RememberSchiff

April, 2022 : example of a professional association partnership: Eastern Advanced Manufacturing Alliance. Welding Merit Badge Workshop The workshop will be held on April 30, 2022 from 9 AM to 2 PM at member company Collins & Jewell in Bozrah, CT and is open to high school age members of Scouts, BSA in New London and Windham counties. Participants will learn about welding safety, equipment, processes and training and career opportunities available in this high demand field. In addition to donating space for the event, Collins & Jewell will also be hosting a tour of their facility and is dedicating the time and skills of several of their certified weld instructors to work with the scouts to learn different types of welding. Airgas & Lincoln Electric are generously donating safety materials such as weld helmets, gloves and coats for the scouts to use during the activities and support is also provided by the American Welding Society. The event is open to Scouts ages 14 and older and event capacity is limited to 20 Scouts. Lunch will be provided by EAMA. Parents & Guardians of registered attendees are invited to join the tour and learn about the numerous career opportunities in the region available in manufacturing. https://eamainc.com/event/welding-merit-badge/. I have seen other Welding MB, sometimes called Welding Merit Badge Day, partnerships this Spring. https://scoutingevent.com/250-weldingmb2022 <- Northern Star Scouting Council/ Lynnes Welding Training

June, 2022 : example of a school partnership. I do not know if faculty were offficial MBC's or if Council used adult leaders for proxy signoff and YP. I prefer this approach over the expense of a Council creating their own separate Skills or STEM center. The Narragansett Council, Boy Scouts of America and New England Institute of Technology have formed a collaboration, offering a series of Merit Badge courses that help Scouts learn technical skills directly from industry expert faculty. These Merit Badge courses give Scouts the chance to explore areas of interest that could inform future careers. While Scouts learn from NEIT faculty, parents and guardians are given the opportunity to tour the campus and learn about post-secondary education opportunities at NEIT. This May, NCBSA hosted STEM-focused Merit Badge courses at two NEIT campuses. The Surveying, Electronics, and Health Professions Merit Badge courses were held at the East Greenwich campus, and the Automotive Mechanics Merit Badge course was held at the Warwick campus. Each course was led by NEIT faculty. Scout attendees benefited from a hands-on, intensive learning experience that met the requirements for their chosen Merit Badge. This collaboration will be especially impactful for Scouts who may not otherwise have access to hands on learning in these topic areas, and professionals in these fields. “It is particularly gratifying to help Scouts achieve their STEM-related Merit Badges by offering hands-on experience under the guidance of our industry expert faculty,” said Alan Resnick, Vice President for Strategic Planning at NEIT. “Our faculty is dedicated helping young people discover the joy of learning about and doing new things. We anticipate future successes as our relationship with the Scouts continues to expand.” “We’re excited to expand our Merit Badge offerings to Scouts through our new collaboration with NEIT,” said Tim McCandless, Scout Executive and CEO. “By partnering with a higher education institution like NEIT, we’re able to show Scouts that the skills they learn through their Merit Badges have real world applicability. We look forward to continuing to add more subject areas going forward.” https://www.valleybreeze.com/news/state/narragansett-council-and-neit-collaborate-to-teach-stem-skills-to-scouts/article_cd2146d0-e828-11ec-8271-87c0309a1328.html

You were a lifeline. Glad you were there.

"I never told my father how I really felt about our pinewood-derby adventure. He never knew that he had taught me an invaluable truth: It’s better to fail on your own than to take credit for another man’s success." Audio (3 min) and text by author/scout Greg Opelka https://www.wsj.com/articles/pinewood-derby-racing-fathers-day-lessons-car-boy-scouts-cubs-11655326263

Camp Babcock-Hovey (Seneca Waterways Council, eastern shore of Seneca Lake, NY) “Our volunteer Executive Board this evening made the difficult decision to begin the process of selling Camp Babcock-Hovey,” said the council in a letter sent to Scouting families on Tuesday, June 14. “The board made this choice only after nearly a year spent exploring ways to fulfill our obligation to the national BSA bankruptcy settlement, including a fully researched recommendation from the council’s Asset Committee.” ... Others wondered out loud if the two remaining camps operated by the SWC- Camp Cutler in Ontario County and Massawepie Scout Camps in St. Lawrence County- would adequately serve the Western New York Scouting community. ... The Seneca Waterways Council is expected to pay 8-MILLION dollars in cash towards the national Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy settlement, that was brought upon by thousands of sexual abuse allegations. In a statement, the Executive Board said after using all of its operating and capital cash assets, and other funds, they would not be able to afford to pay the 8-MILLION dollars without selling one of its three camps. Sources: https://www.fingerlakes1.com/2022/06/15/local-bsa-council-announces-camp-babcock-hovey-in-ovid-will-be-sold/ The source link below includes an explanation from the Executive Board. https://www.fingerlakesdailynews.com/2022/06/15/1474035/

Yes but that is not the Scouting Leadership method where the SPL comes around to patrols and advises, checks,... Patrols did their meetings online during covid and some of their assumptions of the way things are were apart from reality. That said, leader styles are dynamic. What may work for one patrol may not work for another. Let them experiment, fail, team-build, fix, succeed. My $0.02, P.S. I am a ASM, yep Anti-Snacks-at-Meetings - my den meetings, pack meetings, trooping meetings,...

IMO, this could be a good experiment, with failure allowed, of the Leadership Method. One patrol prepares for a campout, another wings it or a mystery destination where lack of preparation leads to lost fun opportunities...oh there was a beach?

Agree, kids can do stupid things. I would like to see the Watertown school district rescind the suspension immediately and our Boy Scout be allowed to take state exams as planned. As I understand, the superintendent is leaving in days as previously announced. Fix this now. Who was that masked man - Scott Armstrong, Director of National Media Relations for the BSA? From what I read, his response was quick, informed, and supportive - professional. 👍 My $0.02,

Found Chief Judge Silberstein Opinions, some (few?) are regarding plan confirmation. https://www.deb.usco urts.gov/judges-info/opinions?field_judge_nid=63&field_opinion_date_value[value][year]=

@JimF welcome to scouter.com

An announcement on May 16 fleshed out those reports, as The Conservation Fund (TCF) proclaimed its partnership with the Greater New York Councils of Boy Scouts of America (GNYC) to preserve the majority of the land at TMR. ... The multi-year conservation effort announced by TCF and GNYC will kick off with TCF’s purchase of nearly 6,100 acres of TMR land. A second phase will follow, bringing the total land sold to around 9,400 acres. GNYC will keep its active summer camp facilities, an area encompassing 2,100 acres. It will also continue to use the conserved area for charitable purposes under an unspecified agreement. ... TCF will work in the future with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for the permanent protection of the land, according to the release. More at source link below map. https://riverreporter.com/stories/ten-mile-river-conservation-announced,55557

Found these two "Opinion on Confirmation" by Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey (recalled Judge Silberstein fired her mentor). One plan he rejected (49 pages) and one he approved (29 pages). I have not found previous Judge Silberstein opinions. Given the complexity of the case, I could understand her opinion writing taking longer. Rejected the Fourth Amended Plan of Exide Batteries in 2002 https://www.deb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/judge-kevin-j.carey/exide.pdf Approved reorganization plan of Abengoa in 2016. Note objection of US Trustee objection to third party releases. http://bankrupt.com/misc/deb16-10790-1033.pdf

Over the weekend, Syracuse/Watertown,NY news sources reported a "Boy Scout" (15yr old) threatening a school with a rifle. The "Boy Scout" had attended a scouting event where U.S. Army personnel were present. His proud mother took a video. The reports were short on facts and video links ... and now the rest of the story The mother of the Boy Scout seen in the video recorded the eight-second video, which her son then posted on his private Snapchat account, according to Scott Armstrong, director of national media relations for the BSA. The scout was “holding a rifle swung over his shoulder. He was holding it up, not pointing it at anybody, not threatening anyone in any way” at the event Saturday, Armstrong said. Sometime after, another boy (14yrs old and NOT a scout) posted that video, a “doctored” version — one that warned kids not to go to school on Monday and showed the Boy Scout from Troop 26 with the rifle — popped up on Snapchat, Armstrong said. After the video with the threatening caption began to circulate, multiple people alerted authorities. Watertown police on Sunday released a statement saying they were investigating a “captioned video of a juvenile male with a rifle” that “referenced Case Middle School in Watertown.” Watertown police called the state police, the FBI and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to help investigate. ... “There was no caption, no threat, no commentary in the original video,” Armstrong said. The only audio was the Troop 26 Scoutmaster, who’s also a captain with the 10th Mountain Division, heard in the background, he said. In addition to the boy’s mom, military personnel and scout leaders, who are active duty members of the military, witnessed the scout holding an inoperable M4 rifle, Armstrong said. The U.S. Army provided the rifle, as well as an attack helicopter and military vehicles at the event this weekend, he said. The Boy Scout seen in the video was “proudly representing the Scouts and he was proud of the Army, as his dad is deployed overseas,” Armstrong said. He posted the video to his Snapchat account, which only 44 friends could see, Armstrong said. “One of those friends screenshot his video and super-imposed (the threatening caption) and posted the doctored version on Snapchat,” Armstrong said. The Boy Scout seen in the video, a freshman at Watertown High School, was suspended from school while the investigation continued. When his mother met with the principal Monday morning, she was told her son’s suspension would last five days for “causing a disturbance,” Armstrong said. The boy also has been asked to take his Regents exams in August, instead of this month, even though one of the exams is after the five-day suspension is lifted, Armstrong said. https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2022/06/watertown-police-clear-boy-scout-of-wrongdoing-in-school-threat-charge-other-boy.html

Troop 26 scouts were returning on Georgia I-75 from a week-long camping trip when the van in front of them blew its back tires and flip... They rescued a family of four. Good story of scouts with video https://www.wjcl.com/article/georgia-boy-scout-crash-rescue/40271959 Well done. Scout salute.

Yes, Barry with your knowledge, experience, and passion for Scouting, you would be a great choice! 👍

Some questions: For Chapter 11 reorganization plan confirmation doesn't the judge also have to believe the plan will not lead to Chapter 7? And if this reorganization plan is not confirmed or confirmed but overturned, at what point with more expenses than income in the following months will the BSA become less valuable as an operating entity than in liquidation (Chapter 7)?

IMHO, we are not in their league even though the BSA likely greatly outspends UK Scouting. Maybe Mr. Grylls and some of his ambassadors can recruit and train our new leaders for the reboot. There is even a precedent for this, recall the BSA started after a British scout guided a lost American through the fog! As a start, we could ask to edit his video which already includes some Americans.

Mark Chapman, the first man to be charged by Michigan AG's investigation into the Boy Scouts of America, has been found fit to stand trial. His probable cause conference is set for June 29 at 8 a.m. Chapman was earlier charged with eight counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) and two counts of first-degree CSC against two victims. More at sources: https://www.wlns.com/news/michigan/man-charged-in-boy-scouts-investigation-can-stand-trial/ https://www.9and10news.com/2022/06/10/man-charged-in-boy-scouts-investigation-found-competent-to-stand-trial/

I think we are seeing that with Connecticut Yankee Council sale of Deer Lake.

Why not create one? Isn't this what we Scouters do, develop leaders? How many times have we thought one of our scouts should become President or our PLC should replace the National Council ? My $0.01

The Narragansett Council announced in May that its Executive Board decided to sell Camp Cachalot in South Carver, Massachusetts, to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to sell Camp Norse in Kingston, Massachusetts, to a separate nonprofit with plans to lease the property. Proceeds from the real estate sales will be part of the council’s $6.45 million contribution to a $2.6 billion sex abuse survivors compensation trust established as a result of a class-action lawsuit against the National Boy Scouts of America. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/boy-scouts-selling-massachusetts-camps-to-pay-for-lawsuit-settlements/2742661/

@Bouv welcome to scouter.com

Update 06/08/2022: The Finley-Albright Boy Scout Reservation is scheduled for closing in August to developer George Emerson; while the sale has not been publicly announced, Emerson confirmed by phone Friday that he has the nearly 550 acres located at 11301 Trents Bridge Road under contract for an undisclosed amount. ... “The Heart of Virginia Council’s share of the collective survivor trust fund is just over $2 million, due this month,” wrote Heart of Virginia Council Executive George McGovern in a May 12 letter. “The HOVC Board of Directors has identified the Albright Scout Reservation, one of HOVC’s assets, as a means to that end.” The letter noted that the board of directors would meet later in the month to determine the best path forward to fulfill the $2 million obligation, likely by selling part or all of the Albright property – an 1800s homestead and old working cattle farm north of Lake Chesdin, which was donated to the Scouts and run by volunteers. ... Albright Camp Master and member of the Volunteer Committee – a group of roughly 30 that helped run the camp until many abruptly resigned following news of the sale to a private developer – Rick Fisher calls the sale “fuzzy transparent.” He likened the sale to the end of an era for a property he called a “home away from home,” and “our little slice of heaven out here” as he gazed across the hundreds of acres of wooded area in the hours before he helped check in scouts arriving to camp for the first weekend in June. ... And while the scouts have another property in Goochland, Camp T. Brady Saunders, it’s different, Fisher says – run by staff, not volunteers – likening it more to an amusement park with a big pirate ship on the pond, camping forts and a dining hall – opposed to the rustic nature of the Albright Reservation with its one running toilet and check-in cabin with electricity. ... Kevin Kessler is one of the members on the Friends of Albright Committee, a team that submitted a counter offer to purchase the property and allow the continuation of scouting activities. “The idea was this should have been kept as a scout place in perpetuity, that was the intent of the gift,” Kessler said, explaining that in that spirit a board member resigned to step into the role of what he called “angel investor,” approaching three principals at Albright responsible for developing activities there to help construct a counter offer to the $3.75 million, which he says was the sale price of the property. “Our offer was $2.4 million for 470 acres plus $600,000 in funds from other angel investors that would have been unrestricted cash – HOVC could use that however they saw fit – and then $400,000 in restricted funds that would have been used at Albright Scout Reservation for upgrades,” Kessler said. Their offer would have allowed HOVC to keep the core 85 acres where most activities occur and the remainder would have been put into conservation easements and for a dollar a year allowed the scouts to continue using the property for trails, activities and campsites, Kessler said. The caveat, he noted, was that the group was going to timber roughly 270 acres, but in a way that was aesthetically pleasing. He says the group was not allowed in the room at the May 18 meeting where the council decided to go with Emerson’s offer, and the process has left a sour taste. “I found it very condescending and very inappropriate that they gave us five minutes on a Zoom call, when that meeting was live,” Kessler said. “‘Inconsiderate’ is not even strong enough. We were just very offended that all the volunteers the last 20 years that have worked there weren’t given the consideration to make a plea, a very viable plea to purchase that property.” He is one of the many to have volunteered thousands of hours over multiple years to bettering the property for multiple generations – building latrines, pavilions, tractor sheds, cutting the grass, developing naturalist programs, labeling species, road maintenance. The list goes on. “I think a lot of people were just very upset that this was not a more transparent process,” Kessler says. “They have a legal right to sell it if they choose to, but a lot of people think it was the wrong decision and not in the spirit of scouting.” More at source: https://www.chesterfieldobserver.com/articles/scout-property-under-contract-with-developer-as-debt-looms/ Sounds very similar to Deer Lake, Connecticut Yankee Council transaction, except Mr. Emerson is not a member of the Council Executive Board.

988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. While some areas may be currently able to connect to the Lifeline by dialing 988, this dialing code will be available to everyone across the United States starting on July 16, 2022. When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, part of US Dept, Health & Human Services) sees 988 as a first step towards a transformed crisis care system in America. The current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK) will always remain available to people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, even after 988 is launched nationally. The Lifeline’s network of over 200 crisis centers has been in operation since 2005, and has been proven to be effective. It’s the counselors at these local crisis centers who answer the contacts the Lifeline receives every day. Numerous studies have shown that callers feel less suicidal, less depressed, less overwhelmed and more hopeful after speaking with a Lifeline counselor. Answer the call! These centers are looking to bring on new volunteers and paid employees. You will receive training, so if you are a caring person who wants to help those in crisis, apply today. Find your opportunity: samhsa.gov/988-jobs More at source links: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/current-events/the-lifeline-and-988/ https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988

The new national (USA) three-digit number — 988 — (mental health version of 911) is meant to connect people in mental health crises with those who are specially trained to respond to such situations. The easy-to-remember number launches July 16. ... According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 20 percent of Americans will have a mental illness in any given year. And reports of mental health problems have been growing in recent years, even before the Covid pandemic. More at source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/988-suicide-prevention-hotline-launches-july-will-pay-rcna31701