event-district

By Jay M. Woodward
Pony Express Editor

On February 20, NNED Royal Rangers held Winter Field Day events in Holderness, New Hampshire, and Skowhegan, Maine. The New Hampshire event saw 92 registered participants from New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, and the Maine event saw 30 registered participants. It was a fun day of competition, fellowship, good food, and most importantly, worship and devotional time. It also marked the first time a Winter Field Day was held in New Hampshire since 2001 at Camp Deerwood in Holderness, which was the site of this year’s WFD. The reason for the WFD events this year is that Camp Fairhaven in Brooks, Maine, the site of the annual Winter Pow Wow/Maine Yukon Day for the previous fifteen years, was undergoing renovations to comply with fire codes, and was unavailable for use. (read the rest of the story here)

(more pictures here)

See the front page for details on the NH and Maine events

On August 20-23, Northern New England Royal Rangers held its annual Summer Pow Wow at Camp Marist on the shores of Lake Ossipee, New Hampshire. This year’s theme was a military one, “Operation Enduring Hope”, and its Scripture verse was Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

For the leaders, and especially the boys, Pow Wow is the climactic event of the summer. It is a time of camping, competition, friendship, great food, and most importantly, to draw nearer to Christ! For the fourth consecutive year, Pow Wow was the held at Camp Marist, and the Outpost campsites continue to improve each year, especially from the work done at Pow Wow Work Day in May. In keeping with this year’s Pow Wow theme, each Outpost selected a military regiment from their state and created a flag and gateway representing that regiment.

For the third year in a row, District Training Coordinator Jason A. Wright served as Camp Commander, and Deputy District Director Kendall Sperrey served as Camp Coordinator. They served as the camp’s Generals, serving right alongside all the Christian soldiers present. They received aid from Commander Gaylon Long, who served as head of Security, and Commander Judy Tilton, who was in charge of Registration. They both played a big role in keeping the espirit de corps!

Brothers,

We have changed the site for Trace. It is now going international so have your passport handy. We are going to Denmark (Maine). The address is Hilton Road in Denmark. From Bridgton (route 302) head west on route 117 toward Denmark. You will go a couple of miles then go past Woods Pond.  Another mile or so and you will go down a large hill with a flat road at the bottom. On the right will be a street sign called Snowy Acres. From that sign go 1.0 miles and turn left onto Hilton Rd. Go 1/2 mile up in the left, just past the "Gray Cemetary" on the left. This is the site.

From NH and points west, drive to Ossippee, route 25 east toward Portland and after going past Camp Marist, you will continue throughuntil you get to Parsonfield (Kezar Falls Village) and the intersection of route 160 (before the big bridge). Turn left and (another ledt at the ice cream stand) follow it all the way through to Brownfield. You will go straight across the intersection of 113/5 (some may want to start here) toward Denmark. You will travel 8.5 miles through the town of Denmark and after crossing a flashing light, go 0.8 miles down a hill - on the right is Hilton rd. Sam directions as above. The cost for Trace is the 15.00 as usual. Please bring your own cooking supplies, (we will be trying to break into groups to cook) and food per usual. Thank you and keep and eye to the wind for your brothers who didn't get this message.

Check out the Downloads area for all of the 2009 Pow Wow registration and information.

By Jay M. Woodward

Pony Express Editor

On July 9-12, 2009, NNED Royal Rangers held the Junior Leadership Training Academy in Anson, Maine. Twelve boys and nine Commanders attended the camp, which provided appropriate training in leadership development, teamwork, and camping skills. The Academy has a spiritual emphasis, and is designed to provide boys with professional training to become effective leaders.

It consisted of three separate age groups: Discovery Training Camp (DTC) for Discovery Rangers, Adventure Training Camp (ATC) for Adventure Rangers and Junior Training Camp (JTC) for Expedition Rangers. The Camp Commander was Dana Lemieux, and Commander Jason A. Wright was the Senior Guide. The leaders who served on staff brought with them their years of experience, training, and most importantly, a commitment to developing boys into godly young men!

By Jay M. Woodward

Pony Express Editor

The evening of June 13, 2009 was a special occasion for Outpost #40 in Plymouth, NH. One of its very own, Jake Blake was being awarded his Gold Medal of Achievement (GMA) at the Family Worship Center. Jake became the Outpost’s fourth ever GMA recipient and the 38th GMA in the Northern New England District. As any recipient can tell you, the road to the GMA is a very challenging one, but with determination, commitment and perseverance, it can be done! Jake’s Road to the GMA

DTC, ATC, JTC, AJTC

July 9-12

Madison Maine

Junior Leadership Training Academy (JLTA) is a camping-centered spiritual emphasis and learning opportunity for our boys that follows guidelines prepared by the Royal Rangers National office. Age appropriate training in leadership development, team work skills, and camping skills, are designed to provide boys with professional training to become effective leaders in their Royal Rangers outpost and church. In addition, JLTA is the place for outstanding fellowship and fun with other Rangers from throughout Northern New England. More Details are available here

By Jay M. Woodward

Pony Express Editor

On May 14-16, 2009, Northern New England HonorBound Men’s Ministries held its annual Men’s Retreat at the Sunday River Conference Center in Newry, Maine. Approximately 150 men from across the three Northern New England states gathered for this exciting weekend of fellowship, recreation, great food, and most importantly, spiritual growth. For the fifth year in a row, Royal Rangers made its presence known at Men’s Retreat, and several of NNED’s finest Ranger leaders came to participate, and to serve in many different ways. Indeed, Rangers and Men’s Ministry go hand-in-hand. As District Director Jerry Love explained; “without strong, committed, Godly men in our churches, we cannot raise boys to become the next generation of lifelong servant leaders.

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“Leave No Man Behind”

By Commander Jay M. Woodward

Pony Express Editor

On April 3-4, Northern New England Royal Rangers held the Annual District Wide Commanders’ Conference and Banquet at Curtis Lake Christian Church in Sanford, Maine. Leaders from all across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont gathered together for a wonderful time of training and fellowship, and much more. Indeed, it is a time for leaders to really get to spend quality time together and interact in a way not readily available to them at other District events, and to be recognized for their contributions to the Rangers ministry!

The World Class Outpost Seminar

What made this year’s Conference so special was the World Class Outpost (WCO), a two-day National Training Event that, according to the National Royal Rangers office, is “designed to expose the outpost leadership team to a successful set of practices, methods, strategies, and tools that will enable them to develop into a "World Class Outpost". This was the first time the WCO seminar had ever been brought to NNED. As District Training Coordinator Jason Wright commented, “While the WCO Seminar training was ‘completed’ that weekend, the WCO process is far from over. In fact, it is really only the beginning; the real (and difficult) work starts back at the Outpost level, and hopefully the Seminar graduates have understood that! I am anxious to see the future of NNED in the years to come when our already terrific outposts make the journey toward ‘World Class’ results and successes! As a Senior Commander myself, I am particularly anxious to get started with re-evaluating everything we do using the WCO tools and methods. ”