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by DCE Craig Doty
Muggle? Skunked? NTNL? What do these mean? (You will find out later.)
Pausing a moment from their tasks, counselors from the three California councils -- Golden Bear, Pacific Sierra, and Southern California -- looked in amazement at God's beautiful creation. Clouds had opened to reveal snow-capped mountain peaks to the north. The Southwest Region Counselors' Conference, hosted by the counselors of First United Reformed Church in Chino, CA was underway.
Conference keynote speaker -- Pastor Roger Wagner of Bayview Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Chula Vista -- asked "What Makes an Effective Cadet Counselor?" Following his address, Southern California DCE Craig Doty led the men in a workshop titled: "Knotted Together in Christ," "borrowed" from Cadet Chaplain Ron Noorman who led the same workshop at the 2010 Summer Counselors' Convention. Coupled with the keynote address, the workshop helped to focus our thoughts toward our ministry as counselors in "bringing boys to meet Jesus Christ in all areas of life."
Saturday morning the men learned the various constructions, and uses for camporee cadre boxes. This workshop, led by Golden Bear DCE Chuck VanGorkum provided the men with practical suggestions for building and then making the most of cadre boxes.
Others met with Pacific Sierra DCE (and regional RTC) Pete Tiemersma (Trinity CRC in Visalia, CA) in "Rediscovering the 'Awe-ful' of God's Word: Leading our Cadets in Studying the Bible." This workshop looked at the "Discovering God's Word" merit badge.
Later on in the morning, everyone gathered to learn the fun of leading Cadets in learning how to use a Global Positioning Device (GPS) and then sought to find "treasures" in the surrounding area; the whole purpose of the newly-approved Geocaching merit badge. John deVries, Head Counselor of Crosspoint CRC in Ontario, CA (an avid 'cacher') introduced the men to a whole new world of geocaching and using a GPS receiver in finding various 'caches' located around the church property. (A "muggle" is someone who removes geocaches and is not involved in geocaching as a hobby. Getting "skunked" is not finding any geocaches on a particular attempt. The acronym NTNL means that "nothing taken, nothing left" when a geocache was located and opened.)
After lunch, the counselors gathered together for a round-table discussion on making regional conferences beneficial to the individual counselor. The regional training team will keep these discussions in mind when working on any future counselor conferences, or local council workshops.
The final workshop of the day, led by Southern California Council President Dave Dalton, focused on practical and safe ways of holding a Marksmanship event. The workshop introduced the counselors to the state and local laws governing the operation of a firearm. Some were surprised to find out that pellet rifles are considered firearms by state authorities.
While closing with thankful prayer for traveling mercies and a fruitful conference, DCE Craig Doty led the men in our Cadet Hymn and reminding everyone that we are "Knotted Together with Christ."