A Scoutmaster's Blog

It has been a month since the last podcast was posted, but there is a reason for that. I wanted to make a film with Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, that showed him participating with Boy Scouts on an outing. I felt it was time for Buttons to leave the safety of the house, and play a game with the Scouts.

The Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (MSPP) which features videos of Boy Scouts performing skits and singing songs, and videos of Buttons the radical Boy Scout, has been found on the iTunes music store since the beginning. Once nice feature about the iTunes store is that viewers can rate the podcasts and leave comments. I enjoy reading the comments. They keep me fired up about producing new videos. The comments and videos also help to increase the podcast’s ranking in iTunes which then gives the podcast more visibility. I like it when I can help Scouting receive more visibility. Here are a few of the comments posted on iTunes.

Scouterbill writes, “Buttons is definitely the most ‘Radical Boy Scout’. My Den loves Buttons. Keep up the good work.”

saxman104 wrote, “My Scouts enjoy watching Buttons. He is also very helpful in teaching young Scouts about Scouting. Steve does a wonderful job in his acting and writing of material. Highly recommend watching them.”

ake… writes, “How can you have anymore fun than watching videos with Scouts? Better then TV.”

and the comment made by GCostigan made me giggle, and then got me thinking about merchandising when he wrote, “Something that I can have my Scouts watch and enjoy. Now they want Buttons patrol patches.”

I would like to thank you all who have taken the time to leave a comment at iTunes, Youtube, and PTC Media. I also want to thank those of you who dropped me an email to comment about the videos. I do read them all and appreciate them. Keep them coming!

Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, talks about the Outdoor Code in this post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. Not only does he recite it but he also covers the four “C’s” of the code: clean in the outdoors, careful with fire, considerate in the outdoors, and conservation-minded. It is a code that all Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts should follow whenever you are in the great outdoors, like when you are camping or hiking or just having fun.

Buttons would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment to this post, or at the PTC Media forums, which is holding a drawing through the month of February. It would also be great if you left a comment and rate the podcast at the iTunes music store which helps Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast get a higher rating and thus, make it more visible to people who search for Scouting podcasts. You can also leave a comment at Digg.com. Thanks for watching.

Download Podcast
Watch Video on the troop’s website.
Subscribe through iTunes.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 in Melrose have been doing an annual show called Laughs For Lunch for over ten years. The show follows a campfire program format and features songs and skits you may see while you enjoy a program at summer camp or a camporee. The Laughs for Lunch Shows usually last for ninety minutes or so. Both the Boy Scouts and the audience have a good time.

This entry to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast features five Scouts from the 1998 show performing an old favorite, “Singing In The Rain”. I am sure you are very familiar with the song, but are you familiar with the actions that go with it during a Boy Scout campfire program? It is great fun to have the audience stand up and perform this song with the leaders. Try it yourself. It could be quite interesting to do this song at your next pack meeting or troop weekend camping trip.

Just for your information, it has been ten years since this skit was filmed with a vhs camera. These boys are now close to finishing college. One has even served his country over in Iraq. Gosh, where does the time go?

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or Watch the Video on the troop’s website.
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What is the main reason that boys join Scouting? Is it to earn advancement? Probably not. Is it to learn how to tie knots? I doubt it. Do they join to learn to skills? Maybe, but I do not think that is the real reason. Do they join Scouting to have fun? Bingo! Give the man a cigar.

Boy Scouts like to have a good time, even more then adults do. When they are with their friends they can sometimes get downright silly. That is what happened on fall camping trip in 2003. While sitting around the Saturday night campfire a few members from the Hawks Patrol thought it would be funny to sign the “Song That Never Ends”. And it didn’t. For nearly twenty minutes they kept signing the song, with other Scouts joining in as the minutes added up.

A Scout had a “great” idea. Wouldn’t this be a great joke/song to sign during the troop’s annual Laughs for Lunch Show? The audience would not know what to think. I know what they audience would think, I thought to myself. They will think the Scouts have gone mad.

When the time came to plan the show’s agenda a few months later I thought that maybe they would forget about this song that never ends. They did not. In fact, they decided to open the show with the song. A few Scouts wanted to sign it for fifteen minutes, like they did around the campfire. I vetoed that idea, however, we came up with a plan to sign it for a few minutes and then remove the Scouts one by one from the stage, to give the impression that the song was going to end. By force.

Today’s addition to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is the video of that song performance. I thought it went pretty well, and that the Scouts did a great job with it. It is a great example of how Scouts can be silly, have a good time, and share that good time with other people. What silly thing has your troop done lately?

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or Watch the Video on the troop’s website.
Subscribe through iTunes.

The Mad Scientist Skit was a favorite of the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 for several years. It became a recurring skit in the troop’s yearly Laughs For Lunch Show. The Scouts had a lot of fun with it and tried to change it a little bit each year.

This is a story about a mad scientist who has plans to take over the world! Of course, he has created a monster (like the Frankenstein monster) who will assist in his plans of world conquest. As he is finishing his plans, people begin knocking on his door. The scientist does not want to be disturbed so he uses his monster to take care of the unwanted visitors. Of course, by the end of the skit we discover that things do not go according to the mad scientist’s plans.

The troop changes the visitors who come knocking at the door from year to year. Of course, there is the Girl Scout selling cookies, or the Boy Scout selling popcorn. We usually do three visitors during the skit. In this video, the skit does not end when you think it does. The Scouts added one little feature that carried over into the next act during the show.

We appreciate reading your comments, so please take a minute to write one.

Download Podcast
or Watch the Video on the troop’s website.
Subscribe through iTunes.

Buttons, that radical Boy Scout, has taken on a life of his own during the past year. He sure knows his Boy Scout stuff, although he has a thing or two to learn about Cub Scouting yet. He has shown us how to stay in shape, and how to know if we are a real Boy Scout. He has even got a bit opinionated at times.

Take this video, for example. He takes a tour of the scoutmaster’s basement recreation room, pointing out things of interest along the way. He talks about the book collection, the patch collection, and the mug collection. But then, he starts to make fun of the scoutmaster, even going so far as to call him a “white and nerdy” dude! Now I ask you, “Is this fair? Is this alright with those of you who watch these videos?” After all, what is wrong with playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons now and then? Who can deny that Star Wars is a great movie?

Watch it, meditate about it, and then leave a message as to what you think of it.

Download Podcast
Watch Video on the troop’s website.
Subscribe through iTunes.

The folks at PTC Media (http://ptcmedia.net), the home of four Scouting-related podcasts, are conducting a contest that you can enter to win prizes. And it costs you nothing other then a few minutes of your time.

To enter the drawing you need to find the five sites of the PTC Media shows in the iTunes music store, and then leave a comment about the show(s). The shows are Akela’s Adventure, An Hour A Week, The Leader’s Campfire, and Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (your favorite, I know.) The PTC Media also has its own site (click HERE) from which all four podcasts can be found. You will need an iTunes account to participate.

You may also enter the contest by leaving a comment on one of the feeds located at Digg.com.

PTC Media will take the names of people who leave a comment during the next few weeks, throw them into a hat, and draw out a name for the prizes. You can enter the contest up to five times by leaving a comment at each of the five sites on iTunes. There will be four drawings, each corresponding to the “feedback” show of The Leader’s Campfire.

I have donated two dvd-r’s to each of the contest prize packages. The first contains nearly twenty Scouting commercials and promotional videos about Scouting. The second is a dvd-r of several of the early Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, videos. The other podcasters will also be donating prizes to the winner’s package.

Do not wait too long to comment about the shows and register for the drawing. Time is running out! Do it today!