Events being cancelled? Or modified?

[69RoadRunner]

Our CO, which is our homeowners association, approved us to do our fundraiser delivering our mulch orders.  We are keeping delivery teams small and where possible, mostly the same family.  We are taking great precautions to prevent teams from interacting and we have a nurse who can screen everyone.

The person at the HOA who is our contact is also a registered nurse.

All other activities are canceled through April.  We have thousands of bags of mulch on order.

This was NOT an easy decision.  Delivery is Friday and Saturday of next week.  If we have to cancel/postpone due to things getting substantially worse, we will, but that would be difficult.

[5thGenTexan]

As our Committee was discussing how to proceed yesterday the Council message was sent out directing us to cancel all Scouting activities until March 31.  (Circle Ten)

I, Cubmaster, asked Den Leaders to determine exactly what each Scout needs at this point for rank advancement and communicate that information to parents.  In my Pack message when I addressed the cancellations, I also made mention of the upcoming message from Den Leaders and strongly encouraged finishing up what they can at home over the next few weeks.

Today I sent out rank requirements for the Yo Yo adventure just to keep families thinking about what they can do.  Don't allow them to forget about Scouts

[yknot]

I really wouldn't worry about rank advancement at this point. What's happening right now is going to be very disruptive to kids and families. Just focus on maintaining a sense of community and fun and keeping your kids connected to scouting. If they don't finish Bear requirements, for example, they are still going to be Webelos. If there is a huge disruption in scouting, BSA will have to allow an extra grace period for attaining Eagle. High school and college kids right now are faced with not being able to complete pre-requisites that will affect their academic courses. Scouts should be focusing on keeping kids happy, connected and engaged and not worried about a six month slip in the Eagle mill. In my opinion.

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by yknot

[69RoadRunner]

Well, now we've canceled our mulch delivery.  It will cause a hit to the troop financially, but there's no other way.  The governor of VA just banned gatherings of 100 or more people.  CDC recommends 50.  

This situation is so fluid.  It's the right decision.

[mashmaster]

1 minute ago, 69RoadRunner said:

Well, now we've canceled our mulch delivery.  It will cause a hit to the troop financially, but there's no other way.  The governor of VA just banned gatherings of 100 or more people.  CDC recommends 50.  

This situation is so fluid.  It's the right decision.

Could you do it like out Ship, does?  We have each scout that sells deliver their own mulch.  We have a trailer that they can borrow.

[69RoadRunner]

6 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

Could you do it like out Ship, does?  We have each scout that sells deliver their own mulch.  We have a trailer that they can borrow.

We sold over 12,000 bags. We usually use 8 Ryder trucks. 

[T2Eagle]

Here's an interesting question I just received.  A scout who's Eagle project was scheduled for a couple weeks from now, and then turns 18 a few weeks later.  Where does he stand.

My best guess is that all sorts of rules are going to be waived everywhere as a result of this crisis, and this is going to be one of them.  But we just won't know right away.

[denibug72]

21 minutes ago, T2Eagle said:

Here's an interesting question I just received.  A scout who's Eagle project was scheduled for a couple weeks from now, and then turns 18 a few weeks later.  Where does he stand.

My best guess is that all sorts of rules are going to be waived everywhere as a result of this crisis, and this is going to be one of them.  But we just won't know right away.

Our troop has a scout that's close to this situation as well.  He was supposed to present his project to District on April 2nd, and had his work days planned for mid-April.  He ages out in June. Our state closed  all the school districts until the end of March, and our local district has said that they would most likely resume in April via online school.  Our Council has now told us to cancel everything scouting related - all meetings, activities, etc. - anything in-person - until the schools are back in session.  Some of the teachers I've talked to have said that they're being told to prep for the rest of the school year to be online.  If that's the case, I'm really hoping that National will issue some waivers because of all this.   

[69RoadRunner]

1 hour ago, T2Eagle said:

Here's an interesting question I just received.  A scout who's Eagle project was scheduled for a couple weeks from now, and then turns 18 a few weeks later.  Where does he stand.

My best guess is that all sorts of rules are going to be waived everywhere as a result of this crisis, and this is going to be one of them.  But we just won't know right away.

There are higher immediate priorities, but this is something that needs to happen.  I can understand if they're discussing it but can't announce a policy because this situation is changing so frequently and so quickly.

Hoping for the best for that scout.

[mashmaster]

4 hours ago, 69RoadRunner said:

We sold over 12,000 bags. We usually use 8 Ryder trucks. 

I think it could be done in smaller chunks maybe.  That is a lot of mulch, yooza

[69RoadRunner]

43 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

I think it could be done in smaller chunks maybe.  That is a lot of mulch, yooza

There are 70 bags per pallet.  We put 3 pallets in each Ryder truck with 2 forklifts.  We have 8 Ryder trucks and a chase vehicle with a total of 6-8 people per team.

With that, we start Friday afternoon and go until dark.  Then we go from dawn until dusk Saturday.  A couple of times we finished on Sunday.

When I joined the troop, they were selling like 16,000.  It was too much as the troop got a little smaller, so we shrank our  flyer delivery area.  This is an amazing process.  We have parents who have a delivery business with Amazon who used software to break deliver out into the ideal for 210 bags per truck.

Most sales come from the flyers that scouts deliver to homes. Some come from an email of past customers. A little comes from scouts making individual sales.

We calculate the profit.  Committee reserves some for general troop operations. Then we take the total person hours worked and divide that into the rest of the profit.  That creates an hourly rate.

Scouts earn Scout Bucks for the hours they work plus any person they bring with them to help.  If you work both flyer delivery and mulch delivery, you're eligible for a camp stipend.

If you bring help and work the full time, you won't pay for anything all year.  You'll even have some left over for high adventure trips.

So losing this will be a big hit and culture change for the upcoming year.  Scouts will have to pay for activities. But we'll survive.

[mashmaster]

We are small compared to you.  Out little ship sold 4+ pallets last year and 5 scouts plus familes sold and delivered it.  But we have around a dozen active youth. 

[Buggie]

Our troop was planning on having their normal meetings, but were reminded of the CDC recommendations and have since decided it was best to not meet. I haven't heard anything from the CO (a neighboring UMC) about their facilities and their concerns, but I know our local Methodist church is planning to announce a two week hiatus at minimum. 

[mashmaster]

Well, we are moving to video conferencing meetings for the next three weeks.  Orienteering event postponed and first Sailing event cancelled.  😞

 

[InquisitiveScouter]

Just had our Committee Meeting via Skype.  Went really well....

We are finally getting with the 20th century!  (Yes, 20th, not 21st)😛