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THE BIG PUSH Newsletter of the Pushmataha Area Council Commissioners VOL 1, ISSUE 2 Well, it’s back!! The BIG PUSH is on again. I we will tell you some of the events and decisions happening in Pushmataha Land that affect us all. By the way, I intend to try to be a RUMOR BASHER in this “rag” as well. If you have a rumor you want to know about, send me an email at commish169@gmail.com. I’ll publish some of the bashed rumors in the BIG PUSH as well. I want to make it clear that this newsletter is not ghostwritten by anyone but me and is my opinion – so take it for what it is. Please excuse any misspellings or poor sentence structure. Just ask me if it isn’t clear. I think the “winds of change” are blowing in Pushmataha. There is a BIG PUSH by many of us to open things up more than in the past. The incoming officers (Led by President George Purnell) discussed this directly during their meeting Tuesday (more on that later) and everyone I know (not just the officers) thinks the “close to the vest” mentality of the past needs to go away now. Obviously, everything can’t be known by everybody, but we can do better than we have before. Change isn’t easy, but let’s all work hard on this one. You should see some of that new attitude in some of the actions discussed below. Actually, - come to think of it - “THE BIG PUSH” itself is some of that new attitude and has been widely complimented! I thank George Purnell for working with me on the original idea and I really appreciate all those who contributed ideas and information to this issue. A really BIG PUSH right now is toward finalizing summer camp plans for the BEST SUMMER CAMP EVER!!! This is always a great event for scouts of all kinds, whether cubs, webelos, boy scouts, venturers, or the adults. Terry Smith is busy organizing a summer camp committee assisted by Mark Guyton, council vice president of programs. This group was recommended by Mark to the Executive Committee to get more council-wide volunteer input into summer camp operations. The Executive Committee of the board is fully behind the Summer Camp Committee and its purpose. I think you’ll see more of this kind of involvement happening with volunteers all over this year. The committee will finalize staffing, and will be instrumental in planning all aspect of camp this summer. If you are interested in being involved, contact Terry or Mark. Some of you may not know that Terry has conceived and is authoring another BIG PUSH for a large monetary grant proposal for the council. This grant is full of things that would be great for all of us. It would fund a district executive for one thing, and result in a number of new units in new places while expanding diversity and access. Terry is a gifted organizer and the Exec. Committee is also excited about his grant proposal. Obviously another BIG PUSH that is continuing is the Friends of Scouting Campaign through which we fund our operations in the council. I’m trying to lend some organization and structure to the effort, and the Commissioner Staff, directed by District Commissioners Brian Wells and Curtis Hollingsworth, are involved in planning Community FOS activities and preparing for Unit FOS presentations as well. Asst. Council Commissioner Brice Stubbs is our organizer, and Asst. Council Commissioner Cecelia Bowden is our presentation and recruiting guru. All of us in the meeting last week spent a good deal of time on suggestions and planning for the BIG PUSH for funds. We have gotten some good hints from our Interim Scout Executive Phillip Cranford (more on him later…good stuff), and others on the board who have been successful fund raisers. In our meeting last week, the commissioners were each assigned from 1 to 4 units as their focus for unit service. Your units will be contacted soon – if they haven’t already – by your current or new commissioner. We haven’t forgotten that our real purpose is unit service…even though we are your Temp Professionals. I think all of us in the council should be excited by our new links of communication and assistance that this sort of organization can bring. PLEASE give us any ideas or assistance for this MOST IMPORTANT BIG PUSH. How about a BIG PUSH VISIT to the Tuesday, Feb 2 meetings of the Executive Committee of the Board, and the Council Board Annual Business Meeting. The Camp Seminole Administration Committee is continuing to work following their recommendations about Camp Ranger to the Executive Committee of he Board (remember that is made up of the Council Board Officers). The Board accepted the report from Camp Admin. Chairperson Scott Commish, and discussed it at length. I think everyone was impressed by the many aspects of the camp the Camp committee looked at. The Exec. Committee took the Camp Ranger candidate recommendations and information and passed it to the Council Personnel sub-committee which will do all the necessary hiring interviews, background checks, etc. and will report back their findings. The Personnel committee is a new committee headed by Ernie George, III of Starkville, who is VP of Finance and Endowment for the Council Board. Very little input was given to the Scout Executive in the recent past concerning hiring, firing, and personnel matters, and this group was established to assist in that regard. The BIG PUSH in the Board Annual Business Meeting was the Board Elections, closely followed by the address to the Board by BSA Area Director Phillip Cranford (also serving as our interim Scout Executive). With regard to the Elections, the BIG PUSH of the board was that during the time of transition, change should be kept to a minimum in the Board officers. This meant the elections held no big surprises, and the same group of officers was chosen. They are as follows: President – George Purnell, Council Commissioner – Dan Wrather, Council Treasurer - Dale Tate, Andy Gaston -VP Membership, Jimmy Galloway – VP Land & Properties, Mark Guyton – VP Programs, Ernie George III – VP Finance & Endowment, Cindy Hodo - VP Marketing, Will Cooper – VP Audit & Legal, and Harry Robinson – National Council Representative. These individuals will also make up the Executive Committee of the Board. I have already mentioned that the group determined to make information about our council and its leadership and decisions more available to volunteers, sponsoring organizations, parents, and others interested in the scouting program. All the officers strongly committed to that effort, and saw the commissioners of the council as a ready method to get that information out. We on the commissioner staff pledge to serve that purpose as a mainstay of our unit service mission. I was impressed by the comments at the meeting(s) of Phillip Cranford, our Interim Scout Executive; He made it clear that we were proceeding to the selection of a new Scout Executive as soon as possible. He said was impressed by those he spoke with here and was complimentary about the BIG PUSH we all are trying to make to make our Council more successful. His first job as a Scout Executive was here at Pushmataha, and he remembered great scout backers such as Shields Sims, Harold Hall, and others on the selection committee. That was about 15 years ago and he contrasted the situations for council funding then and now. For instance, the Friends of Scouting (FOS) campaign was not nearly as important as at that time because United Way and Corporate Donations were the primary funding sources. Today, he said, that is different – not just because of hard economic times, but due to more reliance on FOS and community drives for funds. This requires more organization and structure, and much more involvement of volunteers than it did in those earlier times. I felt good about Phillip and the help he will give us during the transition and during the recruitment of a new Scout Executive. Philip said the only obstacle for us was to improve the funding of the council. He felt with improved structure and focus on FOS activities we could be very successful this year. HE MADE IT CLEAR THAT NEEDS TO BE OUR B I G P U S H TO KEEP OUR COUNCIL HEALTHY AND ACTIVE!!!! We plan to make a BIG PUSH to have Key 3 meetings weekly starting this Friday to make sure that we are all on course for our goals this year. The Key 3 are normally the Council President, Council Commissioner, and Council Scout Executive. This group is supposed to meet regularly to provide governance, professional, and volunteer interaction in dealing with council operations and activities. We hadn’t been having those meetings under our past Scout executive. Our Council President, George Purnell is personally asking that we implement this change immediately to better serve everyone in the council. GOOD PUSH GEORGE-this is a needed change! At this time these meetings will allow us to more closely monitor the transition to a new Scout Executive and provide more timely input to the Transition Team and council. This represents a REALLY BIG PUSH that will help to ensure everybody in the council is kept better informed about what is going on in the council. Additionally, the Council President and Scout Executive can get a better feeling about what is going on in the foundation of scouting – the volunteers, scouts, parents, and sponsoring organizations. I think we have a chance to be more unified if we are better informed and have more interaction. We have joked a bit about it being the Key 2 ½ meeting because until we hire an Executive, we’ll have Curtis Hollingsworth - volunteer Operations Coordinator for the transition team - who will usually represent council office operations and provide connection to the Transition Team. Let me again emphasize that the Council Office, with Curtis assisting, can handle your needs as always, so give them a call at 328-7228 if you need anything. A reminder about the BIG PUSH for our Eagle Scout Banquet next Tuesday, Feb 9 at 6:30pm at the Ritz Theatre and Convention Center in West Point.. This is a recognition dinner for those who have completed notable accomplishments in scouting. We will recognize the Frances Wells Class of Eagle Scouts who have earned the award during 2009. We will also recognize the Religious Emblem Honorees during the program. Our Keynote Speaker will be Sam Haskell, noted entertainment agent and author, who this year became the first Pushmataha Scouter to be awarded a 2009 National Distinguished Eagle Scout award. Tickets are $25 to attend the event and they are going fast. Call Lori Chitwood at the scout office at 328-7228 for purchase or for more information (email: lchitwoo@bsamail.org). We all owe y thanks to Cecelia Bowden (Asst Council Commissioner) and Cindy Hodo (Council VP of Marketing) for their leadership on this project. BIG ACTIVITY PUSHES GOING ON SOON – ask your commissioner for information or call the scout office….National Youth Leader staff training, BALOO cub leader training, Philmont shakedown hikes, Jamboree planning. BIG PUSH CHALLENGE. If you are responsible for gaining $2010.00 for Pushmataha Area Council FOS campaigns during Scouting’s 100th Anniversary in 2010, we will recognize you in a unique way. Signed….Commish (the commissioners) Wow, that ought to be enough for now. Thank you for your time, Give any of us listed below a call at any time. Dan Wrather, Council Commissioner 662 574-4933 Commissioner Staff and their contact numbers: Brian Wells, District Commissioner 662 2513275 Curtis Hollingsworth, District Commissioner, Council Operations Coordination. 662 552-1747 CeCelia Bowden, Asst. Council Commissioner Interim District Commissioner 662 312-1760 Brice Stubbs, Asst. Council Commissioner. 662 617-3933 Joe Weirauch, Asst. Council Commissioner 662 315-9581 Key Three and their contact numbers: Dan Wrather, Council Commissioner 662 574-4933 commish169@gmail.com George Purnell, Council President 662 295-3738 Phillip Cranford, Interim Pushmataha Council Scout Executive & Area Director of the Southern Region, BSA 850 955-8572 |
