Northern Trail News: December 21, 2025
December 21, 2025
📌 Action Items
- Recharter - Renew by ASAP. Check out the unit and Key 3 links below.
- 🏅 Adult Recognition - Nominate those volunteers today! Deadlines for VLA (Venturing) and Silver Beaver are December 31. All unit and District deadlines are January 9. It's time to recognize the hard-working volunteer adult leaders in Northern Trail.
- Northern Trail District Eagle Scout Project of the Year - This award is intended to honor the Scout who provided extraordinary service to others in the commission of their Eagle Scout Service Project. Anyone can make a nomination, and eligible projects are those with an Eagle Board of Review done Jan 1- Dec 31. NOMINATIONS DUE: 12/24/2025 BY 10 PM
- Northern Trail Roundtable - Are you making it to your district roundtable meetings?
- Post photos on the District and Council Facebook pages.
- Share this newsletter – Forward to others in your unit. Sign up here.
📣 Recruitment & Promotion
🎓 Training & Leadership
- S.A.F.E. Guarding Youth – Required for all adults.
- Share Your Skills – Mentor new leaders; contact bramfranklin@gmail.com.
🍿 Fundraising & Volunteering
- TBD
📰 Newsletter & Content
- Have Content? – Send items for the newsletter to news@ntrail.org.
📅On the Calendar 
- 📆District Calendar
- 📢 Northern Trail Roundtable - January 8 at FUMC, room 230 at 7:00pm.
Looking down the road next year
- 👉2026 Merit Badge Mania - January 31, 2026 at Richland College. Registration is now open, merit badge classes fill up fast, so be prepared.
2026 Woodbadge courses- WoodBadge 148 at Camp Wisdom: February 6-8, 2026 and February 21-22, 2026
- Wood Badge 149 - Philmont Scout Ranch: August 2-8, 2026
- Wood Badge 150 - Trevor Rees-Jones Scout Camp: October 23-25, 2026 and November 7-8, 2026
Think It, Build It, Sell It – Merit Badge Day
Scouts can earn Entrepreneurship, Inventing, and Salesmanship at this special Merit Badge event in Richardson. Each badge has its own counselor, with hands-on learning and guidance to complete requirements.
- Date: Saturday, January 10, 2026 – 1:00–5:00 PM
- Inventing second session (required): Saturday, March 28, 2026 – 1:00–5:00 PM
- Check-in opens: 12:45 PM both days
- Location: First United Methodist Church Richardson, Mays Hall (Rooms 227 & 230)
- Cost: $5 – includes patch & snacks
- Each class is limited to 40 Scouts
Recharter Time
Council would like charter and memberships renewed by December 19.
The annual recharter process is a critical activity which must be completed for your unit to continue to operate. A charter is an agreement between your chartering organization, the Circle Ten Council and the National BSA organization. Every member of your unit both scout and adult must be properly accounted for with paid dues and any required training.
Check out these amazingly useful full color action packed guides!
Unit Renewal Guide for Unit Key 3 Member
Unit Procedure for Processing a Unit Renewal
December Training Honor Roll
Congratulations to the following units for their outstanding commitment to leader training and preparedness.
100% Trained
- Troops: 444G
100% Direct Contact Leaders Trained
- Crews: 890
- Troops: 81G, 444G, 728B, 728G
🏅 It Is Time to Recognize Adult Scouters 🏅
It is this time of year when we recognize our fellow Scouters for the exemplary volunteer work they do at the unit, district, and council levels. We remain thankful for their tireless service.
We have several awards to recognize these individuals, beginning at the unit level with the Your Extraordinary Service (Y.E.S.) Award. At the district level, we have two awards: District Award of Merit and the Robert E. Little Award.
⏰ Last Call for Unit & District Awards All unit and district award applications must be submitted by January 9. Late submissions cannot be accepted. |
At the council level, we have the Silver Beaver Award.
🦫 Silver Beaver Award — Final Deadline Nominations are due December 31. |
Self-nominations will not be accepted.
More information, including submission details, is available here.
For questions, please contact the Awards and Recognition Chair, Muhammad Ikram at mzi@gatech.edu.
Venturing Leadership Award (VLA) recognizes Venturers and Venturing Advisors who have made exceptional contributions to Venturing and exemplify the Scout Oath and Law.
⏰ Last Call — Venturing Leadership Award VLA nominations are due December 31. |
Nomination form, qualifications, and guidelines are available here.
Help Shape Scouting — Become a Unit Commissioner
Many of us have Scouts who have aged out but still want to contribute to the values and ethics Scouting instills in our youth. We are looking for two new commissioners for Northern Trail. If you have Scouting experience and want to help beyond your Pack, Troop, Crew, Ship, or Post, please consider becoming a unit commissioner.
If you have questions or would like to suggest someone for this role, please contact:
Bram Franklin
214-609-9089
BramFranklin@gmail.com
Northern Trail Roundtable Meeting
Come meet other Unit leaders, ask questions, network and learn from the topic of the month. We welcome all Adult volunteers. How do you know if you do not ask? Whether a new volunteer or lots of years in the saddle, it will be of value to you, to your unit and to our youth – it’s fun to network.
📍 Roundtable is the 2nd Thursday of every month.
First United Methodist Church Richardson, Rm. 230 @ 7:00 pm
Upcoming Roundtable Topics:
📚 Upcoming Training
S.A.F.E. guarding YouthYour unit can not recharter you if your S.A.F.E. guarding Youth(formerly YPT) is not current. Unit leaders, check the status of the adults in your unit now online. The new course reinforces a culture of active supervision, situational awareness, and safety. S.A.F.E. guarding Youth is 90 minutes the first time you take it, then only 15-minute annual refreshers. |
Online Training
A huge amount of training is available online, including position training and Youth Protection. Access your account at my.scouting.org. If you don’t have an account, it’s easy to set one up. You can view your training records and complete a full training program.
Questions? Contact: NT.Training@att.net
| Upcoming District and Council Events |
Arapaho Chapter News
- It’s time to choose an election date for your unit for eligible Scouts— contact us at kschwope@hotmail.comwho will share your data with our Vice Chief of Inductions.
- Arrowmen, join us for the Annual Lodge Dinner on Sunday, Jan. 11 at Astoria venue for an Italian feast, awards, celebration of officers and Vigil candidates and a fun Game Room too! Register here— first 125 get an awesome Early Bird Patch
The Order of the Arrow is an honor camper service organization. Each district has a chapter and members are chosen by their peers.
Contact arapaho@miki.org with questions.
It's not too late to renew your OA membership go to: miki.org/event-registration/ and pay your dues.
Other Important Information
| Scouting Public Safety Day – March 7, 2026 |
 Join Scouts from across Richardson for a FREE full-day event focused on safety, service, and skill-building! The City of Richardson will host Scouting Public Safety Dayon Saturday, March 7, 2026 from 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM at the Fire Training Center, 1621 E. Lookout Dr.Merit Badges Offered:
Use QR code to the right to sign up. |
Merit Badge Counselor Positions
To apply for a MBC position, please send the merit badge form along with a multiple application and a copy of your ypt/sy to Josh.Ohmstede@scouting.org. MBC is a council position and the applications are handled by the council.
Cub Scout Camping
Cub Scout Camping is fun and only allowed at approved camps. Make your reservations in advance for your whole pack to enjoy the outdoors. Click on Circle Ten Camps for information on the 4 Circle 10 camps and all the other approved Cub Scout Camping locations at the bottom of the page for your Cub Scout Pack to have an adventure.
Northern Trail has an active commissioner staff with deep scouting knowledge. Get to know your commissioner. Your commissioner can help you and your unit resolve problems and pass along some ideas to make your program even better. Our District Commissioner is Bram Franklin, who may be reached at: bramfranklin@gmail.com.
If you are having trouble reaching your commissioner, contact Bram and he will assist you.
Looking for a way to give back to scouting? New unit leaders need mentors who can help them navigate the trail. As you know it can be a little overwhelming. Training is available! Contact our district commissioner Bram Franklin bramfranklin@gmail.com for more information.
Website and Newsletter
Our newsletter and website reach a very large audience in Northern Trail. If there is something scouting related which needs to be on the website or the newsletter, please do not keep it to yourself, let us know. news@ntrail.org
If we need to fix a broken link or have incorrect information, please take a moment, and let us know. news@ntrail.org
Do not keep the newsletter to yourself! Everyone in your unit should be receiving the newsletter and be aware of the website. sign up is easy, just send them to: Newsletter sign up . Do not forget to sign up on Circle Ten to receive updates from the council.
Looking for something in a recent newsletter? Several years of past newsletters may be found here.
Yours in Scouting,
Tammy Pitt
Northern Trail Communications Committee
