Congratulations to the nine recipients of the 2021 National Venturing Leadership Award.

Two of the 9 award recipients are from the Mayflower Council. We could not be more proud of your accomplishments.

Two shining examples of leadership.

Last week, we communicated that the Webelos uniform will undergo a rolling change for fourth and fifth grade Webelos (effective for the 2021-2022 Scouting year).

Please note the decision has been made to hold off on this planned change until further notice. Any updates (if any) to uniform requirements will be communicated in future newsletters.

The BSA offers numerous awards to recognize the accomplishments of Scouts and Scouters. Some are much better known than others. Some of the lesser known awards include:

Founders Bar: Worn by youth and adults who are founding members of a new unit.
National Den Award: Recognizes Cub Scout dens for having a quality, year-round program.
National Medal for Outdoor Achievement: Earned by members of Scouts BSA, Sea Scouting, and Venturing who excel in high-level outdoor activities. There are six areas of emphasis: camping, aquatics, hiking, riding, adventure, and conservation.
Spirit of the Eagle: An honorary posthumous award to recognize the contributions of a youth Scout who lost his or her life.

There was a recent purge of merit badge counselors from Scoutbook because many had not renewed their registration last year. With virtual merit badge events happening in the Mayflower Council, we are looking for volunteers who would be interested in renewing their counselor registration or becoming a new merit badge counselor. We do have plans to hold more virtual merit badge classes this year and need resources for class leads and assistants.

GETTING STARTED

First step for those who believe they are registered merit badge counselors, log into my.scouting or Scoutbook to confirm you are still registered for the badges you are willing to teach. If you were able to confirm, you do not need to continue with this application.

BECOME A NEW MERIT BADGE COUNSELOR

If you are a first-time counselor, or a former counselor no longer registered as a counselor, visit this site www.mayflowerbsa.org/merit-badge-counselors. You will need an adult application (yes, even if you are registered as a leader with a unit), CORI form, (you do not need a CORI form is you are currently registered in another Scouting position) and complete the online Merit Badge Counselor Information Form to apply for the badges you wish to teach. It will ask you for your qualifications for the badges and those are reviewed by the advancement committee for approval.

ADDING BADGES TO YOUR APPROVED LIST

If you confirmed that you are registered as a counselor but want to add more badges to your approved list, you can do so by completing the online Merit Badge Counselor Information Form.

If you no longer wish to be a merit badge counselor, you can use the online form and request to be removed.

WHILE YOU ARE WAITING FOR APPROVAL

We utilize Google Classroom for virtual merit badge sessions. We will set up the mayflowerbsa.org emails and classrooms as well as provide an orientation on the tools. If you don’t have experience using Google Classroom, we do recommend that you create your own account and practice using it to add students, assignments, document uploads, etc. Then you will be ready when we launch the next event.

Be sure to subscribe to Mayflower Today, our Mayflower Council Facebook page and visit our website for details as they become available.

This year, 2021, the council advancement committee has committed to offering five Life-to-Eagle seminars.

These seminars are for educating our prospective Eagle Scouts to learn what needs to happen to advance to Eagle Scout.  These seminars can also be incredibly helpful for Scoutmasters, Eagle coaches, advancement chairs, and committee chairs; and all districts are welcome to attend any of the presentations, the necessary information is the same for all districts, and we will touch on any small differences.

For those who attend, the slide show is available below for you to review at any time.

Click on the photo to download the presentation.

Mayflower Council is proud to honor and recognize our 2020 Silver Beaver Award recipients and North Star Award recipient. They are shining examples of Scouting service in our council!

Click image to download

Here’s How Pack 1620, Plymouth Continue to Meet During the Winter Months Despite COVID.

Thanks to their charter organization, Rotary Club of Plymouth and One-Stop Painting & Renovating they are providing fabulous programs that keep the Cub Scouts coming back! Den Leader Cory Mace went to the Rotary Club and asked if they knew of a local business who would be willing to open up space for the pack until their regular meeting location is available again. Jeff Cohen, owner of One-Stop Painting was happy to help out.

Have you helped your unit receive positive press? Send it along!

Eagle Scouts have been leading positive change in their communities for more than a century. That tradition continues with the historic inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts announced on February 8, Scouting’s 111th Anniversary.

Of the nine new female Eagles in Massachusetts, four are from Mayflower Council!

• Ellora H. – Troop 11 Westboro/Hopkinton
• Molly J. – Troop 1920 Plymouth
• Eleanor S. – Troop 823 Northborough
• Grace W. – Troop 209 Newton

These young women have excelled in Scouting and are part of the 6% of Scouts who achieve this significant rank – all accomplished since February 2018 when girls were officially welcomed as Scouts BSA.

Two of our new Eagles were even featured on local news broadcasts:

• Fox 25 News featured Eagle Scout Grace W. Click here to watch the broadcast.
• Spectrum News1 featured Eagle Scout Eleanor S. Click here to watch the broadcast.

Help celebrate the leadership accomplishments of the inaugural class as we highlight the positive impact Scouts make in communities every day by joining us for a special celebration of the inaugural Class of female Eagle Scouts on Sunday, February 21, 2021! Check out what’s in store for this live virtual event: scouting.org/bethechange/

Congratulations to these young women and to all Scouts who have attained Scouting’s highest rank – Eagle Scout!

The North Star Award is a high-level award presented by councils on the behalf of the National Court of Honor for nonregistered volunteers who have made a significant contribution to Scouting; on same level as the Silver Beaver Award, which is for registered volunteers.

Mayflower Council would like to congratulate Patrick Maher as the 2020 North Star Award recipient.

Patrick F. Maher

Patrick was born in Brooklyn, NY into a family deeply rooted in a service culture including teachers, librarians, military, and religion. His first volunteering was in his church. His family moved to Newton just as he and his two brothers reached the age of Scouts BSA and joined Troop 31 in legacy Norumbega Council while his sister joined Girl Scouts. His father, an Eagle Scout, class of 1936, became Patrick’s model for living the Scout Oath and Law. Following his brothers, also Eagle Scouts, Patrick achieved Eagle Scout at 12 years and 11 months. Many activities required for the six ranks and merit badges were completed at Nobscot Scout Reservation. In addition to troop leadership and instructor positions, Patrick was active in Musketahquid Lodge as a Vigil Honor member, serving as Chief of the Watanka Indian Dance Team. He worked at Hidden Valley Scout Camp for two summers serving as archery instructor and outpost activities director.

Patrick’s educational path included graduating Boston College High School (with honors) and Boston College (two degrees: College Arts & Science – BA, Mathematics and Carroll School of Management – MBA, Information Systems). Those three degrees combined with his Eagle Scout rank allowed Patrick to claim quadruple Eagle status.

Patrick’s professional career consisted of 30+ years of successful global experience in sales, sales management, and sales training in the technology industry for IBM, Wang Laboratories, Honeywell Bull Systems, and SolidWorks. For 17 years he taught/coached sales skills, tactics, and strategies to sales people and managers in direct and indirect channels.

As his three sons grew older and became deeply immersed in youth sports, Patrick joined in with them coaching little league, youth soccer, youth basketball and YMCA youth sports. In addition, he served on the board of directors for little league and youth soccer. His volunteering with 70 youth sport teams spanned 24 years.

As a champion of open space, Patrick has served as a member of the Waban Improvement Society, was elected to the Waban Area Council, the Newton Tree Conservancy and for over 10 years has been a self-appointed ‘park ranger’, where he regularly provides trail maintenance for Newton’s Cold Spring Park. Patrick has also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, WGBH Telethon, and is a regular blood donor to the American Red Cross.

Patrick is a founding member of the Nobscot Alumni Association and a proud participant with the Nobscot Hammer Crew providing service to Nobscot every week. He also provides guidance for units wanting to conduct volunteer service to Nobscot.

Patrick considers himself fortunate to have benefited from many adults’ and friends’ guidance. One was Ed Bearfield, his Scoutmaster. Mr. B regularly told his Scouts to leave their campsite better than they found it. It took time for Patrick to realize he was not just talking about his weekend campsite at Nobscot. His referenced “campsite” was actually one’s life’s journey. Patrick has followed his Scoutmaster’s guidance in many different aspects of his life including family, friends, community, and career. It has been his “North Star” through his life.