Dear Mayflower Families,

Thank you for your commitment to Scouting. We truly appreciate you being part of our council and an essential part of your local unit.

We know how important it is for a Scout (and a family) to be “thrifty.” Our non-profit organization looks to model that point of the Scout Law in everything we do. Moreover, like many, our leadership group felt the need to tighten the Scout belt over the last few years, to stem the tide of rising post-pandemic costs and inflation.

The Mayflower Council also works constantly to raise the bar and expand our program while remaining focused on ensuring its safety and high caliber. In order to maintain our commitment to quality, innovation, and safety, we will soon implement our first activities fee increase since 2021.

Effective August 1, the activity fee will increase from $36 to $48 per youth member. While we never like to raise our fees, we hope that this nominal increase — just an extra dollar per month — doesn’t burden your family too significantly.

We believe our program costs remain reasonable, especially considering the scope, quality, and safety of the Mayflower Council mission. But if this increase (or other circumstances) creates an unnecessary financial hurdle, please click here to learn about our financial aid opportunities.

Finally, if you have any questions about this or any other aspect of Scouting in the Mayflower Council, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Yours in Scouting,

Ian Johnson
Council President

Rich Carlson
Council Commissioner

Bryan Feather
Scout Executive / CEO

All districts are accepting nominations for District Award of Merit as well as recognitions for other outstanding Scouters:

Nomination for District Awards – due April 15

• Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Venturing crew advisor, committee chair (for any unit) and charter organization representative of the year awards
• Unsung Hero Award – someone who goes above and beyond in the district.
• “Sparkplug” – each pack, troop, or crew can recognize one of their adult leaders for going above and beyond.

Nomination for the District Award of Merit – due April 15

The District Award of Merit is a council award presented by districts in the same manner that the Silver Beaver is a national
award presented by councils. The award is available to Scouters who render service of an outstanding nature at the district level. This nomination form must be sent via email to:  Mayflower Awards

The district will typically present the awards at the annual district recognition dinner.

Join us to hear from our Camp Leadership Team about our 2023 Scouts BSA, Venturing & Sea Scouting camp programs. Moritz Schmid, Mayflower Council Vice President of Program will kick-off the meeting. We will then provide an update on the plans to improve upon and upgrade last year’s program and administration.

Dear Mayflower Families,

Like you, we are very excited and looking forward to Summer 2023 and everything that comes with it. First and foremost in that recipe for summer fun is summer camp.

Coming out of the pandemic, and as we look to utilize our council’s community spaces to their best ends, we have decided on the makeup and presentation of our summer camp program.

This summer, we will center our overnight programs at Camp Squanto and our day programs at Camp Resolute. This strategic change will help us concentrate our promotional efforts for each program in a single location and maximize our program offerings at each camp. As such, it will also help us to ensure we provide the best possible camp experience to our campers and leaders.

Given the long history of the council’s work at both locations, we were reluctant to take this step. However, now that we have taken that first foray into a new era of the Mayflower Council’s summer camps, we feel strongly that we have made the correct decision.

Any troop that has reserved space for the 2023 Camp Resolute season has been personally contacted and offered the opportunity, and several incentives, to try Camp Squanto. If a unit should choose to attend another camp, we will refund their site deposit fee.

Meanwhile, in this new era, we feel confident that we are staying true to the Scout Law, the council’s mission, and current best Scouting practices.

After all, Baden Powell said, “A week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room.” And we believe that this is true whether it be in a day camp or overnight camp setting.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email Rick Riopelle, Director of Field Service.

Yours in Scouting,

Ian Johnson
Council President

Josh Paulin
Council Commissioner

Bryan Feather
Scout Executive / CEO

Congratulation to the following units that completed their unit recharter on time this year (by November 15). Completing their unit’s charter renewal by November 15 allowed our staff to review and reach back out to them if there were issues. Their charters will be the first ones to post in January.

• Crew 355 Newton
• Pack 36 Randolph
• Pack 41 Marlborough
• Pack 47 Plymouth
• Pack 59 Whitman
• Pack 140 Wellesley
• Pack 355 Newton
• Pack 4480 Kingston
• Troop 1 BT Stow
• Troop 17 BT Brockton
• Troop 42 BT Easton
• Troop 51 BT Manomet
• Troop 64 BT Plymouth
• Troop 88 BT Bridgewater
• Troop 99 BT Franklin
• Troop 100 BT Westboro
• Troop 126 BT Franklin
• Troop 355 GT Newton
• Troop 355 BT Newton

Our council’s Membership & Unit Service Team is committed to helping all of our units recharter by December 31. If your unit needs assistance don’t hesitate to contact us.

The National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (NOESA) was established during the BSA’s 100th Anniversary in 2010 with the first recipient to receive the award a year later. The award was created to recognize notable Eagle Scouts who had either performed distinguished service at the local, state, or regional level or who were known nationally, but had not yet met the 25-year tenure as an Eagle for the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. Often, worthy candidates for the NOESA have inspired others through their actions and have devoted a lifetime to their profession, avocation, community, and beliefs, at great sacrifice to themselves and their families.

The NOESA has gained prominent standing among Scouting recognitions. Previous recipients include famous authors, explorers, television personalities, military flag officers, scientists, government officials, and prominent businessmen.

The selection of recipients is made by the local council NESA committee (which may utilize a NESA awards sub-committee), Scout executive, and council president. Each recipient’s actions and accomplishments should elevate the stature of Eagle Scouts in the public eye. Therefore, not all nominations are acted upon, and a substantial percentage of nominations are declined.

Nomination forms should be emailed to:  nesa@mayflowerbsa.org or mail to:

Mayflower Council, BSA, 83 Cedar Street, Milford, MA  01757

Nominations are due annually by December 1.

The National Eagle Scout Association established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams national Eagle Scout service project of the year award (ESSPY) to recognize valuable service of an exceptional nature by an Eagle Scout candidate to a religious institution, a school, community or other entity through completion of an Eagle Scout project.

Examples of projects that have been selected for the ESSPY include projects that have benefited underprivileged children, recognized veterans, been international in nature, and have required significant time and resources.

The selection of recipients begins at the local level and is conducted through the council NESA committee (which may utilize a NESA awards sub-committee). The council NESA committee selects a recipient for their respective council from the list of submitted nominations and then forwards a worthy candidate to the National Eagle Scout Association for regional consideration.

Mayflower Council NESA committee will present a $250.00 scholarship.  The winner will then be placed in the regional level.

Please submit the form below to NESA@Mayflowerbsa.org for consideration.

Regional ESSPY recipients are selected by each council’s regional NESA scholarship committee. Regional recipients will receive $500, to be available for their future educational purposes or to attend a national or international Scouting event or facility. (Local council will also receive a $500 award.)

The recipient of the national award is then selected among regional recipients by a special selection committee of the National Eagle Scout Association. National recipients will receive $2,500, to be available for their future educational purposes or to attend a national or international Scouting event or facility. (Local council will also receive a $2,500 award.)

All nominations are due annually by January 31.

System Maintenance – Saturday, November 5, 2022 – from 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

The My.Scouting and Scoutbook systems will be down this Saturday beginning at 9:00 AM for a system upgrade. All features will be offline during this time. This includes all My.Scouting tools, the training site, Online Registration, Internet Rechartering and Advancement along with Scoutbook.

Congratulations to Jim Quinlan on his receiving the Daniel Carter Beard Award from Plymouth Lodge of Masons. Established in 2001, the Award recognizes the strong relationship the Freemasons have had with Scouting since it’s founding in 1910. The award is presented to Scouters who are Freemasons and act as role models to our youth in Scouting. Jim is a member of Cranberry Harbors District as a Committee Chairman of Troop 9, Committee Chairman of Venture Crew 1620, and Founder/Committee chairman of Ship 1822 – all located in Plymouth. In his free time Jim assists with district training. Daniel Carter Beard was a Freemason and a Founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Jim is only the 17th member of Mayflower Council and it’s legacy councils to receive the Daniel Carter Beard Award.

Now available! Updates have been made to the national registration system that allows us to accept adult applications online. Now your unit can skip the paper and use a much more efficient and secure method to register adults.

In compliance with Massachusetts law, our council’s policy is to ensure that adult volunteers have the required Criminal Offender Records Information (CORI) before registering with the BSA and working with youth. This process is separate from the online registration system and should be completed before registering, just like submitting hard-copy adult applications.

The unit (chartered org. rep. or assigned delegate) approves online adult applications. Please watch the video below for review. If a volunteer is approved by the unit but doesn’t have the required CORI completed, we will suspend registration until the CORI has been verified. The applicant and unit key-3 will be notified if registration is suspended.

With this in mind, online adult applications are live and effective January 1, 2023: adult applications are to be completed and submitted using the BSA Online Registration System.

Please be aware that online registration is not currently available for youth-to-adult transfers. Paper applications are still needed for this function, but you can email the electronic version of the adult application to membership@mayflowerbsa.org.

We know that some will recognize this as another significant change to their routines. However, we all know that a Scout is Brave (and Cheerful).

Please contact the Membership & Unit Service Team if you have any questions or join us during any of our upcoming Live Office Hours, where we can answer all your questions.