February 26th, 2018

Featured Stories

Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Awards

2018 Eagle Recognition Dinner

California Inland Empire Council 2018 Eagle Scout Recognition  Dinner & NESA Awards March 10th, 2018

2018 National Outstanding Eagle Scout Awards
Lawrence V. Krikorian
Jeff L. Frazier
Dr. Kenneth C. Browning
Richard Campbell
Leslie E. Dean

2018 Glenn A. & Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award
To be Announced at the NESA Dinner

To celebrate and honor the accomplishments of the current Class of Eagle Scouts, the California Inland Empire Council is hosting the 2018 Eagle Scout Recognition Dinner & NESA Awards on Saturday, March 10^th, 2018, at 7:00pm at the Historic Riverside County Courthouse in Riverside. This year, the event is not only reaching out to the current class of new Eagle Scouts, but to Eagle Scouts of all ages.

Eagle Scouts – Class of 2017 
(January 2017 – December 2017)
Congratulations on attaining the highest rank in Scouting.
This is a FREE event for the 2017 Class of Eagle Scouts, but you must register.

Eagle Scout Alumni:
If you are already an Eagle Scout, you should know what a difference achieving this goal can make in a young Scout’s life. Please join us to celebrate the accomplishments of this new Class of Eagles as well as an opportunity to socialize with other Eagle Scout Alumni in our council.

Sponsor a new Eagle Scout or Purchase a Nest:
To celebrate the accomplishments of this new Class of Eagles, the California Inland Empire Council requests your participation as a sponsor at the 2018 Eagle Scout Recognition Dinner and NESA Awards. As an Eagle Scout sponsor you will have the privilege of sponsoring a new Eagle Scouts dinner, you will be recognized in the evening’s program, you will receive a limited edition 2017 Sponsor CIEC Eagle Scout Dinner CSP, and your dinner (s) will be included.  Purchase of a Nest:   Full and Half table sponsorship that include any 2017 Eagle Scout at your table.  More info on back of flyer.

Council NESA (National Eagle Scout Association) Chapter:
Eagle Scouts will have the opportunity to join our Council NESA Chapter at the dinner.

If you have any questions, please contact Matt Brandt at (951)992-9438 or email at mkb969@verizon.net
ALL RESERVATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY COUNCIL BY MARCH 5th, 2018!!!!!!

Riverside County Superior Courthouse (Historic Building)
4050 Main Street
Riverside, CA  92501

Click here to register now!

Camp

Summer Camps 2018

• Camp Wiley
  • To see Session Capacity and Dates Click Here
    • Session #1 
    • Session #2
    • Session #3 
• Camp Emerson
  • To see Week Capacity and Dates Click Here
    • Week #1
    • Week #2
    • Week #2 TREK PROGRAM
    • Week #3 
    • Week #3 TREK PROGRAM
• Trail to First Class (signups coming soon!)

• Camp Staff Application
  Apply to be on our staff for either Camp Emerson, or Camp Wiley!

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Spirit Day

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Eagle Scout Class of 2017

A By-The-Numbers Look At The 4th-Biggest Class Ever!

The world needs more Eagle Scouts, and 2017 delivered in a big way.

Exactly 55,494 young men became Eagle Scouts last year. That’s the most in a single year since 2013, and it’s the fourth-biggest Eagle Scout class in history (trailing 2012, 2010 and 2013).

This is great news for our country and our world. It means the planet has another 55,494 people who are prepared to be outstanding friends and coworkers, leaders and innovators, husbands and fathers.

How large was the Eagle Scout Class of 2017?

There were 55,494 Eagle Scouts in 2017. Are you having trouble wrapping your head around that number? I was, too, so I looked at the seating capacities of Major League Baseball stadiums.

The largest, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, holds 56,000 people. Close enough. Here’s what Dodger Stadium looks like when it’s almost full:

That’s a lot of Eagle Scouts.

A deep dive into the numbers

Let’s look at the numbers behind the numbers:

• Total number of Eagle Scout service project hours recorded in 2017
• Region-by-region Eagle numbers
• Number of Eagle Scouts per year, from 1912 to 2017
• State-by-state Eagle rankings
• The average age of 2017’s Eagle Scouts

As always, my thanks to the BSA’s Mike Lo Vecchio, who provides me with these Eagle Scout stats each year.

How many Eagle Scout service project hours were recorded in 2017?

Eagle Scouts and their volunteers completed 8,461,760 hours of service in 2017. That works out to about 152.5 hours per project.

Some might call that amount of service to communities “priceless.” But, in fact, you can put a price on it.

At the current “value of volunteer time” rate of $24.14 per hour, that works out to $204.3 million worth of service to communities.

Note: The real number is probably much higher. Many soon-to-be Eagle Scouts miscalculate the number of hours worked, thereby shortchanging themselves. Read this post for details.

What was the region-by-region breakdown?

Congrats to the Western Region for, once again, having the largest number of Eagle Scouts!

How many young men have been Eagle Scouts in past years?

In all, 2,485,473 young men have become Eagle Scouts from 1912 to 2017. That includes every Eagle Scout since the very first one: Arthur Rose Eldred in 1912.

Which states had the most Eagle Scouts?

That data gets its own post. I’ll share that soon!

What was the average age of 2017 Eagle Scouts?

That data gets its own post here.

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2018 Picacho Trek

From February 16 to 19 was the annual Picacho Trek that is co-hosted by Venturing Crew 76 and the Aca Chapter of Cahuilla Lodge. Twenty three scouts and scouters launched kayaks and canoes from Walters Camp south of Blythe, CA to begin their 3 day adventure down the Colorado River through Imperial National Wildlife Refuge. This was a particularly busy weekend with scout units from La Jolla and Rancho Bernardo also paddling down the Colorado River.

 This area is special because it is the longest remaining natural and non-channelized section of the lower Colorado River. Soon after launching from Walters Camp the river becomes wide and wanders through an ancient volcanic landscape with riparian habitat lining the shoreline. Among the wildlife that we experienced were burros, coyotes, hawks, osprey, beaver, and at one point we spotted 14 bighorn sheep feeding on a hill near the river.

We spent our first night on the river at group campsite 4S that is arguably one of the most scenic campsites in the whole area. On Saturday evening our trip leaders checked the latest weather report and discovered a wind warning for Monday that predicted 30mph winds out of the west with 40mph gusts. They decided to change their float plan and paddle 17 miles south and spend Sunday night on an island only 2000 feet from their take out point at Fishers Landing, AZ. The original plan was to paddle only 5 miles to a group campsite at Picacho SRA and then paddle 12 miles on Monday to Fishers Landing. Because our group was so large Crew 604 decided to split and travel separately to Fishers Landing so as not to crowd the island.

Early Sunday morning they loaded their kayaks and canoes and began their long day down to the island near Fishers Landing. Along the way they explored narrow reed passages to backwater lakes, an old steamship depot, a miners cabin, and an old mine, and the Colorado River itself. We made a brief stop at the main campgrounds at Picacho SRA to tell the leaders of a troop from La Jolla of the severe wind warning that was predicted on Monday. They ended up sending their drivers down in a canoe with an outboard motor to Fishers Landing and then they drove their vehicles back up to Picacho to pick up their scouts.

They finally made the island late Sunday afternoon and pitched their tents in a light wind. Around 2AM on Monday morning the wind began to blow around 20mph. Other than some sand blowing into the group's tents, everyone rode out the wind and actually had a great night's sleep. At sunrise on Monday morning they were loading their boats and launched in a protected channel behind the island. They then rode the wind blown waves down the final stretch down to Fishers Landing. After loading all of our gear and boats onto our vehicles we had breakfast at a local cafe and then headed home. Unbeknown to some of us the adventure wasn't quite over yet.

About 45 minutes out of Yuma the trip leader got a call from one of the drivers hauling the canoe trailer that a gust of wind had lifted the trailer up and slammed it down. One of the canoes had flown off the trailer and into the desert and the canoe trailer was almost ruined. The rest of the group was sent back to their drop-off point in Indio and 3 adult leaders headed back to the scene of the mishap. Let me emphasize that no one was hurt, just some canoes and the trailer were damaged. 

They ended up contacting Mike Bos from Troop 50 in Indio to see if he could drive a 26ft Uhaul truck in Indio down to their location just west of Yuma. Mike instantly volunteered.  When Mike showed up with his son Zach they loaded the canoes into the truck and headed back to Indio. They were able to get the canoes back home safely and had a great story to tell from an adventurous weekend. This year's Picacho Trek was a fantastic example of the willingness of scouting's volunteers to step forward and provide help in another person's time of need. This is why the author of this article has a firm belief that the best people in the world can be found in the scouting community.

Special thanks to:

John Ramont, Pam Ramont, Vickey Hermes, and Victoria Shatavy for shuttling our vehicles from Walters Camp to Fishers Landing.
Paula Boothe for helping guide and the use her canoes. Troop 262 in Palm Springs for the use of their kayaks.
Dan Sutton and Tod Davidson for making sure that the rest of the group got home safely after the call for help on Monday morning.
Jordan Freeman, Kyle Patrick, and James Hermes for rushing down to help with the damaged canoes and trailer.
Mike Bos and Zach B. for instantly volunteering to drive a Uhaul truck from Indio to Yuma and help rescue the canoes.

It is with the most heartfelt gratitude that Paula Boothe would like to thank the CHP officers that responded, James, Kyle, Jordan, Mike and Zach for coming to the rescue. But, most of all Vickey who drove the canoes home and her loving family who went to retrieve her canoe trailer.

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LA Clippers Boy Scout Day!

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Range Master Training Mt Rubidoux

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Sign up online for Cub Scout Day Camp!

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Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Awards

Click here to register for Whitney M. Young Dinner

Cedar Badge

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Cartoon Corner

Thoughts from the Council:

Positive Quote and Prayer
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"Scoutcraft is a means through which the veriest hooligan can be brought to higher thought and to the elements of faith in God; and, coupled with the Scout's obligation to do a good turn every day, it gives the base of Duty to God and to Neighbour on which the parent or pastor can build with greater ease the form of belief that is desired."

~Robert Baden-Powell

We pray that we will remember what is right and what is wrong at all times,

And we promise that we will do our best and keep our Cub Scout Promise and Law.

Amen.

Monday Memo is from the Council and contains our reflection on what is happening within the Council. The purpose of the Monday Memo is to communicate information about the week ahead, to acknowledge the good things happening around the Council and to address specific issues that we want to bring to your attention. We welcome any comments, suggestions or recommendations on how to make this memo as helpful as possible. If you have something you want publicized in the Monday Memo, please send it to Daniela attention c/o Monday Memo:  Monday Memo Archives Click Here