Council Scout Shop is open Saturdays starting September 7th and ending October 26, 2019. Hours will be from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

2018 Texas Trails Council, BSA Banquet

Registration for the Council Banquet can be done at the Scout Shop or you can click HERE to be taken directly to the event site where you can register. For more information on upcoming council events, please visit the Texas Trails Council, BSA website.

Texas Trails Council, BSA District Pinewood Derby Races

It's not too late to purchase and build your Pinewood Derby race car! The council Scout Shop still has plenty of kits available for purchase!

Buffalo Mountain District: Join us for a fun filled day of Pinewood Derby racing on February 23, 2019 at the Lawrence Hall Supercenter on North Clack St. Registration for the event can be done at the Scout Shop or online at the event's website found HERE. Scouts, scouters, friends of scouts, and family members are all welcome to participate in the races! Regardless of whether you are racing or not, all are welcome to stop by and watch the races.

The event costs $5 if you are registering by February 22 and $7 if you are registering on the day of the races. Registration starts at 8:30 am and the races will begin at 10:00 am. So join us and show off all the hard work you put into building the perfect race car!

Old Comanche Trail & Pecan Valley Districts: On March 2, 2019, the Service Area East Pinewood Derby races will be held at Heartland Mall in Early, Texas. We will have both regular Pinewood Derby races as well as the "Down and Derby". Due to the generous contributions of "Texas Clean" and "Innovation Wellness Health Spa" of Brownwood, there is no longer a registration fee for either event. We'd love for you to join us and show off your race car in the Pinewood Derby races! For the "Down and Derby" races, all teams who are registered will be issued a kit and workstation to build your car on the day of the race.

Please register for each event on the Texas Trails Council website by clicking HERE. The race times will be divided up and spaced out based on Cub Scouts ranks. You will find a detailed list of registration and race start times for each rank by visiting our website. So come out and join us and make sure to thank our wonderful event sponsors while you are there...….oh, and don't forget, all registered youth racers will get a free kids meal from Chik-Fil-A! Yummy!

2019 Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner "Save the Date "

Boy Scouts of America

Texas Trails Council requests the honor of your

presence at the

2019 Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner

Honoring

Lee and Rae Ann Hamilton

Featured Guest Speaker: Rex Tillerson

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

7:00 p.m.

Abilene Convention Center

To reserve a table now, please contact Cindy at: ciwebb@bsamail.org

Click here to download the invitation/registration form.

Texas Trails Council, BSA Scout Shop Updates 2019

Merchandise requests and orders: From this point forward, we will no longer be accepting orders over the phone. If you have a merchandise request or need to place an order, please come by the council Scout Shop, or place the order through the internet using the Scout Shop website found HERE. Please fill out the Merchandise Request Form and e-mail the completed form to ttcscoutshop@scouting.org. Once we receive the order, someone will contact you by e-mail or phone to confirm the merchandise request was received. If you are not contacted within 48 to 72 hours, please call us at 325-677-2688 to ensure we received it.

Unit Advancement: With Scoutbook being made free to use for all BSA units, we are now pushing for every unit to begin using it when entering and tracking advancement for scouts. When working properly, Scoutbook will allow unit leaders to set up Advancement Sync, which will sync up advancement data between ScoutNET and Scoutbook. This will allow you to download and print out an already filled out advancement report to use when turning advancement into the council. You will no longer need to fill out an advancement report by hand or enter anything into ScoutNET.

We do encourage you to verify on ScoutNET that everything from Scoutbook synced up, though. You do still have the option to use a handwritten form if for some reason Scoutbook or ScoutNET are not working properly. You can find advancement forms at the council Scout Shop or download them from the "Unit Resources" section HERE.

Adult and Youth Registration Update for 2019

The Boy Scouts of America now offers an online application process for youth and adults that can be completed from start to finish without a single piece of paper changing hands.

This is a giant leap forward in allowing prospective members and leaders to register in a way that’s convenient for them, and it creates a more efficient and user-friendly registration experience for units, districts, and councils.

You can find all of the FAQs, contact information, assistance, check lists, videos, and guides on the registration process HERE. In addition, you can click on the banner at the top of this article and it will take you to a site which will walk you through the registration process. From there you can choose which Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scouts units are available in your area that you can register with.

You can still register using the paper applications found at the Texas Trails Council, BSA Scout Shop. However, if you have any old application forms we will no longer be accepting them. The most current Youth Application number is 524-406 and the Adult Application number is 524-501. You can find this number on the bottom left hand corner on the front of the application. If you have picked up any application forms from the Scout Shop recently then you have the most current form.

Information for this article came from the scouting.org registration site found HERE.

Youth Protection UPDATE 2019

The following is an excerpt of the YPT change communication from our National Safe Scouting Champion.

"At the end of February, the online YP Course will be replaced with an updated version. Please get the word out to all leaders that any courses in progress (completions of some but not all of the required four modules) will be lost when the course is updated. For example, if a leader had completed one, two, or three of the four modules, but had not completed all four, their completed modules will be erased and they will have to start over again to complete all four required modules. You must have completed all four modules successfully by February 28^th, as the new Learning Plan will be launched March 1, 2019 .

If you have started—but not completed—the current Y01 Youth Protection Training:

You must complete the training before March 1, 2019, or any progress you have made will not transfer, due to the new learning plan. Otherwise, you may simply start over with the new training plan on March 1, 2019.

If you HAVE already completed the current Y01 Youth Protection Training:

You WILL NOT be affected. You DO NOT have to retake the training when the March 1, 2019 course is released.

This update will include new policies and procedures implemented since the course was first released in February, 2018, however our Youth Protection and Health and Safety policies, guidelines and procedures are continually being updated and revised. The on-line version of the GTSS is the single most up to date source of our commitment to Safe Scouting.

Youth Protection certifications will continue to be valid for a two year period.

When the course update is complete, four new VOLUNTARY modules will be added and will be available under the “VOLUNTARY programs.” These include:

1.     Physical Abuse

2.     Neglect

3.     Emotional Abuse

4.     Witnessing Violence

These new, VOLUNTARY modules will provide leaders with knowledge about other forms of abuse.

Thanks for all you do to continue to keeps Scouts safe!

Rick Boeshaar

National Safe Scouting Champion”

The Boy Scouts of America Organization Name is Not Changing, and Other Facts to Set the Record Straight

The Boy Scouts of America organization name will continue to be Boy Scouts of America. It is not changing.

Reports started circulating on Wednesday, May 2, concerning the update to the Boy Scout program name. That program currently serves boys ages 11 through 17. Beginning February 2019, the Boy Scout program name will change to “Scouts BSA” and will begin serving girls, as well as boys. Read More

Scouts BSA Launched February 1st

What you need to know to be prepared.

Review the infographic that includes a timeline and explanation of troop structure.
Read through all of these facts [PDF] and the other key information on scouting.org/familyscouting
Check out the Scouts BSA Launch Plan [PPT]
Download informational assets on the benefits of Scouts BSA to share with chartered organizations.
Learn how to recruit great leaders.
Access all of Scouts BSA recruiting assets, including photos and social media images, in the BSA Brand Center.
Understand the right way to talk about Scouts BSA.
Direct youths and adults who are interested in learning more to scouting.org/scoutsbsa.
Host information nights and start working on a Webelos transition plan.
Work with your council registrar using the instructions on displaying for Scouts BSA "coming soon" unit pins [PDF] on BeAScout.org.

The information from this article originally appeared on Bryan On Scouting.

Uniform and Handbook Updates for Scouts BSA - 2019

With the launch of Scouts BSA on February 1st, there is also uniform and handbook updates. You can find all of the information you need on the updates HERE from Bryan On Scouting.

The Texas Trails Council, BSA Scout Shop does not currently have any of the new uniform items or handbooks. However, we will be adding these items to our inventory soon. Your current uniforms and the uniform items we currently have in our shop are all still official. You are not required to buy the new uniform if you already have one. The rule with BSA uniforms is "once official, always official".

New Scouting Mobile App