Did we see you at a parade or other recent event?  Wow, what fun!  Drop us a note and tell us what you thought at SayHello@nlbsa.org, we'll share the word with the scouts around the North Lakes District. 

Scouting is a worldwide brotherhood over 100 years old!  More than 28 million members in 160 countries.  Started in England in 1907, it was brought to the United States of America a few years later in 1910.  So you are just in time for the 100 year birthday party! 

Today the Boy Scouts of America program consists of several age specific programs, and we'd like to introduce you to Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Venturing in particular.  In the end we hope you will find that scouting has a place in your family's plan and join in the adventure. 

Along the way we expect you will do a little research and then come and visit a couple of local units.  A couple because each unit is a little different just like the people who are involved, and there are likely at least a couple of units that meet a short distance from your home.  We recommend that you visit http://joinscouts.net/ for some great information and to get a referral.  You can also send an email to webmaster@nlbsa.org if you have questions or special needs and we'll be sure to find the right person to get back to you.  Oh, and if you've been invovled in one unit but feel it wasn't a really good fit, try another, you will be pleased at the variety possible within the program.

As you may have noticed while getting here, there is a lot going on for scouts and the adult volunteers who make the scouting program great.  In fact now might be a good time to note that part of what makes the scouting program great is the upstanding men and women trained to coach and mentor our youth and who do so as unpaid volunteers.

Three Programs

 Cub Scouts is for young men in First through Fifth grade ? or 7 to 10 years old.  Cub Scouts are organized into "dens" of a handful to a dozen or more young men all about the same grade/age and they meet regularly and do fun stuff.  These dens are organized into a Pack, which meets a little less frequently but when they do the fun is big.  Activities range from the famous "Pinewood Derby" to maybe an overnight campout with familes.

Boy Scouts is for young men aged at least 11 years but not yet 18.  However he may join when he is just ten years of age if he has earned Cub Scouting's "Arrow of Light Award" OR he has completed the fifth grade.  In Boy Scouts the young men run their own program and the adults help them learn the ropes of leadership and organization.  About 8 young men typically make up the smallest unit called a Patrol, and they elect their leader.  The patrols make up a Troop and the Patrol leader is the representative to the Troop's Patrol Leader's Council which plans and executes the program.  The Troop has a job for everyone, because many hands make light work.  The adventure in scouting is limited only by the imagination of the young men and their adult mentors.   But the backbone of the program is often adventure in the out of doors. 

Venturing is for young men and women who are 14 (and have completed the eighth grade) through 20 years of age.  Venturing is a new "old" program of the Boy Scouts of America. Originally part of the Exploring Division, it finally came into its own in 1998. It has become the fastest growing program of the BSA. Young adults have found through the Venturing program the outlet they have been looking for in their age group.  Units often specialize around a specific hobby or interest. 

Questions? 

Mount Baker Council Website (for our friends to the north!)