RememberSchiff

IMHO, the larger issue is injustice... liberty and justice for all, helping other people at all times is the Scout Way. My $0.02, P.S. I wonder if Dan Beard Council will return $2.5M from the Marge Schott Foundation and drain Lake Marge Schott?

Maine requires that out-of-staters (VT and NH are exempt which is baffling) either have a negative covid test within 72 hours prior to arrival* OR self-quarantine 14-day. I think nearly all resident summer camps remain closed. As far as I know, the type of "test" or vendor has not been specified, though I would expect CDC approved at least. * Since testing is often not readily available in their own states, visitors can go to a test site in Maine upon arrival and await the results while in quarantine.

I'm assuming this is the viral test and not an antibody test. Good luck getting either test if you have no symptoms and then a second verification if you test positive.

June 13, 2020 A statement from Chief Scout Bear Grylls copied below In 1907, a new movement was born on Brownsea Island, in Poole Harbour Dorset – one that would bring skills, adventure and friendships to millions of young people around the world today. It was on that small island that Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scouts, taking a small group of young people from diverse backgrounds, with the goal to learn about the great outdoors, and show that we had more in common than divides us. Since that first camp, Scouting has grown year on year to become today a worldwide family, some 54 million strong, across almost every nation on earth. It is, without doubt, one of the greatest youth movements in history. The clear purpose back then (and still today) was to unite and inspire young people to learn how to celebrate their differences, to love and protect the outdoor world, to serve communities, and to be empowered with skills for life. And that is the legacy of the Scouts that lives and breathes today. It is in our nature, as Scouts, to endeavour to be open, respectful, and compassionate to all, and to be leaders of determination and intergity. That’s why those first Scouts, and the ones that followed, made a promise to be kind and helpful. It is the very heart of what we do. This last week, people have expressed much confusion and anger at the possible removal of a statue of Lord Baden-Powell in Poole. To me, and many Scouts around the world, Brownsea Island, (the place that the statue looks out on), is a reminder of that great Scouting vision, that has since helped so many young people gain vital, life-enhancing skills for their own futures. As Scouts, we most certainly do not celebrate Baden-Powell for his failings. We see them and we acknowledge them. And if he were here today we would disagree with him on many things, of that there is no doubt. And I suspect he would too. But we also recognise that Baden-Powell is part of our history, and history is nothing if we do not learn from it. So we also acknowledge Baden-Powell's vision, and I truly am so grateful to him for starting the Scouts - a living, breathing, modern movement that has immense power to unite and inspire people. This is why I whole-heartedly stand beside the righteous anger unleashed by the killing of George Floyd, and together we must all do what we can to right the awful injustices that BAME communities live with every day. And it's right that we take time to listen, to educate ourselves, and reflect on our movement’s history. We need the humility to recognise there are times when the views and actions from our Scouting’s past do not always match the values we live by today. We must learn, adapt, and improve. Scouting, to me, is founded on this humility, and on listening and respecting others, especially communities that are vulnerable or oppressed. Inclusion and acceptance are at the heart of our Scouting values, and we are never afraid to call out language and behaviour that do not match those values. I hope that as Scouts we are the anti-thesis of any hatred or polarisation that can come with social media. And when it comes to racism – indeed any form of discrimination or prejudice – our movement should be part of the solution, not the problem. We must be peace makers and unifiers. Baden-Powell may have taken the first step in creating Scouting, but the journey continues today without him. We know where we came from but we are not going back. We are always looking forward, to a brighter future for our young people. And as for the statue of Baden-Powell? Well, my hope is that Scouting statues in the future will be there to remind us all of one thing: the huge positive influence that Scouting continues to bring to so many young people worldwide. And long may that continue.

@BernieMcD81 on behalf of moderators of scouter.com welcome.

Part of my disappointment with camp cancellations has been a lost opportunity to test policy and procedures proposed for the fall. So a downsized summer camp of 70 with masks, social distancing, packaged meals, small classes, condensed program (3 days), enhanced cleaning,...is a no-go but a downsized state university fall reopening of 7000+ is a go? BTW, said university closed campus for the summer, the two summer semesters were online only. When the Provost spoke of "blended" classes , alternate face-to-face and online, my son sighed and commented "Well that won't work. Safer to schedule all lectures for 8am - no one would show".

@ROVERS on behalf of moderators of scouter.com , welcome.

If Ultralight or Kephart could return to scout-run and thrifty...maybe All Stars can backpack without adults or replace their Eagle project with a solo wilderness experience or ...

June 9, Heart of New England Council (MA) - Council worked hard throughout spring to open Camp Wanockett (NH). In the past month, a condensed (3 day) residential summer camp program with various health measures was proposed, but.. "The State of New Hampshire's final guidelines for summer camp included several conditions that make running even the condensed program unworkable, including burdensome testing and quarantine requirements; additionally, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is not expected to provide their final summer camp guidance for weeks to come. We sincerely thank our summer camp leadership, camp staff, volunteers, and professional staff who devoted countless hours of research and creativity over the past several weeks in developing our new summer program. We will continue to look for ways to provide summer program support for our Scouts, families, and units, including Scout Adventure Weekends at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation and, hopefully, Camp Wanocksett." https://www.facebook.com/pg/hnebsa/posts/

I wonder the impact of council mergers down the road with this. Can mergers become a "discharge shelter", a carrot for non-participating councils to merge with those councils "discharged"? Will it be an anti-merger pill, as participating councils would lose their "discharge" if they merged with a non-participating council which suddenly had one or more lawsuits? Will National force non-participating councils (those with some remaining assets) to merge with participating councils (those with depleted assets from Chapter 11)? Hmm.

"The scout must re-pass all of his or her qualifying badges once between twelve and eighteen months of being awarded the badge, except in the cases of Ambulance Man, Senior Guide and Senior Signaler, which must be re-passed annually... Should the scout fail any re-examination, they should cease to wear the George Washington’s Scout badge." ...3rd edition 2013 page 89 https://www.bpsa-us.org/pdf/BPSA-US-Pathfinder-Handbook.pdf I like it! ~RS

Under the agreement approved Monday, local councils wanting continued protection from litigation must sign agreements by July 6 requiring them to provide information to the Boy Scouts about their finances, including real estate holdings, for sharing with creditor committees. ... “The debtors should not be forced to monetize those assets (High Adventure camps - Summit, Philmont , Sea Base, Northern Tier) to satisfy the claims of creditors,” said Boy Scouts attorney Jessica Boelter. IMHO, the High Adventure Camps should go before local camps. In normal times, far more scouts attend local camps. My $0.02, https://www.abqjournal.com/1464494/suits-remain-halted-mediation-eyed-in-boy-scouts-bankruptcy.html

A 55yr old photo showing Boy Scouts and former heavyweight boxing champs "Jersey" Joe Wolcott and James Braddock was found in a bag of recyclable bottles at Clynk's South Portland, Maine facility last month. The reverse bears the name "Clayton Duplissee." Need help finding owner and names. If you know anything about this photo, email Troy R. Bennett at tbennett@bangordailynews.com https://bangordailynews.com/2020/06/09/news/portland/help-solve-the-mystery-behind-this-old-photo/ The yellowed, wood-framed 5×7-inch photograph shows six or seven scouts lined up in a pine grove. The top of a tent pokes into the background. A couple of adult men, possibly scout leaders, can also be seen. Two scouts are in wheelchairs. Behind each seated scout is a retired, former world heavyweight boxing champ in a suit and tie. On the left is James Braddock. The son of Irish immigrants, he won the title in 1934 in a unanimous decision over Max Baer. In 2005, Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti starred in an Oscar-nominated film about Braddock’s life, called “Cinderella Man.” On the right is “Jersey” Joe Wolcott, who held the heavyweight title from 1951 to 1952. At the time, he was the oldest man ever to win the title, at age 37. Wolcott also refereed the famous, fast and controversial fight between Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali in Lewiston in May 1965. Ali knocked Liston out in the first round via a “phantom punch” still talked about today. According to a 2015 New York Times article, Braddock came to Lewiston to see the match, as well. Cursive writing, in blue, ballpoint pen, on the back of the framed photo reads: “Cerebral palsy Boy Scout camporee, 1965.” It would seem the boxers made a side trip to the campout while they were in Maine for the fight. Also written on the back is the misspelled name of long-time southern Maine Boy Scout leader Clayton Duplisea. “Clayton was a scout leader in Portland for a long time,” said Frank Maguire, who knew Duplisea. “I’ve got a picture of Clayton that dates all the way back to 1945. He was old when I was young and he was the scout executive for Portland in the 1920s.” Maguire, 86, of South Portland, has been involved with the Boy Scouts in Maine since joining as a kid in 1943. He currently serves as a commissioner for the Pine Tree Council. Maguire said Duplisea, who died in 1993, is the man standing at the far left in the picture. “He led that cerebral palsy troop in Portland,” Maguire said. Maguire remembers Duplisea as a fierce advocate for equal access and experience for his troop, all of whom had cerebral palsy. “Clayton did what he could to help those kids have a [proper Boy Scout] program,” Maguire said. “He was adamant and saw to it that those kids got some attention.” That included camping, swimming, singing — as well as meeting famous heavyweight champions. It’s worth noting that the photo was taken 25 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, barring discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. It also was a time when boxing was a much bigger deal than it is today. Even with Duplisea, Wolcott and Braddock identified in the photo, questions remain: Where has it been hanging all these years, who are the scouts and how did it end up among the returnables at Clynk? If the picture’s owner can’t be found, Maguire would like to see the photo end up in the historic collection of Maine Boy Scout memorabilia currently warehoused at Camp Hinds in Raymond. He hopes they’ll have a museum for the collection some day. “We hate to lose stuff like this,” Maguire said. “So often, people just toss stuff out because they don’t know what to do with it.” If you know anything about this photo, email Troy R. Bennett at tbennett@bangordailynews.com

Update 6/8/20, from NYT, USNews, and omniagentsolutions.com Per Judge Silverstein order, child sex abuse lawsuits against local councils will remained halted until Nov. 16, which is also the recently extended victim claim deadline date. Under the agreement approved Monday, local councils wanting continued protection from litigation must sign agreements by July 6 requiring them to provide information to the Boy Scouts about their finances, including real estate holdings, for sharing with creditor committees. (bolded ~RS) The local councils, which run day-to-day operations for local troops, are not listed as debtors in the bankruptcy and are considered by the Boy Scouts to be legally separate entities, even though they are “related parties.” (in Chapter 11) Attorneys for abuse victims have made clear that they will try to go after campsites and other properties owned by the local councils to contribute to the fund for victims. Pursant to handling this information, Judge Silverstein approved a Confidentiality and Protective Order , the "Revised Protective Order" which is the appended Exhibit A in case document 799 Judge Silverstein appointed a three-person mediation panel, two of whom were proposed by the BSA. Attorneys for the Boy Scouts said issues ripe for initial mediation include disputes over whether certain Boy Scouts properties should not be made available to satisfy creditor claims. The Boy Scouts believe those properties include “High Adventure” bases such as the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, the Florida Sea Base aquatic facility, and the Northern Tier wilderness area in northern Minnesota and Canada. More at sources: https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/06/08/us/ap-us-boy-scouts-bankruptcy.html?searchResultPosition=4 https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-06-08/suits-remain-halted-mediation-eyed-in-boy-scouts-bankruptcy

Gladewater, TX “My first thought was, we’ve got to figure out a way to get these guys camping,” said Scott O’Mary, the Scout Master for Troop 259. “You need to think about what’s the best thing you can do for the boys in your troop,” said Michael Marciniak, a senior patrol leader for the troop. “What will give them the best experience but not put them at risk of getting COVID. Look at their options, figure out what’s affordable, what’s least threatening, and what’s the best experience and figure out what’s best to do for their boys.” “Even before we got to camp we structured the camp quite differently,” said O’Mary. “We’ve made sure we limit the number of participants here, so we have maybe a dozen to 14 scouts here, for this session. Come Wednesday, those scouts leave and our advance ranked scouts come onto the property. So, we’re keeping the attendance low.” More including video at source https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/plano-boy-scout-troop-camps-out-at-lake-gladewater/ar-BB15adpM

There have been many good posts ( @Jameson76 comes quickly to mind, there were others) in various topics about units doing their own summer camps. Thought I would gather ideas and experiences of unit camping on their own this summer. Please use other topics to discuss Council camps and family camping. Thanks.

MISCOUTING FORWARD FAQs (Michigan Crossroads Council) https://michiganscouting.org/miscouting-forward-faqs/ These are the 5 Sections at above link but note many questions posted are unanswered. MISCOUTING FORWARD - REORGANIZATION POST COVID-19 PROGRAM RE-ENTRY NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP FEES PROGRAM FEES SCOUTPAY

The patrol member who said that reminded me of the Eddie Haskell character from the good old days. Anyway, his patrol brainstormed better solutions on their own which was the point.

Update Jan 15, 2020: (sorry for lateness ~RS) CLEVELAND, Ohio — A former Boy Scouts of America worker was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in federal prison for secretly filmed underage boys changing in locker rooms and bathrooms. Thomas Close (“Aqua Joe”), 39, recorded children changing between 2011 and 2018 at various locations, including a YMCA in Sandusky, the Firelands Scout Reservation (Lake Erie Council) near Oberlin and in his own bathroom when he had children over to swim in his backyard pool, federal officials said. Close was associated with Troop 406 in Richland County and was known as “Aqua Joe.” He was a troop leader and aquatics director. More at source link: https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2020/01/former-ohio-boy-scouts-leader-sentenced-to-prison-for-filming-children-changing.html

If Mountaineer Council (WV) Get Out & Scout 2020 is any indication, the answer appears NO. Unit Weekends - Currently for WV Scout units only. https://macbsa.org/get-out-scout/

911 call (4:40) released. Note: Dispatch request for chest rise timing (2:00) and mention of medical forms (2:50). https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/boy-scout-trial-911-call-1.38527417

Update: June 5, 2020 Please note in 2020 Resident Camp Schools will begin on SATURDAY unless noted. Re-certification sections will also be offered for the following sessions when the Full-Week session is offered: Camp Director, Program Director, Aquatics, COPE, Climbing, Shooting Sports. If you have further questions about the school, please contact your School Director or email ncs@scouting.org https://www.scouting.org/outdoor-programs/national-camping-school/

Update 6/1/2020 from Lake Erie Council ...This past Saturday, May 30, 2020, Kiko Auctioneers held that auction on behalf of the Lake Erie Council. The auction resulted in $1,649,700 which was designated by the board to be invested into the remaining council properties or to fund significant programs in the future. These funds ensure that that the goal of those visionary leaders from ninety years ago will continue to live on. Funding future projects is not the only legacy that Stigwandish will leave. Over the past months, groups of volunteers and staff have been dismantling, packing, and moving program equipment, shelters, and memorabilia from Camp Stigwandish to Beaumont Scout Reservation... Lake Erie Council SE Marc Ryan https://lecbsa.org/news/2020/6/2/updates-on-scouts-bsa-resident-camp-and-camp-stigwandish

@jcroach, on behalf of scouter.com moderators, welcome.

Various mediator candidates are now coming forward or being recommended by one or more parties for consideration. All certainly have experience and strengths, but yesterday Kenneth Feinberg threw his hat in the ring. You may recall that he was special master of the Sept 11 Victim Compensation Fund! https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/823120_773.pdf https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/823118_772.pdf