North America bid for WJ'19

Canada, the US and Mexico are currently promoting a joint venture to have the 24th World Scouting Jamboree held in North America in 2019 (check out this link for more info). If approved, this would be the first ever tri-lateral Jamboree.

The location would be in the US, being central to all three countries. It is interesting to note that the United States have not held a World Jamboree since 1969.

The decision will come in January 2011 at the World Scouting Conferance in Brazil.

A Facebook page has been set up to provide more info to the public and to drum up support for the bid.

YIS...L

It has been announced that Sears Canada is doing their part in helping the environment by teaming up with Scouts Canada and Scoutrees.

During Sears' biggest sales event of the year, customers can contribute to Scoutrees in two ways. At the point of sale, customers can either round up their bill to the next dollar amount with donations going to Scouts Canada to buy trees or customers can redeem Sears Club points which will see one tree planted for each 500-points redeemed.

And local Scout groups across Canada, during Sears Days, on either Saturday, April 18 or Saturday, May 2., will be participating. Customers will have the opportunity to join youth and leaders as they participate in environmental activities, songs and games.

For more information, you can go HERE and learn more!

YIS...LE

New Scout Social Media Site

Scouts Canada has launched a new Social Media website.

Looks good! What I like about it is that it helps people understand the different media programs that are available to Scouters. Whether it is Twitter, Blogs or YouTube, this site will be of use.

Also, look here for three Scout blogs that are available for all to read as well as a new Canadian forum to talk Scouting.

Click HERE to check it out!

YIS...LE

Earth Hour

On Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 8:30 pm local time Earth Hour arrives.

But what is Earth Hour? How is it different from Earth Day?

While Earth Day is about general environmental awareness, Earth Hour’s purpose is to inspire people to take action on climate change. It shows that by turning off non-essential lighting we can reduce electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions. Energy saved during Earth Hour 2008 was estimated from 2%-10% depending on sources (the equivalent of taking about 50,000 cars off the road for an hour). However, the event is not so much about direct energy savings as education and change. It’s a way to make people think about climate change and how they can make a difference.

Earth Hour started March 31st, 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when over two million people and two thousand businesses turned their lights off for one hour.

It went international in 2008 in over 400 cities worldwide. The 35 flagship cities included Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. Every Canadian province and territory participated.

Earth Hour 2009

Earth Hour 2009 will be a half hour later to be more in line with astronomical twilight and daylight savings in North America. It’s hoped that more than one billion people around the world will turn their lights out. Participants will get the chance to see truly dark skies and better appreciate the impact of light pollution. Amateur astronomers will set up telescopes to show people the wonders of our night skies as they were meant to be seen. Find out more from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC at www.rasc.org) and local newspapers.

How Can You Join In?

Once you’ve made the decision to participate in Earth Hour, your choice of what to do will depend on where you are. Will you be at camp? Get outside and go for a night hike; gather around a campfire to sing songs and tell stories.Will you be at your meeting place, providing a place for the community to come together? Do some advancepromotion before the date.Write to your local newspaper and tell them what you’re doing. Invite community leaders, parents, your sponsors. Make tin can lanterns to light the area, or beeswax candles to give away. With appropriate permission, fire up the barbecue for hot chocolate, tea and coffee. Organize an astronomy/stargazing event with your youth to take advantage of the darker skies.

Visit the Earth Hour web site (http://www.earthhour.org/) to register and receive more information.

YIS..LE

This article by David Gamey previously appeared in Scouting Life Magazine.

"You Know You're a Cub Scout Leader When..."

"You Know You're a Cub Scout Leader When..."

- You spend more time at the craft store than the sporting goods store.
- You can’t throw or give anything away because you might use it for a meeting one day.
- You pack your car with meeting supplies so full that there’s not enough room for your son.
- You meal-plan for your next campout as soon as you get home from a campout.
- You can’t wait for the next Leader’s magazine to be published.
- You enjoy wearing cotton/polyester blends.
- Your biggest wardrobe decision lately: group or gilwell kerchief.
- You always have one or two songs ready to go at all times.
- You just don’t understand why people aren’t as into Scouting as you are.
- Your morning ritual: read the newspaper and read Scouting blogs.
- Your garage and/or home office are filled with Scouting stuff.
- Not only do you know your knots, you can tie them backwards while teaching them.
- You know how many degrees a charcoal burns.
- You NEVER do Scouting things at work.
- You or someone you know owns a drill press and/or a band saw.
- You get more Scouting-related e-mail than personal e-mail or spam.
- Give you some felt, pipe cleaners, and a glue gun and you are MacGyver.- You collect scouting books.
- You need more space on your computer for clip art.
- You count cubs to go to bed at night.
- You sit and wait for your wife to say ‘thank you’ before you will give her a kitchen knife.
- You have a box of junk that the last leader gave you that you cannot throw away in case the feather, book, leather string, fishing line, 8 year old tape, and faded ribbons actually come in handy.
- At birthday parties, class volunteering, and other events where large amounts of kids are present, you have to restrain yourself from making the Scout Sign to try to get the kids to settle and listen.

Very funny stuff!

Check out..."The Trainer's Corner Blog" with Scouter Jeff for more great Scouting ideas and thoughts!

YIS...Lyndon

Scouter's Minute - Sand And Stone

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument; and one friend slapped the other in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:
"Today my best friend slapped me in the face."

They kept walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but his friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:
"Today, my best friend saved my life."

The friend who had slapped and then saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone. Why?"
The friend replied, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away.
"But when someone does good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone.

-Author Unknown - from 'The Leader Magazine' May'07

YIS...Scouter Lyndon

Backpacking Links

There are so many great websites when it comes to backpacking, camping and hiking. Far too many to get into discussion about here (I have bookmarked so many I have lost count!)

There are a few that I make regular visits to that I would like to share. I am sure that all of these sites will be of benefit to you. Check 'em out!


1. Gear Talk with Jason Klass - Great videos, Backpacking gear and DIS gear.
2. Mungo says Bah - I know, unusual title but great DIS site. Check out the Coke Can Stove!
3. Backpacking Lite
4. The Backpacker - Informative for beginner to novice
5. Lightweight Backpacking 101
6. The Backpacker Magazine
7. The Pulse Blog by Steve Howe
8. Explre Canada Magazine

If you know of some sites that a person can't live without, send me an email. In the meantime, enjoy the outdoors!

YIS..LE

New Watch for Outdoor Activities from Timex!

For all those outdoor enthusiasts, along comes a new "smartwatch" from Timex.
Many watches are being made with the outdoors in mind (such as Tissot's 'T-Touch' or Suunto's 'Core' or 'Vector' or Swiss Army Victorinox 'ST-5000'), but as most are well aware, price has always been a concern (Tissot approx. $400-600, Suunto around $300+ and Victorinox at $500-600).
Now, with a release date in May 2009, Timex is introducing the new 'Expedition WS4" priced around $200. Not bad!

Available in 6 colours, the WS4 has all the features you would need...altimeter, barameter, digital compass, alarm settings, thermometer, chronograph, timer, etc...etc...












Designed the perform under extreme conditions, this watch from Timex has features to navigate any type of terrain that you may encounter.
Only one question remains...where is the MP3 player?

YIS...LE

New Canadian Blogs!

Recently announced were two new blogs that can be accessed through Scouts Canada.

The 1st one is for Jessica Page, the chair of the National Youth Network and the Deputy Executive Commissioner-Youth.
The 2nd one is for Steve Kent, Scouts Canada's new Chief Commissioner.

Both are fairly new so please check them out to see what is happening regarding Scouting in Canada!

YIS...LE

Popcorn Winners 2008!

Greetings to All!

The Canadian Scout Popcorn prize winners have been announced for 2008!

You can go here to check it out.

Also, as part of the Scouts Popcorn program, there was a photo contest put on by Trail's End Popcorn, the suppliers of Scout Popcorn. I just received word today that my son Josiah won for the Cascadia Council with his photo submission! (Good job, Son!)

If you would like to check out all the photos, including Josiah's, go to BestPopcornPix.

Wonderful news!

Congrats to all the winners across Canada!

YIS...LE