LEC 3-Minute Update - February 1, 2024

Mornin’, all! I’m Jake Brown, and this next Firelands Klondike is going to be a real bear! That’s right, the Kodiak Klondike is the weekend after next, and who knows: maybe there will be a real-life bear up there! I heard through the grapevine that there were some at one of the last Klondikes, so hey: one can only hope, right? I love seeing bears! 

Okay, in this week’s three minute update, we have updates in the worlds of: Training, Special Events, and Camping, and Scholarships! 

First, in training, note that the LEC is hosting a University of Scouting on Saturday, March 16th. Registration is live with the event and course descriptions, and you can send questions or inquiries to Dave Sechnick. Its important to note that there will be a Rangemaster training on February 24th at Firelands, BALOO, Scoutmaster Basic, and Wilderness First Aid Trainings are open upcoming in April, and the Wood Badge and NYLT course registrations are open now! 

And speaking of Wood Badge and NYLT, their annual scholarship fundraiser breakfast will be held on March 9th at Lakewood High School. Come support future participants to Wood Badge and NYLT by attending the fundraiser breakfast, and bid on some great live auction items while there! Send questions to Linda Gray; the Early Bird closes this Sunday, February 4th. 

In other special event news, The Class of 2023 Eagle Scout Celebration will be on February 24th, and the annual Celebration of Scouting will be held on March 2nd. 

And speaking of the Celebration, I have some great news to share! The 2023 Distinguished Award of Merit recipients are: Jason Fredeen, Dan Fyfe, Clay Mastorovich, Joy Rowland, Molly Urban, Greg White, John Poggemeyer, Nicholas Riegelmayer, and Mary Wheatley who is better known to friends and family as “Muffy.” Please join me in extending some well-deserved congratulations to these Scouters! 

Now in camping, Klondikes are almost over, but there’s still time to Sign up for the, and the rescheduled Beaumont Klondike! Troop members can earn the Snow Sports Merit Badge at Kent State on February 18th. The next merit badge university is in March at Beaumont. Sap Camp is March 2nd.  Cub Scouts should attend Winter Mud Day at Firelands on March 9th! On March 17th, Scouts can join in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Cleveland, and you can email Julia Hearne for more information. Metalworking Merit Badge is upcoming on April 6th, there’s a Beaumont Spring Camporee the last weekend of April, as well as a service and camping opportunity on Kelley’s Island! 

Also, here’s some more BIG news: You only have to travel to Firelands Scout Reservation to witness the upcoming solar Eclipse on April 8th, and have a fun weekend of Scouting leading up to it! It’s big news because the next time it’ll happen in Northeast Ohio is in 2444. Send Anthony or Jess your questions. 

And that’s a wrap for this week’s three minute update! Thanks for all you do and thanks for being you! We’ll see you next week! Oh look, a pic-in-ic basket! Don’t mind if I do! 

LEC 3 Minute Update - May 11, 2023

Mornin’, all! And thanks for tuning in to this week’s three-minute update. I’m Jake Brown, and I’m coming to you today from the beautiful shores of Lake Erie. Special Thanks to all who participated in Trash the Trash last weekend, and helped make these shores cleaner and better for us all! If you haven’t sent in your total trash collected yet, please email Michelle.

Additionally, we still help at the Cleveland Marathon. Please contact Tyler Matthews directly to learn more. This is the last week to sign up to give service, so do it!

The organization Trials for Hope is in great need of assistance for sorting and labeling items (such as food, clothing, and toiletries) that come in as donations. Saturdays are the preferred days for this. Sorting happens at 4321 Bridge Avenue, Cleveland.

Canned food donations are also appreciated. Canned items need to have pop tops to open as they go to the homeless, who might not have the means to open cans.

If you’d like to help or have any questions, please reach out to Teresa Sabol.

You can still sign up for the Beaumont session of EDGE training this Saturday, where adult leaders can learn best practices for how to deliver trainings, inside and outside of Scouting! Come, join us, and learn new skills!

ILST and NYLT registrations are still open! Dave Sechnick and Jen Folkman can your questions about the courses. In addition, if your NYLT participants aren’t able to attend the May ILST session, but you want some helpful resources in providing the course at the unit level, also email Dave!

LEC is offering EDGE training, mobile rock wall training, and Archery Level 1 Training (Archery for Scouts BSA members) over the next few weeks. Check out the Council calendar, and register now!

In addition, note that the Council is also hosting its first-ever Council-Registered Unit Representative Training on Saturday, June 3rd. We’re encouraging Key 3 leaders from council-registered units to attend, in addition to those who are curious to learn more about how volunteers and professionals jointly administer chartering a unit through the LEC. If you have any questions about this course, contact me!

The Membership and Product Sales trainings this July will be a huge asset for all Packs, Troops, and Crews. Veterans with years of experience and novices with no idea how to organize a fundraiser will both get new information helpful to your unit’s cause. Join us in person or virtually from any session! Register now!

Cub Scouts: register now for the Swings’n’Things Overnighter, along with the LEC Pinewood Derby Grand Championship, S’More Cub Adventures, and a Crushers’ Campout to fill your calendars with! Sign up for these and easily put the outing in Scouting now for your Cubs!

LEC 3 Minute Update - August 25, 2022

Mornin’, all! I’m Jake Brown bringing you this week’s three minute update from Orlando, FL! And I know what you’re thinking: wow, what a cool vacation! To which I say, Ha! I wish! Nope, we’re down here this week because Mike Evano is packing up the last of his things and headed north to us, in order to be our new Director of Field Services effective September 1st! Mike’s joins us with a lot of Scouting experience from Minnesota, Nebraska, and yes, most recently, Florida. Send him an email to welcome him to the team, as well as to figure out why moving from Orlando to Cleveland is on his bucket list.

Additionally, please welcome Megan Millisor and Tyler Matthews to the Field Team. Megan joins us from the Girl Scouts and has been with us for a couple of weeks now. Tyler also joins us on the first, and he is not from the Girl Scouts. Their emails are below, so be sure to say hi and you’re happy to meet them! I know we sure are!

Okay, here’s what’s up this week: Jamboree, Training, Wood Badge/NYLT dinner, Cub Activities, SBSA Activities, and opportunities for service.

National Jamboree in 2023 is a great chance to explore the Summit, meet folks from around the country, and get to experience activities in Scouting otherwise unavailable to Scouts. Registration is here, contact Phil Williams with questions.

Troops! There are fall camporees at Firelands and Beaumont, and the Early Bird deadlines are fast approaching. They’re a great chance to get out and enjoy a fun program that your Scouts don’t have to plan. They’re a swingin’ deal! Contact John Shrock with questions, register today!

Cub Scouts, there are Webelos Woods, Cub Haunted Weekends, Fun Days and Overnighters, as well as Holidays at Camp weekends to register for! It’s not too late to fill the Scouting calendars of those new recruits! Let Grace know if you have any questions and join us in our great outdoors!

Additionally, if your Troop is interested in service hours, email Grace to help staff the Cub Haunted weekends! We need ghouls, ghosts, and goblins galore!

Speaking of service opportunities, the Cleveland Autism Speaks group is hosting a charity walk on October 23rd at the Great Lakes Science Center. Help is needed setting up and tearing down from 830 to 11 am. Interested parties should contact Linda at 440-552-4950 to volunteer.

Also, since Russia is still invading Ukraine, we are, in fact, still collecting medical kits to be sent overseas. Email me if you’re interested in learning more about how to assemble them. Completed kits can be delivered here. Thanks in advance for your efforts!

Also a reminder about the NYLT/Wood Badge alumni dinner on September 17th! Registration is live, come join us in the nostalgia!

If you’re participating in Scouting for Food, follow this link to tell us how much food you collected in pounds. We’re excited to share the total next week!

Lastly, the Western Service Area (including anyone from Cleveland to the Lorain county line) is hosting a meet the troop night on October 12th at John Knox Church in North Olmstead. Any troops interested in hosting a table at this event should register here and get in touch with Kevin Klinect. Any den leaders or families of Arrow of Light Scouts in the area should also plan on attending! Questions go to Kevin Klinect.

Lastly lastly, there’s plenty of training opportunities this fall: SM Basic, BALOO, Mobile Climbing Wall, Rangemaster, and G.A.M.E.S. are all opportunities to bolster your Scouting skills and knowledge, and improve your program! Check out the calendar and register today!

And that’s a wrap for this week’s 3 minute update! Thanks for all you do and thanks for being you! We’ll see you next time!

LEC 3 Minute Update - August 19, 2022

Mornin', all! And greetings from downtown Cleveland! I'm in the Flats by the Foundry, which is a beautifully redone rowing and fitness facility on the banks of the Cuyahoga. In fact, this facility was redone over the course of 2015 to the tune of about $14 million, transforming it from a decrepit turn-of-the-second-to-last century warehouse to a modern, state of the art facility with a lot of old school character.

It's also where the entire staff was on Wednesday, putting as much fun in fundraising as we could in our last development event! So for those of you still waiting on an email from me, I apologize!

But here we are, a beautiful day in this beautiful city, and this is everything you need to know this week!

Here we have Scout Shop Updates, Training Updates, Cub Haunted Reminders, a call to Scouts for volunteering, Scouting for Food, the NYLT/Wood Badge Annual Alumni Event, and a quick blurb about fall recruiting resources.

The Cleveland Scout Shop has 10% of uniform bottoms with purchase of the top until October 30th, so stop in today!

There are many upcoming Trainings this fall for adult leaders, including: mobile climbing wall training, BALOO, SM Basic, Rangemaster, and GAMES training. Check out the council calendar and continue learning how to make the program for the Scouts in your unit the best it can be!

The Wood Badge/NYLT annual alumni reunion is slated for September 17th on the Wyandot side of Firelands, from Noon to 3:00 p.m. Register now at this link to get together, reminisce, and try out the new games from the new syllabus! Questions should go to John Z.

Cub Scouts: it isn't too late to register for the fun fall we are offering you all! Cub Haunted in October is still taking registrants, as well as Scouts BSA volunteers for the event. Contact Grace with any questions.

Additionally, there's an overnighter in September you should consider because it'll be a Cosmic time! An out of this world experience!! That's September 9th thru 11th. Register now!

In reality though, folks, this is potentially the first chance any new recruits will have to experience a fun, outdoor, Scouting experience together as a family. It's a big deal, because new Scout families who go camping early on will stay in Scouting longer and become more dedicated. So don't miss out yourselves, and make sure to invite those new recruits along.

There's a volunteer opportunity this Saturday in Cleveland to help the Big Rock & Roll Run Saturday morning. It starts in the Inner Harbor and ends at Edgewater Park. Interested volunteers should email Mark.

To those of you Scouting for Food this weekend, thank you and good luck! We look forward to hearing how much food you gathered to report on in a couple of weeks! Additionally, if you want to Scout for Food later, we have the resources for your unit now, here, at the service center, so call member care to ask for some!

Lastly, if you need recruitment materials, or a council presence at your scheduled school talks or join nights, request them now using this form! No matter who or where you are, definitely use this form to request your resources, as it is the only way to guarantee our staff won't lose sight of your request in this busy fall season!

And folks, that's a wrap for this week's three minute update. Thanks for all you do and thanks for being you! We'll see you next week!

LEC 3 Minute Update - June 30, 2022

Mornin’, all! And thanks for tuning in to this week’s three minute update. I’m Jake Brown, and this week’s update comes to you from Lakewood, Ohio! Here’s home to multiple Scouting units, along with Lakewood Park, the Beck Center of the Arts, and the Lakewood Civic Auditorium, among other cool spots worth seeing!

And in this week’s update we have: non-unit Scouter registration, national fee increases, Scouting for Food, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting annual training conference, BALOO and SM Basic Trainings, and this week’s fun fact.

First, any Scouter who’s primary registration is not at the unit level, such as Commissioners, must renew their registration by July 31st. Everyone who is registered at the non-unit level must renew their registrations by completing this registration link. If your non-unit registration is your primary registration, you can either mail payment to the Unit Service Center, or you can pay electronically by following this link. Please email sfgarner@gmail.com or David.madigan@scouting.org any questions.

The National Committee on Catholic Scouting is hosting its annual training conference at Philmont from July 17ththru 23rd. Participants will learn the best methods to deliver Scouting through the lens of the catechism, among learning other intersectionalities between Catholicism and Scouting. For questions or to register, please email NCCS@scouting.org.

Shoutout to Troop 41 and Packs 3236, 555, and 455 for being the first to register for this year’s Scouting for Food drive. If your unit would like to register, please do so at this link. If you think you’ve already registered and didn’t hear your unit number, email Michelle.Cali@scouting.org.

Cub Leaders: if you need Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (otherwise known as BALOO training), please register now at this link. The next course is August 26-28 at Beaumont. Send rebbecca.setty@gmail.com your questions.

Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters: if you need Scoutmaster Basic Training, please register for the next course at this link. It is September 9-11, and will be at Beaumont as well. Send phobsa@att.net your questions.

If you are interested in taking Rangemaster Training, please email Julia.Hearne@scouting.org . The next offering is scheduled for October, so if you’re aiming to take it sooner, please reach out.

Lastly, here’s this week’s fun fact: what’s the cost of a new chimney these days? Tough sayin’, but at minimum it’s through the roof!

Haha! Oh, what a knee-smacker!

Hey, and speaking of things being expensive, I’m about to share what I know is your favorite news of the week: National BSA is raising registration fees again. Let’s break this down. Explorers, Sea Scouts, and all adults: your fees remain the same.

Brand new youth members: the New Member fee remains the same.

Youth Members: your fee increases $3, from $72 to $75 for the year.

Scout Life subscriptions: these also increased $3, from $12 to $15.

Charter Fees: The one-time annual charter processing fee raised from $75 to $100.

All of these increases take effect on August 1st. If you would like an updated cost sheet matrix or need any clarifications, please email lecmembercare@scouting.org.

If you’d like to reminisce about the good old days when Scout Life magazine was $5, and the registration fee was $12, and gas was 50 cents a gallon and the Cuyahoga caught fire and the school was uphill both ways Nixon to had to resign: we encourage you to do that on your front porch with friends and a pitcher of iced tea in this beautiful summer sun.

Now, please note that if you have any new Scouts to add to your unit’s roster, it will most definitely be cheaper to do that in July than it will be in August. So send in those apps now! And do remember to update your unit’s budget with these latest fees so you’re prepared come recharter, when most of us will see them take effect.

And folks: that’s a wrap for this week’s 3 minute update. Our office and Scout shops will be closed Monday in observance of July 4th, as we hope yours is as well. We hope your weekend is long, fun, and safe for all. Thanks for all you do and thanks for being you!

LEC 3 Minute Update - June 10, 2022

Hello, I’m Jake Brown and this 3 minute update is coming to you from Way Up North in Anchorage, Alaska! It’s a whopping 55 degrees here today, which is a lot higher than the average high this time of year. The chance of rain is low, the chance of moose and bear sighting is high, and, oh, I see Paula Swiner over there! Hey Paula!! And, she’s on vacation so she’s ignoring me. I don’t blame her.

In this week’s update, we have Celebration of Scouting, Wood Badge, Fall Popcorn/Recruitment Kickoffs, Scouting for Food, Scout Shop updates, the last call to sign up for National Jamboree, S’More Cub Scout Adventures, and a reminder about Family Free Fishing Weekend.

The Celebration of Scouting is upcoming on June 24th, so please register now at this link! Send Paula.Swiner@scouting.org your questions, and she’ll get to them when she gets back from vacation.

Wood Badge is still a superb training opportunity, and spots are filling up fast! Make sure you register today for this course before you’re on a waiting list! Email joelbussman@gmail.com any questions you have.

It’s not too late to register for S’More Cub Adventures, so do so now at this link! Email Jess Weaver your questions.

Folks, this happens sometimes, and I apologize for it: I was wrong. The four fall kickoffs, where we will distribute popcorn, Scout’s Own, and recruitment resources to units, will each begin at 7:00 p.m., NOT 6:00 p.m. On the bright side, that’ll hopefully expand your Pack adults’ abilities to be present! The dates are still June 23rd, July 21stand 26th, and August 3rd. Register your unit now by finding these on the Council calendar! All unit leaders from each Pack, Troop, and Crew, are welcome and encouraged to attend. You can register here to attend the kickoff, and register here to register for the fall popcorn/Scout’s Own sale.

Here’s a friendly reminder from both Cleveland and Firelands Scout Shops to stop in and stock up on all your camping gear before heading out for your summer camping experiences this summer. They’ve got a lot of quality stuff, so check out their stock today! The Firelands store summer hours are now Fridays 5-9pm and Saturdays 10-4 through August.

Scouting for Food will take place August 20th and 27th. Please register your unit now for this service drive, and email Michelle.Cali@scouting.org with any questions you have.

If you’re planning on attending the 2023 National Jamboree, please register NOW if you haven’t done so already. The initial deposit is due, and the next payment for registrants is due July 31st. Register here, and contact Phil.Williams@scouting.org for more information.

The FEST is a Catholic gathering and celebration, hosted in Willowick at the Diocese of Cleveland’s Center for Pastoral Leadership. The Diocese’s Catholic Committee on Scouting is seeking volunteers to help assist in use of the mobile climbing wall and inflatable archery range the day of. If you’re interested in helping for a shift, please contact CleCatholicScouting@gmail.com. And also note, even if you are not Catholic, that this event generates an amazing amount of exposure for your unit and for Scouting as a whole. Crowds here usually top 10,000 people.

And folks, that’s a wrap for this week’s 3 minute update! I hope you are all enjoying summer so far, and are looking forward to your unit’s annual planning conference, which should be coming up soon! Thanks for all you do, and thanks for being you!