Happy Spring to all HDC Scouters!

I returned this week from the “Thrive 2026 West” conference in Las Vegas (the

other one, in Nevada.) That was a gathering of Councils from the western half

of the country to get updates from our National leadership and to exchange

ideas for meeting challenges that we are all facing.

• The main takeaway from Thrive was the serious need to boost membership,

locally and nationally. 2025 was disappointing on membership, as Scouting

America slipped lower in numbers. That pattern is just not sustainable. We

often talk in Scouting about “The Three Ms”: Membership, Manpower, and

Money. Membership growth solves problems in the other two Ms: when we have

growing youth participation, we have volunteers, and we get financial support.

Without membership growth, our other efforts are not going to make up for

that lack. Let’s all keep recruiting and retention as our key focus, whether we

are working on program, activities, advancement, training, camping… All the

facets of Scouting lead back to giving youth and their families a reason to join

and stay in the Movement!

• Flying to and from Las Vegas was (not surprisingly) the opposite of fun. But

you don’t have to fly to come to The Big Saturday! On April 11, every Scouter in

the Council is invited to be part of our celebration of the first full year of

merged operations and of our path to future success at the Inn of the Mountain

Gods near Ruidoso, NM. A flyer for the event is at https://

85ba51_a175520d13594ed984e04abbb6cdf4b0.pdf, and the link to register is

business meeting of the Council and training for Board members; the afternoon

will be training for all Scouters with Territory leaders here for the occasion to

facilitate that training. Dinner will feature our National Commissioner, Devang

Desai (a very inspirational speaker) and lots of award presentations. The

fellowship of an in-person event is a feature of Scouting that we have missed in

the recent past, and I am looking forward to reconnecting with friends from all

over the Council. I hope to see you there!

• I just learned of a great event for Scouts of all ages and their families: “Scouts

Read Sacred Texts Worldwide.” This event encourages youth of all faith

traditions to read their sacred texts in conjunction with the U.S. National Day

of Prayer, during the week of May 7. Participation satisfies the Reverence

requirement for Cub Scouts to advance in rank. For Scouts BSA, it satisfies the

Scout Spirit requirement to "Tell how you have done your duty to God.” Here’s

where to go for more info:

Thanks for everything you do for Scouting and the High Desert Council!Yours in Scouting,

Chris Sandberg

High Desert Council Executive Board Chair

cell: 612/747-0705

“Ask The One Question!”

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