Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America and is the result of a council merger between the Santa Clara County Council and the Monterey Bay Area Council, is a Boy Scouts of America council headquartered in San Jose, California. As of 2013, the council serves over 23,000 youth in Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs, Venturing crews, and Explorer posts. See also Scouting in California.
History[]
The San Jose Council of the Boy Scouts of America was founded on August 20, 1920 by John Crummey (president of Bean Spray and Pump Company, later known as Food Machinery Corporation), Robert Bentley, Jr. (president of Muirson Label Company) and Archer Bowden (San Jose attorney). Bentley served as the first council president, Julius Rainwater was the first scout executive, and Edmund Richmond was the first council commissioner.
In 1922, the council changed its name to Santa Clara County Council, and took over administration for all of Santa Clara County. The council was incorporated in 1923, and oversight of San Benito County was added the same year. Monterey and Santa Cruz counties were added in 1927.
In 1933 San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties were split off to form the Monterey Bay Area Council. In 1939 the area around Palo Alto split off to form its own council, the now-defunct Stanford Area Council. That council, which had been one of the smaller BSA councils in the nation by area, merged with San Mateo County Council in the 1990s to form Pacific Skyline Council.
In 2004, the previous two councils served over 11,000 youth in over 400 Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs, Venturing crews, and Explorer posts. In 2012, the Monterey Bay Area Council announced that after 89 years as a separate council, it had agreed to merge back into the Santa Clara County Council. As of 2013, the council served 23,000 youth in four different counties.
Districts[]
Each District coordinates scout leader training. activities and other resources for community based scouting programs. This council is divided into 2 Districts:
- Coyote Creek District
- Quicksilver District
- Pioneer SVMBC District
- Polaris District
- Loma Prieta District - Santa Cruz County, plus Royal Oaks and Aromas
- San Benito District - San Benito County, except Aromas
- Santa Lucia District - Monterey County, except Royal Oaks
Council Camps[]
Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council Camps feature many resources for organizing exciting outdoor adventure group activities and are available for rental by scout groups, families and other youth groups. Some camps feature an organized week long campership program during summer months.
- Camp Hi-Sierra is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, minutes from the small town of Long Barn, California. This camp is at notably high altitude, with the majority of its buildings standing at approximately 4,800 feet (1,500 m) and the highest point of the mountain standing over a mile high at 5,300 feet (1,600 m). The camp is used year round with six weeks of Scouting camp during the summer, one of which is the International Rendezvous every year. During the 'off season' Camp Hi-Sierra is used for training sessions as well as council activities.
- Chesebrough Scout Reservation, also called Camp Chesebrough is a 544 acres (220 ha) Boy Scouts of America camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, California. The camp is owned by the Memorial Foundation of the Santa Clara County Council, and is used year round for troop campouts, Order of the Arrow events and Wood Badge trainings; and as a Cub Scouting day camp and a junior leadership resident camp during the summer.
- Camp Pico Blanco is a Boy Scout camp of about 800 acres (320 ha) (originally 1,445 acres (585 ha)) on the coast of Central California. It is operated by the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council, a new council formed as a result of a merger between the former Santa Clara County Council and the Monterey Bay Area Council in December 2012.[1] The camp is surrounded by the Los Padres National Forest and the Ventana Wilderness and is located astride the pristine Little Sur River. The land was donated to the Boy Scouts by William Randolph Hearst in 1948 and the camp was opened in 1955.
Council Special Events[]
- Council Scout Fair
- Wood Badge
- University of Scouting
Order of the Arrow[]
Order of the Arrow is the National Honor Society of Scouting and recognized those who uphold the scouting ideals of camping, service and citizenship.
- Saklan Lodge is the OA Lodge for this council.
Eagles Nest[]
Noteworthy scouts and service projects of the council:
External Links[]
- svmbc.org - Official Website of Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council