State of The District

Bill Hart District Chairman Update

October 7, 2008

Jim McGrory
Bill Hart District Chairman
gilwellbear@hotmail.com

Leaders of Character Recognition Dinner 2008

On Saturday, September 27th our District held the 3rd Annual Leaders of Character Recognition Dinner. It was a great success, and although the final numbers have not been calculated, we think that we are going to net $50,000. A big reason why this year’s event did so well is because our units stepped up and supported the event. The following units donated gift baskets for the virtual auction P48 (2); P496 (2); T51; T2222 (3) and T583 donated two shotgun baskets for the Live Auction.

Over 30 Scouts from the District represented us proudly during the flag presentation, pledge of allegiance, Scout Oath, Scout Law and as auction runners during the night. Also we want to recognize several key adult leaders who made the event possible.

• Arif Halaby (T2222) – Committee Chairman and Event Emcee
• Mark Murphy (T119) – Committee Member and Script Development
• Gina Thompson and her fantastic team (P,T and C 119) – Registration
• Marty Kasman (T2) and Kim Crookstien – Floor Coordinators
• Jeff Prata (T303)– Audio Visual
• Terry Duffy (Committee Member)– Auction Coordination and Script Development

Popcorn

We continue to set the bar higher than anyone could imagine. To date we have placed $333,170 in Show and Sell orders. To give you a little perspective, we are currently $100,000 above our 2007 TOTAL sales. The Council office has been getting additional popcorn to the units, who need more, but we are still having difficulty in getting them to push extra popcorn for us to store up here, Terry continues to work on that problem. We are on target to reach our goal of $400,000 in popcorn sales for 2008.

Recruiting

Fall recruiting is underway! Flyers and support items can be obtained through Council. For additional support that your unit requires please contact our DE, David Kline Director of Field Services WLACC at dkline@bsa-la.org or 818. 933.0106.

Online Charter Renewal

2008 Charter Renewal will be done 100% through the online process. Training is being provided by Council and District level. Mr. Bill Crowl has walked units through the requirements for a successful Online Charter Renewal process at this months Roundtable. Thank You Bill!

Santa Clarita Service Center

Our service center will remain open through the end of the calendar year. Our new Scout Executive Jim Rushton has assured me that based our on Popcorn, LOC and FOS for 2008 we should have no problem keeping our offices open. We are also in the process of forming a steering committee to work with the WLACC to provide oversight on the center. More to follow and if you have any suggestions please forward to my attention at gilwellbear@hotmail.com

Camporee 2009

We are currently looking for a Camporee Chair for next years event. If there is anyone interested please contact me at gilwellbear@hotmail.com

If we can not find a Chair person within the next two-three weeks we maybe force to cancel this event.

Recharter Update

Thank you all for the great turnout at the Oct. 2 Roundtable. Following the Internet Registration Training, we distributed Packets to 86% of our District Units. The remaining Packets have been sent to our Scouting Service Center/Scout Shop in Newhall. The following Units should pick-up their Packets during its normal operating hours:

P-48, P-51, P-494, P-580, P-609, P-885
T-11, T-48, T-303, T-513, T-1818, T-2379
CREW 611, CREW 2008

Internet Registration will begin on Nov. 1 and end on Dec. 15

An abbreviated Training will be held during a Break-out Session at the Nov. 6 Roundtable.

Internet Recharter – What you need to know

At Thursday night’s Roundtable (10/2/2008), we will provide Training for the new Internet Registration.  Although we will explain it in more detail, you may see a preview at http://scoutnet.scouting.org/ucrs/Help/tutorial/main.html  and prepare your questions.

Your Unit must appoint a “Renewal Processor” person to perform the Registration. The same RP may service additional Units in our District.  The RP will have exclusive access to your Unit information.  The (computer Internet) Unit Access Code for your Unit will be in your Registration Packet, available at this Oct. 2 Roundtable.  It is recommended that the RP attend this Training.

The actual Internet Registration starting date will be Nov. 1 and must be completed by Dec. 15.  During this time window, the RP may leave the Internet work and return with no loss of information.

Your District Committee members look forward to helping you succeed in this new process.