Formerly Black Hill District, now part of the new Montgomery District

Welcome to the Black Hill District homepage! 
Do you have content that you would like to contribute? If so, please send to leerobison@aol.com. 

WELCOME TO MONTGOMERY DISTRICT !

 As of June 1st, 2008 the new Montgomery District covers all of Montgomery County, Maryland, replacing the Crossroads, Paint Branch, Rock Creek, Great Falls, Forest Oak, and Black Hill districts. In order to have a smooth transition without disrupting services to the nearly 300 Scout units in the County, district Scouters should continue to perform their program, membership, finance, and unit service functions including FOS, JSN, day camps, camporees and other summer and fall activities while we work out a new Montgomery District Calendar.  Planned District and Unit events for summer and fall should not be disrupted during this transition, and should continue as planned.  Any changes will be announced via Newsflash and Websites, including the fall Roundtable schedule as soon as that is determined.

The Montgomery District Web page will soon appear among the district pages on the NCAC Website.  Meanwhile, a temporary Web page is at http://ncacmontgomery.blogspot.com .  This page has Montgomery District contact information.  Also, the web pages for the former six districts in Montgomery County remain operational on the NCAC website so you can consult them for information about events in your area or other areas of the County.

JULY 4th BALLOON CARRIERS STILL NEEDED !

Celbrate America is looking for voluteers to carry ballons  and flags during Independence Day Parade, which is on Friday, July 4?   All volunteers get a free Fourth of July T-shirt!  If you are interested, please e-mail the following in formation to CelebrateAmerica@gmail.com:
 Name
Preferred E-mail Address
Number of People Volunteering
Preferred Assignment (balloon or flag)

Balloon and flag volunteers must be able to walk 10+ blocks in the sun/heat while carrying/holding equipment.  All volunteers must be at least 13 years old in order to participate.  We will not be assigning specific balloons or flags in advance unless groups of 15 or more sign up together, and then assignments are always subject to change.  it is essential that all volunteers are available to begin blowing up the balloons as soon as we are allowed into the secured area (around 8 or 9 AM; specific times will be given out closer to the event).

The parade will run from 7th Street to 17th Street, NW along Constitution Avenue.   It begins at 11:45am, and volunteers will be released once their equipment has been properly put away at the end of the parade route on 17th Street.  Typically volunteers are done between 12:30 and 2:30pm (depending on placement within the parade lineup).  Click here for more information.

Free Baseball Night for Scouts

On July 12, 2008 the Bethesda Big Train Team will hold a Boy Scout appreciation night. This is open to all levels of  scouts from Tigers to Venture. It is free to any and all scouts in uniform. Over the last 4 or 5 years I have asked pack, troops, crews to come out to a game to participate as the Color Guard and get into the game for free. For more information on this event please contact  Bethesda Big Train Team by clicking here.  To see informaiton about Bethesda Big Train Team please click here.

  NRA Pistol Instructor Course

On July 25th - 27th, 2008, BSA Venture Crew 1150, in conjunction with the NCAC Shooting Sports Committee,  will be offering an NRA Pistol Instructor's Course for members of the Scouting community. This course will include the mandatory NRA Basic Instructor Training (BITS) course.

This course will take place the weekend of July 25th - 27th, 2008, at Camp Big Mac, Markham, VA. Course will start Friday evening and complete Sunday. Because this course is a minimum of 17 hours (6 for BITS and 11 for Pistol) it is required that participants stay the entire weekend. Cost is $125 for registered Scouters, $175 for non-Scouters**. If you are a currently registered  NRA Instructor we will waive the $15 BITS portion of the course. (You are encouraged to attend the BITS portion of the course as a refresher.) There is a $50 non-refundable deposit due by July 11, 2008. For more information, including prerequisites and other requirements click here.

Training Committee and Activities and Civic Service Committee Organizational Meeting

As we will eventually do in all program areas, the Montgomery District will hold organizational meetings for the Training Committee and the Activities and Civic Service Committee on July 1 and July 2, respectively, at the Marriott Scout Service Center at 7:30 p.m. All of those who were involved in these areas in the former six districts or who would like to be involved in our new district are invited to come and help us ponder the best way to carry out our missions. In both meetings we will discuss possible organizational structures, identify issues, and brainstorm about priorities and methodologies. The Training Committee is charged with providing all basic and supplemental training courses in the district, as well as tracking our progress in this area. The Activities and Civic Service Committee will manage all special events and service projects. Nominations for leadership positions on these committees will be solicited over the summer and the officers of the District Committee will make all appointments. (If you must miss the meetings, however, never fear- there will be others!)

It is very important that all training and activity functions previously planned by the former districts continue as scheduled: book your locations, draw up your budgets, recruit your staff, and promote your events in any way that you can. If you need help, Walter Boyd and Walt McKee are the Scout professionals assisting the program function and they can provide it.

BSA Volunteers and Background Checks (CBC) Information

As dedicated BSA volunteers, you understand the importance of keeping our youth safe in the Scouting program. To ensure Youth Protection, our organization has conducted criminal background checks on all new volunteers since April 2003. Because some volunteers have been continually registered in the program before April 2003, some have not had a criminal background check. In the next few months, we will be communicating with those volunteers on this issue.

Volunteers who have not had a background check will receive a letter from our Chief Scout Executive, Bob Mazzuca, recognizing them as valued volunteers and explaining the need for criminal background checks and our continued youth protection efforts. The letter will explain the need for consent to conduct a criminal background check and direct volunteers to a new Web site (www.bsacbc.org) where volunteers can authorize and provide information needed to conduct a CBC. This Web site will be active from June 1 until August 1, 2008.
Click here for some FAQs about background checks.

On the (www.bsacbc.org) Web site, volunteers will be asked to:
1.         Review a disclosure and authorization statement
2.         Click "Agree" to proceed
3.         Enter necessary information to conduct the CBC
4.         Verify and submit the information 

 Click here to download the CBC Handout