A Scoutmaster's Blog

The Bear Hunt. Through the wheat fields, over trees, through the lakes, into the cave. It is challenging. It is rowdy. And it is loud if you have a room full of Cub or Boy Scouts and their leaders. This skit has been with the Scouting program for decades, maybe even longer, and is probably known through many countries. I guess you could say it is a classic.

This version of The Bear Hunt was performed during the opening campfire program at the Buckskin Camp of Many Point Scout Camp in July of 2007. It was raining outside so the staff decided to hold the program in the dining hall. That did not dampen the spirits of the Buckskin staff though. They were excited, loud, and rowdy, and that spirit was caught by the Scout campers.

You are invited to leave a comment using the link below, at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Here it is, the third episode of the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast. There is a lot happening in this show. It begins with Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons discussing a new (fictional) video game based on the adventure of Scouting. Then Steve reads an email he received six years ago about how things have changed being a kid, and how we as parents have changed raising our children. The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 try to teach us the Dirty Sock Song, and expect you to sing along. Buttons talks about how you know when you are a real Boy Scout. And Steve wraps up the show with a Scout leader’s minute about what really make a troop a good troop. All of this in a show that is less than 18 minutes long!

Steve and Buttons would like to thank everyone who have sent emails about how they enjoyed the shows. Don’t forget to leave a comment at the iTunes store or at PTC Media.
You can contact Buttons at buttonst68@yahoo.com. You may contact Scoutmaster Steve at stevejb68@yahoo.com. We appreciate your emails and letters.

The podcast is found on iTunes at
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=307979159
and has joined the family of Scouting themed podcast at PTC Media at
http://www.ptcmedia.net/

Show notes:
The Dirty Socks Song – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/2008/12/mspp-57-dirty-sock-song.html
You Know You Are A Boy Scout When… – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/2007/09/mmspp-21-you-know-you-are-boy-scout.html

RSS Feed – http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingAudioPodcast
Download episode – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/podcastaudio/MSAPE3.mp3

It is time for the second episode of the new Scouting-themed podcast, previously known as the Melrose Scouting Audio Podcast, but starting today will be known as Around The Scouting Campfire. Unfortunately, this episode was created before the new name so it still refers to itself as the Melrose Scouting Audio Podcast. Are you as confused as I am?

During this show Steve and Buttons talk about how famous Buttons really is (in his own mind), a father’s rules about dating his daughter (like you have to be an Eagle Scout), and talk about Life With Dad. Buttons talks about the Scout Motto, “Be Prepared”. And Steve introduces the rap version of the campfire favorite Little Bunny Foo Foo.

Steve and Buttons would like to thank everyone who have sent an email about how they enjoyed the first show. You may also leave a comment at the iTunes store and at PTC Media.
Buttons now has an email address. You can contact him at buttonst68@yahoo.com. You may contact Steve at stevejb68@yahoo.com. We appreciate your emails and letters.

The podcast may now be found on iTunes at
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=307979159
and has joined the family of Scouting themed podcast at PTC Media at
http://www.ptcmedia.net/

Show notes:
Dating my daughter – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/2007/04/fathers-daughters-and-dating-scouts.html
Little Bunny Foo Foo – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/2008/12/mspp-58-rapping-bunny-foo-foo.html
Buttons and the Scout Motto – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/2007/04/mspp-5-and-6.html

RSS Feed – http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingAudioPodcast
Download episode – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/podcastaudio/MSAPE2.mp3

It is time to get back into the podcast thing and post another video to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. This video is once again taken from the 2007 Laughs For Lunch Show done by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68.

The members of Troop 68 love taking well known skits and songs and changing them up just a bit to bring something new to them. That is the case with this song and skit which the Scouts tied together in a unique manner. It begins with the younger boys singing the old favorite, I Wish I Was A Boy Scout. But at the end of the song one person is still onstage as the next skit, Crazy Newscasters, begins. And there is a reason for that, but I am not going to tell you here. You have to watch the video to find out.

You are invited to leave a comment here using the link below, at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Or drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

It has been a long time in the making, but the first Melrose Scouting Audio Podcast (MSAP) is done and ready to be heard. This new podcast will be hosted by me, Scoutmaster Steve, and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout. Current plan are to have four parts to the podcast: the opening monologue, “Around the Campfire”, Buttons’ Corner, and the scout leader minute.

The opening monologue will be a quick discussion between Buttons and myself about what will be coming up in the show. Nothing too fancy here because Buttons can be a handful when trying to carry one a conversation.

The second portion, “Around the Campfire”, will feature a campfire-style song from one of the Melrose Scouting Productions video podcasts. If I run out of videos to take songs from I guess I may have to start singing them myself. Or maybe I could even feature other troops performing their favorite songs if they send me a mp3 file. This first episode contains the Hole In The Ground song.

“Buttons Corner” is the part of the podcast where Buttons gets to do his thing. Maybe he will talk about something Scouting, or have a couple jokes to tell, or audio portions of his videos will be played. In this episode, Buttons talks about the Outdoor Code and what it means to him.

As the podcast comes to an end it will be time for the scout leader minute. This is my time to share a story, or viewpoint, or a couple of stray thoughts about Scouting. In this episode I read John Wayne’s explanation of the Scout Law.

As more episodes are created I may add more parts to the podcast. One thing I would like to add is “Buttons’ Shout Out!” during which Buttons would recognize those packs and troops that write to him through this site. This could even turn into a feedback forum in which Buttons tries to answer some questions sent to him by the listeners.

I am also looking for a title for this podcast. At the moment I am simply calling it the Melrose Scouting Audio Podcast. I have also been tossing around the idea of calling it the “Around The Scouting Campfire” podcast. Do you like either of those titles, or do yoou have a suggestion of your own? Drop me an email with your thoughts at stevejb68@yahoo.com .

Anyway (as Buttons would say), it is time for you to download and listen to this first audio podcast. The normal feed will contain an mp3 file, but through this blog you can download either the mp3 or a AAC file, at least for now. The feed can be found at
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingAudioPodcast

Thanks for listening. I hope to hear (read) from you soon.
Download the:
mp3 file – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/podcastaudio/MSAPE1.mp3
AAC file – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/podcastaudio/MSAPE1.m4a

Wow. I did not realize this until today, but there are twenty videos that feature Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, so far. That is almost enough for a television season. Does that mean it is time to consider a season #2?

When I first starting creating videos with Buttons I did it as an experiment. Could I make him interesting enough, and life-like enough, to where people would watch him? Over the last two years I think I have my answer. In 2008, the videos featuring Buttons and friends received over 36,000 hits through the podcast and website. (That does NOT include the hits on Youtube.) He seems to have a small fan base out there in internet land. And my mother gets a real kick out of watching his videos also.

Here is a current list of the video of Buttons, the radical Boy Scout:
Buttons in “The Scout Oath”
Buttons in “The Scout Oath (almost)
Buttons in “The Scout Law”
Buttons and the Scout Motto
Buttons in “The Cub Scout Promise” (giggles)
Buttons in Physically Strong (This one happens to be my favorite.)
Buttons interviews Eymard, the assistant scoutmaster.
Buttons in “The Cub Scout Promise” (Law of the Pack)
Buttons in “You Know You Are A Boy Scout When… Part 1”
Buttons’ Cub Scout Visit and Big Announcement
Buttons in “You Know You Are A Boy Scout When… Part 2”
Buttons in “Rec Room Tour”
Buttons and the Outdoor Code
Buttons in “Playing Broomball”
Buttons’ Announcement About MSPP
The Buttons and Randall Show, Part 1
The Buttons and Randall Show, Part 2
Buttons reads the Farewell Message of Baden-Powell
Buttons Learns About Girl Scouting
The Buttons and Randall Show, Part 3

All these videos can be found through the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. Many of them can also be found on the Troop 68 website and on Youtube. A few can be found on the Yahoo video site.

Buttons will be branching out a little in the future. In addition to a new video that is in production, Buttons and Scoutmaster Steve (yeah, me) will be experimenting with creating an audio podcast about Scouting. Stay tuned and keep watching this blog for further announcements.

By the way, which ones have been your favorite videos featuring that radical Boy Scout?

The month of January really kicked off the new year to a busy start for our troop’s (and this blog’s) website. There was a total of 26,097 visits to the troop’s website, with a total of 134,705 page views. This includes 10,682 hits to this blog’s homepage. All told, there was over 147.8 GB of data transferred. I think that is a record for the site.

Of course, most of that bandwidth is used by the video podcast. The top videos of the month of January 2009 were:
The Leaders of Scouting (Mike H) – 407 hits
Little Bunny Foo Foo – 455 hits
The 2001 National Jamboree Video – 480 hits
The Buttons and Randall Show #3 – 577 hits

I have to thank David H., a former member of Troop 68, for providing the space and bandwidth for the website. If he wouldn’t provide the troop with the free domain, server, and bandwidth I would not be placing all these videos online for you to enjoy. Thanks David.

And thanks to all of you for reading this blog, watching the videos, and checking out our troop’s website.

This episode of the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast gives you two campfire favorites for the price of one. (Well, the price is free so I guess that does not really matter.) One song and one skit. From two different troop Laughs For Lunch Shows. Yep, we are spanning the decades with this episode.

The first skit we call The Sleepwalker. It involves some Boy Scouts sitting around the campfire late at night, talking about the events of the day, when a sleepwalker walks up to them and takes stuff from them. They do not want to awaken the sleeper though because, “It is dangerous to wake up a sleepwalker. She’ll bring it back in the morning.” Oh yeah, that IS a girl who happens to be sleepwalking.

The second part is a Scouting favorite known as the Baby Bumblebee song. The Scouts had the audience participate in this song during the show. Unfortunately, we do not have any footage of the audience singing along. The boys do a great job, and the last line always gets a smile from me when I watch it.

You are invited to leave a comment here using the link below, at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Or drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.