View a 4 minute video introducing
Dan Beard Council's programs
for celebrating Scouting's 100th Anniversary.

The Dan Beard Council is celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Scouting with a year long series of activities aimed at reaffirming Scouting's principles and values and providing projects and opportunities to spread the Scouting experience to broader groups of youth and adults and deepen its impact on the community.  The celebration kicked off with the official opening of the Scout Achievement Center (the first facility of its kind in the nation) on October 17, 2009 and will bring the whole year to a crescendo at the 2010 Peterloon, Scouting's longest continually operating Camporee on October 15-17, 2010.

   The 100 days+1 Challenge
This challenge to youth and adult members is all about getting involved in Scouting.  We are asking all members of the Dan Beard Council to take up this challenge to track and be involved with Scouting activities for at least 100 days over the next year.  These activities could be den meetings, pack meetings, summer camp, troop meetings, patrol meetings, service projects, completing merit badges or anything to do with Scouting.  Plus recruit at least one new member (youth or adult) to Scouting.  With the completion of this task, youth and adult members will earn the right to wear the laser-cut leather 100 +1 patch, be awarded the 100+1 Congratulatory Certificate, and be part of the mass recognition at the October 2010 Peterloon campfire festivities on October 16, 2010.

Anyone wanting to participate should download and fill out a Commitment and Tracking Form and review it periodically with your unit leader (Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Venturing Advisor, or Varsity Coach).

Unit leaders can download a brief Leaders Guide for this activity as well.  You will want to keep track of each person's recruiting achievements on the downloadable Unit Completion Form.  You can also download and fill out an 8 1/2" x 11" 100 +1 Congratulatory Certificate for each person fulfilling their commitment.  (Unit leaders can order the individual leather patches, shown to the right, by turning in Unit Completion Forms to the Scout Achievement Center beginning January 25, 2010.)

  The Centennial Service Project
This project will enable individual units to celebrate the Centennial and serve the community.  We are asking each unit to develop a service project for their Charter Partner or their community.  This project is to include as many of their membership as possible and to be something more than the projects they are already doing.  Each unit is to document thru pictures, and or writings the work on this grand project.  Council is developing plans for a personalized Centennial Certificate, Plaque, or other commemorative items to award to each Unit completing the service project.

National's Major Programs:

National has developed additional programs for the Centennial.  Most can be found on their Centennial Web Site at www.scouting.org/100years.  Here are a few national sponsored programs in which you can participate:

  A Year of Celebration; A Century of Making a Difference
This is a series of awards developed to explore the core values of Leadership, Character, Achievement, Community Service, and the Outdoors as we celebrate a century of living by the Scout Law.  Each Year of Celebration award recognizes Scouts and adult leaders who demonstrate dedication to these values.  Requirements for these awards and a view of the special patch that Scouts can earn can be found at National's Celebration Web Site.  There you will also find links to various promotional tools and tracking charts for your Scouts.  You can also find links to national and international organizations that offer unique 100th Anniversary service projects.

  Adventure Base 100
Adventure Base 100 is an interactive exhibit traveling the country to rally people of all ages to join the BSA in Celebrating Scouting's 100th Anniversary.  Rolling into more than 40 markets across America, stretching from New Year's through Thanksgiving, the Adventure Base 100 truck unfolds into a 10,000 square foot campus of immersive Scout-related experiences: a ropes course, hands-on digital exhibits, a multi-sensory IMAX-like dome, stage, and much, much more!  It will provide a hands-on view of the history and future of the BSA.  Dan Beard Council along with Dayton's and Springfield's Councils will be hosting this event in the Cincinnati area in May 29‑31, 2010.  You can view a video of Adventure Base 100 as it was displayed in its opening event during the Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, California to see what the exhibit will look like and the displays and activities it will contain.

We have just published a web page of more information and details for Adventure Base 100's upcoming Cincinnati appearance that you can view on Dan Beard Council's Adventure Base 100 web page.

  BSA 100th Anniversary National Hall of Leadership. 
From the youngest Scout to the most tenured leader, Scouting develops leadership capabilities and traits and provides opportunities to use those skills in service to others.  In both simple and dramatic ways, individuals in every community have experienced positive life impacts from the leadership of a Scout or Scouter.  For some, however, the leadership given was so extraordinary, and the personal impact so meaningful and significant, an individual may want to honor that Scout or Scouter by nominating them to the BSA 100th Anniversary National Hall of Leadership.  This is a one-time opportunity to recognize and thank Scouts, their leaders, and Scouting volunteers (past and present) for the extraordinary difference they have made in the lives of others through their demonstrated leadership.  When the nomination period closes in February 2010, each of 302 BSA local councils and the national office will forward 12 semi-finalists to a national judging panel.  Ultimately, one inductee will be selected from each for this once in a century honor.  Please submit your nominations on-line using the National Hall of Leadership Nomination Form.

  BSA Alumni Connection
This is a call to reconnect and engage former Scouts and anyone who has been touched by the Boy Scouts of America — family members of Scouts (both past and present), volunteers, Scouters, community leaders, and the tens of millions of Americans who have benefited from Scouting in their communities.  Through this program, we will invite our alumni to come back, make a new connection, and get involved in Scouting once again.  We will provide a resource that makes it easy to connect and become involved by sharing their time, their talents, and their treasures with the BSA.  At www.BSAalumni.org, Scouting alumni will be able to find friends and mentors, add photos and stories to the growing BSA 100th Anniversary Online Scrapbook, and more!  Anyone who is, or ever has been, active with the BSA is invited—from former Scouts to the millions of Scouting supporters across America.

  Generations Connection. 
Generations Connection celebrates the legacy, and powerful impact, of Scouting on American families.  It teaches Scouts to understand the value of their Scouting family tree and encourages them to carry this special tradition forward.  Scouts are encouraged to explore the tradition of Scouting within their families through the process of completing the Tree, which gives pause for important conversations about the shared experience of Scouting with relatives.  For Scouts who are just beginning to create their family history as first-generation Scouts – the Family Tree is for them, too!  These Scouts are encouraged to incorporate important role models into their Tree.  All Scouts are invited to pledge, as part of their Tree, to share Scouting with future generations.  This meaningful action is designed to help and maintain the membership and vitality of the BSA.  As a visible image of this activity, BSA has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to offer official BSA 100th Anniversary trees.  For each one sold, another will be planted in Montana, in an area recently designated as the BSA Centennial Forest.

  Get in the Game! Geocaching
Through these events, Scouts and non-Scouts alike will participate in fast-paced, high-tech treasure hunts.  Players hide containers, called "caches" or "geocaches," outdoors and post on-line the coordinates where they have hidden them.  Then, other players seek them out using GPS navigation devices.  When players find a cache, they go online to report what they found and their experiences during the search.  It's fun, challenging, and interesting for individuals, families, and groups.  BSA districts across America are hiding caches to showcase some of Scouting's great gifts to America, Eagle Scout service project sites, and other significant events and locations important in the history of Scouting and the communities in which we live.  Learn how to create a cache of your own,   This is a great way to share Scouting skills—and outdoor adventure—with a generation captivated by technology.  It also provides a great way to share the excitement of the 100th Anniversary Celebration while highlighting core Scouting values.

  Pitch for Scouting
We  are working on plans with Major League Baseball to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Scouting through in-stadium promotions such as: Scouts throwing out a ceremonial first pitch, BSA announcements on stadium video screens featuring current Scouts and/or Major League ballplayers, Scouts raking the infield, and much more!  Details for this event have not yet been finalized.

  Shining Light Across America. 
On Saturday, July 31, 2010, the entire Scouting family — past, present and future — will be able take part in a special nationwide broadcast, "A Shining Light Across America," from the 100th Anniversary National Jamboree in Fort AP Hill, Virginia.  This Webcast will connect millions of Scouts in communities across the country (and possibly even around the world) bringing together all for a single opportunity to celebrate.  Select locations will be beamed back to the Jamboree.  We are targeting to be one of those locations.  This marks the first time in history that the entire Scouting family has come together for a single, nationwide opportunity to celebrate and reflect.

And there will be more all year long, all over Dan Beard Council and the Country.  Look to our website for helps and tips on what you can do.  Come be a part of it.  Do something to celebrate 100 years of Scouting in your unit and district.  Be involved with it all.  Make this year memorable to you and the youth you help lead.  It is something to be proud of, something strong you can build on, something for the future of Scouting.  Be involved and Celebrate Scouting!! Celebrating the Adventure, Continuing the Journey. 

How will YOU celebrate?