PTC Media Podcasts

Have you checked out the PTC Media podcast site yet? ( http://www.ptcmedia.net ) The PTC Media network is a collection of seven Scouting related podcasts, six of them audio and one video. They are produced by four Scout leaders from across the United States.

"What is a podcast?", you ask. An audio podcast is similar to a radio program that you download to your computer to listen to at your convenience. Most audio podcasts are posted to the internet in an mp3 format and are compatible with most mp3 players. A video podcast is like a short television show you download to your computer. Podcast can be subscribed to through a website or a podcast feeder, like iTunes.

The An Hour A Week podcast is created by Cubmaster Chris in Texas. This weekly podcast is recorded live on Sunday nights. The show features information about Cub Scouting, leadership training, and other Scouting related news that caught Chris' attention. An Hour A Week is approximately sixty minutes long. It is one of the original shows of the PTC Media network.

Another podcast that has been a part of the network since the beginning is The Leaders Campfire. This show is hosted by Cubmaster Chris and Scoutmaster Steve. The podcast covers a wide variety of topics from both Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting. Special guests are occasional brought in to discuss current events. There is even a trivia show every couple of months. The Leaders Campfire is produced twice a month.

The Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is currently the network's only video podcast. It is produced by Scoutmaster Steve. There are usually two episodes each month. The podcast features Scouting events, campfire songs and skits, and Boy Scouts having fun. The Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast shows are about three to fifteen minutes long.

Around The Scouting Campfire is a ten to fifteen minute audio podcast featuring Scoutmaster Steve and everyone's favorite Scouting puppet, Buttons, the radical Boy Scout. They cover topics for both the Boy Scout and the Boy Scout leader, along with jokes, stories, and the occasional campfire song. The goal is to produce one episode of Around The Scouting Campfire each month.

The Scoutmaster Minute is a podcast about Boy Scouting produced by Scoutmaster Jerry from Oregon. His troops loves to backpack so many of Jerry's shows cover the ins and outs of backpacking and camping along with the proper gear to use. The Scoutmaster Minute also includes many other topics about the Boy Scouting program, interviews with other Scout leaders, and Webelos transition.

True North is a podcast created by Scoutmaster Shawn from Wisconsin. It is one of the newest podcasts to the PTC Media family. Shawn talks about Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, unit commissioners, and other Scouting topics. Of course, Shawn is not shy about bringing in a guest to talk Scouting on the True North podcast. There are usually one or two new shows per month.

A Cubbing Minute is a short audio podcast produced by Cubmaster Chris. You could almost call this Chris' thought of the moment show. The shows last from one to four minutes as Chris shares a quick Cub Scouting thought or tip with his listeners. You never know when a new idea will strike Chris for another A Cubbing Minute episode.

The PTC Media family of podcasts will be growing during the next few months. There are plans being developed for three new shows to begin which will feature some new hosts along with the existing hosts. Be sure to check out the PTC Media site regularly these new programs and new episdoes of the existing line of podcasts. http://www.ptcmedia.net

The Things We Survived

There has been a message that has been going around the internet for a few years already. Last week it appears as a column in the local newspaper. You may have already seen this, but I wanted to post it anyway because I grow up during this time period and can relate to it. I have seen it titled "The Things We Survived". I do not know who originally wrote it but I congratulate them on capturing the spirit of the times.

To all the kids (and Scouters) who survived the 1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads. As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight.

Why? Because we were always outside playing, that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. -- And, we were okay.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

We had friends, and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and - although we were told it would happen - we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever. The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If you are one of those born between 1925-1970, congratulations!

So, are you a survivor?

MSPP #77: A Century Of Values Open House P1

This post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is the third of four videos featuring the open house held by the Central Minnesota Council on September 2, 2009, to celebrate the "A Century Of Values" tour. Where the first two videos in this series featured the special RV that is touring the country and the presentation of the mural, this video features some of the other activities that were taking place on the grounds of the council office.

The video begins with a visit with two of the district executives having a little fun and racing cars at one of the activities. Then we spend a moment with the council executive as we watch the Cub Scouts ride a hot air balloon. One of the gentlemen touring the country with the "A Century Of Values" RV takes a moment to speak with us. The video ends with a magician performing a card trick for us.

More information about the "A Century Of Values" tour can be found on their website at http://www.acenturyofvalues.org/ Also check out their blog and the post about their visit to the Central Minnesota Council. The road crew mentions that this was the largest crowd they had seen at a council event up to this point.

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Check out other great Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Following the Line

Think about it. It is truly amazing. We spend a lot of our lives in line or lanes. We wait in line at the bank. We wait with our shopping cart at the store. We drive in lanes, sometimes one wide, sometimes two wide. These lanes and lines help us to get where we are going and help us to stay organized in our community.

What I find truly amazing is that many of these lines and lanes are nothing more than a line painted on the floor or road. Sometimes they exist only in our minds. We "create" the line, and then we and the people around us, follow it. And we all live happily ever after...

Until someone does not follow the line. It irritates us when someone cuts into the line at the store or theater. Tempers rise and words are said. People become unfriendly. When someone incorrectly crosses the line on a road doing seventy miles an hour accidents can happen and people can be killed.

We also have lines to follow in Scouting. Using a map and compass we follow an imaginary line to get to where we wish to go, possibly our campsite for the night. We stand in line to get a plateful of food, or to participate in an activity at a camporee.

The Scout Oath and the Scout Law represent two lines that a boy and adult agree to follow when they join a Boy Scout troop. When an adult follows these lines he sets a good example for the Scouts in his troop. When a boy follows these lines he has a good start on growing into a man of strong character. He will be an asset to his community. People will look up to him. He will be respected.

Of course, when a boy (or an adult leader) drift away from the line of behavior set by the Scout Oath and Law, the chances increase that he will find himself in trouble. The news is full of boys and men who have strayed from the line of good behavior. Too many times they find themselves in a small room looking out through vertical lines that keep them in place.

Which lines have you chosen to follow?