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
~ 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
Central Region Venturing Advisor:
Kris Zahrobsky
Central Region Vice President of Communications:
Jennifer Bullock
Central Region Venturing Associate Advisor for
Communications:
Deb Keyes
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.