West is Best!
WESTERN REGION VENTURING
Volume 2, Number 4
President’s Message:
Hello, Western Region! As we dive into the holidays, it is time to start thinking about the selection season. Starting in February and March with the selection of the National Venturing President and ending in June with the selections of many council presidents, soon we will have a whole new slate of officers. Annaliese Parker
If you have not thought about it already, consider applying for the offices you are qualified for. It is truly the opportunity of a lifetime. Western Region President 2012-2013
At about the same time, the Venturing Leadership Award selections will be going on. Please make sure that each Venturer who shows excellent leadership at that tier is nominated for this prestigious award. It is important to recognize those youth who show exemplary leadership. Coming up next spring, we have our 5th annual Western Region Venturing Youth Conference happening with a newly added advisor session. It will be held about an hour out of Seattle, Washington on April 19th-21st! It will be a blast so I hope to see you all there. Please feel free to contact any of the officers if you have any questions about their positions or any other Venturing related questions. I look forward to seeing many of you in new leadership positions! Stay Classy Western Region. WEST IS BEST!
by Annaliese Parker
Western Region President, 2012-2013 president@wrventuring-bsa.org
WRVYC in 2013! April 19-21, Seattle, WA
December, 2012
Running for President or VP
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re you running for a 2013-2014 area or region office? I hope so! Starting in early march, the new Western Region Venturing President will be selected. Very shortly after, the new area presidents will be selected.
Applications for region president are due February 15th and applications for area president are due March 1st to the National office. Remember, they need to be sent to the National office, so even if you are unsure about it, make sure you apply on time! The application needs signatures from your crew advisor and Council Scout Executive, which can take more time than expected, so make sure you anticipate a small delay. Applications for Vice Presidents at all levels are also highly encouraged and fill out the same application as the President candidates do. The position of President is selected by representatives from the tier below, but the 3 Vice Presidents are appointed by the new President. You never know, you could be the next President or Vice President! Being in one of these offices is a true honor and tons of fun! If you are curious as to how each office is selected at the National, Region, or Area level, please turn to the Venturing Standard Operating Procedures for more information. Run for an office! If you have any questions on the selection process, please email vpadmin@wrventuring-bsa.org or president@wrventuring-bsa.org.
Venturing Leadership Awards
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he Venturing Leadership Award is awarded to youth Venturers who show excellent service and leadership at the Council, Area, Region, or National level. Anyone can submit a nomination for the award, and a committee of past recipients and representatives from the designated level meet and select recipients. The applications for Region and Area VLAs are due February 15th, 2013. Council deadlines may vary, so please contact the VOA president or the Venturing representative in your council. The application for the VLA form can be found at http://www. scouting.org/scoutsource/Venturing/Awards/leadership.aspx. For any additional questions please contact: vpadmin@wrventuring-bsa.org.
Area 1 Improves their VOAs
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appy Holidays Western Region! In the last few months, Area 1 has really picked up. Chief Seattle Council just had their annual Fall Rendezvous at Camp Pigott and they have a long list of events planned for the rest of the year.
Three weeks ago at Camp Thunderbird in Olympia Washington, the Area Area 1 VOA 1 Training Conference took place, and President - 2012-13 it went extremely well! We took the opportunity to connect all of our VOAs in the area. We had members from the Chief Seattle, Grand Columbia, Oregon Trails, and Pacific Harbors VOAs. We also had representatives from the Cascade Pacific council. Jeremy Felty
Area 2 Works With LDS rea 2 has had great AREA
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success this last month in dealing with Council LDS Relationship Committees. We have developed a few packets that help explain the necessity of the Venturing experience for young men President............... Copper Quist in the LDS church. Both Vice Presidents.......Julie Graham Councils that we made our Charles Holm Tyler Lofgran presentation in are now making a stronger push Advisor................Michael Chaffin towards the Venturing program, and we expect to see great things come from it. We have also been working on developing our Area 2 webpage, you can visit it at https://sites.google.com/site/ wrarea2voa/home It now shows our current VOA, and has a countdown to the Region Conference. More updates will be coming soon! Copper Quist By Copper Quist 2012-2013 Area 2 Venturing President area2-president@wrventuring-bsa.org
Area 2 VOA President - 2012-13
We also just brought on a new member to our Area cabinet who will be key in helping to bring about new council VOAs. This new member is Rene Schiller from Oregon Trails Council. This is his final year of youth scouting, and AREA he will be an outstanding member of our Area cabinet. We are trying to complete our Area 1 email contact list, so if you’re in Area 1, please contact Andre Giacalone at area1-vpcomms@wrventuring-bsa.org to get on the list. By Jeremy Felty
2012-2013 Area 1 Venturing President area1-president@wrventuring-bsa.org
Vice Presidents...............Ethan Stroh Andre Giacalone Shannan Stevens Advisor.................. Dr. Bruce Noonan
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n October 21, we held an Area meeting at the Santa Clara County Council Office. We had a good turnout of both youth and adults. We discussed CSVE and Peer-to-Peer recruitment packets, and handed out surveys about how to improve our Area. The survey consisted of a few basic questions: What upcoming events is your council holding? Is there an event you would like to have the area Tess Mitchell officers present? What can the area do to help Area 3 VOA your council? What can the area do to have President 2012-13 better meetings? We really wanted to get input from our councils, and we had a great response! Our main focus is now the AREA Second Annual Area Three Leadership Summit (A3LS). Announcement!!! We have finally established the date and location of the next A3LS! The A3LS will be held April 12-14 2013 at Camp Masonite Navarro. By Tess Mitchell, President............... Tess Mitchell
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2012-2013 Area 3 Venturing President area3-president@wrventuring-bsa.org
Vice Presidents..... Amanda Clark Forrest Yeh Indy Nelson Advisor................. Larry Peterson
the word out! If you plan to run for the National Venturing Officer Positions, applications are due February 1st.
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’ve had a lot of fun over the last month or so! I completed the tip sheet for the CSVE Award and it will be sent out very soon. I also worked on Peer to Peer recruitment and how to get the word out more.
Also, the spring deadlines for your incoming District, Council, and Area Venturing Officers are approaching fast, so get
President...................... Jeremy Felty
Area 3 is Excited for 2013!
Region VP-Admin It’s time to start thinking about Venturing Leadership Award (VLA) nominations! (See website for information)
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I also worked with my Council for the Cub Scout weekend at Camp Nicol, and helped run Longs Peak Council’s Venturing Bronze Weekend Night Owl. Can’t wait for next year! Shantell Sallee Region VP of Admin - 2012-13
By Shantell Sallee
2012-2013 VP of Administration vpadmin@wrventuring-bsa.org
Area 4 References the Hunger Games
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he councils in Area 4 have been very busy and productive recently. We would first like to welcome the new Council VOA Presidents in the Long Beach Area and Los Angeles Area Councils to Jillian Infusino the Area 4 family. The Area 4 cabinet is looking forward to working with these new Area 4 VOA President - 2012-13 presidents. All of our Jamboree Crews are meeting and fundraising for the National Jamboree next year. We also have a training day sponsored by the Los Angeles Area Council coming up on December 1st. This Training Day will have classes for both youth and adults. San Gabriel Valley Council AREA is preparing for their Venturing NYLT course coming up after the New Year and anyone is welcome to attend! Don’t forget about the November 2013 Powder Horn Course sponsored by the Long Beach Area Council; you are President.............. Jillian Infusino ALL invited! May the odds be Vice Presidents....Chris Moncrief ever in your favor. Andrew Zimmerman
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By Jillian Infusino
2012-2013 Area 4 Venturing President area4-president@wrventuring-bsa.org
Advisor................ Chuck Williams
rea 6 has been making major progress on our Area conference planned for this March(8-10). During our conference calls, we have had multiple council presidents in attendance, and Malia Ashley we discuss ways to spread the word about Area 6 VOA the conference. We have also established President - 2012-13 a connection with the host council (Grand Canyon Council) and have an adult liaison. We will hopefully have a youth liaison as well. Our program vice president, Brandi Tena, has been working hard on the specific details of the conference. Our other vice presidents, David Carden and Shannon Mulligan, have also been working on getting input from the council presidents about what they would like to have covered at the conference. In addition to planning our conference, we have been trying to disseminate knowledge about the Area Venturing Officers’ Association in our area. Most AREA councils do not have a definitive idea of what the AVOA is for, so we are going to send out a newsletter soon with specific information about our AVOA, as well as highlights grom all of the councils in our area with articles about exciting annual events from President................ Malia Ashley each.
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2012-2013 Area 6 Venturing President area6-president@wrventuring-bsa.org
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pproximately twenty five Venturers and Advisors participated in the San Gabriel Valley Council Venturing Shooting Day at Camp Trask on Saturday, October 6. Shooters had the opportunity to complete the California Department of Fish & Game Hunter Safety Course or the NRA First Steps Course for Pistol, Rifle, or Shotgun. During lunch, the VOA conducted its first meeting of the year, and the Advisors held their first Forum of the year. -Submitted by Jillian Infusino
Venturing Officers’ Association continues to be a work-inprogress. Don Diaz, as area representative, continues to work with each of the councils in developing Council VOAs to strengthen Venturing in each council.
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By Malia Ashley
Area 4 Goes Shooting
Area 5
Area 6: Plans Their Conference!
AREA
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VOA President................(vacant) Area 5 Advisor..............Don Diaz
Vice President..... ...David Carden Shannon Mulligan Brandi Tena Advisor............ Mackenzie Lardie
VP-Comms Query of the Month:
“If you were a mythical creature, which one would you be, and why?”
Here are the responses from each Area representative: Area 1: Narwhal - king of the ocean! Area 2: Shapeshifter - the practical uses are endless! Area 3: Siren - they are tricky creatures... Area 4: Mermaid - so I can swim with sea turtles and dolphins Area 6: Mermaid - biodiversity of the ocean is amazing President: Adhene - It’s not a fairy... VP Comms: Hippogriff - they can make Malfoy cry ;) VP Admin: Fairy - they are in all the stories we grew up with. Plus, they are awesome! Advisor: Flying Spaghetti Monster - everyone has to believe in something! Have a question you want to see answered in our next newsletter?? Send it to: vpcomms@wrventuring-bsa.org
Los Angeles Spaghetti Jamboree Fundraiser
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he Jamboree Crew for the Los Angeles Area Council (LAAC) had a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser on Saturday, November 10th. They raised money for their individual Venturing accounts to help with the cost of Jamboree. They had the Rio Hondo District Symphony give a concert for all those in attendance during dinner. The LAAC Jamboree Crew has 24 youth and two adults attending Jamboree next year. They are all very excited to be attending the Jamboree! I attended this fundraiser and talked to some of the individual scouts about the Summit and some of the activities they will be doing next July. If your local Jamboree Crew needs a fundraiser, hosting a spaghetti dinner is a great one to do! See you at the Summit! -Submitted by Jillian Infusino
Long Beach VSLT Course
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he LBAC hosted a Venturing Specific Leader Training on Saturday, November 10th, at the Long Beach Sea Base. The Area 4 President, Area 4 Advisor and one Area 4 Associate Advisor staffed this course along with the LBAC VOA Advisor. The course had 8 participants who were all excited to learn about Venturing. We were very excited to have some adults who are involved with the Sea Scout program come and expand their knowledge about Venturing. The group worked really well together and all of the leaders left with new program and fundraising ideas for their crews. We hope to see them again next year at the LBAC Powder Horn course! -Submitted by Jillian Infusino
Summit 2013 Jamboree
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re you planning to be at the Summit next year? I know I am. The Summit is located in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. I went to the Summit Shakedown this past July and had an absolute blast - and National is now allowing Venturers to attend! Another option is to go as staff. I will be there next year as an assistant to the Extreme Sports Director. We have some really great tracks and courses for everyone to experience, along with professionals to help give advice. There is a spot for everybody at the Summit so nobody should be left at home. Go big and get wild, and see you at the Summit! -Submitted by Jillian Infusino
Region VP-Comms
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ip your lip, other regions - West is Best! As VP Comms, I’ve been focusing a lot on updating and improving the Region website, as well as providing tech support for the various areas. We now have almost all of the Vice President bios and pictures for each area, as well as contact information Teddy Heidmann for most councils. Region VP of In the next few months, I hope to create a Comms - 2012-2013 mobile version of the website, and add more council camps and headquarters to the Chart House pages. I also plan on maintaining my streak of having the newsletters out on the first of the month, and will continue to look for new ways of improving them. The last issue brought about clickable links and hi-resolution photos, and I’ve continued those in this issue. As we move closer and closer to next year’s Western Region Venturing Youth Conference, I look forward to further promoting the event in as many ways as possible. Speaking of Facebook, the Western Region Venturing Facebook Group has been gaining members rapidly over the last few months, thanks to a herculean effort by many of your Area presidents. On one day, we gained 100 new members in 10 minutes! Since numbers aren’t everything though, we will continue to closely monitor the group and provide helpful and informative resources for Venturers of all ages, and hope that you will continue to add to the growing community. At the request of Jillian Infusino, ‘my bff’, I will also remind you: WEST IS BEST!!! By Teddy Heidmann
2012-2013 VP of Communication vpcomms@wrventuring-bsa.org
Area 1 Training Conference
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n November 9, members of Area 1 gathered at Camp Thunderbird in Olympia, WA for the Area Training Conference. The event was well attended with plenty of activities and training sessions to keep the participants busy. The youth kicked off the weekend with a campfire and skits followed by a cracker barrel and fellowship. The area then spent Saturday morning discussing ethical controversies and attending informative training sessions that will benefit the area’s Venturing program, and strengthen leadership skills for the area officers. This was also one of the times the area officers were able to meet completely in one spot and work towards their collective goals and objectives for the area over the next year. The attitude of the officers at this conference was one of excitement and enthusiasm for the next year and the willingness to bring Venturing in the area to a new standard of adventure and exploration. -Submitted by Andre Giacalone