If your Unit was not able to attend our March 7th Roundtable, do not worry.  We are making all the event flyers, training newsletters and other information available!

Click here for PDF of all March Roundtable Handouts

Our March Roundtable featured:

• Updates on the functions of the District and the efforts to support Scouting in our towns
  • District Investment in Character Update
  • Upcoming Pinewood Derby
  • Mayflower Annual Report

• Our District Commissioner Paul Callahan lead a great presentation about identifying leadership for Packs and Troops based on the Generations of the parents.  Thinking about the inherent strengths, weaknesses, skills and interests of Gen-X Parents vs. Millennial Parents can help your Unit’s leadership ask the right person to do the right job.
  • Click here to see the presentation slides
  • Click here to see the slides accompanied with notes
  • Click here to see our handout on Engaging Millennial Parents in Scouting
  • Click here to see our handout on Welcoming Millennial Parents

Questions, comments, or ideas for the District’s leadership?

Send an Email to: Headwaters@mayflowerbsa.org

Our next District Roundtable will be:

March 7th at 7:00 pm

at Milford High School Cafeteria

31 W Fountain St
Milford, MA 01757

The topic in April will be: Spring Recruitment of Scouts! Tips, Skills, Ideas, and resources that are available to your Unit through your town and through your Council!  We will have some resources available to you at Roundtable!

Make sure to send a representative so that your Unit is kept informed and in the loop.  Come talk with your District leadership, commissioners, committee teams and other Leaders!

See you there!

Please join the Headwaters District advancement team in congratulating the following Scouts on their achievement of the rank of Eagle Scout with the completion of their Boards of Review on March 7th and March 20th, 2019.

• Royston V., Troop 45 Worcester
• Zachary R., Troop 41 Marlborough
• Garrett P., Troop 232 Ashland
• John W., Troop 100 Westborough
• Jonathan M., Troop 101 Northborough
• Nick G., Troop 101 Northborough

Altogether, these Scouts and their volunteers provided over 637 hours of service to their project beneficiaries!

It is an honor and privilege to congratulate these exceptional Scouts and for their achievement. As less than 5% of Scouts become Eagles, these are truly the best of the best, the most dedicated, and the most determined to succeed!

GO SCOUTS!!

Hello Headwaters Packs:

Join the Headwaters District’s fastest Pinewood Racers on April 6th!

The first Saturday in April will be the showdown match for all of our fastest Pinewood Derby Cars from 25 Cub Scout Packs from 12 towns in Mayflower Council.  The top three racers from each rank of Cub Scouts will compete against each other to determine who is the fastest as well as who has created the most outstanding car!  Come by and watch the races, cheer on your favorites, and see what Scouting is all about at our District Pinewood Derby from 8 am – 4 pm in front of the JC Penny!

Event Registration is Open: Register Your Racers Here!

Packs can register the top 3 racers from each Rank, Lions through Arrow of Light Scouts, and siblings if they would like to join us for our Sibling’s Race.  That is: you can register up to the top 3 Lion racers, top 3 Tiger racers, etc. for a maximum of 18 Cub Scout racers, and any siblings of these racers or winners of Pack Sibling races.

A Schedule of races is also seen at the link above.

We are also hosting a Car Registration and Pit Crew Day at the Marlborough Council Service Center on April 5th from Noon to 5:30 pm.  You can skip the line the day of the race by registering your car a day early!  See you then!

Mayflower Council is working with the Providence Bruins to provide our Scouts with discounted tickets to some of there great games.  Fun for the whole family.

Please see the attached flyers for more information and to reserve your tickets.

If your Unit was not able to attend our February 7th Roundtable, do not worry.  We are making all the event flyers, training newsletters and other information available!

Click here for PDF of all February Roundtable Handouts

Our February Roundtable featured:

• Updates from our District Dinner – Scheduled for March 23rd – registration is open HERE NOW!
  • Join us for a night of honoring the hard working volunteers that make Headwaters a successful District!
• Updates from out Investment in Character Team
  • Since our January Roundtable, the Mayflower Annual Fundraising Campaign has launched! Our Investment in Character Campaign for 2019 has been kicked off well! Headwaters has the goal to raise $25,000 by May 31st and we are already at $4,100.  To help contribute a gift to the Headwaters goal, click HERE, to help us reach our goals in the communities in your town, contact us here: headwaters@mayflowerbsa.org
• We had a great presentation from a representative from Eastern Mountain Sports about the cold weather activities and gear that your Scouts should use to have a fun, safe, and tech-savvy, rugged winter expedition!  We hope everyone who attended learned something new!

Questions, comments, or ideas for the District’s leadership?

Send an Email to: Headwaters@mayflowerbsa.org

Our next District Roundtable will be:

March 7th at 7:00 pm

at Milford High School Cafeteria (again)

31 W Fountain St
Milford, MA 01757

See you there!

A great time was had by all in Hudson as Pack 3104 held their Pinewood event at Hudson’s Mulready Elementary School.   One of the assistant judges of the colorful Pinewood cars was Mulready Principal, Kelly Costa.

Pinewood preparation included every Scout customizing their own laminated “ID Racing Pass” that they got to wear while watching the heats.  Boy Scouts from Hudson Troop 77 were present to assist Cub Master Andrew Hermann retrieving cars and running the Track’s operations.

The races this day were matched up as Lions/Tigers, Wolfs/Bears, and Webelos/Arrow of Lights. Halfway through the day, Cubs and parents were treated to snacks and a pizza lunch as well as a group photo of the Pack and it’s leaders

After all the Scouts had their races but before trophies and awards, there were additional races for the ‘Siblings Group’, a race for Unified participants, and finally, a race for the adults.  Check out some of these photos from this amazing day of fun!  Photos were taken by Eric Leger.

Let us know about your Pinewood Derby!

Share photos on our Facebook page for Headwaters District

Or right an article and get it posted on our web page like this! Contact headwaters@mayflowerbsa.org

While almost everybody in Scouting knows about the four High Adventure Bases; Philmont Scout Ranch, Northern Tier, Sea Base, and the Summit, there are many other “lesser known High Adventure” opportunities for Units, and they may be closer than you think!

Scoutmaster from Troop 1 Northborough and Headwaters District Chair George Brenckle put together a presentation for our January Roundtable that talked about what to consider when planning a Scouts BSA trip.  Have you thought about the process of choosing a High Adventure Trip? Is it going to be across the country or up the road? Is it going to happen this summer or next year? How far in advance should planning start?  How about your budget, what kind of trip can you do that won’t break the bank?

We shared ideas at Roundtable in an effort to start thinking outside the box when it comes to exciting program for our Scouts.  There are plenty of adventures in Massachusetts state parks as well as through Boy Scout Councils in neighboring states.

Click the link to check out our High Adventure PDF to see the topics that sparked our conversations:

High Adventure is for Everybody

If your Pack or Troop has a cool trip or a fun activity that you are proud of, we want to hear about it! Post your pictures and adventure stories to our Facebook group: Headwaters District or email to headwaters@mayflowerbsa.org to have it posted here on our District Webpage!

Also: check out our fliers from the January Roundtable here including one for upcoming information days about going to Philmont in 2020!

If your Unit was not able to attend our January 3rd Roundtable, do not worry.  We are making all the event flyers, training newsletters and other information available!

Click here for PDF of all January Roundtable Handouts

Our January Roundtable featured:

• Upcoming Klondike Derby in February
• Summer Camp Opportunities for Packs and Troops
• Breakout sessions for Packs to discuss what makes a good Blue and Gold Dinner and Troops to learn about opportunities for Youth Leadership Training
• District leadership and Commissioners remind everyone to reach out if you have any rechartering questions or paperwork to turn in.  To get in touch email: Headwaters@mayflowerbsa.org
• Our Chapter of the Order of the Arrow, Taunkacoo Chapter, held their Chapter meeting

Questions, comments, or ideas for the District’s leadership?

Send an Email to: Headwaters@mayflowerbsa.org

Our next District Roundtable will be:

February 7th at 7:00 pm

at Milford High School Class Rooms (not the cafeteria this Month)

31 W Fountain St
Milford, MA 01757

It was cold.

How cold was it?

It was so cold that when we made scrambled eggs, the eggs froze in the bowl before we could scramble them. We had to put the bowl in a pan of warm water to keep them liquid until we could cook them.

That said, the eggs and the sausage were delicious. You just had to eat really, really fast before they got cold.

We shortened the trip and came home on Saturday. But that was after sleeping out on Friday night with a low temperature of 6 degrees Fahrenheit. Everyone managed to stay reasonably warm and was pretty well prepared. But it’s always a challenge when your water freezes before you can use it.

Greg, Kaz, Satoshi, Ken, Calvin, Michael, Landen, Jared, Colin, Ben, and Will all showed they could deal with some pretty harsh conditions, and that is what it is all about. They all stretched themselves and succeeded. They all demonstrated the Scout Motto – Be Prepared! I suspect that not many young men of 12 to 17 would be nearly as successful given the same conditions. In fact, probably not many modern adults would be as successful either.

And I guess we can be thankful that we are not living in 17th or 18th century New England where Friday night and Saturday morning would have been just that – a “normal” Friday and Saturday. Instead we got to get back into our warm cars, drive home and take hot showers. You never appreciate modern technology as much as when you come home from a winter camping trip.

Our Scouts rated the trip pretty high despite the cold (although all were in support of the decision to cut it shorter than planned) and all indicated a desire to learn more about winter camping and winter hiking.

A big thank you to Kevin Conway, Tim Howe, Tim Wig, and Ted Newman for braving the elements with our Scouts and driving.

-Mr. George Brenckle

PS — It was fun watching the outside temperature go from the single digits up to 27 degrees as we drove south back into balmy Massachusetts!