Lifesaving and Meritorious Action Awards recognize registered youth and adults who have performed an attempt to save a life, or to recognize notable acts of service that put into practice Scouting skills or ideals.

Recommendations for any of the awards are submitted by unit leaders to the Council Advancement Committee for review and submission to the National Court of Honor. The awards are:

Lifesaving Awards

• Honor Medal with Crossed Palms: Awarded in exceptional cases to youth member or adult leader who has demonstrated unusual heroism or resourcefulness in saving or attempting to save a life at extreme risk to self.
• Honor Medal: Awarded to a youth member or adult leader who has demonstrated unusual heroism and skill in saving or attempting to save life at considerable risk to self.
• Heroism Award: Awarded to a youth member or adult leader who has demonstrated heroism and skill in saving or attempting to save life at minimal personal risk to self.

Meritorious Action Awards

• Medal of Merit: Awarded to a youth member or adult leader who has performed an act of service of a rare or exceptional character that reflects an uncommon degree of concern for the wellbeing of others.
• National Certificate of Merit: Awarded to a youth member or adult leader who has performed a significant act of service that is deserving of special national recognition.

Our council has begun transitioning to a new online event registration platform named Black Pug, which is used by almost half of all Boy Scout councils nationwide. The previous system, Doubleknot, was a major step forward when we adopted it nearly 16 years ago. After careful, thoughtful and detailed evaluation we believe the Black Pug platform will be an improvement, addressing multiple issues brought up by our members and volunteers and improving your experience when signing up for camps and other activities and accessing the council calendar.

The transition to Black Pug has already begun. Many of our recent events and summer camp sign-ups have been utilizing the new platform. Black Pug will soon become the new platform for the council calendar providing many of the most requested features including calendar subscription links and RSS feeds. We anticipate the full integration of Black Pug into the council website to be completed by June 1.

Individuals and units will have until July 31 to archive any data on the Doubleknot system they wish to retain and we will be sunsetting Doubleknot in Mayflower Council in early August. 

We are excited to be sharing this new event registration system with you and we thank you for your patience as we make this transition. We look forward to serving you better. If you have any questions or need assistance with Black Pug please contact Lisa Olson our Black Pug subject matter expert.

Every year Cub Scout Adventures are reviewed to identify trends and determine interests of our youth, den leaders and Cub Scout families. In our ongoing efforts to keep the Cub Scouting Adventure program relevant to today’s families, Cub Scout elective Adventures are reviewed for both content and popularity. The most recent review has identified 19 elective Adventures that do not meet the standards of youth and den leader engagement, with the lowermost being earned by less than 3% of eligible youth. They will be retired effective May 31, 2022. The retiring of these adventures allows Cub Scouting to be more agile as we make continuous improvements to the program.

We know that some families may want one last chance to earn these Adventures. Some den leaders may have already made plans for the upcoming program year. To help with transition, these Adventures will be available until the end of 2021-2022 program year.

• Lions – current electives will remain
• Tigers – Family Stories, Earning Your Stripes, Tiger Tales, and Tiger Theater
• Wolf – Collections and Hobbies, Grow Something, Hometown Heroes, Motor Away
• Bear – Beat of the Drum, World of Sound, Make it Move, Robotics
• Webelos & Arrow of Light – Looking Back Looking Forward, Maestro, Project Family, Build My Hero, Adventures in Science, Fit It, Movie Making

The listed elective Adventures are still part of the Cub Scouting program until May 31, 2022. After that date, these Adventures will be retired and the Adventure loops and pins will no longer be available. Earned Adventures will be archived in Scoutbook and Internet Advancement. The Adventure will appear as earned but will no longer be able to be marked as completed after May 31, 2022.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are these Elective Adventures being retired?

• In our ongoing efforts to keep the Cub Scouting adventure program relevant to today’s families, Cub Scout elective adventures are reviewed for content and popularity. These 19 adventures are the least popular among Cub Scouts based on sales and advancement data. The retiring of these adventures allows Cub Scouting to be more agile as we make continuous improvements to the program.

Why May 31, 2022?

• We understand that some families may want one last chance to earn these adventures and some Den Leaders may have already made plans for the next program year, so we are giving a full program year to allow for this transition. June 1st is when the vast majority of Cub Scouts have transitioned to the next rank.

Can Cub Scouts still earn these Adventures in the 2021-22 program year?

• Yes! These elective adventures can still be earned during the 2021-22 program year. These 19 Adventures will remain part of the program until May 31, 2022.

What happens on May 31, 2022?

• Effective May 31, 2022 these Elective Adventures will no longer be considered part of the Cub Scouting program and the Adventure Loops and Pins for these Cub Scout Adventures will no longer be available for purchase. Earned adventures will be archived in Scoutbook and Internet Advancement and will appear as earned but will no longer be able to be marked as completed after May 31, 2022.

Can Cub Scouts still wear the Adventure Loops and Pins after they retire?

• Absolutely! In Scouting once an adventure is earned it is never taken away. These adventures are still considered official program and may continue to be worn after they retire on May 31, 2022.

Join Hundreds of Other Scouters at the Virtual Little Philmont 2021 Event and Get a Taste of the Philmont Experience

Friday, May 21 from 9pm-10:30pm EDT
Saturday, May 22 from 10:30-2pm EDT

Virtual Little Philmont 2021 provides a unique opportunity to hear from leading Scouters who continue to deliver high-quality programs for our youth. Several topics will be addressed with a variety of focused break-out sessions on subjects like recruiting, involving parents, leading a troop, helping Scouts stay engaged “after Eagle,” utilizing digital tools to reach your Scouting audience, and more. This exciting event can be a catalyst for increased knowledge and energy within the Latter-day Saint Scouting community.

We’ll open the event on Friday evening (May 21st) with a fireside chat with Rex Tillerson, former BSA National President, former U.S. Secretary of State and former Chairman/CEO of ExxonMobil.

We’ll continue the event on Saturday morning (May 22nd), addressing various topics necessary to continue Scouting with energy, increased knowledge, and enthusiasm. Come join us!

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.

Effective March 1, 2021, Scoutbook’s leader invite process will perform a check for a BSA issued Member ID and active BSA registration when being invited to connect with the unit roster. Prior to March 1, unit leaders should check their rosters in Member Manager at my.scouting.org to ensure all adult leaders listed in Scoutbook are also registered on the official roster or otherwise with the BSA. Action should be taken now to ensure all adult leaders are registered with the BSA.

The following merit badges have been updated as of January 1, 2021.

• Archaeology (4b; requirements 8-11 reordered)
• Collections (1, 5a, 5c, 5e, 5f; deleted 7; added 3d)
• Digital Technology (5b)
• Disability Awareness (1a, 1b)
• Electricity (10)
• Fish and Wildlife Management (3)
• Fishing (10)
• Fly-Fishing (10, 11)
• Lifesaving (1, 2, 15, 16)
• Motorboating (1a, 2a, 3a, 4, 5a, 5c)
• Photography (1a, 1b)
• Public Health (1)
• Rowing (2)
• Sports (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 4)
• Theater (5, added 3j)
• Woodwork (7)

There is a new Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook available. Please make sure that your Life Scout is using the correct workbook when requesting a project review from the district. Download the new workbook. For more information and details contact your district advancement chairperson.

January 7, 2021

The introduction of the proposed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion merit badge is being delayed to allow for the careful consideration and evaluation of feedback received from a wide variety of commenters on the draft requirements. Until further notice, all Scouts working on the Eagle Scout rank should continue to use current rank requirements. Once the Eagle-required Diversity, Equity and Inclusion merit badge is introduced, Scouts in the process of earning the rank of Eagle Scout will be given adequate time to earn it.

Specific questions are welcome via email at Officeof.ChiefDiversityOfficer@scouting.org.