Update: The Centennial Rank Advancement Badges are now shown on Scoutstuff.org

The National Council has announced that all rank patches for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts for 2010 will feature special designs. The patches called the ‘2010 Centennial Rank Advancement Badges’ feature 2010, Boy Scouts of America, and the rank in text.

View the designs of the 2010 Centennial Rank Advancement Badges (pdf).

The 2010 Centennial Rank Advancement Badges should be available in Scout Shops by the beginning of February. Make sure you honor your Scout’s rank advancement with these 100th anniversary rank badges.

What do you think of these anniversary badges?

Today was a big day for Scouting, the kick off of the 100th Anniversary celebration!  The Boy Scouts of America entered a float in the 2010 Tournament of Roses parade accompanied by 300 Eagle Scouts on foot.  (remember the sneak peek of the float we provided back in October?)

The float was the first entered by “corporate BSA” in over sixty years.  The Examiner has a slide show featuring the Boy Scout floats from 1938, 1941, and 1950.  Even though there hasn’t been a float in a while, Boy Scouts have been a big part of the parade, carry the entry banners with the Girl Scouts, since the 1960s.

The 2010 float was created by volunteers from area Councils, and gained some media attention for getting around the age restrictions.  The float was also was the recipient of the National Award, which is for the “Best Depiction of Life in the USA, Past, Present or Future.”

In case you missed it, here is part 8 of the parade that features the BSA float, it is at about 9:03.

The commentary was kind of interrupted by the Navy Flyover.  If they weren’t, I’m sure they would have mentioned that the float was designed by Michelle Lofthouse, and was titled “Celebrating the Adventure – Continuing the Journey”. A description of the entry from the Phoenix Decorating Company website:

Celebrating its 100th anniversary, the Boy Scouts of America presents depictions of several popular scouting activities – including camping, hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, and enjoying the thrill of “flying” along a zip line. The scouts’ involvement with nature is emphasized by several sculpted inhabitants of the great outdoors, including an American eagle, raccoon, owl, and a wolf. The Boy Scout emblem and the American flag form an impressive backdrop for the float, which also features a pair of real waterfalls. Accompanying the scouts’ entry in the Rose Parade will be 300 Eagle scouts marching along, and presenting parade viewers with an eye-catching performance.

Were you watching the parade?  What did you think of the float?

First, I want to thank everyone for the well wishes and sticking with Scouting News this past year.  I’ve been deployed to Iraq the last year, which has been a hamper on the growth and sometimes timeliness of Scouting News.  The good news is I will be back in the states towards the end of January and will be taking the Spring to build up my websites, so plan on seeing good things in the New Year!  (I talk about some of the “big things” at the end of this post.)

Here is a look at 2009…

Some random stats:

Number of Posts in 2009: 333  (short of my 1/day goal!)

Number of Spam Comments Since Site Launch: 19,618

Busiest Day of 2009: Monday, July 27, 2009  (Unfortunately this was due to the story of Timothy Nunn’s death at Philmont)

Slowest Day of the week: Saturday  (This is good, Scouts and Scouters should be out camping on the weekends

Sponsors / Advertisers:
I really hate having advertisements on Scouting News, however after running a couple of Scouting sites for years losing money, I decided Scouting News had to pay its own bills.  Since Google Adsense doesn’t pay those bills anymore, I looked towards outside companies.  I have turned down a few companies that I didn’t trust, or didn’t think would be a good fit.  I only let companies that are a good Scouting fit, and that I have faith in, advertise here on Scouting News.

A big thanks to http://www.BoyScoutStore.com for being our main sponsor in September and December (Jan 2010 too!).   If you haven’t checked them out, they offer a great selection of Scouting collectibles, gifts, memorabilia, funny patches, and more.  Adam and his partners are firmly rooted in the Scouting organization, and run an outstanding business.

I’m also very grateful to Gregg and his partners over at TrailStop.com for sponsoring a couple of contests.   If you haven’t checked out TrailStop.com yet, they offer a wide selection of Boy Scouts of America® Officially Licensed Products. Most products are discounted from the item’s list price and they guarantee your satisfaction 100%.

I also have to thank Joshua, over at BoyandGirlScouts.com for providing an early copy of Alvin Townley’s book, Spirit of Adventure for my review of Spirit of Adventure.  Because of his generosity I had another contest in which I gave away a couple copies of the book!

Top Referral Sites of 2009:
(where you came from, other than search engines and Twitter!)

1. HalfEagle.com (A great site that features all kinds of great Scouting Blogs)

2. Scouter.com (A forum for Scouters, can get rowdy at times)

3. BoyandGirlScouts.com (Joshua, hoping you are able to return to blogging in 2010!)

4. Facebook.com (I don’t think Facebook needs an explanation, but I just made a Scouting News fan page!)

5.  Wikipedia.org (Turns out Scouting News has been referenced a few times.)

Top Posts of 2009:
(based on pageviews)

1. New Merit Badges for 2009 & 2010
Published August 13, 2009
Introduced the new merit badges coming out in 2009 and 2010 that have been announced. They include: Robotics, GPS/GIS, Scouting Heritage, and Scuba. Most of the folks who commented were excited about all of these new additions, especially Scuba. A few folks were curious about which badges they would replace, but thus far I have not heard of any Merit Badges getting the cut.

2. Embroidered Centennial Ring Emblem
Published July 28, 2009
Showcased a new patch issued by National Supply to be placed around the World Crest. A lot of the folks that commented on the post thought the patch was cool, with some caution to it leaving permenant marks on the uniform. “Settummanque, the blackeagle (Mike Walton)” chimed in with a detailed comment that highlighted some of the tidbits he learned in discussing this particular patch with folks at National.

3. Subaru Forester Pinewood Derby Commercial
Published February 18, 2009
This commercial, which wasn’t on the air very long had two strikingly different effects on Scouters.  Some folks thought it was extremely tacky to dress Boys in what they felt were Brownie vests, while the other half seemed to appreciate the exposure and message the commercial featured.

4. Gone Home: Scout Collapses While Hiking at Philmont Scout Ranch
Published July 27, 2009
The sad announcement of Timothy Nunn’s death while hiking at Philmont. This story touched the hearts of Scouts and Scouters all over the Country. We heard from folks getting off the trail or just about to start a trek at Philmont to parents expressing their sympathy.

5. If you Don’t Complete Your Ticket
Published December 12, 2007
This humorous Wood Badge video has been a top stop for visitors since it was posted on Scouting News, and it deserves the spot. If you have taken Wood Badge or just get annoyed buy the Wood Badge hype, this video is comical. (No offense to those who live, breath, and sleep Wood Badge – I’m a three-beader myself.)

That’s a Wrap:
Overall, 2009 has been a year of growth and challenges for Scouting News.  I couldn’t have done what I do here, without the help of many, including YOU the reader.  Please continue to provide feedback, comment on stories, share your Scouting news, and keep on visiting!

What will 2010 hold for Scouting News?

• Since I will be back in the grand ole USA, you will see more posts.
• The largest contest Scouting News has ever seen will be held around the actual BSA anniversary (Feb 8^th).  If you are a company that would like to get into the action, with a prize, contact us!
• On site Coverage of the 2010 National Scout Jamboree!

Thanks for a great year, and hear is to an even better 2010!