A Wicked Awesome Year of Scouting!

2019 In Review

Council President Lloyd Albert and Council Commissioner Bob DeFelice join me for this special “2019 in Review” edition of the #WickedAwesomeScouts Blog.

We couldn’t be prouder of the accomplishments that our 4,000 volunteers, 3,000 donors and 38 staff made possible to achieve the objectives of our Council Game Plan. The positive impact on thousands of youth and families is awe-inspiring!  

A Year of Change

“If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.”

Gen. Eric Shinseki

A Year of Progress

As Benjamin Franklin said, “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished!” Change is hard but essential to building a thriving Scouting program! Inventor Charles Kettering said, “The world hates change. Yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.” Let’s talk about our progress!

Developing Leaders

• Three National Youth Leadership Training courses directed by Bill Bradford, Michelle Avelar and Rick Hammond trained 120 participants
• Eight weeks of our new Yawgoog Leadership Experience were conducted;
• Our largest-ever Law Enforcement Exploring Academy, led by Pat McMahon, engaged more than 80 teens
• 289 youth achieved the Eagle Scout rank
• Hands-on, practical leadership experiences for thousands of youth in roles from Den Chiefs, Patrol Leaders, and Webmasters to Senior Patrol Leaders and Crew Presidents

Serving More Youth

Knowing the distinct advantage that the Scouting program gives our youth throughout their lives, we are driven to serve MORE youth! 

• Focused on helping units promote Scouting effectively through marketing training for unit leaders, paid social media advertising, geofencing of unit recruitment events, and beefing up our presence at community events with inflatable BB & archery ranges, gaga ball pit, and displays
• 20 new troops for girls launched beginning on February 1^st supporting our initiative to better serve families
• 55% of our Cub Scout packs became Family Packs that offer dens (grade-based groups) for girls
• The BSA’s nation-wide introduction of new program options for girls is the single most successful program launch in BSA history: 88,000 girls joined Cub Scout Family Packs and 30,000 girls joined all-girl troops nationally
• Achieved overall youth retention of 75% compared to a national average of 68%
• Announced a new partnership with the US Coast Guard to expand Sea Scouts with Jason Oliveira spear-heading the initiative

Delivering Adventure with a Purpose

• Adventure Base Camp at Champlin Scout Reservation was launched in the fall to provide outdoor adventure to families, both those in Scouting and to all families in the region. Through Adventure Base Camp we are offering great outdoor programs to strengthen programming to Scouts and to introduce families to Scouting
• Yawgoog Scout Reservation, the premiere camp for Scouting in the Eastern United States, attracted 5,800 youth from all over the eastern seaboard as well as Texas, Florida, and spots in-between. We successfully hosted girl troops all eight weeks of 2019! See our new Yawgoog video here! 
• Scoutreach delivered our proven programs to more than 1,200 youth by removing obstacles often faced by low-income, underserved, and ethnically diverse families. Our council has made a “forever commitment” to the youth in our urban and low-income communities—ALL youth can be Scouts! 
• Merit badge workshops were conducted on subjects ranging from Welding, American Labor, and Automotive Maintenance to Nuclear Science and Oceanography! Scouts earned more than 10,000 merit badges in 2019 expanding their horizons, learning life skills and introducing them to possible careers and avocations
• No year is complete without “trash can turkeys”— hundreds of Scouts baked a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner in the outdoors using trash cans (or other creative devices)

Strengthening Adult Leadership

Volunteer leaders are the lifeblood of Scouting! We have been working to expand our support to volunteers. 

• Introduced quarterly events for unit leaders (Launch Party, Thrive Drive, University of Scouting, and Boom Event) to provide best practices, sharing of ideas, training, and program updates
• Streamlined our monthly roundtable meetings for leaders incorporating video updates and better planned programs under the leadership of Adrien Mercure
• Marion Selby directed our Wood Badge Course which is advanced leadership training that benefited 40 adult leaders in a 6-day course
• Welcomed new Executive Board members: James O’Brien of the Greater New Bedford Regional Vo-Tech High School, Jesse Kanter of Cintrin Cooperman, Morgan Grefe of the Rhode Island Historical Society, Keith Lavimodiere of Santander Bank, Cliff White of Graystone Consulting, Robert Taylor of Partridge Snow & Hahn, Randy Sacilotto of Navigant Credit Union, Edward Garcia of Northwest District, David Pickering of Southwest District, Ray Murray of Southeast District, and Rick Gariepy of Northeast District. Col. James Manni of the Rhode Island State Police joined the Advisory 
• Our commissioner team of volunteers logged 1,587 unit contacts and visits during the year to communicate with and support our unit leaders

Building Financial Sustainability

• To better support unit fundraising, we selected a new vendor for our popcorn sale: Camp Masters Popcorn. We are pleased with the new products and service which led to an increase in gross sales, increase in average unit sales and increase in average Scout sales! More $ went to our units and to the council to support local Scouting!
• Raised a record $515,000 in our annual Friends of Scouting Campaign thanks to our chair Christian Jenner and many volunteer presenters and table hosts!
• The Distinguished Citizen Awards Lunch co-chaired by Paul Choquette and Tom Gilbane recognized outstanding citizens Joe Paolino of Paolino Properties and Bob Bolton of Arden Engineering. The event raised more than $300,000 for Scoutreach programs
• The Sporting Clays Tournament was a blast (literally!) and raised more than $22,000 net in its second year thanks to chair Charlie Normand, the committee and sponsors!
• Our Scoutreach Awards Lunch recognized George Nee of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, Jack Para of the City of Central Falls, and Mayor Allan Fung of the City of Cranston were recognized for their outstanding support of Scouting in the Narraganset 

Marketing Scouting Effectively

• Board members Steve Zenofsky and Morgan Grefeconducted marketing training for unit leaders to share best practices to help units market and recruit Scouts and leaders
• Archie the Eagle Scout, our new mascot, was introduced to help us up our presence at parades and community events
• A new partnership with Providence Mom helped us get the word out to more families about the huge benefit of Scouting!
• Dozens of news articles were published in print and digital media highlighting our great Scouts and the tremendous value of the Scouting program

Building for the Future!

• Thanks to generous donors, the new Camp Three Point Dining Lodge is under construction with an anticipated opening in June 2020!
• Board member Bob Hefron funded the new Flag Plaza at Camp Norse! Additional facility improvements were completed at Camp Cachalot, Camp Norse and Camp Champlin thanks to many donors including the George W. P. Magee Trust, the Maxim Foundation, and The Champlin Foundation! 
• To improve safety for Scouts and forest health, we started a major forestry project at Camp Norse to remove dead, dying and dangerous trees
• We are blessed with an exceptional staff of professional Scouters and support staff that are dedicated to a thriving Scouting program!
• Mike Brown received a well-deserved promotion to Connecticut and othersretired after decades of service to Scouting (Kristina Andrews, Judy Ferrante, and Paul Forbes)
• Mark Arnold, Joram Northup, Erin Escobar, John Vuono were promoted to new responsibilities
• We welcomed Wyndell Walden as the new District Director for Southeast District, Rickie Zabriskie to the Yawgoog Ranger team, Michelle Costa to Scoutreach, Lynn Henault to Executive Assistant and Nicole McNamara to Program and Camp Administration
• On top of that, three of our staff members welcomed additions to their homes: Rachel Sowersby, Erin Escobar, and Tiffany Bumgardner-Scheffler!

Together, let’s continue to make Scouting thrive throughout Southeastern New England!

Best wishes to you and your family as you celebrate the arrival of the new year. May 2020 be your (and Scouting’s) best year yet!

Lloyd Albert	Bob DeFelice	Tim McCandless
Council President	Council Commissioner	Scout Executive