Spring is Upon Us – From the Council Commissioner
I don’t know about the rest of you, but this weather has me wanting to get outside. Of course, as I type that sentence the sound of rain pelting the metal roof of my patio picked up, so maybe I will stay dry in here. It is definitely springtime. Cub Scouts are earning their ranks and crossing into Scouts BSA, plans are being made for summer camp, camporees are happening, so much is going on that it has left many of us without much time on our hands.
Our council helped hold a College of Commissioner Science with the Heart of Virginia and Colonial Virginia councils in Richmond. Several of our commissioners were instructors and even more took part in the training. I am hoping to provide more training opportunities for our commissioners throughout the year, but every Scouter is invited to them. When registration opens it will be open for all. Training is one of the most important things that we can take part in as Scouters to help deliver a S.A.F.E. and quality program to our youth. So look out for those opportunities, like the Wood Badge course coming up this fall.
One piece of news that many of you may have heard is that Journey to Excellence has been retired after 2024. In its place, there are unit metrics that are based on information in my.Scouting and/or Scoutbook. Your commissioner team will be using this to start conversations with your units and build a partnership for growing Scouting in our community. These are benchmarks that National has developed that they consider traits of a healthy unit. I want you to be aware of these so that you know where our commissioners are coming from as we look to help you develop goals to work towards these.
I look forward to working with all of our Scouters to grow and improve Scouting in our council. If you have any questions about these metrics and how unit service will be changing with all of this, please reach out to me. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
Yours in Scouting,
Matt Phillippi
It’s Pinewood Derby Season!
Pack 61 in Harrisonburg was restarted in 2024 at Muhlenberg Lutheran Church after over 30 years since they had last been chartered and two years of there being no Cub Scout pack in the City of Harrisonburg. They held their first Pinewood Derby on January 25th and it was a great success!
For two Saturdays prior, the Cubmaster held a cut-out clinic where Scouts and their adult partners could come and select a template to trace on their block and the Cubmaster would cut it out for them on a bandsaw. He also provided sandpaper for them to smooth the car to prepare it for their decorations. Everyone was excited to see what would be brought out on race day.
On the 25th, 15 of the Cub Scouts brought in their cars and with the help of Troop 40 and our Den Chief from Troop 8, we had a great day of racing! We had a few hiccups along the way, but all of the Scouts had a great time and the older Scouts (including some of the adults) got in on the fun of racing their cars as well.
It’s Time to Plan for Jamboree 2026!
Time is fast approaching to get our contingent registered for the Jamboree. While we are still working out some details on cost – we want to hear from you if you are interested in going as a participant. Please indicate your interest at – https://forms.gle/
The 2026 National Scout Jamboree will be held at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve. We’ll call it the “Summit” from here on out. The 2026 Jamboree will be the 4th National Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia’s New River Gorge region. The 10,000-acre Summit Bechtel Reserve is adjacent to 70,000 acres of a federally protected national river area, one of the most amazing outdoor recreation centers on earth. Thousands of Scouts and Scouters will explore all kinds of adventures—stadium shows, merit badge work, adventure sports, patch trading, and more—in the heart of one of nature’s greatest playgrounds. Every few years, the national Jamboree brings generations together through Scouting’s biggest showcase. You won’t want to miss this amazing experience. As the Jamboree happens only every few years a Scout typically only has one opportunity to experience the Jamboree as a youth during their time in Scouts BSA. The next one is not until 2029.
The jamboree is the best of Scouting rolled into 10 days of fun, friends, and adventure, and you can be there to be a part of it!
The theme of the 2026 Jamboree, “Elevate” which will focus on how we can elevate the Scouting experience for each of the participants and Jamboree Service Team (staff) at the Jamboree. The goal of the Jamboree is to help each person who attends the Jamboree in any way to Elevate their view of Scouting and have an experience that will help Elevate them to continue to grow in Scouting.
We plan to:
- Elevate your network through programs in the camp areas
- Elevate your adrenaline though high octane activities
- Elevate your leadership through opportunities to learn leadership skills and put them into practice
- Elevate your service through a service project to benefit the local community
It also reinforces one of the Summit Bechtel Reserve’s purposes of helping to redefine Scouting’s adventure for the next century. Participants of the 2026 National Jamboree will experience that difference every day.
Our tradition of the Jamboree delves deeply into what it means to be a Scout. For over 75 years, the national Jamboree has brought members from all over the country and the world together to share the bond that is Scouting. Each Jamboree grows in numbers and in adventure, adding more and more activities for Scouts to turn into memories.
There are tons of exciting activities that you can only experience at Jamboree. It is a fantastic experience that you don’t want to miss out on. So head on over to our Google Form to show your interest!
Off-Season Happenings at Camp
If you haven’t seen our VP of Properties, Paul Hansohn, then you haven’t spent enough time out at Camp Shenandoah. There has been a ton of activity happening this winter.
If you hadn’t heard the news about the trading post, the short version is that we had a mold infestation. As a result, we have spent a lot of time clearing out inventory and gutting the building down to the metal so that we could clean everything. This is a costly endeavor for our council but it is a necessary one to make sure we have a functioning trading post for the camping season. We had two workdays this December where a number of volunteers came out and ended up filling a dumpster, plus some. Now we will be moving on to cleaning, insulating, and restocking so we can bring you an even better trading post this summer.
There was also a leak in the roof discovered on what has long been called the “Cook’s Cabin.” One look at the moss-covered shingles would tell you this was a possibility and that the roof had been in need of some care for a while. This was another project taken on this winter as the roof was replaced.
Of course, it’s not all about maintenance out at camp, we also have some new things to be excited about. Our log splitter had seen better days and we all know the amount of wood we go through out at camp would be difficult to get through with Scout power along. We managed to obtain a new log splitter to help us catch up on the firewood usage at camp, which will be welcome news to the units visiting for Klondike next month.
Lots is happening out at camp all the time, and you should look to be a part of that! We are always in need of extra hands for different things. Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, roofers, masons, mechanics, you name a skill and even if you are just marginally knowledgeable about it we could use your help. And if you don’t think you have a helpful skill, you would be wrong because everyone has something they can contribute to make Camp Shenandoah the best it can be for our 75th anniversary!
