In 2018, Boy Scouts of America released the new Youth Protection Training (YPT), and everyone had to retake YPT before the end of September 2018. Lots of leaders left this to the last minute. Fast forward to 2020, and we have a lot of leaders whose training is set to expire again! Currently, across our district, we have 45 adults from 25 units whose YPT has expired in the past two months. If their YPT expired before July 1st, 2020, they have dropped out of my.scouting, so they are not even included in the 45. In addition, there are another 100 scouters whose Youth Protection Training will expire in the next 30 days! Adults whose YPT has expired should not be meeting with our youth in person or virtually. If you are a Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor, Committee Chair, or Chartered Organization Representative, please use my.scouting.org to run your YPT report and contact the adults who need to re-take YPT. Thank you for doing your part to keep our scouts safe!

Due to the smaller number of Show-n-Sell orders, the popcorn distribution has been moved to the Volunteer Service Center (1800 Circle 75 Pkwy SE, Atlanta, Georgia 30339). Popcorn distribution will be on Friday, September 11th, from 9:00 am until 5:30 pm and Saturday, September 12th from 8:00 am until 12:00 pm. If you have any popcorn related questions, please contact our District Popcorn Kernel, Tanya Parks, at popcorn@silvercometdistrictbsa.org.

The District Nominating Committee is responsible for identifying candidates qualified and willing to serve as District Chairman, District Commissioner, and District Vice Chairman.
The Committee also identifies Scouters qualified and willing to serve as District Members-at-Large who will contribute to the many aspects of District Scouting including Membership, Funds Development, and all of the Program areas and Operating Committees.

It takes dedicated leadership to provide the excellent Scouting programs that are offered to our youth, and Silver Comet has many motivated and capable volunteers that would make ideal candidates to serve the District but we may not know who they are. Anyone may submit nominations so please help us by submitting the names of enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers for consideration.

For details on submitting nominations, selection of individuals to fill the District positions, and the election of District Officers and Members go to our Silver Comet Nominating Committee webpage.

Nominations will be accepted through October 18, 2020.

Election of District Officers and Members at Large takes place at the District Annual Business Meeting.

The Silver Comet Annual Business Meeting will be a VIRTUAL meeting held on Thursday, November 5 th, 2020, 7 pm. Credentials to attend the meeting will be provided nearer the meeting date.

Eligible Voters are all Silver Comet Registered Charter Organization Representatives, registered Silver Comet District Members at Large, and any registered Council Members at Large residing within the Silver Comet District.

National has made temporary changes to the swimming requirements for 2nd and 1st Class ranks and to the Camping Merit Badge. They have also extended the window for Councils to grant pandemic-related Eagle Rank extensions through December 31, 2020. Click read more for all the important advancement details.

A new series of live webinars has launched in the Atlanta Area Council – called Membership Updates Live, but covering a lot of topics about how to recruit and retain families in your Cub Scout Pack and to Scout On in these tough times. Each Monday at 5:30 into November, we’ll have a 30-minute (or so) update for Pack and Den Leaders of ideas that can help them lead their families in Scouting. The series launched with programs on “Sign-Up Night in New Times” and “Den and Pack Leader Roles in Family-Led Program” (both posted on the AAC YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/AACBoyScouts/videos). The series will continue on August 24 with “How to Handle Online Applications”. Future sessions will cover “Forge a Functional Facebook Strategy”, “Recruiting Leaders (Who Is Out There? How to Reach Them?)” and “Is It Safe (We Want To Gather, but When and How)”. Got a topic you would like to see? Email bert.bender@alston.com, our Council New Member Coordinator. Want to sign up? Click on this: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FpLtMFg6SricJTelfK9C_Q.

Silver Comet is disappointed to announce that Webelos Woods 2020 has been cancelled. This event usually draws over 300 Webelos and Arrow of Light Scouts, their Den Leaders, and parents to Woodruff Scout Reservation for a camporee-style weekend in mid-October. In addition, approximately 70 volunteer Scouters, Scouts, and Venturers act as staff for the event. This is not an event that could be re-imagined in a virtual setting and still have the lasting impact that it usually has on our future BSA Scouts. The Webelos Woods staff is looking forward to an enthusiastic return of this program in Fall 2021.

The district is excited to announce that we will be having our annual Webelos Open House in October. The event will look a little different. For starters, it will be held outdoors, masks will be required, and we'll all do our best to social distance. Troops can find more information on how to participate on the Open House Set-Up event page: https://www.silvercometdistrictbsa.org/node/1972 and Packs can find more information on the Webelos Open House event page: https://www.silvercometdistrictbsa.org/node/1973.