A letter from Bryan Feather, Scout Executive/CEO, Mayflower Council, BSA

To: Mayflower Council, BSA Scouting Community

Re: Update to Wall Street Journal News Article- December 13, 2018

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal printed a news Article titled:

Boy Scouts of America Considers Bankruptcy Filing Amid Sex-Abuse Lawsuits…. Nonprofit has hired law firm Sidley Austin for assistance in a possible chapter 11 bankruptcy filing

Please note- this article is about the National BSA (BSA) and not the Mayflower Council, Inc.

In a communication released yesterday, BSA reaffirmed its focus on keeping children safe and delivering our nation’s foremost program of character development and values-based leadership training. For a copy of that statement, click here

BSA stated its commitment to the social and moral responsibility to fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in Scouting, and the deep care and concern for all victims of child sex abuse and the proactive steps to help victims heal and prevent future abuse. BSA stresses that at no time in BSA history has the organization knowingly allowed a sexual predator to work with youth and will always seek to act swiftly when alerted to abuse allegations.

In a conference with all Local Council Scout Executives, BSA committed to communicate transparently and stated there are no imminent actions or immediate decisions expected by BSA in light of the Wall Street Journal news story. In other words, the BSA has NOT filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The BSA has hired a law firm to advise and work with the BSA on matters related to litigation amid Sex-Abuse Lawsuits.

I have assembled a few items of information from a Mayflower Council perspective that may be helpful while considering the news story.

• The strength of Scouting for over 100 years has been its local domain. Each Scouting Unit (Troop, Pack, Crew, Post) is owned by its chartered partner which is typically a place of worship, service club, community organization or educational institution. Each local Scout Council is incorporated in the specific state where it operates.
• The Mayflower Council, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) entity incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our Camps, Volunteer Service Center, bank funds and investments are owned or controlled solely by the Mayflower Council, Inc. Contributions and funds provided to the Mayflower Council, Inc. stay in this area and are used to support program delivery in the 62 cities and towns we serve.
• The nature of the relationship for a local Council with the national BSA organization is that our Council is the holder of a charter to conduct the Boy Scouts of America programs in our defined territory.
• The Mayflower Council continues to offer Scouting and Learning for Life programs of the highest caliber to the greatest number of young people possible. We do so in a safe environment with a commitment to background screening of all staff and volunteers as well as a mandatory Youth Protection Training.  https://www.scouting.org/training/youth-protection
• Council’s receive no funding from the national organization; in fact, we pay fees to BSA as a part of our charter agreement and for specific services. We receive value back from the national organization, but we operate as a financially independent not-for-profit organization.
• Areas where we partner with BSA, for business purposes, include several insurance programs, services for IT and expertise related to camping, Youth Protection and so on. Also, important to note is employee benefits such as healthcare and retirement are funded by each Council but through programs controlled and operated by National BSA.
• The Mayflower Council is one of the strongest Councils in the BSA from perspectives of fiscal health, program quality, board and volunteer dedication and staff commitment.

We have great confidence the National BSA can navigate the difficult waters that it, and many other long serving institutions, face with over a century of service to our nation. The Mayflower Council will continue our primary focus of bringing high-quality Boy Scouts of America programs to over 11,000 Scouts in the 62 cities and towns we serve.

Scouting is thriving in this area! This is due in large part to you with your contribution of time, talent and treasure.

You are welcome to call or email with thoughts or questions. Thank you

Join our Facebook live Scouts BSA Information session on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at 7PM on Mayflower Council’s Facebook page.

Fellow Scouters interested in starting a Scouts BSA girl troop, finding a troop for their female Venturers looking to start on the path to Eagle, or Webelos leaders looking to visit troops are welcome to attend!

This meeting is intended to help connect Scout leaders from troops, crews and packs to network, gather information, exchange ideas, answer questions, and brainstorm.

Here are some topics to be covered at the meeting:

• Starting a successful unit
• Recruitment ideas and suggestions
• Planning and executing fun camping trips

Have You Checked-Out the BSA Brand Center?

Download and customize a wide variety of brand-approved assets from the BSA Brand Center. Items available include email templates, fliers, postcards, posters, social media images, pictures, videos, web banners, and more.

BSA BRAND CENTER LINK

To date, nearly half of the units in the council need to log onto the Internet Rechartering System to review and submit their charter renewals for 2019. It’s important to finish this process soon to avoid any lapses in registration and ensure all members are registered properly.  Need assistance…….

If your unit needs assistance and/or its access code, please contact your unit commissioner, district commissioner or district executive.. You can always email, Council Registrar John Fortini for assistance. Thanks!

For More Information on Internet Rechartering

We hear this question often “Is a medical form required for this activity?”  The answer is yes!  All Council and District activities like Camporees, Klondikes, Chuckwagons, etc are required to collect a medical form for every youth and adult participant.  These forms are filed by unit and returned to the unit leader or designee at the end of the event.

The Boy Scouts of America and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts require that we retain health forms collected for summer camp up to 36 months.  These forms are maintained in a secure, offsite facility.

As a rule, all units should collect an Annual Health and Medical Record for all youth and adult members as well as parents who are regular participants.  These should accompany the unit on weekend outings and field trips.  These forms should be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

See the attached for more information regarding this policy as well as the link to determine which form is appropriate based on your activity.

Mayflower Council and BSA National Health and Medical Records

Click on image to download

The Marlborough and Canton Service Centers will be closed on Thursday, November 22nd and Friday, November 23rd in honor of Thanksgiving.

Please join the Camp Squanto Alumni Association at the Casoni Museum on December 1^st  from 1:00 – 3:00 PM for their 6th Annual Winter Open House!

• Get a better understanding of our museum, check out the new displays, and find out how to become part of our museum staff
• Have a cup of coffee & Christmas munchies and exchange camp stories with old friends …. and, make new ones!
• Take a walk around camp

Bring your family!

With our first major snow of the 2018-2019 winter the council would like to remind our community about our adverse weather policy.  The council follows the lead of the Canton & Marlborough school systems when setting it’s adverse weather policy.  If Marlborough Public Schools close, so does the Marlborough Service Center and if the Canton Public Schools close, so does the Canton Service Center.  If the Marlborough or Canton Public Schools announce a delay (1 hour delay for example) the respective council service center delays it’s opening by the same time. We encourage everyone to follow the weather and school closure reports of our media partner WCVB Channel 5 in order to stay informed and up to date on school closings and weather alerts.