Spring 2014

Gateway Area Council, BSA | 2600 Quarry Road, La Crosse, WI 54601

P: 608-761-0074 | F: 608-784-4047 | gacbsa.org

2– Popcorn Sales

3– Friends of Scouting

4– Lawn Social

5– Arrowpower/NYLT

6– Online Tools

7– Commissioner Corner

8– Spring Recruiting

9– Past Events

10– Council History

11– Letter fron the Chief

12– Adult Training

What’s Inside...

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) -- Green Bay

Packers Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr

was at The Waterfront Cargill Room in La

Crosse Thursday night to benefit the Boy

Scouts of America. Starr who was a Boy

Scout said when he got into his senior year of

high school and into college he began

thinking about the basics and principles he

NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS

learned from scouting. “I could reflect and

knew that it was something I was going to

be benefiting from for a long time,” said

Starr. Starr was serving as the featured

speaker at the Gateway Area Council’s

eleventh annual Golden Eagle fundraising

dinner. Starr said he learned a lot from

coach Vince Lombardi, and said everyone

who knew Lombardi benefited from him.

“One of the greatest men I’ve ever known

period, because the gentleman was an

absolutely fabulous leader,” said Starr.

Gateway Area Council scout executive

and executive director Sean Henneman

said Bart Starr is more than a great

athlete. “He’s a man of character, and

he’s lived his life that way. He’s a great

representative of scouting, and we can

only hope that our young scouts in

attendance can emulate Bart Starr in

every way,” said Henneman….

See the entire article at www.weau.com

Photo courtesy of David Marcou

Only two short months left

until the gates of Camp

Decorah open for summer

campers from all over the

Midwest. Is your troop or

pack signed up for a

summer camp? See

gacbsa.org for more

information on all summer

camping opportunities.

The Camp Decorah

summer staff hopes to see

you this summer. Contact

Aaron with questions

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Thank you to all of our

sponsors and guests who

attended the Golden Eagle

Dinner featuring Bart and

Cherry Starr. Our special

thanks to the many volunteers

who contributed to make the

evening a success. Stay tuned

to gacbsa.org for more

opportunities to support the

Gateway Area Council.

David marcou, photo

GOLDEN EAGLE

COUNCIL FUNDRAISING

Summer is quickly approaching and with

that the popcorn fundraising season will

soon be here. The popcorn sale is a

major factor in your Council’s budget as

well as at the individual unit level.

When all entities -council, units, and the

companies- work together and

communicate well, we all achieve

success! Our Council did a great job in

2013. I greatly appreciate the feedback

I received as well as your commitment

to meeting the necessary deadlines and

requirements.

As I begin planning at the council level I

encourage each unit leadership team to

hold conversations in the coming

months regarding the upcoming sale.

Take time to consider the various

POPCORN TIME! methods in which Scouts may be successful in

increasing sales. A door-to-door sale with product

available for immediate delivery can be very effective.

Review last year’s numbers to plan for your 2014 Show

and Sell order. Take Order sales are very effective and

many units have a blended sales plan. Special

incentives for door-to-door sales will be in place for

the 2014. For more information and to assist you

with your planning questions please contact Mary.

IMPORTANT 2014 DATES:

Thurs., Aug. 14th: All Districts– School Night Training

& Intro to Popcorn (required)

Thurs., Sept. 11th: All Districts— Roundtables and

Popcorn Kickoffs (required)

Online Unit Commitments are due on or before Sept.

11th, 2014. (required)

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I am looking to build a volunteer

team to assist with the council’s

2014 grant writing initiatives.

Volunteers will assist in identifying

grants and gathering information to

complete applications. Junior or

Senior in HS? Get valuable

experience in the growing field of

Non-Profit Organizations. Most of

the volunteer time invested may be

conducted to an individual’s

personal schedule. If you like short-

term commitments that can yield big

results, I want to hear from you.

Contact Mary.

WELL WRITTEN?

COUNCIL FUNDRAISING

The 2014 Friends of Scouting

Campaign is an annual direct-

solicitation which reaches out to Scout

families, service organizations and

businesses in the communities the

Gateway Area Council serves. The

campaign is the council’s largest source

of income (23%). Eighty-one percent of

funds raised are dedicated to scouting’s

program locally, over 15% more than

the not-for-profit standard set forth by

the Better Business Bureau.

FRIENDS OF SCOUTING

When you choose to support the Friends of Scouting

campaign your donation provides for the following:

Local programs and activities throughout the council

Camp Decorah and facilities available year-round for

camping and family outdoor events

Camp Scholarships, uniforms and registration fees for

youth who otherwise may face financial barriers

The Scout Service Center located in La Crosse, WI

Accident and Liability Insurance to protect both youth

and adult registered members

Professional staff that support, guide and inspire

volunteer leadership

Council recognition events for Scouts and Volunteers

Development and distribution of literature and training

materials

Leadership training for young Scouts

Training opportunities for volunteers

We invite you to consider your 2014 Friends of Scouting

gift today to support tomorrow’s leaders. For more

information contact Mary.

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We are still looking for volunteers

for our Spring Work day at Camp

Decorah on April 26th. Please

contact Ranger Matt so he can

have supplies and projects

prepared. As always we will be

providing lunch and dinner to troops

and volunteers. Some of the

projects we may be tackling this

year include painting, construction,

and preparing campsites.

BEAVER DAY

COUNCIL FUNDRAISING

Wednesday, July 9, 2014 Bill & Julie Yahnke – Private

Collection of Antique Tractors 5:30-9:00pm

The annual Lawn Social has a strong

tradition of support for the Gateway

Area Council. This year’s event will be

hosted by Bill and Julie Yahnke of

Olympic Builders. Bill and Julie’s

beautiful, private building boasts a

tremendous collection of over forty

restored John Deere tractors and is

located in Holmen, WI. The evening

will feature specialized catering and

beverage service, great music, tours

LAWN SOCIAL

and conversation. This fundraising effort and celebration

of Scouting raises the needed dollars to make the

Scouting program possible for the thousands of youth,

volunteers and families within the Council.

The Lawn Social is open to all, with tickets available at

various levels. The event provides a wonderful

opportunity to socialize with the common bond of

supporting Scouting. To learn more, please contact

Mary.

Individual and corporate sponsorships will also be

available which provide promotion opportunities at a

variety of levels. For more information please call, email

or visit www.gacbsa.org and click on the Support Your

Council tab.

Can’t attend? We invite you to consider contributing

through a donation. Thank you for your commitment to

helping reach our goal to serve more youth through

Scouting’s programs. As we work together to achieve

our fundraising goals, please remember that your

donations are greatly appreciated by thousands of young

people that benefit from your generosity and service.

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Your scouts who are 13 years old,

have completed Introduction to

Leadership Skills in Troops/Crews

(ILST/ILSC), have earned First

Class, are proficient in First Class

skills, or are a Venture Scout

(female scouts are welcome!), are

ready to take on the next level of

scouting! Trained NYLT youth staff

guide participants through an

intensive experience. As they form a

patrol, participants will learn and

apply leadership skills in a series of

fun challenges that help the Scouts

to internalize the skills and identify

how they may be applied in their

home troops or crews.

NOTE: Beginning in 2014,

successful completion of NYLT

Training is required for all Summer

Camp Counselors-In-Training.

See gacbsa.org for more info.

NYLT TRAINING

UNIQUE SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES

This August, a unique high adventure

opportunity will be taking place along

the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway

in Central Wisconsin. If you are at least

14 years old and meet the basic high

adventure requirements, be sure to

circle August 17-23 of 2014 on your

calendars for ArrowPower2014

. This

event is being hosted through a

partnership between the National Park

Service and the Order of the Arrow but

is in no way limited to just members of

the Order of the Arrow.

Progress continues to be made in the

planning stages for this great event.

The base camp will be at Phillips Scout

Reservation in Haugen, WI and the cost

for the event will be $225. Although

similar to our first event,

ArrowPower2011

, the water based

projects offer an entirely new wave of

opportunities for participants. Canoeing

will be a big part of ArrowPower2014

, yet

there are plenty of land based projects for those

participants unable to canoe. In exchange for your great

service, a full day of recreation will also be available.

Recreation events include hiking, rock climbing,

kayaking, ATV riding, mountain bike riding, horseback

riding, and more! This will be an amazing experience for

the Scouts/Venturers in any troop/ship/crew. Following

the experience, they’ll know they made a difference in a

recreation area used by many Scouts and Scouters, and

the general public. They will truly feel they left a legacy.

To learn how to register, get in touch with your council’s

Order of the Arrow leadership. You can also get many of

your questions answered by heading over to

arrowpower.sectionc1b.org or by e-mailing

Arrowpower@gmail.com.

Invest a week in the environment. Come make a difference at

ArrowPower2014.

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The number one thing that you learn after

years of customer service is that the

number one thing that you need to do

constantly is listen to your customers.

You need to be open minded and listen to

not only what is good but also what needs

improvement. The Scouting program is

no different and that is what the Voice of

Scout is. The Voice of Scouting is online

anonymous survey that is sent to four

subject groups to tell us how we are doing

in bringing the Scout program to your

area. Surveys are sent out twice a year in

the spring and then the fall to randomly

selected emails. If you receive a survey in

your email please take some time and let

us know how we are doing.

FEEDBACK EMAILS Internet Advancement is the best way to

keep up on unit records quickly. Your

online entries are immediately uploaded

into the national database, meaning less

time until it shows up on unit records.

Internet Advancement links can be

found on the GAC Resource page.

ADVANCEMENT GOOD TURN HOURS Has your unit done any service

projects? Have you had Eagle Scouts

complete their projects? What district

will have attain the title of Top Good

Turn Service Hours District? Last year

we came just short of reaching the goal

of 15,000 hours for the year. We know

that their were units in the council that

did not enter any service hours and if

these would have been entered we are

sure that we would have reached the

goal of 15,000 hours. The key to

keeping track of your hours is to not wait

until the end of the year. This would be

a great job for a parent to do or for a

scribe to do also. The Good Turn Hours

goal for 2014 is 16,000 combined hours

and at the end of the year we will

recognize the top unit in each district.

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toolbox to replace

the current quality indicators in the UVTS

system. By doing so, forms and steps will be

eliminated to simplify the process of tracking

unit health. The initial release of this new tool

will include information available to

commissioners based on their roles.

Information about units and their leaders, as

well as district and council information, will be

at the commissioners’ fingertips. Eventually,

commissioners will have the ability to send

messages to unit, council, and district

contacts from within this toolbox. A new page

will be added to the commissioner website

entitled The Commissioner Toolbox.

I would like to take an opportunity to

congratulate three commissioners who

completed their Bachelors of Commissioners

Science Degree this past October. They are

Lisa Stenslien, Jeff Duebler and Charles

Isely.

Are you a Scouter that would like to help

other units succeed? Contact the Gateway

Area Commissioners Staff listed below and

find out how you can become a

commissioner.

How can your Unit Commissioner help your unit?

COMMISSIONER’S CORNER

In the last issue of the Gateway we

heard that the Unit Commissioner (UC)

is available 24/7. In this issue we will

explore some specific items that the UC

can help you with.

By now most of your unit charters

should be in the final stages. If you are

having difficulty in completing the

charters please call your UC for

assistance. If your charters are expired,

technically your unit is not covered by

BSA insurance and you are not allowed

to receive scouting support. As a heads

up, a change in the national reporting of

membership data will begin effective

COMMISSIONER SERVICE

January 1, 2015. Starting then, a unit that has not

reregistered by its expiration date will be

considered “separated” and immediately dropped

from BSA’s membership reporting. There will no

longer be a “lapse period” for units that do

not reregister on time.

Along with Charters, your UC can assist you with

the JTE scorecard. JTE is not something that just

needs to filled out in January, but it is an ongoing

process during the calendar year. Go for the

Gold.

Do you want to see your units in action; there are

several opportunities coming up. There is the

Scout Mall show on Sat April 12, Trailblazers

Camporee May 16-18, Webelos camp July 27 –

29, Week Long Day Camp Aug 18 – 22, and the

Logger’s event, District Cub Day Camps Dates to

be Determined.

Have we got a deal for you! Come to Camp

Decorah this summer, volunteer to be camp

commissioner for a day or stay the week.

My Scouting Tools, the online support being built

for all Scouters, will include a portion called the

Commissioner Toolbox. The replacement tool for

UVTS will be a toolbox that will allow

commissioners to record their contacts and other

information about the units assigned to them. An

updated unit assessment is being built into the

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7Rivers Klondike was a fantastic

event on a beautiful winter day. The

boys spent the morning building

sleds to race on a survival challenge

course. After lunch, Zelenda Koch

gave an educational presentation

about her 6 months of geological

research in Antarctica. Scouts built

and slept in quinzees overnight.

See the article in the Tribune!

7R KLONDIKE

Always be on the lookout to bring in new Scouts!

SPRING RECRUITING

Spring recruitment provides the

opportunity to get your Tiger Den set up

early before the more chaotic fall

recruitment time. How great is it to get

your new Tiger den leader trained and

ready to go by the time fall recruitment

brings in more boys? Let your District

Executive know your spring recruit date

so we can provide you with materials

and a Roundup Team Member to help

out. Middle to late April or very early

May is the best time to hold your

recruitment before summer busy time

kicks in for kids. Pack doesn’t meet

during the summer? Have your

recruitment in April so the new scouts

TIGER RECRUIT

can come to 1 or 2 pack meetings to get introduced to

the pack, ask the new den leader to organize a den

activity or 2 during the summer, and get your new scouts

introduced to scouting through summer Council

activities!

Ways to advertise your recruitment:

Be present at your school’s open house

Ask your PTO if you can have a booth or hand out

flyers at their PTO events! (huge missed opportunity,

especially in La Crosse area where we have access

to speak directly with the kids in the schools)

Wear uniforms to school (P320 has an awesome

program where they put the kids name into a drawing

each time they wear their uniform to school!)

Ask to have the school morning announcements

mention the recruit night

Get recruit night listed in the church or school

bulletins/newsletters

Post recruitment in community calendars

Register and attend the Mall Show! (free) April 12th

This link has recruiting tips from Scouting.org.

9

Thank you to Troop 322 of Coon

Valley for hosting the Winding Trails

Klondike. It was a great experience

for every one that attended and

many Scout skills were tested and it

was a learning experience for all

that participated. We are looking

forward to next year and the fun

event.

WT KLONDIKE

News from around the districts!

DISTRICT EVENT RECAPS

We had plenty of snow for the Polar Day

Camp and even the temperatures

warmed up as compared to most of the

winter. Cub Scouts enjoyed activities of

BB guns, Scout skills, sledding, ice

fishing demonstrations, DNR

demonstration, making survival

bracelets, trail mix, story of the Iditarod,

and making their own cup. Those that

attended enjoyed the traditional

commissioner’s soup and kicked off

Scouting for Food by collecting 100

pounds of can goods for the local food

pantry. If you missed out this year do

not miss out next year for the dates of

February 21, 2015.

POLAR DAY CAMP Another successful Cub Hibernation is

in the books and we are looking at

setting the date for next year. While the

roads were not the greatest we hope

that every one will be able to attend next

year. Those that attended looked like

they had fun climbing the wall building a

marker robot and many other fun

activities. If you have a suggestion of a

great topic for next year let us know.

CUB HIBERNATION

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The Winding Trails Annual District

Dinner was held in February and 34

hearty souls traveled out into the

cold and bitter elements to Hillsboro

for a great time of friendship and

fellowship. At the dinner our district

committee was installed, Scouts

from the district that reached the

rank of Eagle Scout were

recognized, and awards were

presented. Thank you to Troop 83

for hosting.

WT DIST. DINNER

COUNCIL HISTORY LESSON

Founder of Camp Decorah

Its been over 90 years since the first

scout visited Camp Decorah. Many

things have changed since those first

days. Scouts today wouldn’t recognized

the camp of the 1920’s. First of all, the

name was different. It was named for

the first camp director, Dan Young Bear.

Dan was a young Meskwaki (Fox)

Native American. Not much is known

about Dan’s younger years or how he

came to be in the LaCrosse Area and

scout leader. Camp Young Bear was a

very primitive camp. It had some World

War I surplus tents and that was about

DAN YOUNG BEAR

it. One of the first improvements to camp was that of

hand pump that allowed scouts to get water near their

campsite rather than having to walk down to the river for

water.

Dan Young Bear moved on from the Gateway Area

Council in 1928 and the next year, the camp was

renamed Camp Decorah. Over the 90 some years since

it’s beginning, Camp Decorah has had a number of

Camp Directors, the most memorable being Sam

Hagerman. Today, camp ranger, Matt Hein, is the latest

in a long line of dedicated scouters who work to improve

Camp Decorah and make it a great experience, no

matter what time of year you are there. It all started with

Dan Young Bear and a vision of a scout camp on the

banks of the Black River.

We are proud to recognize the following

individuals who have attained highest

rank available in Scouting. While it may

seem like the end of their journey it is just

the beginning as they start on a new

journey.

Cameron Parsley, Troop 21

Andrew Schuster, Troop 85

Peter Seddon, Troop 22

Skyler Stalsberg, Troop 22

Scott Ring, Troop 11

Bryce Kies, Troop 97

CJ, Schaffner, Troop 110

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Are you or your Scouts interested in

trekking through Philmont? There

are options available for 2014 and

2015. Please contact Clark for

more information.

2014’s contingent is getting ready

for their July 8-20 trip. 2015’s trip

will cover the same dates.

PHILMONT S.R.

NI-SANAK-TANI & PHILMONT SCOUT RANCH

Thanks to strong attendance, the lodge

has started out the year with a

successful Annual Banquet and Wing

Ding Fellowship event. I hope to see

many Arrowmen at our next fellowship

event, Fall Rendezvous, which will

occur on Sunday, August 3 this year.

Although it may seem far away, summer

is quickly approaching. To prepare for

this summer’s inductions, elections will

be occurring in March and April for the

call outs at the May Trailblazer

Camporee. Scoutmasters should have

received a letter in the mail about

registering for unit elections, and can

schedule a date for their troop’s election

by emailing NST’s Vice-Chief of

NI-SANAK-TANI Inductions, Alex Aakre, at alexaakre@yahoo.com. For all

candidates to be elected in 2014 there are two Ordeal

opportunities this summer. The Nipachton Ordeal is June

7-9 and the Wuli Ordeal is August 1-3 at Camp Decorah.

Current Arrowmen can also complete the ordeal again

as an Elangomat to earn a ghost lodge flap that glows in

the dark.

Coming August 17-23 is ArrowPower 2014! Come enjoy

a week giving back on the Namekagon and St. Croix

riverways. Around 500 Arrowmen from Sections C-1A, C

-1B, and C-3A will be repairing damaged campsites

along the rivers and build new trails on a portion of the

Ice Age Trail nearby. Go to http://sectionc1b.org/

arrowpower to learn more.

Yours in WWW,

Alex Metry

2013-2014 Lodge Chief

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As we move away from recharter

season, please remember that

training your leadership is still of the

utmost importance. Every boy

deserves a trained leader. There

are many training opportunities in

the spring through the Gateway

Area Council’s Training Committee

as well as trainings available in the

e-learning classroom on

scouting.org.

TRAINING

WOODBADGE & TRAINING

Are you ready for Wood Badge? Maybe

you will wait a year or two. No, No, No

NOW is the time !! A course is coming

up. This is your time, and you will have

a great time and learn more than you

could possibly imagine. This course

could affect your scouting life, your

family life, your job and the way you

interact with others, if you only make the

commitment to attend. Wood Badge

provides advanced leadership

development for all Scouting programs;

Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Venturing.

The objective of Wood Badge is to

demonstrate, in a practical way, the

“aims of methods” of Scouting and to

deveop Scout spirit through an exciting

program of activities. You will live

WOODBADGE Scouting and learn how to apply leadership and Scout

skills in the development of adult leaders and youth.

When Lord Baden Powell created the first Wood Badge

he blew a note from a Kudu horn and out of the woods

came men in uniform shorts and rolled up sleeves ready

to learn the leadership skills Baden Powell felt was

necessary to be a good leader. The kudu horn is being

blown now – will you answer? My hope is yes. The time

to begin a great experience is now and it begins with you

and a commitment to C1-624-14.

Camp Decorah, Holmen, WI

Weekend #1(3 full days): August 23rd

– 25th , 2014

Weekend #2(3 full days): September 6th – 8

th, 2014

Get all information at www.gacbsa.org/volunteers/

training/woodbadge enrollment is limited to just 56

people paid, so reserve your space soon!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact

Robin at 608-875-6766 or robinmezera@yahoo.com.

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There are two FANTASTIC Cub

Scout Day Camps planned for Early

June around the GAC. See

gacbsa.org for the must up-to-date

information on these great summer

events.

Prairie Du Chien– Saturday, June

7th

Hillsboro— Friday, June 20th

(tentatively)

DAY CAMPS!

From Council VP of Strategic Planning,

William Arnold

COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

As you remember from the last article,

the GAC has developed and approved a

10 year Strategic Plan out-lining goals

and objectives for seven Focus Areas

that include: Fund Development,

Marketing, Unit Service, Membership,

Programs, Leadership and Governance,

and District Operations.

Board Member support of the plan is

critical as that leadership flows down

from Council, to District, and to Unit. In

2013, the following took place:

In March, we re-evaluated our

membership standards and conducted a

facilitated session to collect feedback

that was sent to the National leadership

WOODBADGE In May, we conducted a leadership retreat to focus new

and older board members towards making a difference

on one or more of the 7 focus areas

Continued reporting on the Strategic Plan during Board

and Executive Committee meetings

The Second planning year has come to an end and

feedback has been very positive. To-dateThe new

meeting format is working, plan performance is tracked,

and the plan has remained relevant. In 2013, the Focus

areas, in total, completed 43% (29 out of 67) of their

objectives. This percentage is exceptional when you

consider the time expended by our volunteer staff to

make a difference. This time is additive and takes away

from time spent with family or jobs.

This year marks the end of our first 3-year goal cycle and

the Strategic Planning updates at the end of 2014 will be

more significant as we look to the next 3 years of

positive change.

SEVEN RIVERS DISTRICT District Chair: John Parkyn

District Commissioner: Cindy Sjolander

District Executive: Tammy Schmitz

SOARING EAGLE DISTRICT District Chair: Peter Schaffner

District Commissioner: Ray Purnell

District Executive: Aaron Craig

WINDING TRAILS DISTRICT District Chair: Tom Smith

District Commissioner: Alan Abrahamson

District Executive: Clark Garthwait

COUNCIL LEADERSHIP

Council President: Jansen Dahl

Council Commissioner: Terry Smith

Scout Executive: Sean

Henneman

Development Dir.: Mary Freybler

Ranger: Matt Hein

Registrar: Nikki Burke

Scout Shop: Lisa Tippery

Accounts: Rebecca

Bieze