Scouting Anniversary Week/Scout Sunday Recommendations

As we are quickly approaching Scouting Anniversary Week & Scout Sunday, we are requesting for your unit to consider ways to engage and recognize your charter partner.  Scouting would not happen without our Charter Partners and over the last year we have come to appreciate their loyal support even more.  Let’s be sure to use the upcoming opportunities to recognize their support and strengthen our ties.  Listed below are eight suggestions.  Consider choosing four: 

 

1. Post a Charter Partner shout out and thank you on all the unit’s social media profiles

2. Drop a thank you flyer with stats on the unit’s Scouting success in the bulletin

3. Do a volunteer project to benefit the Charter Partner (counts towards Journey to Excellence)

4. Write a thank you letter that all Scouts can sign sharing the success of the unit to the Charter Partner’s leadership committee

5. Piece together a collage of pictures from the scouting year the Charter Partner helps enable, frame it, and present as a gift to your Charter Partner’s committee 

6. Be as involved in the Scout Sunday service as you possibly can (serve as ushers, provide a bulletin message, picture/video presentations, scripture reading, flag ceremony, recite the oath & law, lead a prayer, ask members of the congregation who were Scouts to stand, formerly present the annual charter, award religious emblems, connect Scouting for Food to the service, etc.).  A full list of ideas can be found HERE

7. Invite the charter partner executive committee to a meeting

8. Have at least 50% of the unit participate in Scout Sunday

Risk Mitigation for In-person Unit and Council Events (Updated January 2022)

Risk Mitigation for In-person Unit and Council Events

In accordance with updated recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and local and state health agencies, Palmetto Council is updating its recommended guidance for in-person meetings and events.

  1. Before resuming any meetings or changing COVID precautions check with your charter partner to ensure they approve. Rules or guidance from your charter partner must be followed. Please respect their wishes.

  2. Individuals at higher risk of severe illness (older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions) should consult their physician prior to participation in any group activities.

  3. All participants should review their current health prior to participating in any activity. Individuals with temperatures and other symptoms of COVID-19 should not participate.

  4. To maximize protection from the Omicron variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, fully vaccinated people should wear a mask while indoors.

  5. Unvaccinated individuals should continue taking preventative measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19. These include wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart, and washing hands regularly.

  6. All units should continue to keep a detailed roster of participants for all meetings and activities, so they are prepared in the event that contact tracing is required.

  7. Unvaccinated individuals and those who have completed the primary series of recommended vaccine, but have not received a recommended booster shot when eligible who believe they may have been exposed to Coronavirus must quarantine for 5-days prior to participation in any Scouting activity.

  8. People who are fully vaccinated, including boosters and additional primary shots for some immunocompromised people, do NOT need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless they have symptoms. However, fully vaccinated people should get tested at least 5 days after their exposure, even if they don’t have symptoms and wear a mask indoors in public for 10-days following exposure

  9. Individuals, regardless of vaccination status, who have had COVID-19 (confirmed by testing positive using a viral test) within the last 90 days and have subsequently recovered and remain without COVID-19 symptoms do not need to quarantine or get tested after close contact.

  10. Proper sanitation and the ability for handwashing should be present at all events.

  11. Sleeping arrangements on camping trips should be limited to one person per tent, unless all occupants of the tent are fully vaccinated.

  12. Carpooling to events may resume as long as all members of the carpool are fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated individuals are encouraged to continue traveling within their family unit.

  13. All local, state, and federal safety guidelines should be followed. Please review guidelines for not only your unit’s meeting location, but the location of any camping/activity destination. Regardless of vaccination status, all scouting members are encouraged to continue respecting any mask mandates in place at meeting or event venues.

  14. Ensure all BSA Youth Protection guidelines are adhered to.

  15. It is recommended that these guidelines be shared with each member of your unit and posted during all meetings and activities.

Vision 2026 - Palmetto Council's Five Year Strategic Plan Announced

Come learn about Vision 2026, the Palmetto Council’s five year strategic plan, at one of our four presentations:

  • Thursday, January 13 @ 6:30 PM: Daniel Morgan Round Table (Palmetto Council Office, Spartanburg)

  • Saturday, January 22 @ 2:00 PM: University of Scouting (Buford Street UMC, Gaffney)

  • Thursday, February 10 @ 6:30 PM: York Round Table (Woodland UMC, Rock Hill)

  • Tuesday, February 22 @ 6:30 PM: Zoom Presentation (Click Here to Register)


Silver Beaver Nominations Due 12/1

The Silver Beaver Award was introduced in 1931 and is a council-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. Recipients of this award are registered Scouters who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the council.

The nomination form is available HERE and must be submitted to the council service center no later than December 1, 2021. Completed nomination forms can be mailed to the Palmetto Council Service Center OR emailed to palmettocouncil@scouting.org.

Click HERE for a list of Palmetto Council Silver Beaver recipients over the years.

BSA Financial Restructuring Update

Dear Palmetto Council Supporters and Donors:

 

As a valued member of our Scouting community, we are reaching out to provide you with an update on the national organization of the BSA’s financial restructuring and how the Palmetto Council is participating in the efforts to equitably compensate survivors and ensure the future of Scouting’s vital mission. Specifically, the Council Key-3 would like to invite you to a virtual Fireside Chat on September 22, 2021 at 6:30 PM where we will discuss these most recent developments in the BSA’s restructuring. 

You can register for this event here.  

Our Council’s Contribution:

As part of the Boy Scouts of America’s financial restructuring, the specific contributions each local council will make to help fund the Trust for survivors was filed with the Court. These figures were determined through a combination of information filed in the claims process and what local councils could meaningfully contribute while ensuring Scouting can continue in their areas. 

Our council participated in the process and our contribution was determined to be $165,998.   

The Palmetto Council is legally separate and distinct from the national organization. Our camps, properties, and local donations are controlled by our council. We share in the BSA’s commitment to equitably compensate survivors of past abuse. We are carefully reviewing how we can fund our contribution to the compensation Trust while ensuring that Scouting will continue to serve youth, families, and communities in in the Upstate for generations to come. While we have not finalized how we will fund our contribution, we anticipate most if not all being funded through unrestricted accumulated interest within our endowment.  We do not anticipate needing to sell any council real property. 

It is important to note that restricted donations can only be used for their designated purposes and are legally protected so that they are used as the donor specified. Local donations through Friends of Scouting (FOS) go straight to supporting Scouting in our communities today; these donations are used in real time and are critical to maintaining local operations.  They cannot and will not be used to fund this settlement.

Our Commitment to Charter Partners:

The latest Plan also solidifies a path forward to ensure that Chartered Partners are represented in the BSA’s financial restructuring process by formalizing the option for them to contribute certain insurance rights to the Trust in exchange for release associated with all years covered under said insurance policies. The partnership between the BSA and its many Chartered Partners, including religious and civic organizations, has been critical to delivering the Scouting program to millions of youth in our country for generations. We are hopeful that this progress will allow us to move forward with the national organization toward emergence as one Scouting Family.

 

To view the most recent amended plan in its entirety, please visit www.bsarestructuring.org.

 

Thank you for your continued support of Scouting.  If you have questions about the national organization’s financial restructuring we hope you will be able to join us on September 22. Alternatively, please reach out to us with any questions you may have.    

 

Yours in Scouting,

 

Helena Miller                                   Creighton Taylor                            Justin Williams

Council President                            Council Commissioner                  Scout Executive

helenam@comporium.netcreightontaylor@hotmail.comJustin.Williams@Scouting.org