Golden Gate Area Council


The Golden Gate Area Council is a council of the Boy Scouts of America, formed by a merger of the San Francisco Bay Area Council, Alameda Council and the Mount Diablo Silverado Council in June 2020. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, serving the cities of Alameda, Alamo, Albany, American Canyon, Angwin, Antioch, Bay Farm Island, Bay Point, Benicia, Berkeley, Bethel Island, Brentwood, Byron, Calistoga, Castro Valley, Clayton, Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Concord, Crockett, Daly City, Danville, Diablo, Dublin, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Fairfield, Fremont, Hayward, Hercules, Kelseyville, Kensington, Knightsen, Lafayette, Lakeport, Livermore, Lower Lake, Lucerne, Martinez, Middletown, Moraga, Napa, Newark, Nice, North Richmond, Oakland, Oakley, Orinda, Pacheco, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, Richmond, Rodeo, San Francisco, San Leandro, San Lorenzo., San Pablo., San Ramon., St.Helena, Suisun City, Sunol, Travis Air Force Base, Union City, Upper Lake, Vallejo, Walnut Creek, Yountville
Headquartered in Pleasant Hills with additional offices in San Leandro and Alameda, the council surrounds the Piedmont Council. SFBAC is one of the four councils that serves the San Francisco Bay area.

History

At 6:30 PM on Monday, April 27, 2020 the stakeholders for the Alameda Council, the Mt. Diablo Silverado Council and the San Francisco Bay Area Council overwhelmingly approved to merge the three Scout councils into a single new entity called the Golden Gate Area Council.  The official merger date of the new council was Monday, June 1, 2020 and the first leaders of the council were Scout Executive John Fenoglio and Council President Dan Walters.
Originally the vote of the stakeholders was scheduled for March 30, however due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the in-person meetings were canceled and ballots ultimately mailed to each of the voting members with the new date.
The discussions to merge the councils actually started back in 2012 when the leaders of the Mt Diablo Silverado council approached the San Francisco Bay Area council about a possible merge.  Those initial discussions ultimately ended on August 29, 2012 with a no merge vote.  However eight years later, those discussions again were the topic of the day due to the vacancies left by the Scout Exec positions in the SFBAC and Alameda Councils.  National guidelines require that Councils review possible merging when Scout Executive positions are vacated as a way to possibly save money.  This time, the merge made sense.
The merging of these three great councils into one, united over 19,000 youth members in Cub Scouts, ScoutsBSA, Venturers and Sea Scouts from six Bay Area counties into one strong council with over 7000 dedicated adult volunteers along with five Scout Camps.  The camps of the Golden Gate Area Council are Camp Royaneh, Camp Wolfeboro, Camp Herms, Rancho Los Mochos and Wente Scout Reservation.
The three service centers of the council continued to be operated with one in Alameda, one in San Leandro and one in Pleasant Hill.  The Pleasant Hill office became the new headquarters of the combined council.
Although our new council is called the Golden Gate Area Council, our history with the Boy Scouts of America actually started some 104 years earlier in 1916 when our original legacy councils were formed.  The original eight scout councils of the Golden Gate Area were the following:  Berkeley Council, Oakland Area Council, San Francisco Council, Alameda Council, Napa Council, Contra Costa Council, Solano Council and the Luther Burbank Council.
The first council shoulder patch for the GGAC was designed by Venturer Melody Fewx which was selected from more than 70 entries by the various youth of the council.  
The diagram below gives a basic pictorial overview as to the merger history, name changes and council identifiers for each of the original legacy councils along with the Order of the Arrow Lodges associated with the councils.  
Over the years these various councils merged to form larger councils in order to broaden the reach of Scouting and provide more program for the youth in both the cities and suburbs.

Organization

;Alameda
Covers the communities of Alameda and Bay Farm Island.
;Briones


Covers the communities of Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek.
;Chief Solano
Covers the communities of Fairfield, Suisun City, and Travis Air Force Base.
;Diablo Sunrise
Covers the communities of Antioch, Bay Point, Bethel Island, Brentwood, Byron, Knightsen, Oakley, and Pittsburg.
;Golden Gate
Covers the communities of San Francisco and the Northern half of Daly City.
;Herms
Covers the communities of Albany, Berkeley, and West Contra Costa County including Crockett, North Richmond, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington, Pinole, Richmond, Rodeo and San Pablo.
; Lake
Covers the communities of Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Lucerne, Middletown, Nice, and Upper Lake.
;Meridian
Covers the communities of Alamo, Danville, Diablo, and San Ramon.
;Mission Peak
Covers the communities of Fremont, Newark, and Union City.
;Muir
Covers the communities of Clayton, Concord, Martinez, and Pacheco.
;Peralta
Covers the communities of Oakland and Emeryville.
;Silverado
Covers the communities of American Canyon, Angwin, Benicia, Calistoga, Napa, St.Helena, Vallejo and Yountville.
;Tres Ranchos
Covers the communities of Castro Valley, Hayward, San Leandro, and San Lorenzo.
;Twin Valley
Covers the communities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, and Sunol.

Camps

The council camps are as follows:
In June 2020 when the GGAC was formed they released the following statement:
A process to merge the lodges of the former Alameda, Mt, Diablo Silverado, and San Francisco Bay Area Councils has begun. This is a process that may take up to a year to complete.
;Kaweah Lodge - Ut-in-Selica - Achewon Nimat

Wolfeboro Pioneers

The Wolfeboro Pioneers is one of the last surviving local BSA honor societies in the United States that has not been absorbed by the Order of the Arrow, the others being Tribe of Mic-O-Say, Firecrafter, and Tribe of Tahquitz The Wolfeboro Pioneers is a Boy Scout camping honor society based out of Camp Wolfeboro near Arnold, California. The society was founded in the summer of 1929 by returning Scouts and Scouters who were devoted to creating and preserving the camp's unique tradition. An insight into the society in 1996 is given by a Scouter on the Scouts-L list.
Beginning in the 1930s, the Order of the Arrow absorbed many of the small Boy Scout honor societies that had thrived during Scouting's first two decades. This happened in 1944 in Silverado Council. The Order of the Arrow established itself in Mt. Diablo Council in the early 1950s.
Every summer, it inducts several adult leaders and roughly 100 Scouts, a good annual induction rate for a minor organization. These Scouts come not only from California, but from around the nation and world.

Election procedures

Since then, individuals have been inducted into the society through election. Eligible Scouts are nominated by the Scoutmaster and elected by their troop. The number of Scouts eligible per troop depends on the number of Scouts in the troop rounded up to the closest tenth then divided by ten. Elections are conducted in pairs by Pioneer members who disperse throughout the various campsites. The Pioneers are responsible for reading and explaining the election procedures to the assembled Scouts. The Scoutmaster has the ability to veto the troop's decision. Votes are then taken back to Pioneer Rock where they are counted by Pioneer officials.
Originally only the initial returning Scouts were "pioneers" and for a number of years no one was added to their number. The society realized that if they were to survive it would be necessary to induct new members who possessed the same spirit of the original pioneers. The original procedure was that if a Scout met the requirements described above and had worked on at least one pioneer sponsored work party, then he was eligible for nomination. Prior to the final campfire of the week the pioneers would gather on pioneer rock and nominate candidates and plead their case. Upon end of discussion, a vote would be taken.
To be eligible for candidacy, Scouts must have spent two weeks at Camp Wolfeboro, one of which must have been in a previous year. They must have held a position in their troop that is on the approved list for Eagle within the Boy Scout Handbook 11th edition, p. 446. They must also be First Class rank or above and have Scoutmaster approval before eligibility can take effect.
Some troops, due to unusual size or other quality, amend these eligibility rules. For example, some troops choose to nominate only Scouts that are Star or higher.
Scouters/parents must be nominated by a member of the troop they are camping with. The nomination must be seconded, and thirded by individuals present at the Thursday night Pioneer meeting. The only requirement for adults is that they have spent two weeks at Camp Wolfeboro, one of which must have been in a previous year. Unlike in the election of Scouts, females are eligible for election.

Ceremony

Shortly after the final dinner on Friday night, Scouts assemble at Bravo How campfire circle at the foot of Pioneer Rock. The ceremony begins with the Pioneer historian giving a short history of the camp and the organization. After that, the Pioneers, assembled on the rock, lead the Scouts seated on the logs below in singing the traditional song, "Patsy Ory Ory Ay." When this is completed, the Pioneers slip away and form a ladder on either side of the trail leading to the main campfire circle. In a matter of minutes, the Scouts, Scouters, and parents who have come to watch the event form a column behind a number of Pioneer torchbearers who lead the way to the main campfire circle. The Pioneers lining the parade route hold their fingers in the Scout Sign and stand at rigid attention to signal the somber nature of the event and to call for observance of its importance through absolute silence. The Scouts are seated and the Pioneers disperse and retreat to the second Pioneer Rock, situated so that it overlooks the main campfire circle. The Pioneer Sergeant-at-Arms, breaking the silence, decrees in a booming voice: "Let The Fires Of Friendship Burn!" The campfires are then lit and, for the next hour, Scout troops perform songs and skits for the assembled crowd. After the skits have finished, the Calling-Out Ceremony begins. The Pioneers form a human "ladder" that runs from the stage to the top of Pioneer Rock. Each Scout is called out and is helped up the ladder to the top of Pioneer Rock. Along the way, they are congratulated by current members. After the ceremony ends, they embark on an initiation process that takes until the early hours of the morning.

Duties

The Wolfeboro Pioneers' official mission is to preserve and improve Camp Wolfeboro and its traditions. To this end, the Wolfeboro Pioneers assist in the opening and closing of camp each summer, as well as assisting in multiple service projects throughout most summers. Examples of the work the Pioneers have done include the maintenance of the road into camp, as well as the refurbishments of the dining hall in recent years. The Pioneers are also responsible for at least 90% of the trails within camp.
A second duty of the Wolfeboro Pioneers involves the preservation of the history of Camp Wolfeboro through the creation and maintenance of the Pioneer scrapbooks, as well as the writing and printing of "Wolfeboro Sings", the official songbook. The scrapbooks are currently updated through the summer of 1998 and contain photos, clippings, and patches from the camp's history. Currently the Pioneers are actively working on updating the Camp Wolfeboro history since 2000 in the scrapbooks, as well as pursuing a new edition of "Wolfeboro Sings."
There are three Pioneer rocks. One in the center of camp, one at the main campfire circle and a third secret one. No one is permitted to walk on the rock unless they are a Pioneer.

Apparel

The official color of the Wolfeboro Pioneers is "Pioneer Blue," which currently most closely resembles azure. The actual color of the Pioneers has varied considerably over the 75+ year history, ranging from teal to darker royal blue. Many pieces of Pioneer apparel have been created over the years since 1929, including t-shirts, polos, neckerchieves, and fleece jackets. As well, a large variety of patches, designed primarily for the temporary insignia location on the right breast pocket of the Boy Scout uniform, have been issued, most of which can be viewed at camp in the Pioneer scrapbooks.