well as bi-monthly

Central Connections. We will also keep Venturers updated

with what’s happening in the Central Region via Facebook,

Twitter, and Pinterest!

Stay awesome, Venturers!!

Favorite...

Color: Purple!

Season: Winter!

Weekend Activity:

Anything

adventurous!

Quote: “Before

you are a leader,

success is all

about growing

yourself. When

you become a

leader, success

is all about

growing others.”

The National Annual Meetings of the Boy Scouts of America were

held in Atlanta, Georgia from May 20-22. You may be wondering,

“How does one meeting last THREE days!?” The event is actually a

collaboration of many different meetings, several luncheons, and a

few receptions. The National Annual Meetings are a chance for

national committees to get together in person for a meeting. In

addition, each region has a luncheon where the new Executive

Board is installed and the Silver Antelope awards are presented.

During the Central Region Luncheon, our own Brian Parro, Central

Region Venturing President, was approved to be one of the 2 youth

members of the Central Region Executive Board! Finally, there are several receptions that occur. The

Venturing and Sea Scouting Reception took place on Wednesday night.

During the meetings, a lot of information was released. During the National Annual Business Meeting, Dr.

Robert Gates spoke about the possibility of

reopening the discussion on the membership policy.

A video of his presentation can be found on

Scouting Newsroom at

http://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/press-

releases/national-president-dr-robert-m-gates-

delivers-remarks-during-2015-national-

business-meeting/. Additionally, the topic of water

guns was brought up. In the 2015 National Shooting

Sports Manual, there is a statement that says that

Scouts cannot shoot simulated firearms, including

water guns, at one another. To read this statement,

please visit

http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/05/06/water-guns-ok-for-target-shooting-not-for-firing-at-

other-scouts/. Finally, an important change for the Venturing community: the Venturing Leadership

Award will be made available for both youth and adults again!

Finally, the Change of Watch for the Sea Scouts happened at the

Venturing and Sea Scouting Reception. During this ceremony,

Peter Schmidt, 2014-2015 National Sea Scout Boatswain from

our own Central Region Area 3, installed Edward Campbell, also

from our own Central Region Area 6, as the 2015-2016 National

Sea Scout Boatswain. We thank Peter for his outstanding and

exceptional service to the Sea Scouting program and welcome

Edward for his upcoming term.

Those “3 whole days for one meeting” sure are jam-packed with

meetings and events, creating an amazing opportunity and event for the Boy Scouts of America each

year!

-Emily Mausshardt

National Annual Meeting

Can you name which

Central Region camp

this is? Find out in

next month’s edition

of the Central Point!

Name That

Camp!

Central Region Sea Scout Rendezvous People joined from around the region to kick off their summers with a fun-filled

weekend at the fifth annual Central Region Sea Scout Rendezvous. Some of the

many activities included boating triathlons, sailing, swamped canoe races, kayak

jousting, volleyball, and cardboard canoe races. The Central Region Sea Scout

Rendezvous took place May 15-17, 2015 and annually is held at Camp Illinek in the

Abraham Lincoln Council in Springfield, Illinois. Make sure

to mark your calendars for

May 20-22, 2016!

-Katie Bruton

Communications Survey!

Hey Central Region! As the new term is starting, the Central

Region VOA is asking all Venturers and adults to complete a

short survey about communication in the Region. We’re

curious as to which communication tools you use most

frequently and what you’re ideas and suggestions are for the

future. It’s only 5 questions and we appreciate everyone’s

response! This will allow us to have a better understanding of

how we can communicate to you. Here is the link to the

survey:

http://surveynuts.com/surveys/take?id=27328&c=1930450

09JPTD

Again, everyone’s response is appreciated! If you have any

questions regarding the survey, please feel free to email me

at vp-communications@crventuring.org.

~ Jennifer Bullock

This summer from July 28 to August 8 twenty-six thousand scouts from 144 countries will gather

together to celebrating scouting around the world with numerous activities, and new friends to be

made. Central Region will be sending participants and contingent leaders to the jamboree who will

have the opportunity to participate in this event. This is Japan’s second time of hosting the World

Scout Jamboree as they also hosted in 1971. The 1971 World Scout Jamboree was remembered

when a typhoon descended upon the camp and forced scouts to evacuate. In fact, several of those

who attended the 1971 Jamboree are now returning to Japan as adults on the International staff

also known as the International Service Team (IST) for those 18 or older. The international service

team members are what is key to the Jamboree’s success as they will be helping run activities,

providing food to the participants and staff, as well as countless other task across the Jamboree.

Still others from the Central Region will be serving as US Contingent Management Team (CMT) or

Jamboree Delivery Team (JDT) these staff members make sure the Jamboree flows smoothly for

US participants and the Jamboree departments.

This summer scout expeditions plan travel to Japan and some have set out to fundraise for

charities. The Karana Expedition plans to drive a Vespa from Bangkok, Thailand to the Jamboree

in Japan over 7000 KM in raising funds for the World Scout Foundation in 15 days to break a

Guinness World Record. Their mascot named Malenito Karuna was just named the Ambassador

of the Messenger of Peace program. While another scout expedition Škodovkou is traveling from

Czech Republic to Japan via the Baltics and Russia representing the Scouts of the Czech

Republic.

Are you over age 18 but would still like to be a participant in a World Scouting event, keep watch

out for announcements on the BSA Contingent to the 15th

World Scout MOOT July 25th to August

2nd

2017 in Iceland. Also make sure not to miss the next World Scout Jamboree tri-hosted by the

United States, Canada, and Mexico at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in 2019.

-Matthew Bursley

Have you bought your

Central Region Venturing

gear yet? Click on the

photo to go visit the

store!

Hello Central Region and welcome to June!

Although the weather in Chicago is still a blistery 45 degrees

today, the calendar says that the official start of summer is less

than a month away. Hopefully, all corners of our Region get to

experience some beautiful weather soon!

But, June also bring us something else; something a little more

important to the world of Venturing. June 1st brings us the ending

of one term, and beginning of another for our youth officers. As

we have been discussing transition for the last 2 months, it is

now time to recognize some amazing youth and adult leaders for

a job well-done.

First, to Emily Mausshardt. It has been an absolute honor to work

with you through this past year. You are a fantastic, intelligent

leader and will be successful in teaching and any career you decide to pursue. Throughout this

year, you have kept us focused on our goals, and made sure that our Region is successful in every

aspect. I consider myself very lucky that I had the opportunity to advise such an amazing young

adult. Thank you for your tireless service, unending spirit, and miles of smiles.

To Brian Parro, Lizzie Schneider, and Dagny Gargas, thank you for the amazing efforts through this

past year as well! You have supported Emily on every occasion, and helped to make our Region

shine! I am truly thankful that I also got to work with each of you to help strengthen and grow the

program that we love!

To Chris Sandberg, thank you for everything that you have done for Venturing, for Area 1, and for

International Scouting. While I know you may only be transitioning out of the Area position, your

influence and support have been crucial to our success, and to the overall exposure of World

Scouting within the Region and beyond. I know we will see you on the path, but thank you so much

for everything you have done.

To all of our outgoing youth and adults, thank you for an outstanding and amazing year. You made

it such a pleasure to do the great work that we do, and I am proud to have served with each of you.

To all of our adult staff that will be staying around for just one more year, thank you for keeping me

sane and helping to develop and deliver the program that we work so hard to support.

And finally, to Brian, Nate, Katie, and Jenny, I look forward to an amazing year ahead of us. There

is no doubt that we will encounter challenges and hurdles, but we will face them together with an

amazing team of volunteers and professionals that will help us overcome them all!

I look forward to working with all of you for the year ahead. As I close this month’s article, here are

some final thoughts: Go Hawks, Go Venturing, and make sure you sign up for PTC!

Have a great month,

Kris Zahrobsky

Advisor’s Minute

Area 1

Upcoming Events:

July 4-11, 2015, Kodiak-NSC, Birchwood, WI

July 10-12, 2015, BayJammer, Marinette, WI

August 27-29, 2015, Wood Badge C1-635-15, Kiel, WI

President: Rachel Cruse

Advisor: Helen Lockwood

Area 2

Upcoming Events:

June 20-23, 2015, Area 2 Venturing Whitewater Rafting,

Fayetteville, WV

June 25- July 3, 2016, High Adventure in Southwest US,

Detroit, MI

August 21-23, 2015, Powder Horn 2015- PFC, Twin Lake,

MI

President: Jacob Hardy

Advisor: Jeff Geralds

Area 3

Upcoming Events:

August 14-16, 2015, Wood Badge C3-312-15-2, Silva, MO

September 25-27, 2015, Fall Fun Rally, St. Louis, MO

President: Chris Mausshardt

Advisor: Bob Vogt

Area 4

Upcoming Events: June 7-12, 2015, NYLT- BC, Lisbon, OH

July 24-26, 2015, Wood Badge C4-450-15, Wakeman, OH

August 7-9, 2015, Wood Badge C4-441-15, Portsmouth, OH

August 28-30, 2015, Wood Badge C4-433-15, Peninsula, OH

President: Michael Gunther

Advisor: Duane Zobrist

Area 5

Upcoming Events:

July 5-11, 2015, Venturing Summer Camp, Oskaloosa, KS

July 5-11, 2015, Powder Horn, Oskaloosa, KS

July 26-31, 2015, Venture Quest 2015, Eureka Springs

Beaver Lake, AR

President: Russell Seibert

Advisor: Julie Dalton

Area 6

Upcoming Events:

July 31-August 2, 2015, 48th Annual Makahiki Festival,

Warsaw, IN

August 7-9, 2015, Venturing Zombie Apocalypse

Weekend, Pioneer, OH

August 21-23, 2015, Wood Badge C6-157-15, Ashley, IN

President: Amber Richter

Advisor: Carla Gargas

Area 7

Upcoming Events:

June 14-20, 2015, NYLT-TFC, Rochelle, IL

June 14-19, 2015, NYLT-DPVC, Camp Big Timber, IL

June 20, 2015, Blackhawk Area Regatta, Loves Park, IL

June 21-26, 2015, NYLT-NWSC, Trevor, WI

President: Kaia Ball

Advisor: Rachel Zahrobsky

SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS ON OUR

CENTRAL REGION WEBSITE:

www.crventuring.org!

Happy June, Central Region!

And with that, another term has closed and we

all are embarking on a new journey together. I

am incredibly humbled to have been selected

to serve all of you this upcoming year. I would

like to thank Emily Mausshardt for the

phenomenal job she did this past year -- she

left me some pretty big shoes to fill, but I am

excited for all of the amazing things coming up

this year!

For those who don’t know me, I should

probably take a second to introduce myself.

My name is Brian Parro, and I am honored to

be serving as the 2015-2016 Central Region

Venturing President. I am from Rainbow

Council and call Bolingbrook, IL home. I have

been in Scouting since I was 6, and joined Venturing when I was 16. I go to

school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and am studying

Business Management and Finance. You can check out my full bio at

http://www.crventuring.org/Home/Fulltext/s=1&id=346

For all of us in the Venturing world, June is just like January. It’s the start of a

new year, which means its time to make a change, a “new term’s” resolution.

Every one of us can set some sort of a resolution! For me, my resolution is to

keep better track of all of my goals to make sure that I am accomplishing what I

want to do. Other ideas include attending at least 2 Crew meetings a month,

making a year long plan for your Crew, bring a friend to your next Crew activity, or

maintaining a better balance between Venturing and School. Whatever you want

to do, make a resolution, set a goal, and see it through!

Lastly, thank you so much for welcoming me as your 2015-2016 Central Region

Venturing President. Similarly to Emily, as all of the officers transition into their

new positions, I would like to thank all of the amazing individuals who served

Venturing this past year. Whether you were a Crew Secretary, Council Venturing

Vice President, or Region Venturing President, we would not have the foundation

to move forward, grow, and succeed without your tireless effort. Thank you!

I can’t wait to meet you all as I travel the Region this year! Until our paths cross, I

hope you have some great Venturing experiences! Don’t be afraid to say hi!

Yours in Venturing,

Brian Parro

Central Region Venturing President

Central Region Venturing President:

Brian Parro

president@crventuring.org

Central Region Venturing Advisor:

Kris Zahrobsky

venturing-chair@crventuring.org

Central Region Vice President of Communications:

Jennifer Bullock

vp-communications@crventuring.org

Central Region Venturing Associate Advisor for

Communications:

Deb Keyes

communications-coordinator@crventuring.org

President’s Corner

Venturing is a Scouting program

for male and female youth ages

13-21 that lets youth experience

new activities, build leadership

skills, earn awards, make new

friends, and of course have fun.

The Central Region is one of the

four regions of the Boy Scouts of

America. This region includes

the states of: Minnesota,

Wisconsin, North Dakota, South

Dakota, Kansas, Missouri,

Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana,

Ohio, Michigan, and West

Virginia.