A Scoutmaster's Blog

(The following article was written by Nathan Blommel, an alumni of Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68. Nathan was a Boy Scout from 1988 to 1993. He has earned the Life Rank. This is the first of a series of guest articles written by former members of Troop 68.)

What Scouting means to me?
Scouting has taught me many things in life. As a scout, Scouting exposed me to fun activities, gave me a sense of pride and belonging, taught me about being responsible, and gave me many fond memories about summer camp and high adventure camp.

Fun Activities
Scouting introduced things to me that I would not have experienced if I had not been in Scouting including: hiking, camping (both in the summer and winter), downhill skiing, pizza parties, roller skating parties, pinewood derby races, and bowling.

Sense of Pride and Belonging
Although selling tickets for a scout breakfast, or selling wrapping paper or popcorn, or helping out with Adopt-A-Highway, wasn’t something that I looked forward to, it taught me about working hard to accomplish a goal. Whether that goal was a troop goal or a personal goal (to raise money for an upcoming trip), it taught me that nothing is ever given to us and that we need to work hard for everything that we have. Scouting also allowed me to get to meet more friends and get to know others in the community. To this day I keep in touch with friends who I met through Scouting whom I never would have had a chance to meet if it weren’t for Scouting.

Summer Camp/High Adventure Camp
Summer camp was always a blast because it allowed you to have a week to be with friends. In addition, you got to work on projects and complete a number of merit badges. It was the week of the summer that you looked forward to so you could be away from home to learn and do new things. My favorite memories of summer camp include frisbee golf, the campfires (with other troops involved), canoeing, cooking, and sail boating.
One of our troop’s high adventure camps that we attended was Philmont Scout Ranch. Philmont is located in New Mexico and consists of more than 214 square miles of camping/hiking. Philmont was where we spent 10 days hiking/back-packing in the mountains. Fond memories include: learning how to live on bare essentials, enjoying and appreciating the views and valleys of the mountains, doing team activities, and encountering live animals (including a bear).

Do I take anything that I learned from scouting and pass it on my family?
Yes, my son is active in Cub Scouts. Although I wasn’t real active with Cub Scouts (I did a lot more with Boy Scouts), when my son expressed an interest in Cub Scouts, I made sure to get him signed up because I knew he would get to experience so many fun things. He has been involved with scouting for less than a year and he has done many fun activities including the raingutter regatta, pinewood derby race, planting flowers, geocaching, touring a grocery store, attending a city council meeting, touring the airport, and building a model rocket.

Because of scouting, I love camping and being outdoors. As a family, we take numerous camping trips each year. Our family enjoys being outside together, fishing, and hiking, and of course- having campfires.
Another cool thing that I have passed on to our family is the game “Roses and Thorns”. Each night before bed, our kids tell us what their rose and thorn was for the day. We’ve been doing this since they were very young. My wife and I enjoy it because we learn a lot about what was their favorite thing and their least favorite thing about the day. At times, we are quite surprised with their answers. I know our kids like playing it too because they are always listening to each others’ answers and they sometimes will say something like, “Really, that was your thorn? I thought your thorn would have been…”

In conclusion, Scouting means a lot to me and my family. I’m very excited to watch my son in scouting and I hope that he gets as much out of it as I did.

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If you have been following this blog of mine, you will have noticed that it is not a blog heavy about the things you should do to create a great Boy Scout troop, or about all the training you need to become a fantastic Boy Scout leader. No, this blog has basically been about my memories and experiences about being a Scoutmaster and Scouter in a small rural central Minnesota community. I have always thought of this blog being more entertaining then enlightening. Sometimes I think I should try to take these 800+ posts and try to make a book of it, but I just have not found the drive to do that. At least not net. But I do have a working title: The Master Thinks, And Unfortunately Wrote It Down.

Things will be a little different here next week. I have asked some alumni of Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 to write articles about their memories of being a Boy Scout and what, if anything, they have learned that helps them in their adult lives. I only have replies from three so far, but I am hoping for a few more. All three have stated that yes, they have learned a few things in Scouting and that they do look back on their Scouting years as good times. What do they say exactly? You will have to check out the posts next week to discover that.

I hope that is enough of a tease to bring you back.

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Nearly every spring in the past twenty years the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 have spent a weekend at Camp Watchamagumee, usually in May. The camp is actually privately owned forty acres found north of Melrose. The land owners have allowed the troop to clear out campsites and create our own camp setting. The site currently has three patrol sites, an adult leader site, a scoutcraft open area, a treehouse, and a troop campfire area. We camp near a small pond. A short hike from the campsites is an open field in which the troop has played softball, volleyball, and disc golf. It quickly became one of the troop’s favorite camping sites.

A tradition has developed over the years, the annual Egg Drop Competition. Each Boy Scout, or team of Scouts, is given a raw egg. He must build a package for the egg usually only natural materials found around the camp. This package must protect the egg when it is dropped from various heights. The winner is the Scout who’s egg survives the highest drop without breaking. The boys must use their imagination to create a package that will not only withstand the actually drops, but also cushion the egg to keep it from becoming scrambled. I have seen a lot of various packages over the years using a wide variety of materials from bark, grasses, moss, mud, and sticks. This year one Scout even used a cow pattie.

This post to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast features the video taken during the 2013 Egg Drop Competition. Six Boy Scouts were part of the contest. An added feature to the rules this year was that the package must fit inside a plastic wash basin. Some boys did very well. Other did not make it past the first round. Watch the video to see who winds and how his package was created.

Oh, and since the new Star Trek movie had hit the theaters the same weekend as the outing I decided to use a Star Trek theme at the start of the video to introduce the Boy Scouts and their packages. Let me know what you think of it.

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Even before I took over as the scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 68 in Melrose, troop meetings were sometimes held at the Jaycee Park. After I took the scoutmaster position, we began to use the park for our summer meetings, from May through September. It was nice being outside for meetings. We could practice outdoor skills and play different games. Granted, rain messed things up once in awhile but there was a shelter we could usually run to to stay dry. The hockey rink was used as a ball field for many kickball and softball games. The large pine trees provided plenty of shade. The Scouts would play Tip and impromptu games of disc golf through the pine trees. The Cub Scout Pack has held meetings there. The district has used it for Cub Scout Day Camps. The Lake Wobegon Trail is only half a block away. It worked well for the troop. We still use the park for our current summer meetings.

Over the last 15 or so years the City of Melrose has been selling off chunks of this park. The western two thirds has been sold for townhouse developments. I understand the city needed this type of housing, and that the townhouse development was well done, but it was sad to see so much of the park disappear. The existing park is still large enough for a shelter, a playground, a volleyball court, and two hockey rinks. It is still a nice park and is used quite a bit by the local residents. One of our Eagle Scouts even did his project in the park, but nothing of that project remains after the townhouse developments.

Last month, the City of Melrose sold the park to CentraCare, our local hospital and clinic campus which is right next door to the park. I think it is great that CentraCare is willing and able to expand its facitilities. It shows a commitment to the city. Unfortunately, it means that someday we will lose that park. The first planned expansion will require that the park shelter be removed. The playground and the hockey rinks will remain for awhile yet, maybe even several years. The city will be renting the remaining park land for one dollar a year as long as CentraCare does not require it.

Unfortunately, it seems that the City of Melrose does not seem to have a plan to replace this park, even though they have been selling off portions of it for over 15 years. Granted, we will still have a smaller park in place for years yet, but I am surprised, or should I say shocked, that the city may just let one park disappear from the town in the future.

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As I continue a campfire theme this week, I thought it would be fun to post at least one skit that would be easy for two Boy Scouts to learn for your next weekend camping trip. The only prop needed is a flashlight.

Two Scouts meet, and the first scout begins to brag he can climb anything.
Scout 2 “I can climb anything!”
Scout 1 “Can you climb that tree?”
Scout 2 “Sure I’ve done it lots of times.”
Scout 1 “Can you climb the steep hill over there?”
Scout 2 “No sweat, no problem for me.”
Scout 1 “How about the Empire State Building?”
Scout 2 “Done it, Did it.”
Scout 1 “How about Mount Everest?”
Scout 2 “Boy that was I cold day, I’ve done that too. I told you I am the world’s greatest climber, I can climb anything.
Scout 1 “I’ll bet you ten bucks I can show you something that you can’t climb.”
Scout 2 “Your on!”
Scout 1 pulls out a flashlight and shines the beam up into the sky. “All right climb that!”
Scout 2 “Are you crazy? No Way!”
Scout 1 “I knew you would back out, now pay up!”
Scout 2 “I won’t pay because its not fair. I know you, I’d start climbing and I’d get half way and you’d turn the flashlight off!”

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Here is a story for your next troop campfire. I do not know who wrote it, or even remember where I picked it up, but it is a good story. Iy is a story about a promise made by two Eagle Scouts who were best friends and even worked at summer camp together. There is even a bit of a ghost story involved. How far would you go to keep your promises?

“Tom and Paul were best friends. They went to the same schools, right from kindergarten. They were best friends right from the beginning. Tom was a little bigger, not afraid of anything. Paul was smart, inquisitive, and ready to try whatever Tom came up with.

Their families got used to seeing them together, more like brothers than friends. They were Cub Scouts in the same Den, and they both got their Arrow of Light at the same ceremony and crossed over into Boy Scouts together. They joined Troop 17, it met at the Methodist Church and had a reputation as a Troop that did a lot of camping.

They were active Scouts, picked up rank, went on almost all the camp outs. Tom was a Patrol Leader when he made Star, and Senior Patrol Leader as a Life Scout. Paul was Quartermaster the same year, 1965.

They weren’t just Scouts, of course. They had school and girlfriends, family, part time jobs. Tom worked summers on his grandfather’s farm. Paul lifeguarded at the community pool. The summer they graduated from high school, class of 1966, they both decided to work at Scout Camp. Tom got assigned to the Camp Quartermaster, drove the camp truck and worked maintenance jobs. Paul had his Red Cross certifications, and he worked at the waterfront.

They had a great summer, and promised each other they would come back the following year. Well, more than promised, really. They swore an oath, on their honor, that they would come back to camp together, that nothing, not girlfriends or jobs or anything, would prevent them from coming back to camp.

Promises like that are hard to keep.

Paul went to college in the fall, he had decided to study engineering, and joined Navy ROTC. It would help pay for school, and in those years, it meant he had a sure deferment from the draft.

Tom got drafted. He went to Army basic training and shipped out to Vietnam. He wrote letters home, even sent a couple to Paul. He had been there eight months, and his unit had seen a lot of action, when he sent on a patrol as part of a larger operation. His platoon got ambushed. The after action reports pretty much told the tale, they got hit hard, and in the effort to set up a defense and bring in the wounded, Tom had gone out under fire three times. On the way back that last time he was shot and fatally wounded.

There was a military funeral, and a small collection of ribbons, including a Silver Star. Paul spoke at the funeral, and told everyone of the promise they had made and how now it could not be kept, of their adventures, and the trouble they got into now and then, and what it was like to have a friend like Tom.

Paul graduated from college in 1970. He was commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy, and selected for flight school.

He wanted to be a fighter pilot, just like everyone who goes to flight school, and he came close, but didn’t make the cut. He was assigned to A-6 Intruders, and excelled at that. He qualified for carriers, joined up with a Squadron and went to war. The Vietnam War was in it’s final years, but there was still a lot of air support missions being flown, and his carrier was off the coast of Vietnam most of his first year at sea.

He was on a close air support mission, trying to protect South Vietnamese troops and their American advisors when his plane was hit. He came up off the target, but before he regained control, his plane crashed into the jungle. The plane burned, he and his copilot were never recovered.

Now that’s just a sad story from the past, I suppose, two good men, two Eagle Scouts, both lost in the Vietnam War, but there’s some more to this story. Because they had made a promise, an oath, on their honor, to spend at least one more summer at this camp, and they didn’t give themselves an out just because they died.

The first I heard of it was in the 80′s, an 8 year old Cub Scout on a family overnight got lost on the trail out to the Wilderness area. All the Scout troops in camp and the local Sheriff’s department had started a search. A Scoutmaster found him walking out of the woods up on the hill by the horse barns. The kid said 2 adults in Scout uniforms had walked him up there, only when they asked him to describe what they looked like, he described the old green uniforms that were used in the 60s.

The next time was a Scout on wilderness survival overnight on the ridge. He had built his shelter and was bedded down when he saw 2 Scouts walking along together. Same description, young adults in old time uniforms. They looked over at him, but didn’t stop, just continued their hike out on the ridge trail. He was pretty spooked by it, being alone overnight and trying to tell his Scoutmaster the next morning. That time the word got around and it turned out some of the Staff at camp said that they had seen them too.

Now, I never saw them, but the camp ranger says he did, winter before last, right after that big snow in February. He had walked into camp late in the day, going to the dining hall and the bath house to check the pipes. He said they were in front of him on the main trail, in those same uniforms, walking along like it was a summer day. He was bundled up against the cold, crunching through the snow, and started to speed up to catch them. He said he wasn’t thinking about it too clearly, just wanted to know who the heck was in camp when they weren’t supposed to be.

He stopped when they turned around. Because when he saw their faces, well, the camp ranger used to be a Boy Scout, too. A Boy Scout in Troop 17, and when he made First Class in 1965, his Senior Patrol Leader was named Tom and his Quartermaster was named Paul. He still had Troop pictures, but he wouldn’t have forgotten what they looked liked, especially in their summer uniforms. He said they smiled, and Tom waved, and then they turned and hiked down the trail toward the waterfront like they were on patrol.

The night the ranger told me this, he didn’t expect me to believe any of it, and I don’t expect you to believe me, either. But he stood there for a few minutes as dusk gathered, and when he looked down, there weren’t any tracks in the snow. He looked back and his footprints were right there in the snow, but only his, and none on the trail in front of him.

He told me he believed that they had kept their oath. That they were here in camp, and that they were content, that they had come back to the camp they had loved.

So when you’re out on the trail in the evening tonight, or on an overnight somewhere remote in the Wilderness, remember those two Scouts and their promise, and how maybe, just maybe, they managed to keep it after all.

Good Night, Scouts.”

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