Washington Crossing Council Amateur Radio Operators plan to have both K3OSR in the Ockanickon Science Center and W2ZQ at Mercer County Airport Amateur Radio stations on the air for Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) 2023.  The stations plan to be open from 10 AM to 3 PM on Saturday 21 October 2023.  All Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and GSUSA members are welcome.
 
The DVRA W2ZQ radio station is on Route 579 directly across from the Ewing Township Water Tower at Exit 75 of I-295.  Just look for the tall antennas to find the driveway!
 
Jamboree-on-the-Air, or JOTA, is an annual Scouting event sponsored by the World Organization of the Scouting Movement (WOSM).  This is the largest Scouting event of the year, with thousands of Scouts talking to one another around the world!
 
Amateur radio stations around the world help Scouts participate. If the conditions are right, it is common for over a hundred Scouting countries to talk to each other during the weekend.
 
Cub Scouts, Brownies, Scouts, and Girl Scouts exchange greetings with Scouts over amateur radio. The exchanges typically include information such as Name, Location, Scout rank, Hobbies, Age, etc. Some exchanges lead to long-lasting friendships and the exchange of photos, badges, pins, and patches.  
 
Scouts can meet two requirements for Radio Merit Badge and one requirement for Citizenship in the World Merit Badge.  Cubs meet their International Participation requirements for Arrow of Light.  The BSA online Scout Shop makes an optional patch available for participants.   This year’s patch is listed as SKU 660418.
 
Save the date on your unit calendar now!  No advance reservations or fees are required, but if you are bringing more than ten Scouts from your unit, we ask that you divide them up and stagger their arrival times so they can have a more active experience.

WASHINGTON CROSSING COUNCIL is excited to announce
the 2023 National Jamboree Contingent council patch set!

“War of Worlds”

Our pop-culture/sci-fi patch set was inspired by the 1938 Halloween Eve radio broadcast of Orson Welles “The War of the Worlds”.  In the 1930’s New Jersey was ripe for a Martian landing, and the local hometown of Grovers Mill is the hot spot of activity!  Featuring alien invaders with glow in the dark rays, we’ll time warp from Grovers Mill to the Summit for a National Jamboree experience like no other!

Cost:      $45 per set, includes shipping.  150 sets available.  Patches to ship mid-June.

You will need to create a User Name and password on our Council Event Account to purchase.

Please note the “number of spots  for event” represents the number of patches available.

Follow this link to purchase: https://wc.tentaroo.com/admin2/events/6655/28030/2023-National-Jamboree-Patch-Set-Sale

The calendar of events for the Washington Crossing Council is now available. This calendar covers all of 2023 and 2024. The easiest way to use the calendar is to view it online, and some direct links to various different viewing options are available at the end of this article. 

The council recognizes that not having a calendar readily available during the last year created some unnecessary challenges for many in the WCC family. Going forward, keeping this document current will be a high priority. In the future, the council will seek feedback about what the best time of year will be to release updates (beginning of the year, spring, etc). However, the immediate task was being able to share the next two years.

Ability to Filter

There’s a lot on this calendar! To help Scouters find events and activities that are of the greatest interest to them, various “filters” can be applied. For instance, it’s possible to only see activities that are relevant to Cub Scout packs. It’s also possible to only view training opportunities or events for a particular district. Scouters can apply whatever “filters” they’d like to view a calendar that best suits their needs. However, links for a few commonly-used filtered calendar views are also included below. 

Event Promotion and Registration

The council will be moving toward a cadence where all program events will be promoted at least 90 days before they occur and registration will become active 60 days before. (Summer camp programs will follow a different timeline with some details and registration available earlier. Registration for Cub Scout Shooting Sports Sundays will become available at the beginning of each month.)

Scouts are seeking STEM activities more than ever before.  Interest in natural science, electronics, sustainable materials, computer science, gaming and other topics make STEM among the most popular activities and merit badges in every Scouting level.

To support our scouts in this growing need, we are seeking adult volunteers from Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouting to rebuild a Council STEM Committee.  We hope to have every District represented on this committee.

What Does the Committee Do?

What is the Time Commitment?

No special skills or knowledge are required, everyone interested in STEM and a desire to add to a great Scouting experience for our youth is welcome.

If you are interested in being a part of our new council STEM Committee or would like more information, contact Pete Liptrot at wpliptrot@outlook.com.

The Silver Beaver Award is the highest award given for outstanding service to Scouting at the local council level. The award is presented yearly at the Washington Crossing Council Annual Recognition Dinner.

Congratulations to the 2022 Recipients:

Mary Hanson Fatzinger 

William Henderson 

Wilmer Johnson 

Daniel Marrazzo 

Robert Michell 

Marilyn Yasko 

Our Council Recognition Dinner is scheduled for November 1st 6-9pm at Foster Hall, Ockanickon Scout Reservation. Please join us at that time to congratulate and recognize these committed volunteers. 

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 16TH 2022 AT 5:30 p.m. at the Lenape Valley Church 321 W Butler Avenue, New Britain, PA 18901.

Join the scouts and scouters of Central and Upper Bucks County as we honor Ms. Marjorie McKeone, Director of the Bucks County Children & Youth Social Services Agency for her commitment and dedication to serving the Youth of Bucks County. Ms. McKeone was employed at the Agency in 1989 as a case worker and advanced through the ranks to become Director of the Agency in 2019. Born in Philadelphia, Ms. McKeone moved to Bucks County in 1980, has been married to her husband Tom for 47 years and is the proud mother of Eagle Scout Joshua of Troop 139 of Warminster, PA. We celebrate all women who guide our children in Scouting, at school, at Church and in the home. They are the “Wind Beneath Our Wings”.

COME AND ENJOY DINNER, MUSIC, REMARKS FROM MS. McKEONE AND MORE. PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE GIRLS AND BOYS OF CUB & SCOUTS BSA IN CENTRAL AND UPPER BUCKS COUNTY.

Click HERE for registration flyer.

Interested in participating in a Philmont expedition in 2023? The Council High Adventure committee is hosting a virtual Q&A meeting to answer your questions. The meeting will take place via Zoom on, Wednesday, February 23 at 7:30pm using the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86346196824.

Click on the image for more information!

It is with a heavy heart that I need to inform you that this year’s MAD Klondike Derby is going virtual.  For the safety of our scouts and scouters during the recent COVID-19 surge and the uncertainty of the upcoming months, we’ve decided to redesign this event to be similar (albeit not identical) to last year’s virtual Klondike.  In the upcoming days, look for an updated event registration site with the Virtual Klondike Program Guide.  Units that have already registered will be contacted by Washington Crossing Council regarding any previously paid registration fees.

This updated virtual event can be done by units, patrols, cub packs or dens, individual scouts with their families, venturers, sea scouts, prospective scouts, or anyone.  The activities can be done at any time, over several meetings, over a weekend, or at a single day event.  The camping activity can be done outdoors, indoors, wherever the scout is able.  The important thing is that the participants have a fun (and safe) time.

The “registration” for this virtual event is simply an agreement that the participants will do whatever activities they are comfortable doing, with their best effort, and most importantly, to stay safe and healthy.  The optional paid registration aspect is the purchase of event patches.  The cost is $7 per patch, plus $3 for postage and handling.  Patch orders will be mailed sometime shortly after the event.

We ask that units or scouts post pix and videos of their activities to their social media of choice with the #madklondike and #madklondike2022 hashtags.  The whole world can use those hashtags to see the activities of all the participants.

I had hoped that this year would be back to normal, but the uncertainty and risks are just too great.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at klondikechair.mad@gmail.com.

YIS,
Dave Yasko

The Washington Crossing Council’s High Adventure committee announces a 2023 Philmont contingent. The Council expects to send two crews each consisting of 9 youth and 3 adults to Philmont Scout Reservation. The trip will depart on June 28th and returning July 11th. The committee anticipates the cost to be approximately $2,600 per participant. Anyone interested can register and make a $150 deposit at https://forms.tentaroo.com/view.php?id=8104018. Availability is on a first-come-first-serve basis. If you are interested in attending, please act immediately to reserve your spot! For further questions, please reach out to John Benson at johnsbensonesq@gmail.com. For more information the Philmont Scout Ranch expeditions, see the following link: https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/philmonttreks/expeditions/.