Venturing crew 420 Sets First Nighter

COLFAX — Venturing Crew 420 is hosting a First Nighter  at 4 p.m. Sunday, November 3, in the Colfax Sportsmen’s Club building at the Dunn County/Colfax Shooting Range.

Refreshments will be served. All youth ages 14 through 20 are invited.

 Jim Nosker, crew advisor, explained that in Venturing parlance, a First Nighter is an open house meant to explain the Venturing program to potential new members.

The shooting range is located on 810th Avenue approximately one-half mile east of the intersection of 810th Avenue, Highway 40 and County B. Turn south at the range access road and go up the hill to the range parking lot.

Venturing is a coed program which promotes personal development, leadership, community service and fun with friends, often in high adventure settings, Nosker said.

The Colfax chapter of Venturing Crew 420 began in 2000, one year after the Boy Scouts of America started the nationwide program.

Crew 420 has traveled to Alaska, gone mountain scrambling in British Columbia, canoed in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness as well in the St. Croix National Scenic Waterway, visited Anasazi archeological sites in the southwest, explored national parks in the west, toured museums, hosted gaming tournaments, attended Renaissance Festivals and has done a variety of other things, Nosker said.

Originally an all male high adventure unit, Crew 420 became coed and then gradually turned primarily into an all female unit.

Most of Crew 420’s current members are away at college. The outgoing president is leaving for Germany in a few weeks on an 18 month church mission.

Nosker said it’s time for a new group to redefine the crew and decide what direction it takes next.

Venturing Crews are run by their members, and it is up to the members to plan and carry out the crew’s program. That means crew meetings can be as often, or as infrequent as members desire, Nosker said.

Focus areas of the Venturing program include the outdoors, arts and hobbies, sports, religious life, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and Sea Scouts. Venturing is designed to give young adults challenging, exciting adventures such as scuba diving, cycling tours, climbing and rappelling, and hobbies such as shooting sports, or golf, or chess, service projects, living history, video gaming, and other areas of interest identified by crew members.