Stacy Martin to ALL:
SM> Hello! I am a twelve year old scout from Regina, Sask.  I was
SM> wondering if anyone out there who is around my age (or any age
SM> for that matter) who is part of a scout troup (or cubs or
SM> ventures) would write to me about what it is like to be a scout
SM> where evr you live. ie. Where you go for camps, what you do at
SM> camps, major scouting events you've attended etc.
   Howdy!  I'm a bit over 12 (fact is, I'd be overjoyed if I could
*remember* being 12!), but I'd be happy to chat with you about
Scouting down here ... "down here" being Denver, Colorado.
   Guess I should start with the broadest differences between Boy
Scouts of America (BSA) & Scouts Canada.  BSA is just for boys, but
*all* Scouting is a family activity, so a fair number of Scouts'
sisters participate right alongside their brothers - they just can
not be registered members & get awards.  The US is divided up into
Regions (5 or 6 - it changed a year or so ago & may again soon),
but except for Jamborees & high-level training, the real Scouting
program is handled at the Council level.  Councils have between
2000 & 20000 Scouts, & most states have several.  I think there're
3 states with just 1 Council, Colorado has 6, but crowded places
like New York may have as many as 6 in just the *city*.  Every
Council is divided into Districts - Denver Area Council has 7.
Districts sponsor Camporees, activities like sports tournaments,
& Junior Leader training, all of which need to draw from a bigger
bunch of people than a single Scout unit can field.  The Scout
units, of course, are where the main action really is.
   BSA has units for all ages of youngsters: Tiger Cubs for 7 yr-
olds, Cub Scouts for 8-10, & Boy Scouts for 11-17.  Explorer Posts
are for 14-17 yr-olds, & they focus on 1 High Adventure activity,
or do all the HA activities but nothing else, or are related to
some career (Medicine, Law, Law Enforcement, Electronics, Aviation,
etc).  14-17 yr-olds who stay in a Boy Scout Troop may form a temp-
orary Venture Crew or Varsity Team to do a specific activity in
depth, but they remain part of the regular unit.  Girls can join
Explorer Posts as full members, but are out of the advancement
loop.  Girls are welcome to participate in all aspects of Venture/
Varsity activities, but are "guests" rather than members (Right!...
I make guests in *my* home work, don't you?!?).  Each Cub Pack, Boy
Scout Troop, & Explorer Post is supervised by it's own committee of
parents, even when a Pack & Troop & Post are all sponsored by a
single church or school, unlike SC, where a single Group Committee
oversees multiple related units.  There are also a few Sea Scout
units (called "Ships") around, but BSA hasn't made any effort to
promote them since aviation pushed seafaring into the background.
   I'm the Generic Outdoor Gopher for the Committees that support
T-36 & T-361, Arapaho District, Denver Area Council.  DAC is spread
out, with 15,000 Scouts.  About 65% live in Denver or the suburbs,
& the rest in small rural towns.  Arapaho District includes all the
southern 'burbs of Denver & a lot of ranchland & mountain towns, &
serves about 5000 Scouts, making it DAC's largest District in terms
of number-of-Scouts.  I live in Englewood, a suburb immediately S
of Denver proper, & the 2 Troops I hang with are in Littleton, the
next 'burb to the S.  Most of the T-36/-361 guys live in Littleton,
but several live further S on ranches, or W up in the mountains.
There are 86 guys in T-36, & 41 in T-361.  T-361 split off in Sept
because 120+ Scouts were just too many for 1 Troop, & some of the
guys weren't getting to do what interested 'em since activities are
selected by vote-of-the-majority.
                          - continued -
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