Come celebrate Mayflower Council’s Class of 2019 Eagles Scouts

Thursday, June 18, 7:00pm!

This event is an opportunity to recognize all of our 2019 Eagle Scout’s achievement along with other fellow Eagles. Parents, family & friends are welcome to attend.   Join us tonight at 7:00 pm for the first ever virtual Eagle Scout recognition. We will also congratulate our Outstanding Eagle’s, VFW Scholarship winner, and announce the Glenn & Melinda Adams National Eagle Scout Association award winner. You can view us live on the the Mayflower Council facebook page or on the Mayflower Council YouTube channel.

Click on the image below to down load the event program book.

Join the National Recruiting Webinars happening this summer. These regular, one-hour sessions will cover topics important to recruiting in 2020, including geofencing, BeAScout.org, Zoom 101, online registration, and much more. Plus, the hosts will answer your questions. Mark your calendars.

Register today!

Schedule:

June 24 – 8:00 pm:  National Recruiting Webinar – Virtual Recruitment Events, Working with Schools

July 9 – 8:00 pm: National Recruiting Webinar, Tech Edition – BeAScout.org, Invitation Manager

July 16 – 8:00 pm: National Recruiting Webinar – Scoutbook 101, “Who’s Zooming Who?”

July 23 – 8:00 pm: National Recruiting Webinar – Geofencing, Search, Social Media, Peer-to-Peer Recruiting

August 6 – 8:00 pm: National Recruiting Webinar – Local PR How-to’s Print, Digital, Video

August 20 – 8:00 pm: National Recruiting Webinar – It’s Not Too Late: Five Things You Should be Doing Now

The Mayflower Council has secured merit badge councelors to teach a few merit badges virtually.  Scouts can now sign up for the following virtual merit badge offerings.

Space is limited, please sign up as soon as possible.  Each course is only $10.00.

Click on the merit badge you are interested in to sign up.

Genealogy – Do you know your family tree? Do you know how to trace your heritage and family ancestry? Join us for a remote and virtual merit badge experience to earn your Genealogy Merit Badge!  Wednesday’s, June 17, June 24, and July 1 from 6:30 – 7:30pm.

Electricity – Do you know how your house get’s power? Do you know how to wire a circuit? Do you know the first aid for electric shock? Join us for a remote and virtual class of Electricity Merit Badge! Wednesday’s, June 10, June 17, and June 24 from 7:00 – 8:30 pm.

Citizenship In The Community – Now is an important time to take Citizenship in the Community. Continue your trail to Eagle Scout by taking this required merit badge that explores doing your duty as a good citizen in your neighborhood and town. Tuesday’s June 9, June 16, June 23, and June 30 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm.

Sustainability – Are you interested in the sustainability of our planet? Do you know about renewable energy and upcycling by products? Take Sustainability Merit Badge, an Eagle Scout required alternative badge to Environmental Science that explores how we can reduce, reuse, and recycle to help our planet. Monday’s, June 8, June 15, June 22, and June 29 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm.

Public Health  – There is no better time to be learning about public health than right now. Everyone has learned a lot about infectious diseases and their effects on our communities and nation. Learn from the real-world example of Covid-19 as we teach you about how Scouts can help our communities in the Public Health Merit Badge. Monday’s,  June 15, June 22, June 29, and July 6.

Session A – 3:00 – 4:00 pm

Session B – 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Emergency Prep – Scouting it built on our motto, Be Prepared! Every Scout should be prepared for any situation that could occur such as medical emergencies, home emergencies, search and rescue emergencies or natural disasters. This merit badge explores what you can do today to start preparing with your family, home, troop and community. Continue your journey to Be Prepared with the Eagle required merit badge, Emergency Prepareness! Thursday’s, June 11, June 18, and June 25 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm.

Dear Scouting Family,

Today the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America announced an increase to the annual membership fees. These increases are a result of rising operational costs and COVID-19, which has created a substantial unplanned loss of revenue due to mandated Scout Shop closures and shortened high adventure base seasons.

Locally, our council is also facing financial challenges and we are doing our best to address the impact of three months of office closure, activity cancellations, diminished fundraising campaigns, and the loss of some of our summer camp season. We know, however, that our staff and volunteers will continue to do their best to offer high-quality Scouting experiences during these challenging times.

We understand many of our Scouting families are also dealing with similar financial issues. We do not want finances to be a barrier to participation in Scouting, and will do our best to assist families who need it, to the fullest extent possible.

We are aware some of our members may have heard about these fee changes this weekend via social media. The Mayflower Council did not share this information previously because the National Council requested that all councils wait until June 1st before distributing this news. Some councils, unfortunately, chose to share the information prematurely, which may have spawned some confusion. The Mayflower Council apologizes for any inconvenience this action may have caused.

Please review the infographic below. Click here to view the frequently asked questions about the fee increase. As more information is released, we will share the most up to date information here.

Thank you for your continued dedication to our Scouts. As Scouting navigates these turbulent times, we stand together to achieve our shared mission: helping young people in our community learn, grow, and thrive.

If you have specific questions regarding these changes, please contact your district executive or email us.

Yours in Scouting,

Mike Rotar
Council President

Josh Paulin
Council Commissioner

Bryan Feather
Scout Executive / CEO

This is the one spot where you will find the most up to date answers to your frequently asked questions regarding our Mayflower Council resident camp.

Click here to download as a PDF

Join us in supporting our frontline workers!  We have designed a special limited edition Mayflower Council shoulder patch.  Only 250 have been ordered and we will not be reordering.  We will be donating 50% of the raised proceeds to support our local hero’s fighting the coronavirus.  Each patch is only $20.00.

Pre-orders are being taken – order yours today before they are gone!

We have chosen to support Boston HealthCare for the Homeless (BHCHP) COVID program. We chose them because the homeless community was and is being hit hard by COVID. 1 in 3 homeless in Boston have had the virus. The population has unique and hard to manage needs. BHCHP has long performed outstanding service to this population with limited resources and under very difficult circumstances. They set up and ran COVID housing for homeless individuals with COVID, and managed all the health care issues outside the hospital, taking critical pressure off the hospital as we surged. They staffed Boston Hope at the convention center. They set up and ran 2 health tents in the city for homeless with COVID, and they handle(d) the health care needs across the cities shelters.

Online/Virtual Meetings

• One Den was setting up a service called Jitsi to host virtual Den Meetings
• Virtual Rank Advancement Ceremony – – Many packs Blue and Gold dinners were cancelled. Cubmaster could host Webinar and recognize the Cub Scouts that earned ranks etc. Thought was that recognizing sooner rather than later would be more significant to the Scout.
• MidAmerica Council conducts virtual “den” meetings that are open to everyone. These meetings are based on completing a Cub Scout Adventure and earning a coveted belt loop. Meetings are open to all and are based on Cub Scout Year. For example, Monday is Tigers, Tuesday Wolves, Wednesday Bears, Thursday Webelos. Meetings require pre-registration but are free to join. The schedule is updated frequently
  https://mac-bsa.org/scoutingathome/scouting-at-home-cub-scouts/

Virtual Tours & Fun “Trips” For Example many organizations are hosting live or recorded activities. Den leaders could pick one, encourage Scouts to complete it with their family and have a web meeting to discuss what they saw learned. Other organizations have live Webcams allowing Scouts to see what’s happening without leaving home. Organizations offering programs like this include:

• Mount Washington Observatory  https://mountwashington.org/classroom
• Mass Audubon https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/explore-nature-at-home
• Boston Symphony Orchestra https://www.bso.org/brands/bso/at-home/bso-homeschool.asp
• Museum of Science https://www.mos.org/MOSatHome
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (They have programs at all their Museums) https://airandspace.si.edu/event-series/stem-30
• Roger Williams Park Zoo http://www.rwpzoo.org
• New England Aquarium https://www.neaq.org/visit/at-home-events-and-activities/

Several Organizations have created lists of activities and resources

The New England Patriots have a collection of online resources they have assembled. Everything from a coloring contest, a reading contest to STEM material from other organizations https://www.patriots.com/community/rbtl

Good Housekeeping has posted an article listing 30 virtual tours https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/travel/a31784720/best-virtual-tours/

NASA International Space Station Views of Earth http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload

The MidAmerica Council has posted several other ideas & resources on their Scouting at home site. https://mac-bsa.org/scoutingathome/

Other Virtual Ideas and Activities

• Career Day – Parents would discuss their career either via recorded video or live webinar.
• Virtual Project or Collection Fair – – Have Scouts share their collections or something they have been working on. Gives Scouts ability to present something important to them to their friends. This adds enough structure and variety to a webinar to keep Scouts engaged
• Virtual camping trip where each scout camped in their backyard and they met online around a virtual camp fire and did scout songs and skits (done by the scout or scouts if more then one in the family, or the scouts family).
• Team scavenger hunt using “Goose Chase” application. https://www.goosechase.com
• Purchase or collect components of and deliver “Genius Kits” to have a project. Dens can do together via video conference. The kit would include needed components for a specific activity.  http://usscouts.org/bbugle/bb0502/bbpackden.html, Several ideas for Genius Kits on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/pin/565694403164034257/
• Rocket Day – – Purchase or have families rocket kits. Scouts to assemble rocket at home Launch Day, ask Scouts to arrive as Dens at staggered arrival times to keep group size down. Ask parents to pre-pack Rocket parachutes & have prepacked engines that can simply be inserted into rocket. Set up so each Scout can launch 3-4 times and be on their way before next Den comes.
• Plan outdoor hikes on local conservation property.
• Down-town scavenger hunt. Post clues in local business store windows. Scouts and their families would search for clues and take pictures in front of the business. Businesses would benefit from increased traffic; unit would get to post pack logo in store window over a weekend.
• Bike Safety / Bike Rodeo – Set up outdoor bike course in School or Church parking lot. Ask local Police to come and speak about how to bike safely. Try to get a local bike shop to teach basic maintenance to the Scouts.

Do at Home Activities

• Focus earning Religious Emblem
•  Work on Cyberchip
• Make Cards for Doctors and Nurses at Local Hospitals
• Make Cards for residents at Long Term Care Facilities

Mayflower Council Resource
https://www.mayflowerbsa.org/scouting-at-home

Click Here to download PDF of this document.