Smiley News Update

What Comes after Black Friday & Cyber Monday?

After two days devoted to getting deals, Giving Tuesday is a global day that’s all about giving back. This new tradition of generosity is a nice antidote to the consumerism invading our holidays. Giving Tuesday also presents a great opportunity to help grow Scouting in your community.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 deeply impacted Scouting, and your help is urgently needed. The loss was severe and threatens the immediate ability to provide the experience the Samoset Council expects to provide to youth.

The pandemic forced our summer camps to run at 30% capacity, reduced the amount of support from the business community, and caused us to cancel fundraising events. 

Please help us to kick off the season of giving on December 1st by donating to our Giving Tuesday campaign. These funds will allow us to continue to provide scholarships for families in need, virtual Scouting programming and merit badge clinics, virtual STEM labs, Winter Camp, and much more.

Give by texting Smiley20 to 41444 or visit : https://app.mobilecause.com/e/1rZPWQ?vid=duu0o

Please check out our Giving Tuesday webpage and share this giving opportunity with all your friends and family!

Samoset Virtual Pack 627

Come one come all!

Your Cub Scouts Pack not meeting because of COVID? Your pack doesn’t do virtual?

Join the Samoset Council Virtual Pack 627

Don’t worry you will be able to transfer right back to your original pack when they are ready start meeting again.

Learn more about Pack 627 by contacting Janice Watson at janice.watson@samoset.org or 715-409-0819.

New Scout?  Register at:

https://www.cognitoforms.com/SamosetBSA/cubscoutregistration2020

Returning Scout? Fill out the following form: Youth Application

**Scout Shop Updates**

The Scout Shop is moving to curbside pick up and appointment only service. The Scout Shop is open Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm. If you would like to schedule an appointment please call 715-355-1450. We will pick and mail you your order. Please send your order request to scoutshop@samoset.org.

Our Scout Shop staff person resigned effective November 20, so please be patient as we cover those duties with other staff.  Due to budget constraints, its not clear when we can backfill that position.  It likely will not be until after the pandemic is over in several months.

Winter Camp

We are still taking reservations for Winter Camp January-March. All weekends have availability. We are working through COVID restrictions to provide a fun and safe winter program for all ages. More information and registration is online: www.campingisking.com/winter

November 24 Scout Service Center COVID Update

Effective Tuesday, November 24 the Wausau Homes Scout Center will begin additional safety measures by reducing access to the building and having less staff at the building.  This is in response to the increase of positive cases of COVID in our council area.  The additional safety measures include:

• Customer service by appointment only whether that be for general Scouting customer service by council staff or Scout Shop purchases.
• Drop off or pick-up of materials will be in the front entrance vestibule during routine business hours of 8:30 AM to 5 AM.  During non-business hours there is a drop box on the north side of the building near the employee entrance for any volunteer drop off items.
• If you want to schedule an appointment with a staff member, you can do that directly with them and they can set-up a time for Zoom virtual meeting or phone call.  Call 715-355-1450 or support@samoset.org if its not clear who you may need to communicate with for the topic you need help with.
• Visits to the Scout Shop by appointment will be possible, but we encourage email or phone-in orders as much as possible with either curbside pick-up or mail delivery of purchases.
• Volunteer committee meetings will continue to be via video or phone conference and not in-person.

Policies for unit meetings and outings have not changed since the November 11 issue of Smiley News.  As the holidays are near, it’s a time when most Scouting units start to slow down anyway.  You are encouraged to conduct any meetings/activities virtually unless the group is ten or less and from the same school cohort.  If meeting with ten or less Scouts and adults, ensure social distancing occurs and face coverings are worn through the duration of the meeting/activity unless of course during a meal when participants should be even further apart than the minimum of six feet.

These policies are expected to be in effect through the month of December.  Since the situation seems to be ever changing, we will notify changes on our website as well as future editions of Smiley News.  If you have questions about Samoset COVID19 policies, you can reach out to John Overland at 715-355-1450 or go to www.samoset.org/covid19

Bankruptcy Claims and Child Abuse

Monday, November 16, 2020 ended the many-months process of making sexual abuse claims and other kinds of injury claims against the planned Victim’s Fund that will be part of the National BSA Council’s chapter eleven bankruptcy filing, and emergence.

As you may have likely seen in the media, tens of thousands of survivors of past abuse in Scouting came forward in the national organization’s bankruptcy case.  It is heartbreaking, and we understand that seeing media coverage of the claims will not be easy for our Scouting community.  Our Samoset Council public statement is here Bankruptcy Claims and Child Abuse page of the website posted on 11/23.

The letter at the following link should be helpful in providing additional information for our Samoset Scouting family.
Letter to Samoset Scouting Family

If you have questions about the National BSA chapter eleven filing and subsequent business reorganization of the National BSA please contact John Overland, Scout Executive at 715-355-1450.

Great Summer Opportunity!

The Crystal Lake Scout Reservation is looking for energetic people to join our team. We have positions at all levels open. A Counselor-in-Training can start at age 14. Most camp staff are at least 16 years old. The Samoset Council camps provide a great camping experience for thousands of Scouts each year. This success requires the best of camp staffs . . . . . .

Why don't you become one of this select group? Apply online today: www.campingisking.com/campstaff

Popcorn Sale Success! 

You all should be proud of the ‘casting’ of your Scouts and the work they did to make this another, in a long line of, successful sales.   As a team representing Samoset Council, our sale was $830,000.00 plus.  This was quite an accomplishment considering the health situation we are all facing.  Thank you to everyone for your efforts!

The online store to submit online orders closes December 7^th. We will award your unit the commission checks if you have any other online orders that are submitted.

Time for the awards:  The envelop please?  In the category of TOP SELLER, repeating for his fourth year, is RJ Behrens from Troop 601 in Eagle River with $6,440 in sales.   In the category of TOP UNIT in Sales, from Amherst – Pack 296 with $25,845.  Great job Pack Kernel Elizabeth Spoelstra and Cubmaster Derek Konkol.

Special Note about Winner Circle Prizes: 

Working with our representative from Pecatonica River Popcorn, these prizes should be showing up in early December.  The plan is that they will be sent directly to the Scout’s home.  We can update you as we get a more definite date/timeline.  Some of the prizes are on back order from Best Buy due to demand.

The $30 Camp Certificates and the “Unlimited Slushy” cards will be sent directly to unit Popcorn Kernels for distribution to the Scouts in early December.

Once again, thank you to everyone for your efforts and positive approach to making this sale a success for your programs and the programs of Samoset Council.

Recharter Incentive Winners

And the winners are…. drum roll…..

• Eagle River Pick Up – Pack 601 Kim Haas
• Tomahawk Pick Up – Pack 502 Don Gennrich
• Weston Pick Up – Pack 409 Audrey Jensen
• Stevens Point Pick Up – Pack 265 Dustin Irwin
•  Marshfield Pick Up – Troop 388 David Weis
• Wisconsin Rapids Pick Up – Troop 111 Jennifer Zacher

Thank you for getting your recharter information turned in on time! Winners will be contacted by the council for you to receive your prize. For those that have not turned it in yet, we need the recharters completed and in office by December 1. If you are having difficulties, please contact Rachel or Kathy.

Hanna Higher Education Scholarship Applications Due January 15th, 2021

Al and Chris Hanna established a scholarship fund to help support the education of Eagle Scouts attending college. This is a great way to support our Scouts who are preparing for their future through furthering their education. The Al and Chris Hanna Eagle Scout Scholarship Award is open to all Eagle Scouts currently registered with Samoset Council and who have demonstrated leadership in and outside of Scouting.  Samoset Council is now accepting 2020 applications with a due date of January 15, 2021.  Please review and complete your application carefully. 

The online application is here http://www.samoset.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.aspx?orgkey=1438&itemkey=15221

Virtual Roundtable

Mark your calendars for December Virtual Roundtable which will be held on December 3rd at 7pm. One of the main topics will be service project/winter activities ideas that can be conducted safely during the pandemic. Please submit your ideas to dwweis@frontier.com and share them during the actual Roundtable!

New Membership Unit Incentive Results

The opportunity to recruit new youth to receive the new membership unit incentive ended on November 13^th. The units that recruited new youth receive $5 per new member. They can choose to add the money to their Scout Shop account or they can spend it on a unit activity and turn in a receipt for reimbursement by December 11^th. This will ensure the reimbursement is in the 2020 council budget year. The Troops, Packs, and Crews of the Samoset Council recruited 200 new youth from September 1-November 13! This adds up to $1000 in unit incentives provided by the Samoset Council Executive Board. A big thanks to everyone that worked hard to recruit new Scouts to our programs!

Smiley's Stampede 5k

On Saturday November 7th we celebrated the First Annual Smiley’s Stampede 5K.  The weather was uncannily beautiful, above 60 degrees and sunshine.  We had 20 participants on the day of event and 15 participants for virtual.  Coming April 2021 – 2^nd Annual Smiley’s Stampede

Please see the results below.