Dear Scouting Family,
Yesterday, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced COVID-19 Executive Order #54 which states that, effective Friday, November 6th, there will be a stay at home advisory for the hours between 10pm and 5am. Governor Baker also implemented additional limitations on gatherings in outdoor venues.
Therefore, effective Friday, November 6, 2020, the Mayflower Council will be closing our three camps to overnight camping until further notice. Our camp will remain available for day use and cabins will remain unavailable for the foreseeable future. Units with current overnight reservations will be contacted to determine if your unit would prefer to transition their reservation to “day only,” or simply cancel.
The order also reduced the size limit for gatherings at private residences: indoor gatherings at private residences are limited to 10 people and outdoor gatherings at private residences are limited to 25 people. The limit on gatherings held in public spaces and at event venues remains the same. It also requires that all gatherings (regardless of size or location) must end and disperse by 9:30 PM.
All previously announced COVID-19 restrictions continue to be in effect. For the most up to date council guidance refer to www.mayflowerbsa.org/covid-19.
The new COVID-19 restrictions continue to make delivery of a quality outdoor Scouting program difficult. These restrictions have us facing a complicated environment for Scouting. We are challenged with recruitment, training, cancelled events, finding appropriate places to meet and parents who are concerned about their children being around others. Additionally, school is not normal, home is not normal and we are restricted from friends and activities as we navigate this uncertain landscape. We can, however, still give youth an amazing program.
To help keep Scouting going our council has created the virtual Yeti Cubs program that sends a weekly email to every Cub Scout family to help keep their child on track with Cub Scout advancement, monthly virtual pack meetings, virtual merit badge classes, and quarterly virtual campfires. Our training team has also offered a wildly popular best practices for conducting virtual meetings; and will be offering an updated version soon. We continue to develop COVID-19 friendly methods to bring Scouting to our membership.
In all that is currently going on in the world, it would be easy to throw up our hands and declare it just too tough. However, our youth need leadership. Our youth need you. Keep calm and continue Scouting! Thanks for all you do, no matter how tough.
Yours in Scouting,
Mike Rotar, Council President
Josh Paulin, Council Commissioner
Bryan Feather, Scout Executive / CEO