Archive for the ‘podcast’ Category


The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have been attending a week of summer camp at Many Point Scout Camp every year since the early 1990s. They enjoy the program and the staff at the Buckskin Camp. This year, 2019, will be the first year they will change camps as they attend the Ten Chiefs Camp which is located south of the Buckskin Camp. That means the Scouts will not be eating in the Buckskin dining hall this summer. They will be eating their meals in their campsite.

Part of the fun of the Buckskin dining hall is the songs lead by the camp staff before heading into the building to eat. The staff does a great job getting the Scouts fired up and singing.

As I start posting Scouting videos online again I thought I would begin with a video featuring the MPSC staff leading the troops in songs before a few meals. This video was recorded during Troop 68’s stay in June 2017. The video is approximately 20 minutes long. Maybe it will give your troop a couple of ideas for their next campfire program.

The video can be seen at: https://youtu.be/c6IEdWK_t90

Don’t be afraid to subscribe to the Melrose Scouting Productions YouTube channel to receive notifications when videos are uploaded.

I wrote a post last week about the years that I had a video podcast, and that I was missing podcasting a little. A few of you commented that I should start a YouTube channel and post the videos to that instead of podcasting. I think that is a valid point, especially when you look at all the people watching YouTube these days on their mobile devices and televisions at home. I find myself watching more YouTube videos these days than I watch regular television.

The thing is, I do have a Youtube channel, and many of the videos I posted to the podcast have found their way to the channel over the years. Unfortunately, I have not posted to it lately and I have not mentioned it or promoted it very often during the last few years. There are over 100 videos featuring the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 performing songs and skits, promotional Scouting videos, and short films featuring Buttons, the radical Boy Scout (my puppet.)

I changed the name of the channel today to Melrose Scouting Productions, which is the logo found at the beginning of most of the videos. I thought it might be best to take my “nickname” off the channel title to make it fit the channel better. The channel can be found at

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClUOxM42AYjgLwGyoqgpx1w

The channel currently has 688 subscribers. There are over 1,700,00 total video views. Take a look at it when you get the chance and let me know what you think of it. I do plan to start posting new videos to the channel soon so don’t be afraid to hit the subscribe button.

I was an active podcaster for over seven years. I posted my first video podcast under the name of Melrose Scouting Productions on April 4, 2007. The goal was to post two or three videos each month, usually featuring the Boy Scouts of Troop 68.

The podcast became fairly popular, considering the niche theme of Boy Scouting. It had a small following of Scout leaders from around the country. Some videos also introduced Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, to the Internet.

The podcast attracted the attention of a few other scouting related podcasters. We got together under Chris’s leadership and became a channel known as PTC Media. The PTC stood for packs, troops, and crews. Many of these podcasts can still be found online and in the iTunes Store.

In 2011 I retired as the scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 68. It did not take long for my Podcast to feel the result of that decision. My posts to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast became fewer as time went on. By the end of 2014 it looked like my podcasting days were over. In December of that year I posted my 140th video.

I did not add any videos to the podcast during the next three years. Then, in February 2018, I added a new video of the mayor of Melrose and his visit to the Cub Scouts of Pack 68. In August I became a little more ambitious and created a video about my Scouting patch blankets. I guess you could say there was a small podcast revival that year, right?

As we begin the new year of 2019 I am thinking about trying to bring the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast back to life. I think I may have enough material to add one or two videos per month. I would like to know your opinion. Do you think I should bring back the scouting related podcast? Do you think this podcast would be popular again? Should I bring back Buttons, the radical Boy Scout? Let me know by leaving a comment.

It has been quite awhile since I have posted a video to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast so I thought I would try something different this time. In the past I have posted articles about the two Scouting patch blankets I have. I thought it might be fun to record a short film highlighting the blankets. So, here it is!

Click here to Watch  this Podcast.
Subscribe to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast
at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
or through iTunes  (Please take time to rate the show).
Leave a comment below, or at the iTunes store.

canon video cameraA long time ago, 1987 actually, I joined the board of directors for our local community access television station, Mel-TV. I was a member of the board for 20 years, many of those as the chairman. I retired from the board a few years before the City of Melrose decided to shut it down and keep the cable franchise fees in the general fund. Many people, myself included, thought this was a big mistake. After all, how many cities of our size had a community access channel that was actually being used, and used well. Citizens thought the station was a huge asset but the city council did not feel the same way.

During those 20 years I videotaped a lot of Boy Scout courts of honor and troop activities. I would edit them at the studio and they would be scheduled during the week’s programming, usually a few times. It was a fantastic way for the community to keep up with what the Scouting program offered the youth. It was a great promotional and public relations tool.

I still video record most of the troop’s courts of honor and some of the activities, even though I do not have the station available to show them any longer. I guess I just got into the habit and have not quit it yet. I do edit some of the shorter videos to use on the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast, but the bulk of it just sits on the computer or on tapes, unedited.

There are videos from summer camp, of the Watchamagumee egg drop competition, of courts of honor, and more. I would guess these files are using hundreds of gigabytes on my hard drives. I really should do something with them or just delete them, but I find I have a hard time deleting them. Some people hoard material items and fill up their house. I hoard video files and fill up my hard drives.

My goal this winter is too sit down at the computer and get serious about editing these video projects and share them with the Scouting families. I should be able to find some to share on the MSPP podcast. Maybe the local cable company would like some of the courts of honor for their local channel. I just need to sit down and start getting to work.

climbing2014The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 had a busy one day activity during the month of November. It was a two part outing. The first part was a trip to the St. Cloud State University climbing wall where the Scouts had fun testing their skills on seven different climbs, from easy to quite challenging. Even one of the mothers took the opportunity to give it a try. Everyone had a great time and a good workout.

The second part was the overnighter held at the residence of one of the Scouts. The Scouts played games, watched movies, and ate plenty of food. Several of the boys fell asleep after 2:00 am but a few stayed awake the entire night. The Scouts left for home at 7:00 in the morning.

I attended the outing as one of the adult leaders. Of course, I brought along my digital camera and my new iPad Air. While the Scouts were climbing, I gave my camera to one of the other adults to take pictures so I could record video with the iPad. I ended up with nearly 30 minutes of video.

Several hours later, while watching the Scouts play video games, I decided to open the iMovie app on the iPad Air and play around with creating a trailer using the video I took that afternoon. It was my first time using the app on the tablet. It take not take very long to learn how to use it and create a short trailer.

I was happy with how it turned out so I thought it might make a nice addition to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast. I hope you enjoy watching it. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of it.

Video Information: 720 x 404, time 01:05, 17.6 MB, m4v format.

Click here to DOWNLOAD and watch this Podcast.
Subscribe to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast at
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
or through iTunes. (If you use iTunes, don’t forget to rate the podcast.)
Don’t forget to leave a comment below, or at the iTunes store. It is great to read what you think of these videos.

TheLeadersCampfireA week ago I was on Skype chatting with Chris (formally known as Cubmaster Chris) and we began talking about were we currently involved in the world of Scouting. Chris’ youngest son is a Boy Scout, and I have been spending time assisting the local Cub Scout pack get reorganized for the new year. It is almost like our roles have kinda somewhat reversed from the days we hosted a little podcast called The Leaders Campfire.

As we were talking Scouting it was inevitable that our old podcast would come up in the discussion. It has been nearly three years since we recorded the last episode. As we were reminiscing about the “old days”, Chris mentioned an email he had received from a Scout leader somewhere stating that he missed the old PTC Media podcasts, and that there just was not much to choose from anymore.

Our conversation about Scouting continued for a little while longer before we decided to brush the dust off The Leaders Campfire and create one more podcast, based on the things we had just been talking about. Chris did a quick search of his computer and found that he still had the audio files for the beginning and end of the show, and even the commercials. We decided to record the show as if we had never quite doing it, and never reference the fact the it had been nearly three years since the last one. Chris hit the record button and the new podcast began.

We both expected the show to maybe be a half hour long or shorter. After all, we did not really have much to say. To our surprise, the show ended up being nearly 50 minutes long. I guess we had more to say than we thought we did. Chris decided to edit it and post yet that Saturday night.

Chris did not think the show would receive many downloads. After all these years who would even think about listening to the two of us talking about Scouting, he reasoned. I thought we would get at least 50 downloads. After all, we still had over 300 likes on the PTC Media Facebook page. Plus, there were still people subscribed to the podcast on iTunes. It would be interesting to see how this would play out and who would be correct.

By Monday morning we had received over 50 downloads of the show. To tell the truth, both Chris and I were surprised. I sent Chris a note asking him how long he thought it would be before we reached the 100 mark. We reached that mark and downloads still kept happening. I checked the stats as I wrote the podcast and discovered we are now over 200 downloads! That may not seem like much when you compare it to some well known podcasts but for a podcast that was retired 3 years ago? I am still amazed that people want to listen to us, and we do thank you for support of the podcast.

Maybe that Scout leader who sent that email was correct. Maybe there still is a need for more Scouting themed podcasts. Unfortunately, Chris and I may not be the ones to produce a weekly or monthly podcast anymore, but there must be someone out there willing to do one.

PS: As far as I know there are currently only two Scouting related audio podcasts that I found. The first is Cubcast, produced by the Boy Scouts of America. The other is the Scoutmastercg Podcast by Clarke Green. Check them out when you have a chance.

MPSC2014P1The opening campfire of a week of Boy Scout summer camp. It is time to meet the staff that will play an important role during the success of your troop’s time at camp. Is the staff enthusiastic? Are they energetic? Are they ready to provide you with the totally awesome program you have come to expect from camp? Are they a little bit crazy? In the case of the 2014 Many Point Scout Camp Buckskin staff, the answer is yes to all the above, and their opening campfire was a great demonstration of how enthusiastic and crazy they could be.

This video was recorded during the July 6, 2014, opening campfire. This will be the first of a few videos filmed during the campfire that will be posted to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast. As you can see when you watch this, this year’s staff was pumped to start working with a new week of Boy Scout campers. This video features the staff introductions and the singing of the Many Point Rouser. As all “repeat after me” songs, it gets pretty loud and rowdy by the end.

Video Information: 960 x 540, time 05:22, 145.4 MB. m4v format.

Click here to DOWNLOAD and watch this Podcast.
Subscribe to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
or through iTunes  (and rate the show).
Don’t forget to leave a comment below, or at the iTunes store. It is great to read what you think of these videos.