March 28-29, 2015
Registration at 7:00am, Class begins at 800am

Course fee: $150.00

What is included:
National Rifle Association Basic Instructor Training and Rifle Instructor Training Course

Who should attend:
Only registered BSA adult volunteers who are already familiar with Rifle shooting and who are willing to support Council shooting sports activities a minimum of four (4) weekends per year. Read more »

At our recent Fireside Chat roundtables we spent a good deal of time discussing the purpose of roundtables, and how to make it meaningful for all of our units. We identified the need for a Cub Scout and Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner, and I am pleased to announce that Greg Crews and Shawn Smith have agreed to take on the challenge!

Greg, our new Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner, has served Scouting in a variety of roles. He is an Army vet, father of two, and owns his own construction company. Greg and his wife Tiffany serve Pack 60 and will bring some solid Cub Scouting experience to the table. In his spare time Greg serves as an NRA Instructor/RSO for West Central Shooting Sports and volunteers for the Pasco County School District.

Shawn, our new Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner, has been a leader for 8 years, starting out as a Tiger Cub parent and working his way up to the Troop. He has qualified as a climbing instructor, merit badge counselor, and as a range master, and has taken courses in swimming and water rescue, paddle-craft safety, and completed a large number of the online training course available through Scouting.org. In his spare time, Shawn enjoys classic cars, woodworking, welding, music, and R/C cars.

As you can see both of these Scouters bring a lot of relevant experience to the role of Roundtable Commissioner. Please support their efforts to make roundtables more meaningful by attending the April 8th Roundtable. Location will be posted as soon as it is confirmed. Remember, there will be no Roundtable meeting due to the Annual District Recognition Dinner on March 6th.

All January recharting units have their paperwork in!  Thank you for completing this important annual event!

We are delighted to offer you the opportunity to take part in a district fundraiser to help raise funds for both local units and the Community Friends of Scouting Campaign. The district has partnered with Chasco Fiesta to become a food vendor at the 2015 Fiesta. The famous Scotty’s Pizzeria – owned by our very own Scott and Lisa Anderson from Troop 60 – is supplying the pizzas.

To take part in the fundraiser, all you need to do is to commit to selling pizza for one or more shifts during the fiesta. You will need six people to staff the shift, of which at least two must be adults. You are welcome to rotate youth and adults in and out during the shift as long as you have at least six people there. There will a coordinator from the district on site. Pack leaders should be aware that this event can be very busy and may not be suitable for younger youth. All units are welcome to staff shifts with all adults.

Once Chasco is over we will divide the proceeds (less costs) 50/50. One half will be donated to the community Friends of Scouting campaign and the other half will be shared between the units that took part in the fundraiser. There are 18 shifts available so a unit will receive 5.56% of the share for each shift. Read more »

Cubmasters and pack committee chairs are invited to join us on February 4th at 6pm at Camp Soule Dining Hall for an evening of fellowship and information on the Cub Scout Day Camp and Family Camp.

Find out how your pack can join in the fun that happens at a WCFC camp and what you can do to make that experience even better!!! We will have a presentation with a Q & A session as well as packets to take back to your pack so you can get started on your ADVENTURE!!

Thanks to our very generous OA chapter you will enjoy a very nice dinner. Please RSVP to Cassie Riddick at mommy2littleboys@yahoo.com or 727-278-7078 by 5pm on Friday January 30th to ensure a dinner plate is waiting for you!!!

COME JOIN THE FUN!!!!

West Central Florida Council relies on our volunteers to lead many of our programs. We currently are looking for people who can commit to some key positions. These programs are vital to our Scouts and their Scouting experience. Please read the information below and if you can help, contact either Ken Knaebel at Tokala@tampabay.rr.com or Jim Watson at 94corvette@tampabay.rr.com.

Some units have requested a local location where they can turn-in their re-charter paperwork. We have the following dates and locations available where you can come and turn-in your completed charter paperwork. Please bring

1. Completed and signed charter paperwork
2. Any applications that need to be turned in with the charter
3. Your completed JTE Scoresheet. The scoresheet is available as a PDF or as an Excel workbook
4. Payment for your recharter. (Check or credit / debit card)

Charter drop-off will be by appointment only. To book an appointment, please click the date and location below and complete the VolunteerSpot form! If you have any problems with the form please call Mark Sharman at 727 342 0605. Please note that if you have not booked a time there may be no-one there to receive your paperwork!

January 19th from 5pm until 8pm at Panera Bread – 40968 US Highway 19 North, Tarpon Springs

January 24th from 2pm until 5pm at Starbucks – 33840 US Highway 19 North Palm Harbor, FL 34684

February 14th from 10am until 1pm at Starbucks – 33840 US Highway 19 North Palm Harbor, FL 34684

January 24th from 10am until 12pm at Starbucks – 5220 Little Road New Port Richey, FL 34655

February 15th from 1pm until 4pm at Starbucks – 5220 Little Road New Port Richey, FL 34655

A new Cub Scouting program is launching June 1, 2015, that will be more fun and exciting for boys, and easier to carry out for unit leaders. To make sure you are ready to make the transition, a series of webcasts will be hosted on January 17 to outline the coming changes, how to prepare, and when resources will be available.

Cubmaster Webcasts

• Saturday, January 17 at 8 a.m. (Central) or
• Saturday, January 17 at 3 p.m. (Central)

Den Leader Webcasts

• Saturday, January 17 at 9:30 a.m. (Central) or
• Saturday, January 17 at 4:30 p.m. (Central)*

LDS-Specific Considerations

• Saturday, January 17 at 11 a.m. (Central) or
• Saturday, January 17 at 6:00pm (Central)

*It is recommended that those interested in the LDS session view one of the role-specific sessions first.

Although the content will be geared to the roles listed, anyone with an interest in learning about the new Cub Scouting program is welcome to attend.

The sessions will be recorded for later viewing.

It’s easy to attend! Just navigate your Internet browser to:www.livestream.com/bsanationalcouncil and you are ready to view the webcast!

As always, for more information on the new Cub Scouting Program, please log on towww.scouting.org/programupdates.

Help spread the word about the webcasts to ensure others are ready for the new Cub Scouting program!

Please plan to attend a very special Roundtable on January 14^th. The new District Chairman and the new District Commissioner for Anclote District will host a fireside chat style Roundtable where you can share ideas to improve district support for our units.  The district leadership would like to know how we can make your job easier as Scouters, how we can develop and improve Roundtable and communications in general and how we can improve the district-level program opportunities that we offer.

The main output from this meeting with be a list of action points that summarize the main issues raised at the meeting. We will take these action points and present them to the district committee at its February meeting to formulate an action plan. We will use this action plan to report back to the district each month on the progress towards the goals via an article here on the district website.

Please make every effort to attend this Roundtable and to make sure that we hear your ideas. Your advice will set the agenda for the work of the district for the rest of 2015!!

The Roundtable will be held at 7pm at CARES, 4136 Barker Drive, New Port Richey, FL 34652.

Who:  This course is suggested for Boy Scout leaders and any interested, registered Scouter.

Date: 1/24/2015
Time:  7:45am – 3:30pm
Location:  First United Methodist Church, 501 E. Tarpon Ave, Tarpon Springs
Cost:  $20 (includes lunch).

The course is a prerequisite for Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmaster planning to attend Wood Badge.

Questions:  Contact Rick Llanas, Anclote Training Chair at (727) 207-5985 or 727ricnic@gmail.com.

Register online at www.wcfcbsa.org by clicking on the link found in the Calendar at the top of the home page and then the date of the event.