SCOUT EXECUTIVE'S MINUTE

Dear Fellow Scouters:

The start of every year is a period of accomplishment and celebration, of reflection and course corrections, and one of planning so that the incoming year can truly be better than the one just left behind. With the Boy Scouts of America closing the books on 2005 on Saturday, January 8, 2006 we usually lose about a full week’s worth of time in this process. By the time the financial books get cleaned up and performance reviews are held, the second week slips by. The third week of the month accounts for many council-level meetings and the staff planning conference occupies most of the fourth week in January. Before you know it and it is time to celebrate Scouting Anniversary Month as February!

We have a lot to be thankful for in 2005: A youth membership growth and a balanced operating budget lead the way followed by six full Troops attending the 2005 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia, the start of our long awaited Capital Development Campaign, twenty new James E. West Fellows and two new 1910 Society contributors to our endowment program, a Trained Leader program that is the envy of every council in the nation, and a youth retention rate better than any other council in the Central Region.

And we have things that bear attention in 2006: Achieving a growth in Cub Scouting, organizing new units in the first six month’s of the year, getting more of our own Troops and Scouts to use our own camping facilities, conducting a Family Friends of Scouting Presentation in every unit in the council, getting more units and youth to participate in the Popcorn Sales Campaign, and paying attention to each element of the latest Council Strategic Plan.

Happy New Year! Now let’s begin the task at hand for an even better 2006 for our youth, our units, our district, and our council --- it’s already February! Let’s get moving…

Best regards,
Stephen J. Taylor, CFRE
Scout Executive
staylor@bsamail.org