March 17, 2020

Dear Unit Leader,

With school now being cancelled throughout most of our Council and many units following suit, we wanted to share some of the latest updates and resources with you.

The decision to meet or not to meet is ultimately up to you and your unit. As stated in prior correspondence, I would suggest you follow the lead of your school district as it pertains to physical meetings. I had several unit leaders share the following with me.

For Scouts BSA
  • There is probably no better time for Scouts to crank out a merit badge or two.
  • Troop meetings, boards or review and even Scoutmaster conferences could go virtual.

For Cub Scouts
  • Pack meetings will probably have to be postponed but den meetings can and should still happen virtually.

Three things I would share:  
  1. In this time of ever-changing worry and slight craziness, Scouting brings people back to a sense of normalcy. Finding a way to keep meetings going in a virtual sense will be important to your families.
  2. With uncertainty of how long the outbreak will last, virtual meetings may be necessary for Scouts who are pushed up against an age deadline.
  3. Thanks to David Madison, Scoutmaster of Troop 167, we can share a website of great ideas for units and how to take units into virtual meetings. Go to: www.scoutshare.org for more info.

Other things you will want to know:

  • The Council Service Center will be closing for visitors starting March 18th. A drop box is being installed outside the front door. Staff will be cycling through the office to process necessary transactions. Feel free to use the drop box for any correspondence you need addressed.

  • The Strong Scout Shop will close effective 6 pm this evening, March 17, 2020, until at least March 31st. Stay updated on Scout Shop operations by following them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Strongscoutshop.

  • Eagle Boards have been postponed. We have three months past a Scouts 18th Birthday to hold a board of review.

  • All exempt staff are working remotely and not coming into the office. If you need to contact your district executive or other members of the staff call their direct line or cell phone.

  • The deadline for summer camp deposits have been extended and if need be will be extended again. The early bird deposit date has been extended to April 22.

Again, I would encourage you to go to www.scoutshare.org . It will be a great resource to get ideas for continuing the Scouting program remotely but also share best practices that you have found effective that may save other unit leaders time .

We will continue to share updated information and resources through email correspondence, social media , a nd through our website ( https://senecawaterways.org/health-safety/ ).

Should you have any questions or concerns about a specific upcoming event or activity, please reach out to your local district executive. We will do everything we can to answer your question using the information available to us as this is an ever-changing situation.  

Thank you again for all you are doing for the youth of our community.

Yours in Scouting,
Stephen T. Hoitt
Scout Executive
Seneca Waterways Council, BSA