Wanted: Adult Leaders!

Adults if you are interested in serving as one of the 2013 National Jamboree Troop Leaders, please fill out the following interest form and return it to the Pony Express Council Office. Forms are due back to the council office by May 2nd, 2011.

Adult Interest Form

Check Out The Pony Express Council Website!

The Pony Express Council Website now has new information on the 2013 National Jamboree at:

http://www.ponyexpressbsa.org/jamboree

Pony Express Council adults if you are interested in serving in one of the 2013 troop leadership positions, please fill out the interest form at the website above and return it to the council office. Forms are due back to the council office by May 2nd, 2011.

Jamboree Committee Meets For Second Time

Attendance:

Matt Becker, John Clawson, Roger Denton, Mike Eisenhauer, Ben Ernst, Seth Euler, Larry Grantham, Randy Hager, Steven Rosenak, David Thomas, Andy Trout, Rob Walling

The Pony Express Council’s National Jamboree Committee met for the second time on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 to discuss plans for the upcoming 2013 National Scout Jamboree; scheduled to be held from July 15th-July 24th, 2013 in West Virginia. The topics that were discussed touched on New Jamboree Information such as the website and costs, the possibility of having not only a troop but a venturing patrol as well, Potential Troop Leadership, Event Promotion, and Trip Details mostly in regards to the committee’s commitment to World Strides.

After a quick round of introductions for those that were new to the committee or were unable to attend the last meeting, the discussion turned to the pieces of information that were new since the last meeting. Items such as the launch of the new official website, troop and staff fees, shape the summit survey, and Patrol Z were all new items that were released in the last month. Every one was encouraged to visit the new website, get their youth in their own unit to take the survey and give any potential candidates for Patrol Z to Matt Becker as soon as possible. The deadline to sign up for the opportunity to be in the “Patrol Z” is April 15th, 2011.

Switching gears the committee moved to discuss what the Pony Express Council has been allotted in terms of units for the 2013 National Jamboree. The council has been allotted 1 troop and 1 venturing patrol if the committee chooses to commit to filling all available slots. The committee unanimously chose to accept the bid for the Troop but discussion on the ability to fill both a troop and patrol was a different story. Based off of recent history the Pony Express Council has only been able to fill one troop in the last 4 jamborees. Adding another patrol of 10 participants would increase the council’s financial obligation to 50 participants in total including adults. With only 33 youth and adults in 2010 it could be an expensive gamble to commit to both for 2013. This discussion made this the biggest decision for the committee to decide on and it was not taken lightly by any of those in attendance. To make a long story short the committee’s decision was to accept what the Pony Express Council has been allotted, and to work extra hard to get the right people involved to make sure both are filled. The intention is to create a venturing subcommittee to work in conjunction with the rest of the Jamboree committee to create a plan of action to fill all available openings. After a quick phone call to Dennis Draper, Kanza District Venturing Chairman, the committee hopes to add him to help with this subcommittee.

Troop Leadership was another hot topic of discussion as the committee begun to get a good list of names going for potential leaders. The decision to open it up to application was made to see if there is any further interest from others in the council. An application will be drafted very soon and will be made available to those on the committee, the council website, and at district roundtables. The plan is to gather these interest applications to discuss and decide upon at the May committee meeting.

As mentioned earlier about the Venturing subcommittee, other subcommittees are being formed to help specialize in certain aspects of planning to keep meetings short and beneficial to everyone involved. Commitments were gathered from those in attendance to work together to form a subcommittee report for future meetings.

With the hour getting late the committee touched just briefly on promotions, and decided that the subcommittee needed to meet before any further action was taken. Their plan is to meet in the coming weeks to gather ideas and decide on what is best for getting the word out. Right now the committee recommends that those interested keep watching the website for new information and updates.

To bring the meeting to a close the last topic of discussion pertained to the trip details, with a heavy emphasis on the committee’s commitment to World Strides. World Strides has been the Pony Express Council’s touring agency of choice for the past 4 National Jamboree and has provided excellent service for the council troops each time. With the new location the decision must be made whether or not to continue to tour Washington D.C. as part of the trip or to plan something totally different. The committee decided that the Washington D.C. tour was worth the cost and plans on continuing using World Strides as the troop’s touring agency.

The next meeting has been set for Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 at 7 PM. The group will be meeting again in the Herzog Lodge to discuss progress and any new information. The agenda will be emailed out at a later date and posted on the Jamboree Blog.

Apply for Patrol Z Today!

Application submissions are open from March 1 until April 15 - get yours in now!

Apply Now

Related Articles: What is Patrol Z?

Source: Summit Bechtel Reserve - Patrol Z