Troop 209G Scoutmaster and her Scouts garnered national attention from Bryan on Scouting…

Scoutmaster Sangeet Srikanth is a trained educator. But she insists that some of the most important lessons are taught outside the classroom.

“None of the experiences in Scouting can be measured in terms of letter grades, GPA, test scores,” she told Bryan on Scouting. “But you can witness and experience it every day in your son and daughter’s life.”

It was a chance exposure to Scouting that changed the lives of Sangeet, her son Arnav, and her daughter Anishka.

Bryan Wendell of ScoutingMagazine.org explained that Srikanth “first learned about the BSA in 2010 on a family trip to Boston when they happened upon an event celebrating the BSA’s 100th birthday. Her son, Arnav, wanted to sign up right away. Her daughter did, too, but this was before the BSA had opened all its programs to young women.”

Enter Troop 355 of Newton. Or, make that, Arnav entered the venerable unit. Then, fast forward to 2017, and an Eagle Scout court of honor.

“Every rank advancement was a clear sign of leadership building,” explained Sangeet. “Every merit badge was a new life skill.”

Two years later, it was Anishka’s turn to join Scouts BSA.

“Every day, my admiration for her increases as she excels in her maturity and ability to deal with the challenges of life,” Srikanth said.

However, it’s not like Arnav or Anishka were alone on their journey. Their mother was there – unofficially – every step of the way. 

Later, after a two-year stint as an assistant Scoutmaster, Sangeet was named Scoutmaster of Troop of 209G.

It’s a commitment, but Srikanth indicated it’s more than worth it.

“It’s about five to six years from start to finish — weekly meetings, camping trips, outdoor trips, and finally the long-awaited Eagle project,” she says. “Some families find it hard to commit with their own busy careers.”

That said, the end rewards, particularly for Eagle-earners, are worth it. 

Meanwhile, Sangeet hopes that other families, particularly those in the Indian community, see Scouting as a viable adjunct to traditional education.

“Scouting structures their lives and gives them the most valuable experience that even the best classroom education may not fully provide,” she said.

One of the best ways to promote our programs and encourage new membership is to continuously promote our units and activities to the public. By doing so, we can create several positive outcomes if we show our units, activities, and programs off “at their best.”  

Those benefits include: 

• Increased awareness, participation, and community support for our programs (such as “Scouting for Food,” etc.)
• Increased opportunities for fundraising (Friends of Scouting or “FOS,” Eagle service projects, etc.)
• Increased possibilities to recruit new members and volunteers

On a unit level, here are some ideas and ways that you and your leadership can easily promote your programs and units within the community:

• Know your local Patch.com representative. Look on Facebook for your town’s Patch page (there should be an email address to reach out to). If not, sending a message may get better results.
• Know how to reach your local news outlet. Community Newspaper Company, owned by Gatehouse Media, has weekly publications and the “Wicked Local” websites available for free in many communities within the council footprint. These publications & sites cover the local/community news. Scroll to the bottom and select CONTACT US to locate the reporter/editor for your community and send any upcoming events or ideas about your unit to them. 
• Does your unit have an organization Facebook page? Starting one is easy. Use it to share National Council and Mayflower Council posts and promote your upcoming community events. Don’t have one? Stay tuned for information on how to create and maintain one!
• Join and share your local unit event posts on your community’s local Facebook page! Also, make sure you monitor and follow up on any comments added to your shared post. Note: There will ALWAYS be someone who may try to speak negatively about your event/post, etc. As the OP (original poster), you may be able to hide their comments. Regardless, take the high road and kill them with KINDNESS when responding. Possibly send a message to the admin for the page and let them know what is going on if a note is particularly nasty.
• Local community access channels exist in almost every community, too. Some shine a spotlight on community organizations and events. Contact your local community access studio for more information. BTW: Some of these studios can also be helpful with the Movie Making Merit Badge for your Scouts.
• If you partner with another community organization throughout the year, make sure to share your “good news” or upcoming events with them through social media or directly through their leadership; this might also be a good time to mention the usefulness of Twitter and Instagram.
• Be sure to send your good news to your local town officials (mayor, town council/select board, etc.)

Of course, all of the above ideas take a certain level of commitment from your unit committee or leadership to make it work. So, consider asking for a volunteer or parent to help – it’s important. After all, spreading our good news will show your unit’s commitment to your community. 

One of the best ways to promote our programs and encourage new membership is to continuously promote our units and activities to the public. By doing so, we can create several positive outcomes if we show our units, activities, and programs off “at their best.”  

Those benefits include: 

• Increased awareness, participation, and community support for our programs (such as “Scouting for Food,” etc.)
• Increased opportunities for Fundraising (Friends of Scouting or “FOS,” Eagle service projects, etc.)
• Increased possibilities to recruit new members and volunteers

On a unit level, here are some ideas and ways that you and your leadership can easily promote your programs and units within the community:

• Know your local Patch.com representative. Look on Facebook for your town’s Patch Page (there should be an email address to reach out to). If not, sending a message may get better results.
• Know how to reach your local news outlet. Community Newspaper Company, owned by Gatehouse Media, has weekly publications and the “Wicked Local” websites available for free in many communities within the Council footprint. These publications & sites cover the local/community news. Scroll to the bottom and select CONTACT US to locate the reporter/editor for your community and send any upcoming events or ideas about your unit to them. 
• Does your unit have an organization Facebook page? Starting one is easy. Use it to share National and Mayflower Council posts and promote your upcoming community events. Don’t have one? Stay tuned for information on how to create and maintain one!
• Join and share your local unit event posts on your community’s local Facebook page! Also, make sure you monitor and follow up on any comments added to your shared post. Note: There will ALWAYS be someone who may try to speak negatively about your event/post, etc. As the OP (original poster), you may be able to hide their comments. Regardless, take the high road and kill them with KINDNESS when responding. Possibly send a message to the admin for the page and let them know what is going on if a note is particularly nasty.
• Local community access channels exist in almost every community, too. Some shine a spotlight on community organizations and events. Contact your local community access studio for more information. BTW: Some of these studios can also be helpful with the Movie Making Merit Badge for your Scouts.
• If you partner with another community organization throughout the year, make sure to share your “good news” or upcoming events with them through social media or directly through their leadership; this might also be a good time to mention the usefulness of Twitter and Instagram.
• Be sure to send your good news to your local town officials (mayor, town council/select board, etc.)

Of course, all of the above ideas take a certain level of commitment from your unit committee or leadership to make it work. So, consider asking for a volunteer or parent to help – it’s important. After all, spreading our good news will show your unit’s commitment to your community. 

The Silver Beaver Award is the council-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. The Silver Beaver is an award given to those who implement the Scouting program and perform community service through hard work, self-sacrifice, dedication, and many years of service. It is given to those who do not seek it.

We are extremely proud of our 2020 Silver Beaver Award recipients. They are shining examples of Scouting service in our council!

Peter L. Lanciano

Peter is an avid outdoors person who enjoys the challenge of building things – whether they are companies, buildings, developing committees or crafting furniture. Without question Peter is up for most mechanical and personnel tasks of all sizes.

Peter has been involved in Scouting and Exploring for over 50 years. While he enjoyed his early years with Troop 333 in legacy Norumbega Council, he excelled in Exploring as president of the accounting Post 533 sponsored by Honeywell. Later on, after establishing his family, Peter served in multiple roles with Troop 4 Milford for nearly two decades. Dad to three Eagle Scouts (Luke, Gabe, and Sam), Peter is especially proud that they exceeded his early Scouting accomplishments. Peter particularly enjoyed the numerous 50 plus mile backpacking and canoeing events with his sons and the troop.

In addition to serving on the Mayflower Council Executive Committee, Peter serves as co-chairperson of the future council capital campaign and a member of the properties and maintenance committee. An avid supporter of Nobscot Scout Reservation, he is a founding member of the Nobscot Alumni Association and provides extraordinary service with the Nobscot Hammer Crew. Peter doesn’t just have a ‘can-do’ attitude – he has a ‘let’s go beyond’ attitude. He provides a long-term vision for our volunteers and consistently sees needed work projects – then steps up to provide leadership to get it done. Peter alone is responsible for acquiring thousands of dollars in donations of materials for our camp. He is not content to sit on the sidelines, Peter installs cabin windows, rehabs cabin interiors, cuts firewood, grades parking lots (with his own tractor!), rebuilds lean-tos and so much more. For Peter, the bottom line is always what can we do to enhance the experience for kids.

In his professional life, Peter currently serves on two private life science board of directors – one as chairman and the other as chair of the audit committee. Peter is formerly the CEO and co-founder of two successful public life science companies and has over three decades of experience as the CEO in conceptualizing, developing, and financing international life science companies.

Peter has broad-based expertise in the area of corporate strategy and governance for public, private and non-profit companies as well as in-depth experience in product development, commercial launch, finance, mergers, acquisitions and asset sales. He is trained in accounting and computer information systems design, Bentley University, CPA, CDP, CISA and NACD Fellow.

We are pleased by Peter’s commitment to Scouting and that he chooses to lend his considerable expertise and talents to the Scouts and Scouters of Mayflower Council.

Thank you to everyone that joined us on December 3, 2020 Roundtable!
We hope everyone had a good holiday season, happy new year to all!

And a HUGE congrats to every unit that submitted their chartering paperwork on time!

Below is the powerpoint from our Roundtable, please access it to see what we discussed and the points we discussed.

12.3.2020 Roundtable Powerpoint

There are also many helpful links below:

• • • A reminder about the Program Activity Fee Waiver for families in need of financial assistance, can be found here: https://www.mayflowerbsa.org/recharter 
    • Transferring – crossovers
      • https://help.scoutbook.scouting.org/knowledge-base/transferring-a-scout-between-units-sb/
      • https://www.mayflowerbsa.org/scoutbook-new-members-added-automatically/
    • NESA Awards
      • Outstanding Eagle Scout https://www.mayflowerbsa.org/outstanding-eagle-scout-award/ – Was due December 1
      • Service Project of the Year: https://www.mayflowerbsa.org/service-project-of-the-year/ – Due January 21
    • Cub Scout Activities
      • https://www.mayflowerbsa.org/ch-dist-special-cub-activity-ideas-sessions/
      • https://www.scouting.org/programs/cub-scouts/den-meeting-resources/den-leader-tips-tricks-video-series/
    • A Salute to Scouting, Campfires, Pack and Den Meetings.
      • https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiGVXB–rcQIbGHptV0VCcA

This one comes courtesy of Partners in Patriotism, a nonprofit organization established by the Kraft Group as a community outreach group for the town of Foxborough.

This week’s #NoteworthyNeighbor is lifelong resident Joseph Gonsalves! An Eagle Scout, Joseph built the Storybook Trail behind the Lane Property for his Eagle Project in 2017. The Storybook Trail is a half-mile loop with 25 posts along the way, each featuring a page of a children’s book covered in plexiglass, so as people walk the trail, they read the book. Since he built the trail, it has been vandalized on four separate occasions, and Joseph has gone back to repair it each time. “Normally, once you complete an Eagle Project it is done and over with, but I couldn’t let that be true with my project,” Joseph said. “I saw how much the families in Foxboro enjoyed the trail. I was taught to give back to the community whenever you’re able to, no matter how big or how small the act. The community showed me so much support when they heard about the vandalism that I had to fix it for them, and I hope it is here for a long time for families to enjoy.”

Joseph, a senior in high school, continues to be involved with Troop 32, Foxborough where he currently serves as Troop Chaplain. Michael Gawronski served as Joseph’s Scoutmaster at the time of his Project. Troop 32’s current Scoutmaster is Jonathan Trudell.

We hope this letter finds you and your family well during these unprecedented times. Everyone has spent the last several days and weeks learning about COVID-19 (coronavirus) and how it’s affecting our community. Families are adjusting to stay-at-home advisories and coping with school closures.

The Mayflower Council priority is to keep our Scouts, volunteers, staff, and their families safe as well as demonstrate good citizenship in our communities by considering the needs of those around us.

As the threat of COVID-19 increases, most states, local governments, and school districts have either issued or extended stay-at-home advisories. As a result, we are extending the stoppage of all Council, district and unit face-to-face Scout activities, face-to-face meetings, as well as Camps and Council Service Center closures through April 30. As a reminder:

• All face-to-face Scouting activities are canceled effective immediately through April 30. This includes unit meetings (including patrol and den meetings), campouts, activities, trips, Pinewood Derbies, Blue and Gold Dinners, in-person fundraisers, service projects, Court of Honors (including for Eagle Scouts), etc. Please continue to work with your Scouts via digital and electronic methods whenever possible.
• All face-to-face council-level and district-level events and meetings are canceled through April 30. This includes Roundtable, training events and committee meetings. Please use all digital and electronic means available to conduct your meetings.
• All Council Camps are closed through April 30.
• The Council Service Centers are closed through April 30. Our staff will be working remotely and respond to all calls, emails and postal mail.

This is most certainly a fluid situation. We will continue to align with best practices and policies set forth by state and local governments, municipalities, and schools. In the future, restrictions may be reduced or lifted within areas of the council thereby restoring Scout activities, face-to-face meetings, and the reopening of council service centers and camps in that area.  Should changes to closures be warranted, we will promptly communicate with you.

We have been working to identify and encourage opportunities for Scouts to continue meeting with their units virtually, learn new skills, earn merit badges and advancements, and – most importantly – to do their part in giving back to their communities. We wanted to share with you some resources we’ve gathered that you might find helpful while planning activities at home for your families and staying up-to-date with Scouting during this pandemic. Click here for our most current list of resources.

Together, we can help flatten the curve of this rapidly spreading virus and keep everyone safe. Stay positive, have faith, and know the health and well-being of our Scouts, volunteers, staff, and their families are our number one priority!

Take care and be well,

Mike Rotar
Council President

Josh Paulin
Council Commissioner

Bryan Feather
Scout Executive