Dutchess District   

Proudly serving the communities of Fishkill, East Fishkill, Wappinger, Beekman, Pawling, Poughkeepsie, LaGrange, Unionvale, Dover, Pleasant Valley, Washington, Amenia, Hyde Park, Clinton, Stanford, Northeast, Rhinebeck, Pine Plains, Redhook and Milan. 

Join Scouting today and find a local unit near you! Visit BeAScout.org today!!

The Dutchess District serves over 1600 youth in Dutchess County in New York.  Our programs are Cub Scouts (for boys and girls in grades K through Five), ScoutsBSA (boys and girls ages 11 to 18), Venturing and Sea Scouts (young men and women ages 13 AND completed the 8th grade OR 14 to 21), Exploring (young men and women ages 14-21), and Learning for Life (in school curriculums for grades k-12).  It is also home to one of the Hudson Valley Council's premier camping facilities- the 275 acre Camp Nooteeming.
 

Please refer to the links on the side of the page for more information, or read below.
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Submission of Youth and Adult Applications are NOW online via BeAScout.org!
For every unit to be ready for the Fall Recruitments, All Scoutmasters, Cubmasters, Crew Advisers, and Committee Chairs need to start populating their pins on the beascout.org website NOW.  For more information on how to setup your unit's pin as well as managing your leads, see the presentations below...

Be A Scout PowerPoint Presentation: How To Set Up A Unit Pin For Volunteers
Be A Scout PowerPoint Presentation: How Is A Lead Created


Roundtables
Cub Scout, Scouts BSA, Venturing Roundtables will be held at Freedom Plains United Presbyterian Church in Lagrangeville on the second Tuesday of the month (September to April).   The OA Chapter will also meet during this time at Freedom Plains United Presbyterian Church.  May and June Roundtables are typically held at Camp Nooteeming.  All adult leaders are invited to join us to learn about upcoming events in the district that will benefit your program. Meetings begin at 7:30PM. 

Friends of Scouting
Friends of Scouting is the annual campaign where the Dutchess District asks families, businesses and civic-minded citizens to support our mission of providing the Scouting program to the young people in the district.  Donations from presentations at a Blue & Gold Banquet, Court of Honor, Service Club meeting, or the like, enable us to offer financial aid for boys to go to summer camp, obtain resources for scout leaders, maintain our camps, start new units, and many other things to grow Scouting in the district. 

Membership
Membership is one of the key elements to your scout unit's growth.  No recruitment, no kids!  Need to know how to run an effective Cub Scout Recruitment meeting?  Attend our training, get the Recruitment Script, or email GLENMCBRIDE@SCOUTING.ORG to get a copy of it as a power point presentation. Need some other resources for membership?  Check out the membership page for links to evites, forms, custom flyers, and other cool items. Whether you are a Cub Scout Pack, Boy Scot Troop, or Venturing Crew, we can also provide printed recruitment flyers, posters, mini Boys' Life magazines, and other items to help you recruit new scouts and new leaders!  We also offer Cub Scout Recruitment Training workshops twice a year- check the online calendar for dates.
 
Popcorn
Let's get that popcorn popping!  Popcorn is the annual fall fundraiser of the Hudson Valley Council! Through Show & Sell, Door to Door sales, Online orders, popcorn can be your one and only of the year.  On average 73% of every sale stays local in the units and the Hudson Valley Council.  Frank Giusto is the Kernel for the district. To learn all about the Hudson Valley Council's popcorn sale, please visit our Council's POPCORN PAGE! 

FOR INFORMATION AND ALL DETAILS ON THIS YEAR'S POPCORN SALE, PLEASE VISIT OUR COUNCIL POPCORN PAGE!
  
Training
A trained leader is a good leader.  The better trained you are, the more comfortable you feel and the better the program your scouts will receive.  Many courses can now be found online at MyScouting website or the Online Learning Center.  This includes Youth Protection Training, New Leader Overview, Safety Afloat, Safe Swim Defense, Hazardous Weather Training, Climb On Safely, as well as many others.

Locally, one of the best training resources is the monthly Roundtables.  Held at the Saint Kateri Church in LaGrangeville on the second Tuesday of the month (September to April), all adult leaders are invited to join us to learn about upcoming events in the district that will benefit your program.  Meetings begin at 7:30PM.  We also offer local training courses throughout the district such as Cub Scout Leader Training, Boy Scout Leader Training, Webelos Leader Outdoor Training, and Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation (BALOO). To find a list of upcoming courses in the District,  refer to the menu on the left or check the online calendar.

Guide to Safe Scouting
It's not training per se, but if you ever need to know what Scouts can and cannot do, use this link to access Scouting Safely or here to access the Guide to Safe Scouting.
    
Advancement and Eagle Scouts
Advancement is the process by which youth members of the Boy Scouts of America progress from rank to rank in the Scouting program. Everything done to advance and earn ranks, from joining until leaving the program, has been designed to help the young person have an exciting and meaningful experience. Education and fun are functions of the Scouting movement and they are the basis of the advancement program. A fundamental principle of advancement in Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Venturing is the growth a young person achieves as a result of his/her participation in unit program.  There are many tools for Cub Scout and Boy Scout leaders to track advancement progress throughout all of the scouting programs and many can be found here.  Two other detailed resource for Eagle Scouts are the official National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) website and the website of the District's Eagle Scout chair which has information about  Eagle Scout Advancement in the Hudson Valley Council
Click here to Download the Latest District Merit Badge List!

Leader Recognition
Finally, recognition is not just for the scouts!  When you attend training courses, you are on your way to earning Training Knots certifying your progress as a leader.  To find progress record cards for adult leader training, click here.   To find information about upcoming training courses offered by the Hudson Valley Council and to register for them, click here.
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