.jpg) Last week John L Coleman, Jr., CEO of Boy Scouts of American, Long Peaks Council, spoke on the "Evolution of Scouting". The audience included many former Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and one Eagle Scout. Coleman was introduced by BSA LPC Development Director Dawn T-Baumgartner. There are currently 2.3 million scouts including over 10,000 in our region.
The big news is the start of "Family Scouting", currently available in the Cub Scout age range (K-5) and starting next year, available to ages 11-18. John addressed some of the misunderstandings regarding changes (eg, this is not a "co-ed" organization but separate and equal activities for both genders i.e., dens are all male or all female). This new concept is apparently well-accepted as indicated by the number of girls and women signing up. A bit of BSA's history was shared. Rotary was congratulated for it's BSA support (Paul Harris was a highly decorated scout). The values and goals of scouting remain unchanged - character building, leadership skills, service to the community - to name a few. A recent focus has been to target recruitment to multicultural, underserved communities. Scouting's focus on the outdoor experience for youth from all socioeconomic levels has become more important in this age of electronics. Finally we saw pictures of the many local Scouting facilities starting with Red Feather Scout Ranch (many of our members were familiar with this site). The evolving organization will continue it's mission and teach values which remain as pertinent today as they did almost 108 years ago. The question and answer time provided excellent expansion of today's presentation. |
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Wednesday August 29, RCFC celebrated an annual ritual with the Johnny Matsushim
a Centennial Flat Iron Steak Fry at the Farm at Lee Martinez Park. Steaks were obtained by John Matsushima, including a sampling of the famous Wagyu (Kobe-style) beef.
Wagyu (meaning "Japanese Cattle") steaks are prized worldwide for their astounding marbling, tenderness and juiciness. While the name "Kobe" is reserved exclusively for Wagyu cattle raised in region of Kobe, Japan - cattle raised in the US must be referred to as Wagyu or Kobe-Style.
President Steve Laine announced the establishment of two new scholarships, funded by Ada Chen. The scholarships, named in honor of Ada's late husband, Dr. Yung Hai Chen, will provide yearly $3000 scholarships to CSU and $2000 scholarships to Front Range Community College. Both scholarships are funded for 5 years by a generous gift of $30,000 from Ada. Ada told an emotional story of coming to the USA and CSU, the many blessings she has received since, and recounted how much Yung Hai loved Rotary. Ada received a standing ovation for her comments. Thanks for your leadership and caring, Ada. Editor's Note: In a previous version of this story, Dr. Yung Hai Chen's name was misspelled. We apologize for the error..jpg)
Nationwide, 65% of fourth graders are below proficient in reading. Colorado and Wyoming are only slightly better.
