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Iron District Newsletter

The Iron District newsletter is a monthly newsletter that contains information about upcoming district and council events and activities that is distributed at roundtable. Soon, the newsletter will be sent electronically. Sign up below. After you sign up for the newsletter, you will receive a confirmation email. You must respond to the email in order to complete the subscription. If you don't respond to the confirmation email, you will be deleted from the system after 90 days,

June Newsletter Sign-up for Electronic Newsletter

Fishing Derby

August 5, 2017 | 7:30 - 11:30 am

Troop 401 is hosting a fishing derby for Cub Scouts in 1^st - 5^th grades. The event is free. Cub Scouts will compete to catch the biggest bass, biggest bluegill, biggest catfish, longest fish, most fish caught and most species of fish caught. Forest Oaks Park is adjacent to Lemm Elementary. There is no charge for the event; however, participants are encouraged to bring a fishing related door prize (~$5 value). Parents can pool resources with other parents for bigger prizes (e.g., three parents get one $15 prize). The more prizes, the more can be given to Scouts.

Learn More and Register

Iron Horse District Roundtable

August 10, 2017

Roundtable is a district monthly meeting typically held the second Thursday of the month at the LDS Church (16331 Hafer Rd, Houston, 77090) at 7:00 pm to help unit leaders plan and carry out their own program. Roundtable is a form of supplemental training for volunteers. The objective of roundtable is to give leaders program ideas; information on policy, events, and training opportunities; and an opportunity to share experiences and enjoy fun and fellowship with other Scouting leaders. As a result of the roundtable experience, unit leaders will be inspired, motivated, informed, and able to provide a stronger program for their Scouts.

District Calendar

Download the Iron Horse District calendar for June 2017 to July 2018. The council calendar and council toolkit provides additional information on upcoming council events.

District calendar for June 2017 to July 2018

Day Camp Feedback

If you and/or your kids attended day camp, we would appreciate your feedback. To assist the district and council in its continuing efforts to upgrade and improve our program and to help us meet the BSA National Camp Accreditation Program requirement for continuous camp improvement, please take a few minutes to complete this survey.

Participant Feedback Volunteer Staff Feedback

Annual Planning

A common element of strong units is they all have a good annual program planned a year in advance. The plan is then shared with all families in the form of an annual program calendar. Two other key elements of successful units are trained leaders and having the right leaders.

North Division Program Guide Leader Resources

Cub Scout Planning Boy Scout Planning Venturing Planning

Help us promote Scouting

The Sam Houston Area Council is focusing on leveraging the power of social media through Facebook. The more Scouters share and repost, the more powerful our marketing can be.

We are compiling a list of unit social media sites so we can work together to spread the word about Scouting by tagging, liking commenting and sharing each other posts.

Learn More Take our Social Media Survey

Sign up for Popcorn by June 30th

Hundreds of thousands of dollars go back to the Scouting program in the Sam Houston Area Council as a result of the annual popcorn sale. 73% of all dollars collected during the sale support local Scouting. The popcorn sale is a way for a Scout to support his or her way through the various activities during the year. There are three options to sell popcorn: traditional take order sales, sell online to friends and family out of town and show-n-sell. For more information, contact your district popcorn kernel. New for this year, units that sign up to sell popcorn by June 30^th will receive a free drone! Also, units that sell over $12,000 will receive free home popcorn delivery.

The Scouting Trail

The Scouting Trail is a monthly handout provided to units at roundtable describing upcoming council events for the next quarter.
This is a great resource for Scouters and parents.

June/July 2017

National Scout Jamboree

July 19-28, 2017

Scouting’s flagship event is one-of-a-kind. It’s a gathering of approximately 40,000 Scouts, leaders, and staff that showcases everything that is great about the BSA and its members. Once every four years, the Boy Scouts of America comes together. The result is the national Scout jamboree. The jamboree will be held July 19-28, 2017. To keep up with the latest information, visit the Summit website.

Scouts and Scouters will explore all kinds of adventures—stadium shows, pioneer village, Garden Ground hikes, adventure sports, patch trading, and more—in the heart of one of nature’s greatest playgrounds. With 10,000 acres at the Summit to explore, there’s no shortage of opportunities to build Scouting memories. The cost to attend the 2017 National Scout Jamboree has been lowered for youth and adult council contingent members due to the fact that the contingent will no longer be traveling to Washington, D.C. before the Jamboree. The price is now more affordable and Scouts enjoy the best of Scouting rolled into 10 days of fun, friends, and adventure. You won’t want to miss out on this incredible Scouting experience.

Employment Opportunities

The Sam Houston Area Council is continually search for potential career employees who would like to work in a profession that has a meaningful, rewarding purpose. Bring to the BSA your varied life experiences, education, and perspective, and in return you will have an opportunity to combine those skills and experiences in a career that values and respects others. Scouting is a profession with a purpose!

Openings are available for staff members to assist the council in a new initiative for new unit development. The part-time onboarding specialists will guide new Scouting units (Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Venturing) through the steps of new unit organization. Through this process, they will assist new chartering organizations in the identification of adult volunteers for new Scouting, assist the new adult volunteers with program planning, budgeting and scheduling, guide the new adult volunteers through district and BSA resources to be trained, and guide the new adult leaders through the start-up of the new unit's programming to ensure the program is launched and the new unit is chartered. Check out the current openings at www.shac.org/employment.

El Rancho Cima Decommissioning Celebration

July 15, 2017

El Rancho Cima is being sold, and a decommissioning celebration is being held. Scouts and Scouts are invited to attend a special fun-filled day of hiking to Sentinel Peak, swimming, shooting sports, bus tour of the property, BBQ dinner, and a final closing campfire to see El Rancho Cima one last time.

Philmont Advisor Skills School (PASS)

December 9 or 10, 2017

Philmont Advisor Skills School (PASS) is designed to help prepare Philmont advisors to lead a successful trek. PASS is an 8-hour course taught by experiences Philmont staffers that covers backcountry and logistical fundamentals of Philmont. Participants will enjoy a trail lunch and sample a trail dinner in between training sessions. At the conclusion of the course, advisors will receive PASS materials to share with crew members. The December 9^th course will be held at Camp Brosig and the December 10^th course will be held at the Cockrell Scout Center. The cost is $40.