A Scoutmaster's Blog

Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, returns to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast with a couple of new friends. Randall is a cousin of Buttons who is a bit more, shall we say, intellectual. Randall is more of a quiet bookworm and a bit of a geek, while Buttons is a bit more outgoing and seems to be hyped up on sugar most of the time. And then there is Bones, the dog who has always carries a bone with himself to gnaw on.

This is the first video to feature these three characters together, and probably will not be the last. During this film Buttons interrupts Randall’s reading time to tell a few jokes, and begins to get on Randall’s nerves just a bit. Bones pops in a couple of times to explain just how bad he thinks the jokes really are.

This is the first time I have created a video with three puppets. It was quite a challenge to create voices and characterizations for the two new puppets. All three puppets are operated and voiced by me. This is one of the few videos featuring Buttons that has actually requied a script for filming and editing.

I hope you enjoy this video. Please leave a comment here at the link below, or at the PTC Media forums, or at iTunes if you do enjoy it. Or drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org

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Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

I know. I know. It has been awhile since Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, has made an appearance at the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. Well, he is back, and he has something to tell you.

One thing that we podcasters like is lots of statistics about our podcasts. We like to know how many visitors visit the site. We want to know how many times the podcast episode is watched. We like to know from what countries people are watching. It is even fun to know what computer operating system is being used. And of course there are plenty of other bits of information that are useful.

I do not receive all this info from the troop’s website stats. Oh, I receive very basic information, but I am looking for more. So, with the help from Chris at the An Hour A Week Podcast, I am creating a new address and feed location for the podcast. For a couple of weeks the old and new feed locations will be online, but then it will all change to the new feed. That means you will have to change the feed in your RSS reader and video player.

The feed to the iTunes Music Store will also be changed. With Chris’ help, I hope to make this as painless as possible. It we do it correctly, you may not even have to change anything in iTunes. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The original podcast feed was http://melrosetroop68.org/podcast/podcast.xml .
The new feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions .
The Feedburner feed should allow me to receive a lot more information about the podcast downloads, which will be quite helpful.

Since this change is coming to the podcast I thought it would be great for Buttons to make an announcement in his own special way. He gets a little confused, but then, he is not a computer literate type of person. He even has trouble using a chat room. So, sit back, hit the link, and enjoy the video. And don’t forget to change your feed so you continue to receive videos, including an all new video to be posted soon featuring Buttons and a couple of his friends.

Watch this video post of Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, and then leave a comment if you have enjoyed it. You can leave a note below by clicking on the COMMENTS link below, or at the PTC media forums.

If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

It has been a long time (April 1980) since I asked the scoutmaster if he could could some help with the Boy Scout troop. Little did I know that I would be an adult leader with that troop for the next 27 years. It has been quite a ride, with both highs and lows.

I have been taking photographs of the Boy Scouts during the outings, meetings, and courts of honor since I began attending troop functions. In the late 1980’s, I took a number of photographs from the years of 1980-1985, had slides made from them, wrote a script, and recorded a few Scouts as they read it. This became a slideshow Troop 68: The Early Years that was shown at a court of honor. It was the first Scout show I produced, and soon lead me into videotape and editing.

When a public access television station began operating in Melrose I saw the opportunity to produce Scouting shows for a wider audience. This slideshow was soon videotaped and slightly edited for television viewing. Unfortunately, it looked liked a slideshow that was videotaped off a movie screen. It got the point across, but the quality was not very good.

Fast forward several years. I now have a computer at home that can do digital editing. It was time to give this early show a face lift. The original photographs were scanned into the computer and more photographs were added to the show. Unfortunately, I only had the original soundtrack. The boys had all grown up by this time and had moved away from town. I really did not want to redo the soundtrack anyway. It had a quaint charm all its own.

Now, thanks to the magic of the internet, you can take a trip back in time to Scouting during the first half of the decade we call the 1980’s. Yes, the uniforms have changed. Yes, the shorts are not as short these days. But you will see that boys back then had just as much fun as do the Boy Scout of today’s program. So sit back, relax, and enjoy watching this entry to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, Troop 68: The Early Years.

Watch this video post of Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, and then leave a comment if your troop has done anything similar to this. You can leave a note below by clicking on the COMMENTS link, or at the PTC media forums.

If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

We are now half way through the month of June. Summer is nearly one third gone. Families are going on vacations. Cities are having their summer celebrations. And Independence Day will soon be here! What a better way to honor the summer’s biggest holiday then to post a video of the Boy Scout Troop honoring our veterans who have served our country.

The 2002 Laughs For Lunch Show was held four months after the tragedy of 9/11. Patriotism was high in this country as we pulled together to pay our respects to those who died, and to those who became heroes. The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 wanted to end this show by doing something special to honor those local men and women who have served, and are serving, in our armed forces.

A few phone calls were made to the VFW Post (the troop’s sponsor) and the American Legion. We were able to borrow ten flags from the VFW for the song. Two alumni of Troop 68 had recently joined the Minnesota National Guard and agreed to participate. Several members of VFW Post 7050 also agreed to participate. We were set.

Unfortunately, we did not have time to practice with everyone before the show, so I was “directing” everyone from behind the stage. The timing may not have been quite perfect, but it did have the effect that we were looking for. It turned out to be a nice way for the troop to close the show and pay our respects to those who serve this country.

Watch this video post of Melrose Scouting Productions, and then leave a comment if your troop has done anything similar to this. Let’s share our ideas on how our troops and packs show their appreciation.
You can leave a note below, or at the PTC media forums.

If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.

A little over two years ago I posted the first article to A Scoutmaster’s Blog. Since that day in May of 2006, I have posted 277 articles about my thoughts and experiences in Boy Scouting, along with a sprinkling of other topics.

A little over a year ago, on April 4, 2006, I posted the first video to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, a podcast about Boy Scouting by Boy Scouts and leaders. There have been 39 videos posted do far, averaging nearly three per month.

During the month of May, 2008, this blog received 2545 visits (according to Google Analytics), with 2155 unique visitors. The podcast receives even more visitors. I give you these facts not to brag or anything (after all, there are other sites that make these stats seem small by comparison), but to prepare you for the following statistics.

I have read a couple studies about people who read blogs. It appears that only one or two percent of readers lave a comment or send an email to the blogger. I would have to believe that the stats for podcasts would probably even be worse since mosts people will listen to or watch a podcast away from their computer, or away from the website.

To tell you the truth, as a blogger and podcaster I find these statistics to be disheartening. I am like the majority of bloggers and podcasters in that I do not get paid for doing this. I do it because I enjoy it. But I will admit, after reviewing the stats for my blog last month and finding that less then 3/10 of one percent of people who visit my sites take the time to leave a comment, I am becoming a bit discouraged.

Is my writing that bad? Are the articles that boring? Are the videos that painful to watch? Yes, I admit that I am happy to receive the hits and visits that I do, but I would like to know if you, the readers and viewers, are enjoying what you see? Are you finding them to be helpful in any way?

By posting a comment you are able to leave feedback about how you feel I am doing. It is the only payment I ask of you. Heck, I would love to receive feedback or emails from even two percent of the sites’ visitors. It would be a lot more then I currently receive.

So, can you find it in your heart to help out a lowly blogger/podcaster? When you read an article that you enjoy or find helpful take a moment to leave a comment. When you watch a video that leaves you with a smile on your face drop me a line and let me know about it. I would really appreciate it, and it encourages me to keep doing it. Numbers are nice, but feedback is great.

I am not too proud to quote the boy in the movie when he said, “Please sir. I want some more.”

Every business knows that you need to advertise well to bring people through your front door, or to your website in this digital world. Companies hire ad agencies to produce commercials for television and the internet, and to design graphic ads for newspapers and magazines.

Unfortunately, this is one area I personally feel that is lacking in the Boy Scouts of America. The BSA does a great job of promoting itself to its own leaders and members (like preaching to the choir, huh?), but I do not see much promotion geared toward the general public. Available funds could be part of the problem, after all, it costs money to place ads on television and in magazines and newspapers.

During the last twenty years or so, I have collected a variety of Scouting commercials and promotion videos. With this post I would like to share three commercials with you. These commercials were created years ago by the Boy Scouts of America. I copied them from a video tape that the council had, and then put them on my computer some time ago.

This post includes three thirty second commercials. The first features Steve Young, the NFL quarterback, who was a Cub Scout. The second features Jim Lovell, and Eagle Scout who became an astronaut. The third features Scott Mitchell, another quarterback who also happens to be an Eagle Scout.

I hope the BSA does not mind that I am posting this commercials as part of the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. I am just trying to get these out to as many people as possible. Hopefully, a few new boys and parents will be drawn to the Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs by watching these commercials and other Scouting videos online.

Don’t forget to leave a comment about this podcast.
You can leave a note here, or at the PTC media forums.
If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Since I became the scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 68, I have had every Eagle Scout court of honor videotaped for our local cable television access station. This weekend I taped the seventeenth ceremony. It was a great court of honor. I am probably as proud as each of the parents when the Eagle Award is pinned onto the Scout’s uniform.

As the date approached for the tenth Eagle court of honor in 2002, I was getting a head start on producing the television program by preparing the opening titles. I was using several photographs I had taken of the Scout over the years and putting together a 60-90 second slideshow over which I planned to put the opening titles.

It was working out pretty well when I received a call from the Scout’s mother. She was concerned that one of the speakers would be arriving a few minutes late for the court of honor and what could be done to fill some time until he arrived. I looked at my computer screen and explained what I was working on, and then suggested that we could add more photographs and make it part of the ceremony. She thought that was an excellent idea. After she hung up she began looking for photographs from his Cub Scout years to add to the slideshow.

During the next week we were scanning photographs and trying to get this done in time for the court of honor. The date of the ceremony finally arrived, as did the speaker, right on time. Oh well, the slideshow was now part of the program so we showed it, and everyone loved it.

I have had to do a slideshow for each Eagle Scout since then. To tell the truth, I do not mind. The Scout, his parents and family, and the members of the audience have always enjoyed watching the shows. Everyone likes seeing how this young man has grown doing his Scouting years.

This weekend I attended the court of honor of my seventeenth Eagle Scout. (My Eagle Scout??) Mike helped with this slideshow, choosing the music and the pictures from my photo collection. His parents were not involved in the preparation of the slideshow. He wanted it to be a surprise to them. Everyone at the ceremony enjoyed the show, including his parents, and got a few chuckles from some of the photographs we included.

Mike has given me permission to share this video with you. I hope this will be an example of something you could add to your troop’s Eagle courts of honor, if you are not already doing it.

This video will not have the PTC media logo or the MSPP logo at the beginning of the video. I just did not feel comfortable adding them to an Eagle Scout video.

If you enjoy this video I would appreciate hearing from you. Do you do anything like this in your own troop? Drop me a line and let me know by emailing me at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org, or at the PTC Media forums, or by going to my iTunes feed. Thank you.

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The year was 1997. The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 were nearing the end of their second Laughs For Lunch Show. They were about to do something they had never done before. The piano was brought onto the stage, along with the electric guitar. The scoutmaster explained it was time for something a little more serious, something different from the rest of the show. One Scout began playing the guitar. Then the piano joined in. During the song the Scouts walked out onto the stage in groups of three or four. Before the song was finished every Boy Scout of Troop 68 was on the stage. Parents were crying in the audience. Emotions were running high.

Somehow, the troop had pulled it off. And with only one practice.

I will never forget that performance. It was the last year Tom and Nathan would be with the troop. Both would be graduating from high school in the spring and moving away to college. I wanted to do something special with them during the show. Tom was a excellent pianist, one of the best in the state of Minnesota. Nathan was great on the electric guitar. I wanted to do something in the Laughs For Lunch Show that would bring these talents to the stage. A regular campfire song would not be good enough. We needed something better.

The rock band Ugly Kid Joe had recently released their version of the Harry Chapin classic song Cats In The Cradle. I love the song and thought this could be the right one to bring Tom and Nathan’s talents to the stage with the rest of the troop. The two young men agreed, and so did the troop. We threw around a few ideas about how to perform it and came up with something we thought would work well.

Unfortunately, we only had time to practice it once, the afternoon before we held the show.

The show was coming to a close. Some of the skits and songs had gone very well, some could have used a little more practice. I was getting nervous as the time for Cats In The Cradle drew near. Usually performing during a campfire program does not bother me much, but then, most campfire songs and skits are designed to be a bit silly. This song needed to be done seriously. This was not a time for mistakes. And worse of all, I would be the lead singer.

Let me state at this time that I will never be chosen to be on American Idol.

The grand piano was on the stage. The electric guitar was plugged in. The music began. The youngest Scouts began walking onto stage. As the song progressed the older Scouts joined the younger ones on the floor in front of the piano. Before I knew it, it was over. The whole troop was smiling on stage as the crowd was clapping and cheering. The audience loved it. Parents, especially mothers, were crying. The song had hit a nerve and they realized their boys were growing up and would soon move away.

Until then, I had not experienced the power that could be reached while on stage. Never before had I or the Scouts received such an emotional response from an audience. Usually, we did the skit or song and hoped we did it well enough to receive some laughter or clapping as the response. The Cats In The Cradle performance showed us we could accomplished even more.

I have wanted to post this video online for a couple years but did not have a digital version of it. This weekend I finally found some time to copy it to my computer. Now I can share it with all of you. I do not think the video has quite the impact that the live version of it did, but it still turned out well. It does show another side of the Scouts that usually is not seen at a campfire program. I hope you enjoy it. (I apologize ahead of time for the quality of the vhs video, and for my average vocal talent.)

Please leave a comment. I appreciate hearing from you. You can leave one here. If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

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