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On Monday, May 4th, the Crossroads of America Council made it public that there will not be traditional summer camp as we know it. Echoing the words of our Scout Executive Mr. Joe Wiltrout, health and safety is our top priority. Although we will not be having in-person summer camp like we are used to, Firecrafter is exploring ways to provide the best experience possible for our scouts this summer.

There is a lot of information that I am excited to share with all of you regarding different opportunities that the Firecrafter Council is planning to put on, but to start there are a few things that we would like to clarify and make publicly known. There will be no 2020 Midsummer Ritual, and all other events will be examined as we receive updates from our state and federal governments, including Grand Ritual. Moving on from there, the Council Committee has approved a year extension for those that would age out of the program this year, to allow them another year to complete any rank of Firecrafter next summer.

Regarding this summer, the Council Committee approved a program in which scouts can earn the Camper and Woodsman ranks in a virtual setting. The requirements for Camper and Woodsman will not be altered and the scout will be guided through a program to submit evidence of completing each requirement. The program will be led by our Council Vice Chief Ryan Wainscott. There will be more information in the coming weeks on the format of this program and how to sign up. We also are working on a similar program to be able to administer the Webelos Camper and Webelos Firelight ranks as well for cub scouts.

For the third rank of Firecrafter, the Council and Alumni officers met and decided in order to maintain the quality of the experience for the candidate and the program as a whole, we will not be allowing Firecrafter to be administered in any online format. Instead, the Council Committee approved the creation of a team to work on creating a possible in-person experience later in the summer.

Those units that are lone troop trained and are still planning on putting on a program need to reach out to Ryan Wainscott, the Council Vice Chief, to clarify how they are attempting to do so. Additionally, if your troop has created an alternate summer experience and wants to have a conversation about how the Firecrafter program could exist there, reach out to Ryan by May 20th via email (councilvicechief@firecrafter.org).

Finally, thank you to everyone who has been working towards creating some sort of experience for our scouts. By no means is this anyone’s first choice for a summer experience, but your willingness to work with what we’ve got is what makes Scouts and Firecrafter special. The Firecrafter Council will be open with communication about any developments in the programs we have proposed, and we hope we can make our centennial summer something to remember.

In the Mystic Fire,

M Matt Hustel

Firecrafter Council Chief