November 2015 IN THIS ISSUE 2 ADVISOR HELLO

“A bunch o’ scouts goes a-marchin’ past; 3 MESSAGE FROM YOUR Straightens’ up his ears an he hears dem say; ‘Wonder how long dat turkey’s gwine to last? PRESIDENT Mah, ahm glad it’s Thanksgiving day!’” Tobias Martin Bray “Thanksgiving Day” 4 WESTERN REGION NEWS 6 THINK YOU KNOW SCOUTS? 7 THEN AND NOW 8 COUNCIL VOA CHECK-IN 2

Advisor Hello Western Region Advisor RICK KAGAWA How is your Officers Association (VOA) or Crew?

Do they have an active Advisor and a full slate of Officers? Has the Crew Advisor assigned an Assistant Crew Advisor to the officers? Do you have an annual calendar with events and back dated to do lists? How are you advertising your events to Crews or Crew members? Are you using Facebook or Twitter to communicate to others? Do you use online storage such as Google or Dropbox to exchange documents and information? Are you meeting regularly, either by video chat, physical- ly or phone meetings? Have you had an event in the last three months?

Do you have fun together?

The reason I am asking these questions is because they are the ones you should be asking yourself about the health of your Crew or VOA. We find that if more of the answers to these questions are yes, your chances of being a successful vibrant organization is much higher.

Again, we find that successful Crews lead to successful VOAs. The BSA Councils who have successful VOAs support the Crews and have more membership and retention of members—this all goes hand-in-hand. And after all, having an organi- zation that is struggling is not nearly as much fun as having great friends and Crewmates!

On another note, you should be in the heart of planning your Crew calendar for next year. The Western Region Venturing Committee is working with youth to create a Superactivity next summer. Of course, you might be asking, “What is a Super- activity?” It is an event that is longer than a weekend. We know that it is proposed to be at Camp Entrada in Moab, Utah, in the center of a unique area that is known for rock climbing, repelling, white water rafting, four-wheeling, and slick rock mountain biking. This is planned to be a three-day activity sometime in the summer, so keep looking out for this event. If you are interested in serving as an officer on this youth lead event, please contact Pratik Vaidya.

Rick Kagawa Western Region VOA Advisor

www.wrventuring-bsa.net 3 Message from your President

Western Region President PRATIK VAIDYA Happy November, Western Region!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween weekend! The past two months have been packed with Venturing! I, along with many of your other offi- cers, represented you and the Venturing program at the Western Region Board Meetings in Salt Lake City, UT. We collaborated with our Region Venturing Committee (fun fact: we’re the only region with a Venturing committee!), gave reports about Venturing to various regional committees, and contributed to various discussions (for example, social media). I also attended ’s Program and Training Conference where I talked about the impact of both youth and adult training on the expe- rience we receive in the program. Just about a week ago, I got back from Guatemala, where I worked with the rest of the Interamerican Leader- ship Training (ILT) staff to prepare for our course in December and learn about Scouting in other countries. We’d love to hear about all the activ- ities, events, and training you’ve been involved with! Please email Katie Schneider, our VP of Communications, with any articles and pictures for a chance to be featured on our Facebook page or in our newsletters!

Have you heard the news? Our 2016 Western Region Venturing event, WR SCOUTvivor: Sector Redwood, will be taking place at Cutter Scout Reservation from April 8-10, 2016. We have a fantastic program planned for Venturers from around the Region. Highlights include ATVs, STEM-based crew competitions, shooting sports, a white-out dance, and much more! Registration will be out shortly, so be on the lookout for more information by checking our website and Face- book page frequently. We hope to see you there!

Lastly, the holiday season is a great opportunity to invite your friends to join your Crew for an activity or two and discover the magic of Venturing. I challenge each and every Crew to recruit two new members in the next two months — you can do it!

Stay warm and take advantage of all Venturing has to offer!

Pratik Vaidya WR Venturing President 4

What’s Happening in the Western Region With the cold weather fast approaching, our Scouts have been fitting in just a few more adventures before we have to call it winter camping.

Area 4 VOA Retreat, Camp Josepho Submitted by Tyler Deacy On September 12th and 13th, Area 4’s VOA, part of our training. Edward shared words of wis- in conjunction with Western Los Angeles County dom in a small speech at the end of the day where he Council’s VOA, put on a training and networking encouraged the VOA Officers to work to empower the weekend for the Area Officers at Camp Josepho. The Crews, as it is a responsibility for them to be in this goal was to get people from the active councils to for Venturers, not politics. Overall, the participants come together and learn how to work together. We enjoyed the weekend and made many new friends in had representation from Orange County Council, the program who can assist them in the future that is West LA County Council, California Inland Empire to come! Council, and even San Diego Imperial Council! The officers learned the basic skills, like how to work indi- vidually and as a team, and were faced with hypothet- ical scenarios in which they planned out their visions for the rest of the term and beyond. In addition to the normal agenda, we had special guest appearances from Hannah Olson, West- ern Region Vice President of Program, and Edward Abraham, National Venturing President. Hannah delivered a preview of the new Leadership Skills for Area 4 Venturers show that meetings can be a Crews training, which we integrated as the “Visions” large part of Scouting. But bring in Scouts from all over the Region, recognize leaders, and gain new skills, and it may not feel like a meeting at ] all.

Congratulations to Sofia Azalgara, Josh DeWitt, Julia Nishizaki, and Stephanie Shu for earning Venturing Leadership Awards for their hard work in the !cil! ] 5

Why it is Important to Remain Active During the Winter Season Submitted by Riley Beavers

Starting in November, most schools start to winter right around the corner?” thinking that winter, have their big quizzes and tests before the Christmas with all the snow storms, cold, and rain, might not be season. You will find a lot of students getting busy the most desirable season for activities. And they’re schedules that aren’t exactly feasible, a time when you entirely right! Winter is cold, wet, and dreary, which will lose a lot of your regular Crew members be- means it is the perfect time to go tour cool museums, cause of other committments. But this is no reason to have a city scavenger hunt, or maybe even a quick road stop your activities. In fact, November is the month trip to the next state over. The point I’m getting at is where you want to be over-active, continue hosting this: Don’t stop being active because you’re cold! If you open-houses, and planning events in your Crew. You need ideas for what to do, ask your VOA. They will will actually get a lot of kids that want a fun thing to do have some ideas, and would absolutely be enthusiastic during all the stress of school, many just have trouble about helping you. finding the time. To solve this, try to plan your meet- ings on a day that may not already be filled. For exam- If you continue to have fun, other people will ple, a good meeting time might be Monday evenings want to join in the fun, and soon you’ll have enough when Scouts aren’t too bogged down with the week’s members to keep your Crew strong through these homework--and Venturing is a great way to kick it off! upcoming months. Don’t forget, this is a daunting task! But your VOAs are there to help you, you just have to You will find a lot of kids saying, “But isn’t get out there and do it! Here are some ideas for your Crew activities this winter: All or nothing-- cold weather Organize snow camping a winter clothes

drive Holiday sugar cookie decorat- ing contest Have a pajama Volunteer at a party and movie food bank around night at a Crew Thanksgiving member’s house 6

Think You Know Scouts? Halloween may have passed, but now you need to figure out what to do with all that candy. (Yes, even Venturers still want treats on Halloween!) Take this quiz to see which Halloween candy is most like you, and maybe it will show up at your next cracker barrel! Pick a Halloween movie: What’s your favorite spooky creature? a. Hocus Pocus c. Insidious a. Bat b. Halloween d. It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie b. Black cat Brown c.Spider d. Jack-o-Lantern What’s the best part of Halloween? Pick a pumpkin item: a. Handing out candy c. Dressing up a. Pumpkin Spice Latte b. Trick-Or-Treating d. Carving pumpkins b. Pumpkin Seeds c. No Pick a treat Bucket: d. Pumpkin Bread

a. c. If you dressed up your dog for Halloween, it’d be:

a. c.

b. d.

b. d. What do you hand out to trick-or-treaters? a. Fun Size Candy Bars b. King Size Candy Bars c. Raisns d. Nothing, you’re too busy out getting your own

How Many Cavities have you had? Look for your candy match on the last page! a. 0 c. 2 b. 1 d. 3+ 7 Then and Now Thanksgiving has been celebrated for hundreds of years, and while it may be a little bit different than it was for the colonists at Plymouth, we still share the same values--many of which are seen in Scouting. Submitted by Katie Schneider In 1621, the first colonists at Plymouth, Massachusettes held a feast with the nearby Wampanoag Native Americans to celebrate a successful autumn harvest. While this came to be the first of what we now call Thanks- giving (declared a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863), the colonists were simply thanking the Native Americans for their guidance and appreciative of survival. Many recognize Squanto, the Native American who taught the colonists how to fish, grow corn, and survive on the land. And while we today are familiar with turkey, stuffing, and platters piled high with pumpkin pie, Plymouth more likely feasted on deer and maybe even lobster, lacking baked goods because of low sugar supply.

The point is, some people like Thanksgiving because it is a day centered around a glorious meal--how- ever, we also recognize the true reason it has been repeated for 400 years: that it is important to be thankful, not having what you want but wanting what you have. Thankfullness might not be one of the twelve points of the Scout Law, however Scouts and Venturers alike often present this trait in their everyday lives. Personally, I am thankful for my Venturing family; the people I’ve met and the experiences and memories I have gained. I have had the incredible chance to go on adventures with my best friend for the past five years through this program, something I am eternally grateful for.

But the “giving” of the holiday is just as important--and arguably even more present in Scouting. TheScout slogan “Do a Good Turn Daily” is in itself a reminder to Scouts to consider others each and every day. Programs such as National Youth Leadership Community (NAYLE) teach servant leadership and encourage that we lead to benefit them rather than ourselves, without expecting anything in return. As the Native Amer- icans gave to colonists the skill of harvesting their own food and essential survival in their brand new environ- ment, Scouts around the world contribute to a large community of giving. 8

Congratulations to our Council VOAs! One of the main goals for the Western Region this term is to help establish as many new Council VOAs as possible. Here’s a list so far! Continue to keep up the great work in your Councils, Areas, and the Region and let’s shoot to create even more. Area 1 Area 3 Area 6 Cascade Pacific Golden Empire San Diego Imperial Chief Seattle Mount Diablo Silverado Catalina Grand Columbia Pacific Skyline Great Southwest Ore-Ida Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Las Vegas Area Oregon Trail Area 2E Area 4 Denver Area California Inland Empire Long Beach Area Western Los Angelas County Orange County Ventura County Greater Los Angelas Area

“Think You Know Scouts?” Quiz Results MOSTLY As MOSTLY Bs MOSTLY Cs MOSTLY Ds

Hershey’s Bar Nerds Butterfinger Skittles

You’re a classic! Everyone \Just like Nerds may not be the This timeless treat matches Your loud personality knows your name, and your most common candy in your your good heart--a lot like matches all the colors of the personality is one that peo- Halloween bucket this year, you its irresistable buttery center! Skittles rainbow. This Hal- ple recognize. This Hallow- are special as well! You can be You’re the one who makes loween, you’re excited to go een, you will have fun doing unpredictable, but also adapt sure the house has just enough out with friends to show off all of the traditions- carving to situations very well. Your spook to fit the season, but not a great costume, and maybe punpkins, watching scary costume and pumpkin will re- too much to scare little trick- even plan some tricks! movies, and enjoying some veal your craft and cunning this or-treaters away. candy! year--better get carving!