LEC 3-Minute Update - February 29, 2024

Mornin’, all! Jake Brown here, coming to you from the Unit Service Center. Don’t mind me, I’m just enjoying this beautiful weather this week! Taking in the sun, enjoying all of this heat! 

There is still time to register for the University of Scouting, but classes are filling fast! Make sure you register now to be able to select the classes you want to attend! Note that there are over 50 classes to choose from during the day! Send questions to Dave Sechnick. 

EDGE training, BALOO, Scoutmaster Basic, Wilderness First Aid, COPE Level 1 Training, Intro to Leadership Skills Training for youth, and the Wood Badge and NYLT course registrations are open now! 

The Youth Resilience Summit is upcoming on April 19th. This summit will have presentations from top experts in fields like suicide prevention, mental health, special needs strategies, working collaboratively with law enforcement, online safety, bullying, financial literacy, and workforce development. It will also include breakfast and lunch all at NO CHARGE due to the generosity of donors! Please help us by sharing this with everyone you know! Register now. 

Make sure to visit the new Unit Bulletin Board, which is intended for units to share potential upcoming unit events or news with other units. Be in the know, and share your information there as well! 

Note that there are changes to the membership fee structure, as well as changes to the adult application process. If you haven’t heard about these things yet, check out the last few weeks’ 3 minute update scripts. 

The Wood Badge and NYLT annual scholarship fundraiser breakfast is March 9th at Lakewood High School. Send questions to Linda Gray. 

The next merit badge university is in March at Beaumont. Sap Camp is March 2nd. Winter Mud Day is at Firelands on March 9th! On March 17th, Scouts can join in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Cleveland, and you can email Julia Hearne for more information. Solar Eclipse Camp is the weekend of April 6th, Metalworking Merit Badge is upcoming on April 6th, there’s a Beaumont Spring Camporee the last weekend of April, as well as a service and camping opportunity on Kelley’s Island! Tough Cubbers are in May! 

Wilderness Engineers is upcoming in May, and unlike years past, now you only have to be 18 to volunteer to do some hearty work to keep camp operating smooth and looking fresh! If you’d like to volunteer, or know of someone who should, please register and contact Chris Fortunato. 

Finally, folks, I have some bittersweet news to share with you all: my time as anchor of the 3-minute update, as well as a professional Scouter, is coming to an end on March 16th. I’ve had a great time getting to know a lot of you over the years, and I’m excited to focus on life’s next chapter. I can read it now, and it says “Jake will be spending more evenings and weekends with his family and friends.” 

I’ll be around through March 16th, though, and Tyler Matthews will be taking over this role once I’m gone. In fact, I can see him right now, yes, Tyler, you’ll be the new anchor! Oh, huh, that’s bizarre folks, I’ve never seen him run to his car so fast. Hmm. Weird. 

Well, that’s a wrap for this week’s three minute update! Thanks for all you do and thanks for being you! We’ll see you next week! Okay, now to bundle up and head out into this freezing weather we’ve got outside. I guess it’s true what they say, just wait until the end of the 3 minute update for the weather to change… 

LEC 3-Minute Update - February 22, 2024

Mornin’, all! Jake Brown here, coming to you live from Goodyear Arizona where the Cleveland Guardians are kicking off their spring training. And just like our beloved baseball team gets trained each spring, you should too! 

First up to bat are our training updates! There is still time to register for the University of Scouting, but classes are filling fast! Make sure you register now to be able to select the classes you want to attend! Note that there are over 50 classes to choose from during the day, including leadership succession planning, how to handle incident reports, backpacking skills, outdoor cooking demonstrations, cub leader specific training, den leader training, and much, much more! Send questions to Dave Sechnick.. 

EDGE training, for Wood Badge staff and all future trainers of Council, is also upcoming in March and April. BALOO, Scoutmaster Basic, and Wilderness First Aid Trainings are open upcoming in April, and the Wood Badge and NYLT course registrations are open now! 

Now with a home run for the whole community, the Youth Resilience Summit is upcoming on April 19th. This summit will have presentations from top experts in fields like suicide prevention, mental health, special needs strategies, working collaboratively with law enforcement, online safety, bullying, financial literacy, and workforce development. It will also include breakfast and lunch all at NO CHARGE due to the generosity of donors and the community! Please help us by sharing this with your fellow scouters, parents in your circle, family, your colleagues, and associates. Register now. 

The Unit Bulletin Board is a new item, intended for units to share potential upcoming unit events or news with other units. Kind of like having your own personal Jumbo Tron! This bulletin board is all about things happening in your unit, meant for activities or updates that originate in your unit. To post something on the unit bulletin board, simply go to the weblink and add it in! Make sure to check out the bulletin board to find more ways to collaborate with neighboring units! 

Now for a quick curveball, the adult application process will change to require the results of the Criminal Background Check to be received BEFORE a new adult volunteer can assume a leadership role, effective March 4th. That means the person is put into a pending status for 2-3 weeks after the app gets signed and submitted to Council. Upcoming leaders MUST NOT assume a leadership role until AFTER the background check process is complete. The upcoming leader and unit key 3 will receive email updates about the status of new leaders. If you have any questions, email Member Care.  

Also, effective on April 1st: Membership fees are changing. Annual registration fees for youth and adults are increasing $5. No other increases come with this change. The New Member Fee is GOING, GOING, GONE! Woo-hoo! For questions, please contact Member Care.  

The annual Celebration of Scouting will be held on March 2nd, and the Wood Badge and NYLT annual scholarship fundraiser breakfast will be held on March 9th at Lakewood High School. Send questions to Linda Gray.  

Now in camping, The next merit badge university is in March at Beaumont. Sap Camp is March 2nd. Winter Mud Day is at Firelands on March 9th! On March 17th, Scouts can join in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Cleveland, and you can email Julia Hearne for more information. Metalworking Merit Badge is upcoming on April 6th, there’s a Beaumont Spring Camporee the last weekend of April, as well as a service and camping opportunity on Kelley’s Island! 

Lastly, for our Catholic Scouters, the Eucharistic Retreat is happening May 11th at St. Barnabas Parish in Northfield Ohio, from 9am to 5:30pm. Deadline to register is April 15th and it only costs $10! Please reach out to Mr. Jim Hickey with any questions. 

And that’s a wrap for this week’s three minute update! Thanks for all you do and thanks for being you! We’ll see you next week! 

LEC 3-Minute Update - February 15, 2024

Mornin’, all! Jake Brown here, and this week’s update will be three minutes! In this week’s three minute update, we have updates in: Registration, Training, Special Events, and Camping, the cool new unit bulletin board, and the Upcoming Youth Resilience Summit. 

The Youth Resilience Summit is upcoming on April 19th. The purpose of this event is to create and sustain safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children and families, and aims to reduce adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). It will provide resources and community support to help young people overcome ACEs. The summit will have presentations from top experts in fields like suicide prevention, mental health, special needs strategies, working collaboratively with law enforcement, online safety, bullying, financial literacy, and workforce development. It will also include breakfast and lunch all at NO CHARGE due to the generosity of donors and the community! Please help us by sharing this with your fellow scouters, parents in your circle, family, your colleagues, and associates. Register now. 

The Unit Bulletin Board is a new item, intended for units to share potential upcoming unit events or news with other units. This bulletin board is all about things happening in your unit, meant for activities or updates that originate in your unit. To post something on the unit bulletin board, simply go to the weblink and add it in! Make sure to check out the bulletin board to find more ways to collaborate with neighboring units! 

Note the adult application process will change to require the results of the Criminal Background Check to be received BEFORE a new adult volunteer can assume a leadership role, starting on March 4th. That means once the COR signs the app, it is paid for, and is received by the Unit Service Center OR online app portal, the person is then put into a pending status. Upcoming leaders MUST NOT assume a leadership role until AFTER the background check process is complete. The upcoming leader and unit key 3 will receive email updates about the status of new leaders. This adds time to the leader approval process, and unit leaders MUST allow 2-3 weeks for processing of new applications before they can assume leadership roles. If you have any questions, email Member Care. 

Also, effective on April 1st: Membership fees are changing. Annual registration fees for youth and adults are increasing $5. No other increases come with this change. The New Member Fee is also being eliminated! Woo-hoo! For questions, please contact Member Care. 

Next in training, there is still time to register for the University of Scouting, but classes are filling fast! Make sure you register now to be able to select the classes you want to attend! Note that there are over 50 classes to choose from during the day, including leadership succession planning, how to handle incident reports, backpacking skills, outdoor cooking demonstrations, cub leader specific training, den leader training, and much, much more! Your attendance will absolutely make you a better Scouter. Send questions to Dave Sechnick.

There will be a Rangemaster training on February 24th at Firelands. EDGE training, for Wood Badge staff and all future trainers of Council, is also upcoming in March and April. BALOO, Scoutmaster Basic, and Wilderness First Aid Trainings are open upcoming in April, and the Wood Badge and NYLT course registrations are open now! 

And speaking of Wood Badge and NYLT, their annual scholarship fundraiser breakfast will be held on March 9th at Lakewood High School. Send questions to Linda Gray. The Class of 2023 Eagle Scout Celebration will be on February 24th, and the annual Celebration of Scouting will be held on March 2nd. 

Now in camping, The next merit badge university is in March at Beaumont. Sap Camp is March 2nd.  Cub Scouts should attend Winter Mud Day at Firelands on March 9th! On March 17th, Scouts can join in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Cleveland, and you can email Julia Hearne for more information. Metalworking Merit Badge is upcoming on April 6th, there’s a Beaumont Spring Camporee the last weekend of April, as well as a service and camping opportunity on Kelley’s Island! 

And that’s a wrap for this week’s three minute update! Thanks for all you do and thanks for being you! We’ll see you next week! 

LEC 3-Minute Update - February 8, 2024

Mornin’, all! I’m coming to you from Sardis City, Alabama, where the news is good: the Alabama possum, better known as Sand Mountain Sam, agrees with his Yankee cousin to the North, Punxsutawney Phil: spring is just around the corner! In fact, Americans across the country turn to 78 large rodents to help predict the turning of winter into Spring. And hey, why not? How could Buckeye Chuck here in Ohio, Concord Charlie in West Virginia, Gertie the Groundhog in Illinois, and all the rest of these little critters’ shadows be any less accurate than most weather reports?

Okay, in this week’s three-minute update, we have updates in: Registration, Training, Special Events, and Camping.

First, effective March 4th, the adult application process will change to require the results of the Criminal Background Check to be received BEFORE a new adult volunteer can assume a leadership role. What does this mean? It means:

Once an adult application is processed (online or paper) the person is put in “pending” status

The adult leader will get an email notice informing them their registration is being processed and they are NOT TO ASSUME ANY LEADERSHIP ROLE UNTIL THE COMPLETION OF THE CBC PROCESS. The unit key 3 will also get an email.

If the applicant is declined or approved with restrictions, the applicant and unit key 3 are notified by phone and mail.

If the CBC comes back with no items to review, the system will finish registering the person and send an email to the person and unit key 3 that they can now be an active leader.

The turn-around time for criminal background checks (CBC) can be a few days to a few weeks, depending on several factors. The unit should allow at least 2 to 3 weeks for processing from when the application is received and paid. 

If you have any questions about this change, please contact Member Care.

Second, effective on April 1st: Membership fees are changing. Good news: the one-time new member fee for new youth members is going away! Scout Life fees, Exploring fees, the annual charter fee, merit badge counselor fees and local insurance fees are also not changing. Annual registration fees for youth and adults are increasing $5. For questions, please contact Member Care.

Next, in training, note that the LEC is hosting a University of Scouting on Saturday, March 16th. Send questions or inquiries to Dave Sechnick. There will be a Rangemaster training on February 24th at Firelands. BALOO, Scoutmaster Basic, and Wilderness First Aid Trainings are open upcoming in April, and the Wood Badge and NYLT course registrations are open now!

And speaking of Wood Badge and NYLT, their annual scholarship fundraiser breakfast will be held on March 9th at Lakewood High School. Send questions to Linda Gray; the Early Bird closes this Sunday, February 4th.

In other special event news, The Class of 2023 Eagle Scout Celebration will be on February 24th, and the annual Celebration of Scouting will be held on March 2nd.

And speaking of the Celebration, I have some great news to share! The 2023 Silver Beaver Award  recipients are: Erin Bringman, Genny Espinoza, Rob Burnham, Sal Kitko, and Krista Kanuch. Please join me in extending some well-deserved congratulations to these Scouters!

Now in camping, note the Firelands Trading Post will be open from 8:00am-4:00 p.m. and from 5:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Saturday in conjunction with the Kodiak Klondike. And there’s still time to sign up for the, and the rescheduled Beaumont Klondike! The next merit badge university is in March at Beaumont. Sap Camp is March 2nd.  Cub Scouts should attend Winter Mud Day at Firelands on March 9th! On March 17th, Scouts can join in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Cleveland, and you can email Julia Hearne for more information. Metalworking Merit Badge is upcoming on April 6th, there’s a Beaumont Spring Camporee the last weekend of April, as well as a service and camping opportunity on Kelley’s Island! And with regard to the upcoming solar Eclipse on April 8th, come on out to Firelands to enjoy it with your Scouting family! Send Anthony or Jess your questions.

Finally, the Diocese of Cleveland Catholic Committee on Scouting is hosting a retreat on April 24th at St. Albert the Great Parish in North Royalton. Attendees will spend a day in prayer identifying their God-given gifts and talents, and discerning how best to use them within their Scouting roles. To register or to ask questions, contact the Committee.

And that’s a wrap for this week’s three minute update! Thanks for all you do and thanks for being you! We’ll see you next week!