Quality District

   We are pleased and proud to announce that Ft. Hamilton has achieved Quality District recognition and is the first district in Dan Beard Council to do so this year.  The requirements for Quality District include achievement goals in a number of areas.  These include having more than 60% of the District’s Units achieve Quality Unit recognition and achieving specified results in Youth Membership Growth, Numbers of Units, Finance, Retention, District Staff, and Commissioner Service.  This requires successful accomplishments from a lot of people at both Unit and District level, and we want to thank everyone who worked so hard and continue to do so to enable Ft. Hamilton to deliver the Quality Scouting Program we’ve promised and that our youth and our community deserve.

Annual District Volunteer Recognition Awards Nominations

   Save the Date -- The Ft Hamilton District will host our 45th Annual Recognition Dinner on March 5, 2010.  Details for this dinner will be announced shortly.

   In the meantime, remember, one of the reasons we host this dinner each year is to recognize our most outstanding leaders and volunteers in the district.  Accordingly, we would like for each of you to take a moment to nominate a Scouter who has made a difference in your experiences this year.  We are looking for nominations for the following awards:

   Use the District Award of Merit Form to nominate Scouters and other volunteers for the District Award of Merit.

   Otherwise, use the Nomination Form for Outstanding Leaders for all other awards listed in the table above.

   The time to nominate your leaders begins now and ends Friday, February 12, 2010. Please send your nominations directly to our District Adult Awards Chair, Ed Milbrada, at edmilb@alumni.northwestern.edu or 777-8233.

New Scout Executive for Dan Beard Council

   As many of you already know, Tracy Techau, our Scout Executive for the past six years, has been reassigned to lead the Atlanta Council of Boy Scouts.  His replacement here will be Tom Dugger, who is currently Scout Executive for the Last Frontier Council of the Boy Scouts of America in Oklahoma City, Okla.  An Eagle Scout, Tom has spent 29 years serving as Scout Executive/Chief Executive Officer and other administrative positions for the Boy Scouts in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.

   He’s also held several national and international leadership roles, including serving as a loaned executive to the world headquarters of the Scouting movement.  There, for three years, Tom served as the Executive Assistant to the Director General of the World Scout Foundation where he worked closely with his majesty King Karl 16th Gustav of Sweden, the Patron and Honorary President of the World Scout Foundation.  This work took Tom to countries all over the world and brought him into working relationships with National Scout Associations across the globe.  As a result of this experience, he was awarded the Baden-Powell World Fellowship and a special commendation from the World Scout Movement.

   Tom brings with him a magnificent wealth of information and ideas obtained from Scouts and Scouters all over the world.  We are fortunate to have him join us, and we are looking forward to working with him and learning new ways of improving our ability to deliver the promise of providing the best programs possible to our Scouting youth, Scouting Volunteers, and to the communities where we reside and operate.

   You may wish to see a fuller review of Tom’s background including the announcement made by the Last Frontier Council President to the Council’s members announcing Tom’s departure and acknowledging his accomplishments there.  It also includes a link to an on-line local Oklahoma City TV station video interview with Tom where he describes a big camporee his Council recently organized to celebrate Scouting’s 100 Year Anniversary.

Attend Roundtable: Stay Informed!

Klondike Derby

   Troop 935, sponsored by St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Shandon, will host our District’s annual Klondike Derby this year.  This year’s Derby will highlight the 100 years of Scouting by “going back to the basics.”  They’ve taken several of the fundamental elements every well-rounded Boy Scout possesses, added a little creativity, and tossed in a whole lot of challenge to create an event with some surprises along the way.  This year it will be a one day event with no overnight camping.  More information is available on our Klondike Derby Flier (64 KB PDF file).

Here are the specifics:

Date:	Saturday, January 23, 2010
Times:   Registration   Program Events   Lunch & Awards Ceremony	8:00 am –  8:30 am 9:00 am – 12:30 pm Immediately following the program
Location:	Harbin Park 1300 Hunter Road Fairfield, OH 45014
Cost per Person:	$7.00 if paid by 12/31/09 $10.00 for late registration
Registration:	1.     On-Line – or – 2.     Download Manual Registration Form (69 KB PDF file)
Registration Deadlines:	Early Registration    – 12/31/09 Late Registration     –  1/23/10
Contact:	Ken O’Connor (513) 870-9699 or oconnokm@yahoo.com

Remember, A Scout is Prepared! Proper clothing for Scouts is a must. NO GYM SHOES! All Scouts must wear boots and proper winter gear. See list below for additional gear each patrol must bring:

- Compass                 - Matches - First Aid Kit              - Kindling and tinder - Scout Handbook       - Pencil and paper

Miami Ice Hockey

   The Miami University Athletic Department has once again offered the Scouts of Ft. Hamilton the opportunity to experience Red Hawk National Championship Hockey.  Ft. Hamilton has 25 tickets available for the February 20, 2010 game versus Nebraska-Omaha.  Tickets will be $20/each and will be sold on a first come basis to Ft. Hamilton Scouts and their families.

   Contact Dave Bruno (bruno.dj.01@gmail.com or 513 703 2299) to reserve your ticket.  Please make your check out to Miami University Athletics.  Tickets will be distributed in February.

Triple Crown High Adventure Award

   Five Scouts and three adult Scouters (fathers of two of the boys and their Scoutmaster from Troop 974 sponsored by Center Pointe Christian Church in Fort Hamilton) have recently earned and received the rarely achieved High Adventure Triple Crown Award and were written up in a nice article in the Cincinnati Enquirer.  The article includes their pictures.

   The award is distributed by the Charles L. Sommers Alumni Association in Ely, MN.  To receive it, a Boy Scout must complete a high adventure program at all three BSA national High Adventure bases - Philmont, Northern Tier, and Sea Base.  A picture of the award is shown here (click image for larger view), and you can read more details about it and download application forms at the Boy Scout Trail web site.

   We congratulate these Scouts and Scouters and want to encourage others in the district to earn their Triple Crown Awards as well.  It's a great mark of achievement and a wonderful set of experiences.

Ft. Hamilton Centennial Project

   Ft. Hamilton has chosen to sponsor a district based project as part of the 100th Anniversary of Scouting Celebration.  The project is to clear weeds, underbrush, and unwanted trees from an old pioneer cemetery located in Rentschler Forest Preserve on Route 4 near Butler Tech and to restore the area historically.

   Our role is to do the initial site clearing, and we need units to step up and volunteer to take one each of 25 surveyed plots to clear.  These plots are 40’ by 40’ and are located adjacent to each other in a one acre plot that covers the original historical Fairfield Baptist church grounds and burial area.  This area dates back to the period from 1797 1870.

   We will be working together with a number of other groups who want to see the entire site restored and researched and are offering their services to support this effort.  These include the Butler County Historical Society, Metro Parks of Butler County, Butler County Engineer’s Office, and Bayer Becker Co., who are donating their services to do all the site surveying and who counsel our Surveying Merit Badge Candidates.

   More details for this project can be viewed on our Centennial Project Page including a grid showing who has signed up for which square and which squares are still open for units to choose.  Sign up now to have your unit appear in the grid and be part of this special once in a hundred years project to preserve our community heritage and to celebrate 100 years of Scouting Service in honor of Scouting’s 100th Birthday Anniversary.  To enroll your unit and “adopt a plot”, call:

Tom Montgomery
513-844-8930 (home)
513-330-2246 (cell)
montgota@fuse.net

Project Progress & Pictures

   You can view the Project Progress Page showing updates of the work accomplished to date and pictures of the volunteers doing the work.

100th Anniversary of Scouting

   Dan Beard Council has published a new 100th Anniversary of Scouting web page describing the various events being organized to celebrate the Centennial Birthday of Scouting in America over the next year.  Check out The 100 days+1 Challenge for Scouts and The Centennial Service Project for units listed there as Council’s primary focus areas for direct involvement.  In addition, you’ll be able to find information on the following other activities being organized to celebrate the occasion and provide fun and educational activities for all:

New Training Opportunities Page

Webelos Transition

District Chaplain

Adult Knot Awards

Yahoo Email Groups

Congratulations!