About UA Guides - UA Guides

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UA Guides

History

Originally started in the 1970s under the YMCA's Indian Guides (now defunct), the program grew rapidly after World War II well into the 2000s. It was ultimately discontinued in Arlington in 2020. The UA Guides organization was created at the start of the 2021-2022 year. The program has always worked to cultivate an engaging relationship between father and son where the kids are encouraged to learn, have fun and play alongside their friends. Events are created to maximize opportunity to allow the kids to explore and build a long lasting bond with fathers through sporting events, camping, building and learning. John McHugh and Matt Rappolt built up and modernized a number of events over the last 10 years as the leaders of Guides to bring a good diverse set of events and experiences for the kids to engage with.

Organization

Each Sleuth (Group of Bears) is made up of members of UA Guides. Fathers and Sons will participate in the various events together cultivating education and exploration to grow and learn. The aim is to allow the children to spend quality time with the parent and other kids in an environment that fosters their ability to experience new things. Each Sleuth runs one of the events and proudly displays their organizational skills. Events vary from Campouts to Pinewood Derby Races to Toboggan Racing, Turkey Shoots monitored by the local police department.

Guiding Principles

Listen to others
Leave areas better than you found it
Be safe, explore and learn

Sleuths

While most of the events will have some time where all UA Guides kids play together, many of the timed events and cabin assignments will rely within your Sleuth. Most Sleuths align to one - two elementary schools in terms of participants (while some sleuths will have kids predominantly from 1-2 elementary schools, participants are encouraged to look into and find whichever Sleuth works best for their child)
• Wyandotte (mostly Tremont)
• Golden Eagles (mostly Barrington & Tremont)
• Kickapoo (mostly Windermere and Greensview)
• Super Ninja (mostly Barrington)
• Cherokee (mostly St. Agatha & Wickliffe)