The district would like to take this time to recognize the units that acheived a level in the 2011 Journey to Excellence program.  The 2012 Journey to Excellence Score cards for the packs, troops, and crews can be found here.

2011 Gold Level Units

Packs- 70, 75, 76, 105, 107, 108, 110, 118, 501, 1863 

Troops- 71, 107, 1863

Crews- 42, 76

2011 Silver Level Units

Packs- 79, 88, 89, 103, 112, 120, 125, 162

Troops- 70, 76, 84, 88, 102, 103, 105, 110, 111, 118, 120, 125

Does your unit have what it takes to brave the cold and show off their Scout Skills.  If your answer is yes then why not register your unit for the Blue & Grey and First Capital District Klondike Derby.  This years theme is Mount Everest Challenge.  The Klondike Derby will be held February 17-19 at Camp Tuckahoe.  For a registration form please click on the following link 2012 Klondike Derby Registration Form.  Registration forms are due January 20th.  We have a great program lined up this year and look forward to seeing all of you there!

Looking for a way to help the community? Yes then why not have your unit participate in the annual Good Turn for America blood drives.  The Red Cross is always looking for blood and as a service project scouts can go out and recruit blood donors for this years blood drives.  The blood drives this year will be held during the month of January and will be located in various areas around the council.  To see a listing of this years blood drive sites ples click here. 

For this years blood drive we are asking each donor to please register for a blood drive online at the following site www.redcrossblood.org.  Donors can also register for a blood drive by calling 1-800-733-2767.  Please have the donor mention the unit number when registering for the blood drive so the Red Cross can keep track of the number of patches that will be needed for each unit.  Donor cards are available and are to be passed out to possible donors.  The donor cards can be found here.  If a unit has any questions concerning the blood drive portion of the Good Turn for America program please contact Linda Rodgers lindanbob1@comcast.net or John Blasius (717) 827-4571 or john.blasius@scouting.org.

Units it is that time of year again where we conduct our annual food drive.  The dates  to distribute door hangers this year is Saturday, November 12 and the date to pick up the food is Saturday, November 19.  Food should be delivered to a food bank of the units choice on Saturday the 19.  In order to get patches for your unit please fill in the following form and email it or fax it to Sarah Sheaffer by November 29.  Sarahs email address is sarah.sheaffer@scouting.org and the fax number is (717) 795-8721.  . 

The district would like to take this time to thank all of the units who participated in this years popcorn sale.  As a district we sold over $91,000 in popcorn and candles.  This is an 8% increase over last years sales!  Thank you again to all of the units who sold popcorn this year.

This years popcorn distribution is being held on Friday, November 11 at the Gitts Run Warehouse owned by UTZ in Hanover.  The address for the warehouse is 860 Gitts Run Road, Hanover.   Units picking up popcorn should drive to door 16 of the warehouse to get their popcorn and candles.

The district is also still looking for help to sort popcorn on Friday, November 11 so if your unit has someone that can help sort popcorn please contact John Blasius at john.blasius@scouting.org.  Sorting will start at 10:30 am and pickup will begin at 2:30 pm and run until 7pm.   See you all there!

Recharter turn in night will be here before you know it.  This years turn in night is going to be held on Thursday, December 8 from 6-8:30 PM at the Brethren Home in Crosskeys.  We will be in the Gallery Room on the second floor of the main building.  To get to the Gallery room please enter the Brethren Homes main entrance off of Route 94 and enter the building through the glass doors and proceed to the elevator to take you top the second floor.  Once on the second floor exit the elevator and turn right and signs will direct you to the Gallery Room from there. 

Please be sure to send at least one representative from your unit to the recharter turn in night.  Besides handing in your units charter there will also be information on summer camp, Good Turn for America, and training.  It is very important that your unit hands in their charter on time.  

Every unit leader should have recieved a unit charter packet in the mail by now.  If your unit needs their recharter code to access the recharter site online please contact John Blasius by phone (717)827-4571 or by email john.blasius@scouting.org.  The link to log onto the internet rechartering site is https://scoutnet.scouting.org/ucrs/UI/home/default.aspx.  See you all there!

Novembers roundtable will be held on Thursday, November 3 at Cornerstone Worship Center in Gettysburg.  The meeting will start at 7PM and the address for Cornerstone is 888 Coleman Road, Gettysburg.  The district will also be holding an in person youth protection training that night as well.  Please remember that every registered adult in the BSA must have youth protection to be a member.  If your unit has adults that need youth protection training please let them know about this upcoming training.  Hope to see you all there!

The Blue & Grey Districts 2011 fall camporee was held this past weekend at Camp Conewago.   Everyone had a great time and the theme this year was Be Prepared.  We had a lot of very cool stations that related to medical emergencies and natural distaters.  One of the most popular stations on Saturday was the Medivac helicopter that landed and taught scouts how they respond to emergencies.  Please see the video below that shows the helicopter taking off and landing.  Some of the other stations that were held throughout the day were splinting, natural disaters, rescue dive team demostrations, fire truck and ambulance demonstrations, red cross disaster relief, bandaging, and first aid scenarios.  Thank you to all of the great staff that made this camporee a success. 

Video Link- Medivac Helicopter visits the Blue & Grey District Camporee

Pictures Link- Blue & Grey District 2011 Fall Camporee Photos

This year’s fall camporee will be held at Camp Conewago on September 31-October 2.  The theme this year is emergency preparedness.  Troop 103 will be the unit host for this exciting event.  We have a lot of great ideas for this camporee and it is sure one event that you will not want to miss.  Please plan on attending this great event this fall at Camp Conewago.

 The Cub Scouting Adventure continued this week at the Blue & Grey District Day Camp held at the Christ United Church of Christ in Littlestown.  51 boys participated in the day camp with activity packed days and lots of fun. The theme for the week was Cub Scout Investigations, or CSI!  The days each included BB gun shooting, archery, nature, scout skills, games and sports.   

To work within the CSI theme, the scouts learned skills in fingerprinting, forensic analysis, teeth impressions, discovery and recording of evidence, and even powder analysis.  Scout Skills included knots, map & compass, and “Leave no Trace”.  Craft & Nature activities included leaf identification, teeth impressions, making a detective notebook, and making spy disguises.

The boys earned belt loop achievements for Kickball, Volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee, and Flag Football.  A  Spy Agent obstacle course was even held to identify potential new agents for the “agency”.    Games included team building activities, board games, marbles, and chess. 

A week-long  mystery surrounding a Barefoot Burglar captivated the boys, with new clues appearing every day for the popular “Whodunit”.  Clues were collected and written into their notebooks, with each Den vying to solve the mystery first!

Many thanks to Christ UCC for the gracious use of their facilities.  Thanks also go out to all of the staff members who gave up to a week’s worth of their own time to dedicate to the boys!  These leaders help the boys develop life skills that will help them grow into future leaders of our communities.   Many parents and Scout leaders gave some of their time to be Den Leaders, Den walkers, and to help with set up and clean up.

Each and every boy had their favorite activity, but they all agreed on one thing – they had lots of fun!