The Boy Scouts of America will celebrate 100 years of Scouting in 2010. Dr. Larry Kubiak has been chosen to serve as the chairman for our Council’s activities in commemoration of this wondrous event. While it is important for us to celebrate our glorious history, this is a golden opportunity for us to re-educate our community about Scouting and build for the next hundred years. A number of activities are being planned, and we would like to enlist your support in a couple of these activities. 

• A speaker’s bureau has been established with the aim of educating various community groups, potential sponsoring organizations, and others who may be able to volunteer their time, give their money, or share other resources to assist Scouting for the next hundred years. If you know of a group that could benefit from hearing the message of Scouting, please contact him by email or phone at the information listed below.
  
  
• We are developing a Council timeline of significant events in our Council’s history of Scouting. We would like to include information about Council events such as the founding of our Council, our Council camps, Wood Badge courses, Order of the Arrow activities, Camporees, Council Philmont treks, National Jamboree contingents, and other important Council activities over the years.  We would also like to identify and recognize those who have provided leadership to our Council over the years, including Silver Beaver recipients, Council presidents and Board members, Wood Badge Scoutmasters, and OA Lodge Chiefs.  If you have information that would assist us in this regard – names, dates, pictures, or the like – please forward it to Dr. Kubiak.
  
  
• Each unit is encouraged to develop their own time line.  This should provide an excellent opportunity to review each unit’s glorious history and to make it available to your own unit through a printed history or a unit website (if you have one). Such information may include when your unit was chartered and the original leaders and Scouts of your unit as well as all of your unit leaders over the years, the names of your Scouts, names and dates for all Eagle Scouts, major service projects, major camping events, participation in high adventure camps like Philmont, Northern Tier, or Seabase, and other significant unit achievements.  There are many opportunities here for units Cub Scout projects or Boy Scout Troop Historian duties.  We anticipate developing a list of basic information that we would like from every unit for inclusion on the Council time line. 
  
  
• We would like to have a float in the City of Tallahassee Festival of Lights in December 2009, the Springtime Tallahassee parade in April 2010, and possibly a float in other local parades or community celebrations within our Council such as the Thomasville Rose Festival. These would be wonderful opportunities for us to showcase Scouting. This would be a tremendous opportunity for several units to work together to take on such projects, and we would be glad to help facilitate such cooperative efforts.
  
  
• A Council Reunion in the fall of 2010 is being planned as a way to bring together Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Venture, and Varsity participants as well as programs such as the Order of the Arrow and Wood Badge to celebrate our Council’s history and future together.  More information and a specific date will be forthcoming.
  
  
• Beginning in September 2009 our national oranization will begin its celebration entitled “A Year of Celebration, A Century of Making a Difference.”  Through this program, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venture Scouts, adult leaders, and Scouting alumni may earn patches by demonstrating dedication to five of Scouting’s core values – leadership, achievement, community service, character, and the outdoors. Participants can earn one patch in each category. For each patch there are five possible requirements of which three must be completed to earn that particular patch. This will be available from September 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010. More information will follow.
  
  
• Finally, the National Hall of Leadership program offers anyone the opportunity to recognize outstanding leadership by Scouts, registered Scout leaders, or Scouting volunteers who made a significant difference in the life of another by the extraordinary service they have given and the Scouting virtues they have modeled. Complete details and nomination forms are available at www.scouting.org.  Our Council is eligible to select up to 12 nominations for induction in the National Hall of Leadership. We will forward those to the national leadership for judging and eventually one nominee from our Council will be selected for national recognition. Characteristics that will be given a great deal of weight include the following: 1) devoting themselves to servicing the needs of Scouts, fellow leaders and other volunteers, 2) displaying extraordinary leadership and modeling of Scouting virtues in the service of others, 3) focusing on meeting the needs of those they lead, 4) developing Scouts and fellow leaders to bring out the best in them, 5) coaching others and encouraging their self expression, 6) facilitating personal growth in all who work with them and 7) listening and building a sense of community.
  
  If you have any questions please contact:
  Larry Kubiak, chairman
  Suwannee River Area Council 100th Anniversary Committee
  Larry.Kubiak@tmh.org
  Home 668-9763, Work 431-5789