Vol. 5, No. 8

"LITTLE THINGS THAT MATTER" EDITION In this Issue: • Smallest - High Adventure Base • Youngest - Tiger Cubs • Littlest - BSA Council • Big Merit Badge with a Small Name • Tiniest Pin - Biggest Message

It's fun to celebrate what's really big. Thirty thousand Scouts camped together at the recent National Jamboree is worth noting. So is the fact that the BSA is America's largest youth-serving organization, with more than 3.6 million members. Great things come in small packages, too. This edition of the Be Prepared newsletter samples tiny Scouting and finds some truly outsized stories.

SMALLEST - HIGH ADVENTURE BASE The honor for being the littlest of the BSA's four national high adventure bases depends on what you mean by small. An obvious guess is the Florida Sea Base. Headquarters sits on just six acres of tiny Islamorada Key, 33 miles off the Florida mainland and 78 miles north of Key West. There's barely room for a few buildings and a dock that stretches into the bay.

But see those ships tied up along the pier? Scouts can take a bearing on the horizon, hoist the sails, and embark on adventures that expand the BSA's dot of land to thousands of square miles in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Then there are the three canoe bases of Northern Tier - Charles L. Sommers, Donald Rogert, and Northern Expeditions. The combined properties are about the size of the Florida Sea Base. Crews have just enough room to get squared away, organize equipment and provisions, and launch wilderness expeditions.

And what a wilderness it is! On canoe trips of 6-10 days, Scouts have 6 million acres of lakes and rivers to explore, from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota deep into Manitoba's Atikaki Provincial Park. That much territory is as big as the entire state of New Hampshire.

Philmont Scout Ranch is by far the biggest land mass of the national High Adventure bases, encompassing 137,000 acres northern New Mexico's mountain landscape. That's more territory than most Scouts can explore during a ten-day trek, but is not so much compared to the tremendous expanses of North Woods waters those surrounding the Florida Keys. Make the argument that way, and Philmont is smaller than either Northern Tier or the Sea Base.

The newest high adventure base is the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve with 10,600 acres in the mountains of West Virginia. It just hosted its debut as the permanent home of national jamborees.

The exciting future of the Summit is waiting to be written. Whatever direction it takes, you can be sure that it will be large.

YOUNGEST - TIGER CUBS They might be only seven years old (or in the first grade), but there are enough Tiger Cubs to make a mighty roar. At last count more than 212,000 were enjoying the BSA's family and home centered program that emphasizes shared leadership, learning about community, and ethical decision-making.

The BSA experience was originally meant only to boys at least 12 years of age. Cub Scouting began in the 1930s, extending the adventure of Scouting to youth ages eight and older. In 1982 the new Tiger Cubs program invited boys a year younger to join up, too.

Each Tiger Cub has an adult partner, usually a parent or guardian, who shares experiences with him and others in the den. They follow the Cub Scout motto, "Do Your Best!"

Tiger Cub literature, uniforms, and pins are available from ScoutStuff.org. Leaders will also find the Tiger Cub Immediate Recognition Kit. Worn on the right pocket of the uniform, the emblem and beads acknowledge the achievements of Tiger Cubs.

A Cub Scout pack can also earn the National Summertime Pack Award by doing one activity each month in June, July and August. Pack members who participate in all three events are eligible for the award pin. The newest series of awards features a different color border for each rank in Cub Scouting, and an orange border for Tiger Cubs.

LITTLEST - BSA COUNCIL There are bragging rights for who is the smallest, and a couple of councils might lay claim to the honor. Established in 1912, the older of the two is completely within the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. Ernest Thompson Seton, one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, built a home there and was the first Greenwich Council president. Serving about 3,000 boys, it has one district and one camp - the Ernest Thompson Seton Scout Reservation - measuring just 249 acres.

In the hills above San Francisco Bay, 300 volunteer leaders guide a thousand Scouts living in Piedmont, California. The Piedmont Council doesn't have a camp of its own, but a robust outdoor program encourages Scouts to explore the coastline of the Pacific Ocean and the mountains of the nearby High Sierra.

Want to know which council is the biggest? When it comes to gigantic boundaries, there is no rival to the old Seattle Area Council. Begun in 1917, it served much of western Washington and the entire Alaska Territory, accounting for half a million square miles.

Today, the Chief Seattle Council embraces the central east side of Puget Sound. Alaska is served by two councils - Midnight Sun including Fairbanks and northern villages, and Great Alaska covering the rest of the state.

BIG MERIT BADGE WITH A SMALL NAME Small-boat sailing is a sport and a merit badge that is little only in name. Scouts learn the basics of sailing in boats just the right size for a lifetime of enjoyment on the water.

Check out the Small-Boat Sailing merit badge pamphlet to begin learning skills that can lead toward a mastery of wind and water.

Many Scout camps offer small-boat sailing as an aquatics activity. Whether or not your accomplishments lead to a merit badge, you're sure to have a great time practicing the art of traveling under sail.

TINIEST PIN - BIGGEST MESSAGE Just 3/8ths of an inch across, the Miniature Universal Emblem is the smallest pin available from ScoutStuff.org.

Even so, the pin represents BSA values that have given direction through the years to more than a hundred million youth. From the Tiger Club motto to the Boy Scout Oath and Law, Scouting's values are guidelines for living life to the fullest and making the world a better place, even if just a little. (This edition of the Be Prepared Newsletter was developed and written by Robert Birkby, author of the current editions of the Boy Scout Handbook, Fieldbook and Eagle Scouts: A Centennial History.)