Fall 2016

N INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2 Leader Insomniacs Revenge Fall 2016 Venturing Awareness 2NEPA Council Venturing Officers Association Crew Secrets for Success 3 72 Montage Mountain Road Moosic, PA 18507-1776 Scout Neckerchiefs 4 voa.nepabsa.org [email protected] Featured Crew of the Month 5 570-207-1227 Venturing Fest 2016 6 Who’s Who in Venturing 7 Every month we will feature a NEPA Council Crew. Drop off your crew bio at the next VOA meeting.President’s Corner By Joshua Sepcoski I hope you all had a fantastic summer! I encourage all Insomniacs Revengecrews so send in an article with pictures about all the fun Our biggest fall event will be here before youactivities you’ve been up to. know it! In this edition of The Venturing Leader, you’ll be seeing Full Article on Page 2plenty of new and exciting things. This article is a brief summaryof what’s been transpiring in NEPA Venturing. The Northeastern Pennsylvania Council VenturingOfficer’s Association has been very active this summer. Wehelped out at NEPA’s First Summit Award Project. This Projectcleaned a creek that had been illegally used for dumping foryears. The VOA has been working hard in preparation for our fallprogram event, the Insomniacs Revenge. We have spent weekstesting and planning, to ensure the best possible program. Frombuilding a light saber to Rebel Training, the insomniacs Revengehas something for everyone.I wish everyone an amazing finish to this summer season. Venturing Fest Yours in Scouting, Joshua Sepcoski Greta Ketchner of Crew 163’s View Of Venturing Fest Full Article on Page 5

Venturing Leader Page 2 Save the Date for Insomniacs Revenge! By Megan Croke September 16 is the start of a long-awaited event, Padawans training to be something great, and those who have the intention to achieve something dark and greater. Jedi and Sith pinned up to the hilt, as they try to claim the title of the greater balance. Swords collide, pods race, and a battle of Troopers and Droids. Come and live the adventure as we fight for our title to be the greatest throughout the night. Ideas from the minds who brought you 2016’s Mythology Rendezvous and 2015’s Harry Potter Insomniacs Revenge, as they awaken the force of a new adventure. Insomniacs 2016 brings the intergalactic franchise to a new level of anticipation as we build our weapons of choice, disguise as our enemies, and perfects the calls of the wild. A trip to Time Square to visit the Discovery Museum, The Power Of Costume, with new ideas and fresh thoughts, the museum brought new ideas to life. Be sure to have the pod of your choice, built and ready for only one pilot, before the event commences. Regulations to build a sturdy pod for racing will be located inside the leader's guide. Costumes are recommended to fully immerse yourselves and others into the experience. Join us on September 16, 17, and 18, on a breathtaking adventure of the clash of two worlds. Go to www.voa.nepabsa.org for more info! Venturing Awareness Article By Claudia Shandra On July 16, 2016, the NEPA Venturing Officer’s Association held a Venturing Awareness event at the Langcliffe Picnic in Avoca. The day started with the set-up of a newly painted and portable GAGA ball pit made by the VOA members. After, the VOA waited as families arrived. It didn’t take the kids long to realize that there was a GAGA ball pit in their midst. It was heartwarming to see how the children taught teach other the game, and include others as they arrived later on. Neighboring the GAGA ball pit was the giant jenga, which is always another crowd favorite! Throughout the day, VOA members talked with parents and children about Venturing Not only is Venturing fun, it also prepares its members for life ahead.

Page 3 Venturing Leader Page 3 Scouter Jim Ganley shares the secret to a successful Venturing Crew An excerpt of an article by Scouting Magazine Where do your members come from? A lot of the boys in the crew were Scouts or are also Scouts. Over the years, we’ve drawn some Girl Scouts in, we’ve drawn some sisters of Scouts in, and we’ve drawn a few boys in who weren’t Scouts. We’re independent of any other unit, although we do try to play nicely with others. How do kids hear about the crew? Mostly by word of mouth. We recruit from among the camp staff as well; a lot of the kids in the crew are also on the camp staff, so we have that network we can draw from. For our last open house, I ran a Facebook ad targeted at Gardner and the surrounding towns, and we got two walk-ins off the street. For the first time trying that method, we seemed to get a pretty good response. Some crews suffer when key members leave for college. How do you handle that? It’s a challenge. One of the conversations we have with the kids every year is that we have to keep bringing in new kids if we want to keep this going. We’ve been successful at that. If we get three or four new kids a year, then I’m happy.If you want to read The crew holds only one meeting a month. Why? When we started,the full article click we decided that one meeting a month was about the limit of what washere manageable for this age group. They’ve all got jobs, many of them are playing sports or doing band, most of them are AP students andIf you want to read things like that. They’ve got a lot of demands on their time.more articles byScouting Magazine What does your outdoor program look like? Most months we do aclick here weekend activity: backpacking, kayaking, the occasional bike trip, some rock climbing. Those are usually Friday to Sunday, although some months it might just be a day. Every other year or so we do a larger trip. What have those trips included? We’ve been to Philmont. A couple of times we’ve done a weeklong bike trip. One year we chartered a sailing schooner and did four days of sailing in the Gulf of Maine, which was great. For the summer of 2016, we’re working on a tour of national parks in the Southwest: the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion and that area. Trips like that can get expensive. How do you handle fundraising? We’ve had mixed luck with fundraising, although for the 2016 trip, we’re pushing the fundraising a little harder. A lot of our kids have part-time jobs, so they’re paying for stuff from their earnings. In some cases, they’ve told us, “I can earn more money working than I can selling popcorn or doing another fundraiser.”

Venturing Leader Page 4Scout neckerchiefs now approved for wear with non-uniform clothing An article by Scouting Magazine One uniform piece unites Scouts in all 223 countries with a Scouting program. It’s not the button-up uniform shirt. It’s not the purple World Crest. It’s the Scout neckerchief. Look at pretty much any photo of a Scout or Scout leader from another country, and you’ll see those rolled-up triangles. They’re wearing Scout neckerchiefs even if they aren’t in their full, official uniform (what we in the U.S. call the field uniform). And now, the BSA is joining them. Scout neckerchiefs, long a symbol of the movement globally, are now approved for wear by Boy Scouts of America members whether in or out of uniform. Why the change?  Removing restrictions for neckerchief wear brings the BSA in line with other members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.  The neckerchief, as recommended by Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell, can be a tool for first aid. It can work as a sling, tourniquet or bandage.  Scout neckerchiefs identify Scouts as Scouts, even when they aren’t in uniform.  The neckerchief looks cool Dan Kurtenbach, a Scouter from Virginia, told me by email that he’s thrilled with the move. “The previous policy meant that you would hardly ever see a neckerchief at Scout outdoor activities, because you hardly ever see the official uniform being worn for active outdoor events,” he writes. “With this change, it seems that the Scout neckerchief can be used for what it was designed for: practical outdoor gear. “But more importantly, it finally allows boys engaged in outdoor activities to be recognized as Scouts, not just any old youth group. It allows us to take the uniform with us wherever we go and whatever we are doing.” Reminder Of course, your regular field uniform and activity uniforms are still an important part of delivering the BSA program. This option — wearing neckerchiefs with civilian clothes at a Scouting event — merely offers you a nice way to show you’re a Scout when out of uniform.

Page 5 Venturing Leader Back Mountain Crew Page 5 Takes Off By Emma Oley Crew 163 is an active Venturing crew based in the Back Mountain. We meet on the first and third Tuesday of the month, from 7:30 to 9:00pm at the Shavertown United Methodist Church. This past year, Crew 163 has participated in numerous activities. In the spring of 2015, we planned two weekend trips in conjunction with Troop 281, of Dallas. One was a hike of a 10 mile section of the Appalachian Trail; the other was a canoe trip and campout on the Susquehanna River. In the fall of 2015, Crew 163 had a car wash fundraiser and an outdoor movie night, and participated in Insomniac’s Revenge, Great Expectations, and the VOA Christmas Lock-in. In February of this year, Crew 163 had a total of 9 youth and 2 adult advisors participate in one of the coldest Polar Bear campouts on record at Camp Acahela. For most of our crew, this was their first experience winter camping. Crew 163 put their newly taught scout skills to use, winning first place in the Klondike Derby in the Venturing division. Not only does Crew 163 focus on fun high adventure activities, but also on advancement. We have offered our members many opportunities to obtain higher ranks and training, including First Aid and CPR certification and time management training. In 2015, Crew 163 achieved the Journey to Excellence Gold Unit Award. Only re-chartered in 2014, Crew 163 has risen and grown into an active crew of new scouts. We are always looking for new recruits!

Venturing Leader Page 6 Venturing Fest 2016 By Greta Ketchner This past August, I traveled to the first national venturing gathering at Summit Bechtel Reserve. Northeastern Pennsylvania was represented by twelve ventures from three crews: Crew 461- Mountain Top, Crew 163 - Shavertown, and Crew 100 - Plains. Crews from all over the country, as well as Canadians were in attendance. The festivities started Sunday night and on Monday morning NEPA participated in community service by helping to maintaining trails. In the afternoon, we jumped right into activities. The Big Zip, which is a 3,200ft ride down a mountain was the first activity that we did. The 30 minute hike up the mountain was well worth the exhilarating ride down the zip line. Other activities which we enjoyed were paddle boarding, and Water Reality, which is the Summit’s water obstacle course. A few of the members from our crew went to the Barrels, or shooting sports, and greatly enjoyed shooting a shotgun and crossbow. I mountain biked for the first time, and successfully flew over rocks and down the hills of the trails. One of the most relaxing activity was the canopy tours, which is a series of zip lines set up through the treetops. It was an amazing view, and by far my favorite part of the experience! Lunch was bagged, so we had the opportunity to eat at interesting spots throughout the week. One day we ate on the Energy Bridge, which has breathtaking views of the trees. Another day we ate at the Brownsea Island, where we watched filming for a video of the World Jamboree in 2019! The whole experience was full of new and exciting people from all over. One of the nights, we were entertained by a bluegrass concert, and a crew from Tennessee started a group square dance, and everyone got involved. There was also a homemade ice cream and root beer float social gathering. On the last night, we all danced together and sang karaoke. It was quite the adventure and so much fun! The next VENTURINGFEST will be in 2018 at Summit Bechtel Reserve, and I am looking forward to how exciting that one will be as we are going to be celebrating 20 years of Venturing!!

Page 7 Venturing LeaderWho’s Who in Venturing Page 7 On June 1st, a new batch of young venturing youth leaders have taken office. Get to know who everyone inrelation to NEPA via this chart. A few of our current NEPA VOA embers also hold positions of office on other VOA tiers. If an individual is from NEPA, their picture is highlighted in green. ```N`E``P`A`VOA\Joshua Sepcoski Megan Croke Sarah Gramala Greta Kretchner Claudia Shandra VOA President Program Communications Admin Membership NER Area 5 VOAChristopher Wells Joshua Sepcoski Stephen Rozek Sarah Gramala VOA President Program Communications Admin NER VOAErik Saderholm Sarah Quirk Katie Rozek Matt CandyVOA President Program Communications Admin National VOA Pratik Vaidya Michelle Merritt National VOA President National VPhttps://twitter.com/NEPABSAVOAhttp://nepabsavoa.tumblr.com/http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs6Lhb5hg-P6gOCCCsf2OXwhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/NEPA-Council-Venturing-Officers-Association/485868761534738