Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) Virus Information

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) announced on 8/19/19 that EEE virus has been detected in mosquitos collected from areas within the Mayflower Council boundaries. As a consequence of this detection the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has raised the EEE risk level for many of these areas.

EEE is a rare but serious illness spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. While EEE can infect people of all ages, people under 15 years of age or over 50 years of age are at greatest risk for serious illness.

By taking a few, common-sense precautions, people can help to protect themselves and their loved ones:

Avoid Mosquito Bites

• Be Aware of Peak Mosquito Hours. The hours from dusk to dawn are peak biting times for many mosquitoes. Consider rescheduling outdoor activities that occur during evening or early morning. If you are outdoors at any time and notice mosquitoes around you, take steps to avoid being bitten by moving indoors, covering up and/or wearing repellant. Avoid outside areas with obvious mosquito activity
• Clothing Can Help to reduce mosquito bites. Although it may be difficult to do when it’s hot, wearing long-sleeves, long pants and socks when outdoors will help keep mosquitoes away from your skin. Sleep with mosquito netting.
• Apply Insect Repellent when you go outdoors. Use a repellent with DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide), permethrin, picaridin (KBR 3023), IR3535 or oil of lemon eucalyptus [p-methane 3, 8-diol (PMD)] according to the instructions on the product label. Permethrin products are intended for use on items such as clothing, shoes, bed nets and camping gear and should not be applied to skin. Wear mosquito repellent when outdoors, especially between dawn and dusk.

The Mayflower Council will continue to work with the Boards of Health, the MDPH and other agencies.

For the most up to date information about EEE and reports of current and historical EEE virus activity in Massachusetts visit the MDPH website at www.mass.gov/dph/mosquito

If you’re a den leader, you’re going to love the latest update to Scoutbook! The Boy Scouts of America’s online tool for tracking Scouting advancement just rolled out a new update that’s going to make it easier than ever for den leaders to prepare for and lead meetings, track advancement and attendance, and more. 

Mayflower Council congratulates Michael P. Healy for receiving the National Duty to God Award at the Duty to God Award Breakfast at the 2019 Boy Scouts of America National Annual Meeting posthumously.

Michael P. Healy was the leading figure in enabling youth and adults of Unitarian Universalist faith to enjoy Scouting. He founded the Unitarian Universalist Scouter’s Organization and served as its first President. He led the creation of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta Living your Religion religious emblem for Unitarian Universalist youth. He worked tirelessly with Boy Scouts of America leadership and with the leadership of the Unitarian Universalist Association to resolve policy differences. He organized Unitarian Universalist participation in several Boy Scouts of America National Jamborees.

Mike also was a leader in the Boy Scouts of America’s National Religious Relationships Committee. He also founded the Religious Relationships Committee of the Northeast Region and served as its first chair. Mike served as unit level leader, Council President of Knox Trail Council, Area President of the New England Area of the Northeast Region and member of the Northeast Region Executive Board. Mike was awarded the Eagle Scout Award, National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Scout Award, Silver Beaver Award and Silver Antelope Award. He was a founder and vigorous supporter of the Harbor to Bay bicycle ride to combat AIDS.

Mike had an interesting career. He initially was an engineer working with Raytheon Corporation as part of the team with the Apollo Moon Landings. He then wanted to work more with people and for almost 30 years was a general practice attorney in Holliston Massachusetts. Finally, he was preparing to become a Unitarian Minister, earned a Master of Divinity degree and was completing internship in preparation for ordination as a Unitarian Minister when he Went Home on March 6, 2016.

Mike is survived by his wife Cathy, three children and nine grandchildren.

Mayflower Council would like to congratulate Chris Thorp as a recipient of the Silver Antelope Award.  The Silver Antelope Award is conferred by the National Court of Honor of the By Scouts of America upon nomination by the region for distinguished service to youth. The award is made for noteworthy service of exceptional character to youth by registered Scouters within the territory under the jurisdiction of the Northeast Region.

Chris has received many awards during her 32 years in Scouting, including the Silver Beaver Award, Venturing Leadership Award, Order of the Arrow Founder’s Award, 50-Miler Award, Scoutmaster’s Award of Merit, and Scoutmaster’s Training Award. She is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, a recipient of the District Award of Merit and Advisor’s Key, and has earned Wood Badge.  Her proudest moments occurred when she was able to accompany her son, Robert, and daughter, Jennifer, on separate trips to Philmont.

Chris has filled a number of positions at the unit level including den leader, Webelos leader, den leader coach, committee member, Assistant Scoutmaster, and Scoutmaster. She currently serves as Crew Advisor. She has served as the district committee chair and the district camp promotions chair. At the council level, she has been training chair, vice chair and chair of camping, program vice president, and lodge adviser, and is currently activities and civic service chair. She currently sits on the Area 1 committee. She also served as host council representative to National Camp School for Camp Resolute for 10 years.

Now that she is retired, Chris has joined Camp Resolute as director with the goal of ensuring that the camp became accredited by the American Camp Association like Philmont, Northern Tier, and Sea Base.

Chris credits her success in Scouting to having the full support of her family. While her husband, Tom, is not involved in Scouting, he and her children have made many sacrifices so she could fully immerse herself in Scouting, for which she is grateful. She and Tom live in Maynard, Massachusetts.

Good news for unit leaders who use Internet Advancement to track their Scouts’ progress along the Scouting trail. The BSA has introduced an array of upgrades designed to make your life easier. The improvements make inputting advancement updates faster, allow leaders to search advancement history in a snap and give Scouters more control over printable reports — like the kind used to make purchases at the Scout Shop.

Important Update from the National Council regarding membership forms:

New registration applications no longer have duplicate copies included. This was a conscious decision based on a units’ access to member information through BSA’s online systems. Units have access to both youth and adult leader information through both my.Scouting and Scoutbook, which is now free for every unit.

Both of these systems update overnight after the registration is posted by the council through ScoutNET, or immediately after an online application is approved by the unit. Additionally, privacy of personal information is a constant growing concern today and removing these additional copies helps to keep individuals personal information from being non-securely passed around or disposed of by volunteers.

We’ll be offering the live version of youth protection training (YPT) for adult leaders.  All our currently registered leaders should have already taken YPT in 2018, and that certification is still good for two years. But, if you have new leaders who need this training, parents who’d like to take it, or experienced leaders who want a refresher, we encourage them to come to this live training!

It covers the same material as the online course, and it offers the same credit… along with a chance to discuss and ask questions.

Pre-registration is appreciated

April 6th in Franklin

April 18th in Whitman

The Boy Scouts of America is committed to basic operations by putting tools in the hands of volunteers.  For several years now, individuals and unit key 3 have had access to print membership cards through my.scouting. In addition, functionality will be added to my.scouting by January 1, 2019, to enable members of the unit key 3 to print their unit Charter Certificate.

This “self-service” functionality allows volunteers to print membership cards and the unit charter certificate in a timely manner and enhances the on-boarding experience for new youth and adults.

Units will need to print their membership cards and charter certificate, instructions for doing so are below.

How to print a membership card for an individual

How to print membership cards for a unit

FAQs and How To’s for charter certificate printing