Silver Comet has a new District Executive - David Hood. David is an Eagle Scout from Marietta and a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. In his spare time he enjoys weightlifting, running, reading, and watching European soccer. David can be reached at 678-788-5178 and dhood@atlantabsa.org. Welcome to the Silver Comet family, David!

A blog post from Bryan on Scouting this week announced that BSA will be retiring a number of Cub Scout adventures next year. You can read the full post at https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2021/05/13/nineteen-cub-scout-elective-adventures-will-be-retired-next-year/. The retirements affect Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, and Arrow of Light ranks and were chosen based on sales and advancement data. The adventures will be officially retired on May 31, 2022, at which time they will be archived in Scoutbook and Internet Advancement, removing the ability to mark them as completed. Cub Scouts will be able to continue to wear their adventure loop or pin, since retired advancement items are never taken away from a Scout. For a full list of the adventures affected, click on "read more".

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Henry Raymond Hough, better known to most as Ray. Ray died suddenly and without warning last Saturday, 1 May 2021, at Woodruff Scout Camp during the Egwa Tawa Dee Induction weekend. He left us doing what he loved best: working with youth and the Order of the Arrow, and being part of the great outdoors. Ray was an Assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 2294 since its inception and was especially beholden by the girls, whom he dearly loved working with. He served on the Lodge Cook Team for years and was an active Scout and Scouter for over four decades. He will be sorely missed by the Troop, District, and Lodge.

Please keep Ray's family in your prayers. A memorial service was held on Saturday, 8 May, and he was laid to rest at the Southern Cremations and Funerals Columbarium on Dallas Highway. Details for how to make a gift in honor of Ray are included in his obituary, which can be found at https://www.southerncremations.com/obituaries/Henry-Raymond-Hough?obId=20990144.

At the beginning of February 2021 National BSA moved the Merit Badge Counselor database from their Scoutnet program to the Scoutbook program. This may have resulted in some Counselors being moved without all of their approved badges. Please go to our District website, "Merit Badge Counselor's" page for an explanation and resolution of the situation.

In March of this year the Atlanta Area Council Advancement Committee published new procedures for registering as a Merit Badge Counselor and for adding badges if already a Counselor. Please go to our District website "Merit Badge Counselor's" page, for details on the new process.

On Saturday, May 1st, many of us received an email from Scoutbook advising us that we were not on a recent MB Counselor list uploaded by our Council. If you received that email, please go to our District website "Merit Badge Counselor's" page for an explanation and resolution of the situation.

Don't forget, the Atlanta Area Council has a special, virtual campfire planned for Wednesday, May 12th, at 8pm. Join Dr. Randy Rizor for an inspirational message for all Scouting volunteers, but especially for our unit leaders: Cubmasters, Scoutmasters, Advisors, and Skippers. To register, click on the "register here" link at the bottom of this page: https://www.atlantabsa.org/rizorcampfire.

Registration for Silver Comet's Mad Science Day Camp 2021 is now open!

Our Silver Comet Day Camp is required to follow all state, local, Boy Scouts of America, and Kennesaw United Methodist Church COVID-19 guidelines, so we will be running a smaller camp this year.

Camp Directors have worked very hard to come up with a plan that will allow the most Cubs to experience day camp while staying COVID safe. This plan is quite different from our traditional Day Camp in that each rank will attend on only one specific day during the week of camp, all activities will be outside, and we will not have Pixie Hall. In addition, masks will be mandatory and den sizes will be limited. For dates, details, and links to the registration page, click "read more".