The June 2020 Roundtable is scheduled for Thursday June 4 at 7:30 PM, via a Zoom link. This link will be released soon on our Muir District – MDSC Facebook Group Page
If you have any questions, please contact Sheila Rowntree - District Chair, rowntreesheila@att.net
Our Muir District Professional
Reminder: Alan Young, is our Muir District Director.
If you have any District/Council or BSA inquiries, feel free to contact him.
Alan's contact email is alan.young@scouting.org. His office number is (925) 674-6102.
A Word from our Chair
Greetings from your district committee. We are hard at work planning for the future of Scouting. It is exciting to know that we are going to have many more opportunities with the merger of three councils into one. As of June 1, we will be known as the Golden Gate Area Council.
With that in mind, we need to plan the next year and into the future. To do that we need to have your input. At our next virtual Roundtable, we will have many items on the agenda for All of our programs.
Scouts BSA will be discussing topics that They want to learn more about during the year. Also, they will discuss protocols for International Night during the October roundtable. Notice this is a changed date.
The Cub side of the house, will confirm which school(s) each Pack will recruit. Methods of recruiting will also be discussed. At the moment, we do not know when or if we will be able to use schools for meetings. We will also look at topics or activities Packs or Dens would like to discuss throughout the year.
Please be ready to share successes and disappointments in the use of virtual meetings. If you are not meeting come learn how to do meetings with Zoom. We have people ready to help.
If you do not know how to get on a Zoom meeting please give me a call at 925-382-4567. If we cannot do it together I will make sure that you are directed to someone who can help you.
As some of you may know Paul Steelhammer has stepped down as our District Commissioner. As we wish Paul well, we are currently looking for candidates to fill his shoes. We are also looking for unit commissioners to help support our units. If you or anyone you know may be a good candidate, please e-mail me at arnel.jaime@scouting.org.
District Committee Positions
Calling all adults over 21 years of age. If you would like to know how you can help Scouting in our area, contact our District Chair Sheila Rowntree at rowntreesheila@att.net.
Muir District Dinner POSTPONED
This was announced on 3/11/2020
The safety of our members is always a top priority of our organization. In light of recent events, the Muir District Recognition Dinner scheduled for March 21, 2020 at the Concord Senior Center has been postponed to a later date. A new datewill be posted as soon as we deem it appropriate and safe to conduct the event. Thank you for your understanding.
Muir District Facebook Page
For updates on what’s happening in the Muir District, please join our Facebook Group.
Join us online to celebrate the start of the Golden Gate Area Council with our first council-wide Virtual Scout Meeting!
Incoming GGAC President, Dan Walters, and Scout Executive, John Fenoglio, will open with a welcome message. And, we have some special guests including BSA National youth leaders:
Zachary Schonfield, Order of the Arrow National Chief
Tyler Grey, National Venturing President
Aven Alexander, National Boatswain
AND Roger Mosby, BSA President and CEO
Watch as we reveal the new shoulder strip, and the winner(s) of our patch design contest.
SAVE THE DATEand look out for additional messages in the next week that will include our official meeting agenda and information on how to join the event.
As of May 23rd, we currently have $11,032 in pledges and payments in the Muir District.
If your unit would like to schedule an online presentation, please e-mail your District Executive, Alan Young at alan.young@scouting.org.
If you would like to donate directly or know of someone that would like to make a donation, you can do so through our website at https://mdscbsa.org/donate2020/.
Are you a new unit that has not sold in the past? Popcorn is a great and easy way for scouts and your unit to earn money for scouting! Please send the following information to Arnel Jaime (arnel.jaime@scouting.org) before you register:
🍿 Unit Name & # (Pack/Troop/Crew)
🍿 Chartered Organization Name
🍿 Meeting Address
🍿 Popcorn Kernel info (Name, email address, and phone number)
For more information about Trails End, navigating the app, and helping your scout have a successful popcorn fundraiser, sign up for one of the free webinars! This is for Unit Kernels and also Scout Parents.
As Scouting moves to virtual and online platforms, we offer the following reminders to help keep kids safe. The below guidelines applies to all online Scouting activities and meetings.
Cub Scouting/Scouts BSA/Venturing/Sea Scouting Rank Advancement and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Questions and Answers
This was announced on 4/04/2020.
The following questions regarding advancement have arisen as we deal with closures, cancellations,
or other issues caused by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Although there are difficulties and constraints, advancement can continue. Youth, parents, and leaders should work together to implement creative, common sense ways to facilitate advancement while adhering to the Guide to Safe Scouting and following the rules of Youth Protection training.
Please follow this link to the Guide to Advancement (GTA), which remains the primary source for information related to Scouts BSA advancement. It is referenced throughout the answers provided here.
2. Include a contact phone number which a Customer Service Team Member will use to make contact for payment information.
3. Customer Service reps will contact Unit Leaders for credit card information along with shipping and billing address information, and to verify the Council and the actual Advancement needed.
4. The Customer Service Team is responsible for sending, via FedEx, all original reports to the Council's Registrar.
Potential Eagle Scout Service Project
This was announced on 4/23/2020.
Susie Smario of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District has a potential Eagle Scout Service project to make 14 cornhole games to help special education students with physical education throughout the school district. She may be contacted at smarios@mdusd.org or 925-250-6194 for more information.
Excerpt of email from MDSC Scout Executive:
Scoutmasters,
We were contacted by Susie Smario (925-250-6194) with the Mt. Diablo Unified School District, asking if we could put out to our Scoutmasters or Advancement chairs a project. The students Susie works with are in Concord and Pleasant Hill area.
She is looking for 14ish cornhole games for her students, who are at home, until fall. This could be an Eagle project for a Scout.
Thank you,
John C. Fenoglio
Scout Executive/CEO
Mt. Diablo Silverado Council
925-674-6150
ALL BSA TRAINING IS ONLINE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters. To be registered as TRAINED in your role you need to complete the following courses
Scoutmaster/ Assistant Scoutmaster Position Training
Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills
Hazardous Weather
YPT Youth Protections
HAZARDOUS WEATHER TRAINING
Please take or update your training before your first outdoor or camping activity.
Cub Scouting (Cubmaster, Assistant Cubmaster, Den Leader, Assistant Den Leader)
Scouts BSA (Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster)
Venturing (Crew Advisor and Associate Advisor)
Sea Scouts BSA (all Adult Leaders)
Exploring (Advisor and Associate Advisor
Save the Date: Muir-Briones Day Camp 2020 – July 6-10 (This event is TBD) For updated event information, please contact Alan Young; alan.young@scouting.org
Note: The information below is valid before the COVID-19 pandemic and Shelter in Place Health Orders
Muir-Briones Day Camp is looking for key staff volunteers for 2020.
Day Camp Director (Sept 2019 – July 2020)
Communications Coordinator (Sept 2019 – July 2020)
Volunteer Coordinator (April 2020-July 2020)
Food Service Manager (June 2020-July 2020)
Descriptions:
Day Camp Director – Reports to the District Executive (staff member of the council), Must attend Camp School (Training which is good for 5 years), Is part of the Council Day Camp committee that meets once a month on the 3rd Monday of the month, has overall responsibility for Day Camp, Supervise the volunteer personnel and operating details of the camp.
Pre-Camp Duties: Prepares camp budget, Locate and Secure Camp Location (location Agreement), hold meetings with key staff, pack reps and troop reps, opens up camp registration on Jan 1, conducts Volunteer training, updates standards binder, Orders supplies, puts together daily prize program and orders prizes. Assigns scouts to dens based on rank, tries to keep scouts from the same pack same rank in a den together.
During Camp: Accreditation including show the accreditation team around camp, answers questions, goes over Day Camp binder. Supervises set and take down of camp, leads the opening and closing ceremonies along with Program Director, Daily prize program and takes care of problems arising at camp.
Communications Coordinator - Promotes day camp attendance and volunteer recruiting at: Roundtables, Pack meetings, Troop Meetings, Schools, Newspapers/Social Media/On-Line News. Communication with Parents about camp including hours, sign-in, pick-up, what to bring, what is expected.
Unexpired current Youth Protection Certificate
Fill out an Adult Application if not registered with you Pack, Troop or Crew.
Volunteer Coordinator – Assigns adult and Jr. Helpers to tasks at camp. Collects volunteer paper work including, medical forms, shooting forms, Youth Protection, leaders guide signature, Adult Applications and Youth Applications for Jr. Helpers (if not already registered).
Food Service Manager - This person needs a food handler’s card and will be responsible for camp kitchen. Duties include picking up donated fruit and Vegie’s on Saturday before camp, Pick up (buying) popcorn and snow cone supplies as need from Cash and Carry, picking up (buying) hot dog lunch supplies at Sam Club on Thursday night of camp, Picking up (buying with donated gift cards) volunteer breakfast items from Safeway. You will be supervising kitchen volunteers with coffee and hot water making, preparing veggies and fruit, popping popcorn, making snow cones, washing and sanitizing dishes and machines.
Leave No Trace Trainer Courses (The May 30-31, 2020 Training event is CANCELLED)
Check out this flyer for the LNT Trainer courses that MDSC Outdoor Ethics Committee is offering this year! The Spring Course will be May 30-31, 2020 at the Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa, and the Fall Course will be October 17-18, 2020 at Camp Herms.
Working on Eagle? Here are your contacts:
District Advancement Chair: Bill Spalding: 925-586-9136, spaldingwilliam62@gmail.com
District Eagle Project Approval: Carl Bodin: 415-816-7307, cbodin@usa.net
District Eagle Board of Review: Karen Hansen: 925-825-9132, eaglechairkarenhansen@gmail.com
District Communications Contact
If you would like to contribute items to the Muir Newsletter or the Muir Facebook Page or Instagram, please contact Patrick Jaime, patrickj0208@yahoo.com by the 21st of every month so that it can be added to the outgoing newsletters.
