Rechartering will now happen in December for all of Pine Tree Council.

Get started on your Unit Online (Internet) Rechartering early to keep your schedule free during the holidays!

Have a coin collector in your family? ScoutingCoins.com is selling 100th Anniversary of Scouting coins.

Wondering how to advertise Scouting in your area? Use Scouting for Food! Scouting for Food represents Scouting at our best: helping others.

There's not a parent around who doesn't want their son to be an upstanding model citizen. Scouting for Food shows the community that your unit is filling with the kind of sons a mother would be proud of!

Image seeing this article in your local paper:

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PORT SALERNO — On Saturday, Nov. 7, 14 members of Boy Scout Troop collected food from the Rocky Point area. Troop 840 was participating in Scouting for Food 2009 along with thousands scouts from other Packs, Troops and Venturing Crews in the Gulfstream Council.

Scouting for Food is one of the largest door-to door food collection efforts in our seven-county area.

The scouts passed out fliers and bags the week before collecting the food. Scout Matt Kastelic participated in both weekends because, he said, "I like helping families that are less fortunate than our own family."

Gregory Kusel participated "knowing that the food we collect will be given to others to make sure their Thanksgiving is just as great as ours."

"Troop 840 has been collecting food from the Rocky Point area for at least the last 10 years that I have been involved in the Troop," Scout Master Jim Kusel said.

Tom Ortner, Troop 840 Scouting for Food chairman, said, "We collected more than 1,850 pounds of food, up from last year."

The food collected in Martin County will be distributed by the White Doves organization in their White Doves Holiday Project, according to Mike Baldwin, Sailfish District Scouting for Food director.

Baldwin said, "Last year's food drive yielded over 13,000 pounds of food and helped feed nearly 1,400 local families a holiday meal."

If you are interested in the Boy Scouts call (772) 285-9229 for more information.

This story is contributed by a member of the Treasure Coast community and is neither endorsed nor affiliated with TCPalm.com

• tcpalm.com

December 12-13, 2009

10am - 4pm

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• Anyone and everyone is welcome to create a gingerbread house (or houses)!
• Work to create your entry solo or as part of a troop, group, class, family, tribe or office team.
• Participation is free, but please register by December 8th so that we can build enough subdivisions.
• Houses can be of any design: cottage, cabin, barn, church, lighthouse, etc. Creativity is encouraged.
• All skil levels are welcome from first-time builders to seasoned chefs.

Awards will be offered in several categories, in both youth and adult divisions, including:

• Best Holiday Spirit
• Most Creative
• Best Traditional Gingerbread Design
• Bestr Attempt
• Most Appetizing
• Largest
• Best Representation of a Local Landmark
• Weirdest
• Most Spectacular!

You may enter and exhibit your hosue/structure and then pick it up and take it home for the holidays - OR - you may donate your creation to be auctioned off to help raised funds for the Opera House - OR - to be given to a local family. There will be special awards for the house that:

1. Brings in the gratest number of auction bids.
2. The entry that raises the most money.

Entries must be created out of edible materials and be constructeed in a manner that they can be transported safely to and from the event. Building your structure at the Opera House on the day of the event is not encouraged. Please build your house on something rigid enough to allow for transport. Entries should be brought to the Opera House on Thursday, Dcember 10th between 12-4pm or Friday, December 11th between 9am-12pm. All entires will be exhibited in the main performance hall on the 1st floor this year so that the Spectacular is accessible to all.

Adults submitting entries will receive two complimentary tickets to the December 11th Dough Ball part to kick off the Specacular. Additional tickets for the Dough Ball may be purchased by calling the Opera House box office at 207-633-5159. Come for the music, food, silent auction, and to watch the judges as they work. The Dough Ball is a great holiday party! All entries will be on exhibit at the Dough Ball.

All entries will be on exhibit at the Spectacular from 10-4pm on December 12th and 13th. Bring your friends and neighbords, it's free and fun! The Gingerbread Man will be on site. He doesn't say much, but he's fun to squeeze. Entries not donated may be picked up on Sunday, December 13th between 4-5pm, or on Tuesday, December 15th between 10-4pm.

Other questions: Contact the Opera House at 207-633-6855

The Scouting for Food Pickup date is advertised as November 21st. It's not too late to hand out door hangers and bags before hand.

Need is greater than ever this year, and several organizations would close down without Scouting For Food. If you had any doubts about whether or not to participate, the answer should be yes! Even handing out just a few door hangers in town in replace of a pack, den, or troop meeting can have a big impact for the organizations in your area.

Our door hangers are not dated. If your unit can not hand out before the 21st and can not collect on the 21st, please consider organizing a date and time that works for your unit and still participating in Scouting for Food.

Contact Devon Hubner <devon.hubner@downeastdistrict.org> 207-807-5130 for door hangers and agency information.

Please fill out our electronic signup form so that we know how many door hangers you need and which community organization you will be delivering food to:

• Signup for 2009 Door Hangers

You may deliver food to any organization you wish. If the organization is not on our list, please let us know the organization details. Our list of organizations is:

• Help Yourself Shelf (St. Philip's Episcopal Church) - 12 Hodge St., Wiscasset, ME 04578
• Wiscasset Food Pantry (Wiscasset Church of the Nazarene) - 255 Gardiner Rd. (rt 27), Wiscasset, ME 04578
• The Salvation Army () - 22 Congress St., Bath, ME 04530
• Bath Area Food Bank and Soup Kitchen (UCC Basement) - 150 Congress St., Bath, ME 04530
• Soup Kitchen (First Baptist Church) - 851 Washington St., Bath, ME 04540
• Boothbay Region Food Pantry (First Congregational Church) - 1 Eastern Ave., Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538
• Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program () - 84A Union St., Brunswick, ME 04011
• Soup Kitchen () - 84A Union St., Brunswick, ME 04011
• Jefferson Food Pantry (First Baptist Church Parsonage) - 16 Waldoboro Rd., Jefferson, ME
• New Harbor Food Pantry (New Harbor United Methodist Church) - South Side Rd., New Harbor, ME
• Newcastle Ecumenical Food Pantry (Second Congregational Church) - 51 Main St. (Business Rt. 1), Newcastle, ME 04553
• Shepherd of Faith Life Center Food Pantry (Main St.) - Richmond, ME,
• Waldoboro Food Pantry (95 Friendship St.) - Waldoboro, ME 04572,
• St. Denis Whitefield Union Food Book (Whitefield Union Church) - Townhouse Rd. RR 194, Whitefield, ME 04353
• ... Other.

Please come to Roundtable on November 18 if you have not received your recharter packet. (Actually come to Roundtable anyway – it is informative and lots of fun.) District Commissioner Jeff Northgraves will have recharter packets with him.  See you on 11/18.

Roundtable will meet Wednesday, November 18. The Wiscasset School is closed for Veterans Day this week.  See you on November 18.