Attention members of the Order of the Arrow
Dear Daniel ,
This coming May 21st - 23rd, the Northern Star Council will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America with a monumental campout! The name of this event will be Star Camp, and we are expecting 7,000 Boy Scouts, 6,000 Cub Scouts, and 500 Venture Scouts to participate in this event.
So I'm sure you are asking, "What's this mean to me?" Well first off, it means that you are hopefully going to have a very good time at this event. The next thing is that with 13,000 Scouts at one eventit means that we need some help. As members of the Order of the Arrow we are committed to Cheerful Service, and this is a big opportunity for that. This applies to both youth Arrowmen as well as adult.
Attached is a list of the events we are working on so far for this event. We hope to have well over 100 activiities. This means we would like to recruit up to 600 volunteers to run the events.
The list below is not a complete list by any stretch of the imagination, and it's also not 100% certain that every item on this list will make it in to this event. That's where you come in as well. For many of these events we need experienced people to run them. For example for the fly casting event we need an experienced fly fisherman, (or 3 or 4 for that matter), to come in and teach Scouts how to cast using fly fishing poles. We also need aviation enthusiasts to run the Aviation Action Area. The same is true for MANY of the events below. We are hoping to find enough volunteers that we won't have to have everyone work the whole weekend. If we get enough people then we just have event staff work 4 hour shifts and then spend the rest of the time with their Troops having fun.
We also need many volunteers for events that don't require anything other than a cheerful personality and a willingness to help. We will be having a number of events for the Cub Scouts that will require lots of staff to run, (remember there will be 6,000 of them :-). If you have ever wanted to get a job at a Cub or Webelos Day Camp, this would be very good experience for you. Or if you have worked as staff at Cub or Webelos camp we would really like to talk with you as well.
For the adults, while we really need your help with this event, what we are also hoping to find is people with CONTACTS. As you scroll through the list below if you see something where you know someone in that line of work, or someone who has a hobby doing it, or someone who has 'stuff' that would work for it, and you think they would be willing to help out with this event, PLEASE let us know. Because we would prefer not to have businesses getting multiple calls from different people on this, please let us know before you call them. If you already have a personal, or working relationship with that company/organization, and you feel that you would be the best person to contact them, we will be glad to have you do so. If you don't have that relationship, don't worry, we will be happy to make that call for you. We just need the info.
And if you are the type who ran a Camporee 15 years ago, and still have some of the stuff tucked away in the back of your garage, and you think the Scouts would enjoy doing that again at this event, once again please let us know. For 13,000 Scouts we need a LOT of events to keep them busy, entertained, and having fun, (and maybe learning something as well :-). If you have an idea for something that doesn't appear on the list, but you think we should look into, let us know that as well. We are open to ALL ideas.
(I'm supposed to note that I'm not supposed to recruit Scoutmasters for staff because they will be needed by their Troops, but I'm a Scoutmaster myself so what the heck.)
We are organizing the OA Service Corp for this event, and they will be in charge of all youth Staff. The OASC will help with all aspects of the Star Camp event, ranging from helping direct traffic, help with parking, helping staff the activities, and helping with the Stage Show on Saturday night, and more.
For youth who would like to be on staff our age requirements are this. For Scouts 16 or 17 you have the choice of camping with your Troop, (because they might want you around a little bit also :-), or you can camp with our OASC, (this is especially true if your unit is not attending Star Camp). Simply fill out the form at the website above and indicate that you want to be on the OASC. Also please send me an email and I will make sure your name is on the list.
At the moment Scouts 14 or 15 can not be on Staff for this event. We are expecting to get that rule changed soon. For now if you are 14 or 15 and would like to be on Staff just send me an email and I will add your name to the list.
OA members under 14 will have to stay with their Troop and just have fun at the event :-). If you Troop is not planning on attending the event, you should HIGHLY encourage them to do so. This will be one event that you do NOT want to miss.
Here is the list of event ideas we are working on so far. Some of them have people who have volunteered to help work on it, but ALL of them could use more help. Some need people to take the entire "Action Area", other's just need help with the specific event. If you would like to be an "Action Area Coordinator", PLEASE let us know as soon as possible. These people will have a huge impact on how much fun the Scouts have at this event.
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, and I hope to see you at the Star Camp experience!
If you are have more questions or cannot wait to get involved (believe us, we need people as soon as possible), please contact one of us at the numbers or email below
Ted McLaughlin
Action Area Chair
(952) 948-4134 - day
(612) 845-3062 - cell
Doug Farmer - Draftee
(952) 427-5225 - Day
(763) 424-6424 - Home
(763_ 242-0775 - Cell
P.S. Please feel free to use the following list to start promoting Star Camp in your units as well. Even if we don't get every one of these events, it's going to be a fantastic experience.
P.P.S We are also going to have ALL 126 Merit Badges represented at this event, (yes sunshine there are 126 MB's for 2010), as well as every Cub Scout Belt Loop. We need a lot of staff for all of those as well.
Aquatics Action Area:
Climbing/Ropes Action Area:
Communications Action Area:
Cultures Action Area:
Emergency Prep Action Area:
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Jaws of Life extractions
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Putting out car fires
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Water Ball (the ultimate water fight)
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Trying on firemen's gear
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Rappelling from helicopter by firemen/NG
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Rollover vehicle
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Sandbagging with Corp of Engineers
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K-9 demos
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Sheriff's posse
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Red Cross
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Salvation Army Disaster relief
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Sheriff's Command RV
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Lots of Military "Stuff"
Environmental Action Area:
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Leave No Trace
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Fish Prints
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Animal Tracks & furs
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Conservation
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BASS Groups
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Pheasants Forever
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Clean Lakes
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Water Quality testing
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Greenhouse gas displays
Historical Action Area:
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Day in life of 1910 Scout
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Dutch oven cooking
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Meat smoking
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Tin can stoves
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Rural life - hay bale toss
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Old time games - horseshoes
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Old time games - marbles belt loop
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old time games - hoop roll
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Bucking bronco
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Whip cracking
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Crow River Ranger's Posse
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Blacksmithing
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Glass blowing
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Box ovens
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How to kill a rabid dog
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Rendezvous/Foxfire camp
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Branding irons
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Antique photography
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1st MN re-enactment group
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Lawn bowling / bocce ball
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Historical flag ID
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Flag folding
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Old Cub Scout badge identification
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Old Boy Scout badge identification
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Build a log cabin (giant Lincoln logs)
Pioneering Action Area:
Ranges Action Area:
Aviation - Space Action Area:
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Radio Controlled plane & helicopters
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Water Rockets
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Pop Bottle Rockets
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Model Rockets
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Powered Parachutes
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State Patrol & NG Helicopters
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Free Fall Fan
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Space Shuttle Simulator & astronaut
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Hot Air balloons
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Air Force F-16 on a trailer
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Air Force Mini-F22 go cart
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NASA booth
Sports Action Area:
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Punt, Pass, Kick
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Various sporting games with MN Olympic, Professional & Collegiate athletes
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Bounce House
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Bungee Trampoline
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Inflatable obstacle course
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Inflatable slides
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Earth Ball Bowling
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Stilt relays
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Three legged Race
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Ultimate Frisbee games
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Soccer (with a few challenges thrown in to make it exciting :-)
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Games running around throwing balls at each other :-)
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Any other game we can find to wear out the Cub Scouts :-)
Survival Action Area:
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Building shelters
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Matchless fire starting
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Rescue relay
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Military Survival
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Smoke filled house
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Tunnel Crawl
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GPS
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Orienteering
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Submerged car
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Downed Power line
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SAR Dogs
Team Building Action Area:
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Bridge Out
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Swamp Rat
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Dragon's Lair
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Tower Climb
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All Aboard
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Spider Web
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Over the Wall
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"Spool Unwind" Relay
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"Pole Unwind" Relay
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Norwegian Ski's
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Jacob's Ladders
Wheels Action Area:
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Mountain Boarding
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Mountain Bike Course
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Push Cars
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Skateboard park
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BMX Trick Biking
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Team Extreme
Automotive Action Area: