After our very wet (and snowy) spring, I was beginning to wonder if I'd get to quit building fires in our woodburning stove. But alas, we are finally ready for a few days of sunshine and warmth! (Er -- between rain showers, it seems --)
Now that I'm nearly done building fires inside to keep warm, it's time to think about building fires outside -- which is why June's "Pack Picks" are dedicated in great part to campfire ideas. If you missed May's roundtable, don't worry: the latest Pack Picks are now posted on this blog for your review.
We also discussed the new Journey to Excellence program at our last roundtable. If you missed that, I'd recommend viewing the materials for JTE under my "Valuable Links" section. This program is in effect right now, through 2011, to be reviewed when you recharter for 2012. It replaces the National Quality Unit Award, so for those who are working on their cubmaster knot, the answer is yes -- your National Quality Unit Award from last year will still count towards your goals in achieving your knot. No need to start over!
Also, one CM asked about the LDS religious knot. One of the requirements in the Faith in God booklet is to help plan a primary quarterly activity. However, as many of you know, the LDS church has now done away with primary quarterly activities. This begs the question, "How do boys fulfill the primary activity requirement so they can earn their religious knot?" Here's the answer I was given from my (very patient!) friend at the scout office in I.F.:
"If there are no longer quarterly activities then the requirement would just go away. That may change in future rewrites but they don't need to substitute anything for it until the church writes new requirements."
Voile! Don't worry about the primary activity planning. Skip it and worry about the other requirements with the little square knots by them. Just please keep helping your boys earn their religious knots. It's one of the most valuable awards they can earn as LDS youth.
For June's roundtable, it will be on Thursday, June 9th, at the Cresthaven church (up near the Rexburg water tower) with an early start time of 7:00 to accommodate our plans for a combined outdoor activity with the other levels of the BSA in our district. Please come! :o)
As always, thanks for your help and support. I appreciate your input and questions and clever ideas. Keep them coming!
