COVID RESPONSE

Dear Scouting Friends,

The personal health and safety of all our scouts and volunteers is our primary concern. Therefore, we will begin the 2020-2021 session by conducting at home family scouting. That means each scout will work on adventures at home with their adult partner who will be able to sign off on each adventure as it is completed. Pack leadership will still be recording completed adventures, awarding badges and conducting rank promotions. To be clear, there will not be any in-person meetings as we get started.

How was this decision made? Local and state level restrictions all contributed to this approach. Our charter organization (Highland UMC) that sponsors the pack decided not to open the church facilities to a majority of indoor meetings through the end of the year. The Occoneechee BSA Council has not provided any official guidance for in-person meetings for cub scouts. Wake County schools are starting the school year by not meeting in person. After thoughtful conversations with all current Pack 357 adult leaders, consensus is to begin with family scouting at home.

How will it work? Your scout’s den leader will send you a calendar outline with milestones (listing dates) for completion of their adventures at home. Our goal will be that when in-person activities are permitted to resume, we hit the ground running. We are also making flexible plans to schedule optional outdoor pack activities that include camp outs, greenway cleanups, a bike rodeo, and even the pinewood derby once conditions allow or maybe tweaked for our new environment.

Help Pack 357 grow! Does your scout have a sibling or buddy down the street that is looking for something fun to do? We are asking all our scouts to try and recruit one new friend to join the pack. Pass the email to them and they can sign up at the link above too. For a new scout in the pack there is a $103 registration fee ($25 to National BSA, $66 to Council, $12 to Insurance).

Keep in mind that as things change, so might how we operate the pack. We miss you and look forward to seeing you all soon. Stay safe!

Pack 357 Leadership Team

Scoutingpack357@gmail.com

Brian Cole 609-741-0857

Jim Johnson 919-412-3546

“The most worthwhile thing is to try to put happiness in to the lives of others”

Robert Baden Powell