Specialty Interest Venturing

[trailfinder52@yahoo.com]

Is all Venturing just the outdoor and high adventure program? And how can a specialty interest crew get started? I feel that the specialty interest Venturing crew idea could be a balance to councils where there are many outdoor and high adventure crews and not many of the other specialties. Balance the program, instead of putting our emphasis on just too much of the same thing.

[mdutch]

Specialty venturing crews can be started the same way as any other venturing crew. When the (youth members of the) crew adopt the by-laws, they should put in as their purpose whatever specialty they want to have. I don't think I am really answering your question, so I guess I am not quite sure what you are asking.

[CNYScouter]

Not all crews are outdoor and high adventure.

 

There are many that are not.

 

I have heard of crews that are choirs and marching bands, and do ham radios.

There are Venturing crews that have drama for a specialty.

There are Indian dance teams (many OA based) that are crews.

I am sure there are religious based crews that are not outdoor and high adventure.

 

Most of the Venturing Crews in my District are not outdoor and high adventure .

Along with the Sea Scout Ship we have a crew that does civil war reenactments.

We also have a golf crew. In the winter they meet at an indoor driving range.

We used to have a computer crew.

They would rent the training center at our scout camp, put together a network and play computers games all weekend.

We currently have a small bore rifle shooting crew, pistol shooting crew, an air rifle shooting crew and skeet shooting crew.

Gander Mountain charters an archery crew that shoots during the winter at their indoor range.

 

Our district has a service based crew.

You have to be an Eagle Scout to be a member.

They get together a few times a year to do special service projects.

 

We also have a special needs crew.

Most of the members are over 21 and are mentally disabled.

They do everything from going to the movies, being in plays and taking trips and do very little high adventure.

 

There are a lot of non-HA types of crews out there.

 

[emb021]

ALL Crews are 'special-interest'. Each crew decides what their interest is.

 

In Venturing, there are 5 broad areas of interest in which a crew will fall into:

 

* Outdoor/High Adventure

* Arts & Hobbies

* Sports

* Youth Ministries

* Sea Scouting

 

Outdoor/High Adventure is by far the largest, and sadly, this means that most people think that Venturing is mainly that (kind of in the same way that career-oriented Explorer Posts overwhelmed other types of Explorer Posts before the 1998 split).

 

There is a list over on USScouting Service Project site listing the various codes that Venturing Crews used to be registered under. That may give you an idea of the kinds of crews you could have. CNYScouter has listed several in his post.

 

 

[Stosh]

for the past 10 years I have been an advisor for a US History venture crew. Currently we reenact Civil War, but do have boys that reenact WW I and WW II as well.

 

Stosh

[Oak Tree]

So those all sound like great ideas for groups. My question would be, what is the benefit for a group like this to be a Venture crew? Couldn't it just be the high school historical re-enactment club? Or a church youth group? Or whatever?

 

I don't mean this as a question to put anyone on the defensive...it's an honest question on my part. What are the benefits that such a group gets out of being associated with BSA?

[OldGreyEagle]

Use of Council property

Access to COuncil and District Training (Ok, not always an advantage)

Access to a recognition program, the Bronzes, Ranger, Silver, Gold, Trust, Quest, and Quartermaster

Ability to find like minded groups

Access to BSA insurance (or so the DE keeps saying)

 

I will keep thinking

(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[CNYScouter]

The same could be said that instead of a Boy Scout Troop couldnt it be just a school or church camping group?

 

The benefits to using the BSA program are that it is effective character, citizenship, and personal fitness training for youth.

The BSA is still the leading youth leadership training program in this country.

 

Just as a Boy Scout Troop (or an outdoor Venturing Crew) uses camping and other outdoor activities as a focus to meet the aims and goals of Scouting a historical re-enactment crew or a youth ministries crew would use these as a focus to meet the aims and goals.

 

If you look at the requirements for Ranger award you will see that when Venturing was created having historical re-enactment crews was thought of.

 

One of the electives for the Ranger award is Outdoor Living History.

I would think that if a crew chooses to do so, the other requirements for Ranger could be worked into the historical re-enactment crews program as well.

 

[mtm25653]

Is there any way to find out where Living History/Reenactment crews are located?

 

[Stosh]

Those in the hobby will have some idea. They hear rumors about them all the time. They crop up, run a while and then collapse on a regular basis. The crew I'm with has lasted 9 years and is probably the longest running one around.

 

I think there may have been one in the Kansas City area, another in the Chicago area. I have heard of one in the Florida area and one "out east". There was one in northern IL attempting to get going, but never heard whether they got it off the ground or not.

 

Each era is unique with little crossover, so you would need to know your era before researching for units. A buckskinner group wouldn't know if a Civil War unit was over in the next town.

 

What area are you in and what era are you interested in?

 

Stosh

[emb021]

Jblake makes a good point. I am aware of several living history/re-enactment crews in Florida. Some are indian hobbyist/seminole re-enactor types. Some are Civil War re-enactor types. I was involved with a Seminole War/Early Florida re-enactor crew that started out as an Explorer Post in the mid 1990s. AFAIK, they are still operating, so they've been around for awhile.

 

But you typically don't encounter others until you are involved in that era. If you are an indian hobbyist (Crews that are also OA Drum team, OA Dance teams, etc, as well as groups like the aforemented seminole war re-enactor tyles), you are probably only going to be aware of others of that type. Buckskinner may overlap with some indian hobbyist crews IF they fall into the same time period (my old crew does, but a pure OA Drum/Dance team wouldn't). Civil War is another group. I've heard of WWII re-enactor types as well.

 

What I kind of wished that National did was do a better job of categorizing the types of crews out there, and trying to 'bring together' (if only on-line) those crews of similiar interest to share ideas, etc.