A Scoutmaster's Blog

So you want to have a great campfire program, huh? Well, you have to have a great opening song, something to get the Boy Scouts fired up, something with a lot of energy. You need a song like the Many Point Scout Camp Rouser Song!

The MPSC Rouser Song is this week’s Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (MSPP) video. The staff begins each week’s Sunday night opening campfire with this song which sets the tone for the rest of the evening. It is fast. It is loud. It is energetic. It is rowdy. It is everything a good opening campfire song should be.

This video was taped at MPSC in July of 2006. You can tell that the staff is hyper and ready to have some fun. In four weeks the Scouts from Troop 68 will be attending MPSC again. It will be time once again to join the camp staff in being as loud as we can possibly be!

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I have heard it said many times over the years that anyone who is a scoutmaster (or cubmaster) must be a little crazy. Well, I do not know if crazy is the right word to use but I will admit that a Scout leader must have a lot of patience, must be able to still find the kid within yourself, and must have a good sense of humor. The sense of humor is a necessity. You must be able to laugh and have fun with the boys, and sometimes the summer camp staff.

During the weekly closing campfire at Many Point Scout Camp the staff asks the scoutmasters to come down to the stage. The staff thanks the scoutmasters, and the other adult leaders they represent, for taking the time to spend with the boys at camp. They then present the scoutmasters with a gift. Of course, this happens after they get the scout leaders to perform a song in front of all the Boy Scouts in attendance. You can bet the song will be silly and will be enjoyed by all the boys. Participating in this song is a great test of a scoutmaster’s sense of humor.

This video podcast demonstrates the humor of several scoutmasters during the closing campfire at Many Point Scout Camp in July, 2006. My Scouts thought I would erase this footage since I am one of the scout leaders in the video. However, I have often stated that if you can not laugh at yourself, then you should not be laughing at others. So, sit back, relax, and watch the MPSC staff and the week’s scout leaders “Go Bananas”.

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of heavy rain falling on the canvas tent. “Boy, it is raining pretty hard,” I thought as I rolled over on my cot and fell back to sleep.

I was with the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 for a week at Many Point Scout Camp. We were staying in the Tyler Campsite in Buckskin Camp. Tyler is located at the north end of the road that runs through Buckskin. It is the campsite that is furthest away from the dining hall and beach. Due to it’s location, it is also the most quiet campsite in Buckskin, which is one of the reasons we like it. The campsite is located on a hillside so it has wooden platforms for the tents.

When we woke up that morning we noticed everything around camp was soaked. A couple of the Scouts complained that they had some wet gear, but nothing too serious. We also noticed that there was water in the deep ditch along the campsite. Due to the sandy soil we had very seldom seen standing water in the ditch. We thought it must have rained a couple of inches during the night.

Little did we realize how wrong we were.

As we walked through Buckskin on our way to the dining hall for breakfast we began to realize how much it had actually rained overnight. The lower-lying campsites had been flooded. Dozens of campers has drenched gear and soaked sleeping bags.

The worst damage had been done to Ten Chiefs Camp, located south of Buckskin. The road through Ten Chiefs crossed streams on each end of the camp. Both of these creeks had overflowed their banks during the night and had washed out the road on both ends of camp. Ten Chiefs had, temporarily, become an island. Food had to be brought to the campers by boat on that day.

The camp had received seven inches of rain during the storm. The water level of the lake had risen two inches.

The Boy Scouts and adults of Troop 68 that were staying in Tyler were very grateful that we had slept on a sandy and hilly campsite that night.

Spending a week at summer camp has been an annual event for the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 since 1981. The summer of 2006 was no exception. Seven Scouts and two adult leaders from Troop 68 attended Many Point Scout Camp during the week of July 16-22. Attending camp were Jonah, Zach, Chris, Dakota, Alex, Jeff, and Chris. Steve and Eymard were the adult advisers.

Upon arriving at Many Point on Sunday the Scouts went to work setting up the campsite that would be their home for the next six nights. Then it was off to the beach for swim checks and other parts of the camp for demonstrations. The Many Point Buckskin staff really kicked the week off on a high note with an enthusiastic opening campfire program in the evening.

A typical day of camp was divided into three parts. The mornings were used to work on new skills, earn merit badges and other advancements. Afternoons were used for troop activities. All program areas were opened in the evenings for Scouts to freely roam from one area to another, or they could sit back in camp and relax.

The Scouts from Melrose kept themselves very busy during their stay at camp. On Monday, three boys took part in Project Cope, a team building program. The other Scouts spent the afternoon making and eating an apple cobbler at Scoutcraft, shooting 22 rifles at the range, and playing water polo at the beach.

On Tuesday the boys tried their skill at sailing, worked on a campsite project, and then headed to the beach for the Iron-man triathlon which consisted of canoeing, swimming, and running.

Wednesday afternoon was spent at the beach. The activities started with an hour of rafting and canoeing, following by several DELTA games, and finishing with an hour of free swim.

The troop left camp Thursday afternoon for a field trip to Itasca State Park to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Not only did the Scouts get to do some site seeing and walk across the headwaters of the mighty river, but they also got to meet Smokey the Bear.

Three Scouts from Melrose had an afternoon of wild wet fun when they attended the Huck Finn raft on Friday. The rest of the troop had a blast at the climbing tower and bouldering wall, and the archery range.

This year was the 60th anniversary of the opening of Many Point Scout Camp. In honor of this the Many Point staff held a medallion hunt. Campers were given one clue per day if they participated in a special activity in the evening. The Melrose Scouts set their sights on finding the medallion. They beat the other 200 campers that week by finding the silver lantern on Wednesday night.

The week of fun came to an end Friday night during the evening’s closing campfire program. Almost every troop in camp performed a song or skit. The Melrose Scouts did the “How to spot a Pickpocket” skit to the delight of the other campers and staff. Troop 68 was also recognized for finding the medallion and for earning the Super Troop Award.

The Scouts learned a few new skills while they were at camp. They also had a lot of fun and came home with a lot of great memories. Plans have already been made to attend Many Point Scout Camp Next year.

In the last blog I wrote about Cwazy Rabbit Patrol and how they earned a pizza that was paid for by their scoutmaster. This turned out to be the first of three instances in which the spirit of the Cwazy Wabbit made itself known to the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68.

The troop went to a week long summer camp adventure at Many Point Scout Camp in 2005. Four boys attended along with myself and my assistant scoutmaster. Also attending camp that week was Paul, a friend of mine, with his troop of boys from Minneapolis. Paul has been a Scouting friend of mine for over twenty years.

Paul and I planned a few activities for our troops to do together during the week. One activity was a medallion hunt. Paul brought the coin, gave it to me, and put me in charge of the activity. I hid the coin in a public area of the camp and wrote ten rhyming clues which would be given out and meal times. The first few clues were pretty vague, of course, but then they started getting more helpful.

After they received the ninth clue one of my Scouts was sure he knew were the medallion was hidden. He ran to that place in camp and looked for it but was not having any luck finding it. Then a rabbit caught his eye. As boys will be, he momentarily forgot about the medallion and began following the rabbit. He followed the rabbit until he was behind the trading post. Then the Scout glanced up and noticed the medallion taped to the back of the 2×4 on which hung the trading post sign.

The Cwazy Wabbit seemed to have helped the boys from Troop 68 win their second competition.

In 2006, we attended Many Point Scout Camp for summer camp as it celebrated it’s 60th anniversary. This year, the camp staff had hidden a medallion as a special activity for the anniversary. Three clues would be given to the Scout campers during the week. The troop that found the medallion (actually it was a silver colored lantern) would receive a special prize at the Friday evening closing campfire program.

Wednesday night, after receiving the third clue, the Scouts from Melrose Troop 68 thought they knew the location of the medallion. The rushed off the that area of camp in which they thought it had been hidden. They searched the area. Just as they were about to give up one of the boys found the lantern. When he yelled for the other boys to join him he saw a rabbit hop out from under the nearby building. The spirit of the Cwazy Wabbit had made itself know once again.

Unfortunately for me, the scoutmaster, I had made a deal with the boys that if they found the medallion we would stop on the way home on Saturday for pizza, and that I would pick up the bill. I think the spirit of the Cwazy Wabbit enjoys emptying the wallet of the deal-making scoutmaster.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was the summer of 1989, or 1990. The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 were about to attend a week at Crow Wing Scout Reservation. This year would be the first time we would allow the boys to bring lawn chairs to camp.

It was NOT one of our better ideas! The older boys decided that it was now very comfortable in camp. They did not get their work done. They did not want to participate in programs anymore. They just wanted to kick back, relax, and be lazy.

Of course, this did not sit well with the scoutmaster (me) or the assistant scoutmaster. By midweek all of the boy’s chairs had been stored away in the adult’s tent. Oh, there were words said and yelling done, but the boys needed to do their dishes and clean up their campsite, not sit around all day.

A day or two later we gave the chairs back to the boys, thinking that they had learned their lesson. We were wrong and had to take the chairs away again, this time for the rest of the week.

The low point of the week for me came during a moment when I was walking away from the older boys campsite. One of the boys threw a full, unopened half pint of milk at me that just missed my head. I stopped in my tracks and counted to ten. I think it was the one and only time that I have ever counted to ten. I resumed walking away from the campsite. I knew that it would not be a good idea to confront the boys at that moment. If I did it would only make matters worse.

By the end of the week we were all looking forward to going home. My new assistant scoutmaster did not know if he would ever go to another week of summer camp again. All in all, it just was not a good week of camp.

Due to the problems that week a new policy was started in the troop. A Scout would be able to bring a chair to camp but it could NOT have both a back rest and legs. That policy stated in effect for over ten years.

A few years ago we began allowing the boys to bring lawn chairs to camp once again. They are aware of the previous “lawn chair incident”. So far, things have gone smoothly and there have not been any problems.

What happened to the assistant scoutmaster who’s first week at camp was almost his last week at camp? This year he will be attending his 17th week of summer with the troop. What about those older boys who’s attitude made for a rough week of camp? I am happy to report that things worked out well over the following years and that we are all good friends, even to this day.

It is surprising what a slow count to ten, and a few years’ worth of patience and work can do. Isn’t Scouting wonderful?

In two weeks I will be at Many Point Scout Camp, once again spending my summer vacation with the Boy Scouts. Do I mind? Not usually. It can a fun and sometimes interesting experience.

This will be the 25th year I will spend my summer vacation with the Scouts. I have done it for so long that it just would not feel like summer without at least one week with the Scouts.

Sometimes I would spend the week with the boys at summer camp. In the 1980’s, we would go to Crow Wing Scout Reservation, Tomahawk Scout Camp, or Many Point Scout Camp. Now that Crow Wing has been closed and sold off the troop has made a tradition of attending Many Point.

Then there are the years when a high adventure trip gets in the way of attending summer camp. I have been to the Charles Sommers Canoe Base in Minnesota, the High Knoll Trail of Virginia, and the 2001 National Jamboree. Oh, I better not forget the five times I participated in a trek at Philmont Scout Ranch.

Of course, if I were married and had a family I do not think I would, or could, have attended all these outings. I would think the wife might have some input into how I would spend my summer vacations.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68, of which I am the scoutmaster, have been entertaining Scouts and families with their campfire songs and skits for nearly 25 years. The boys, and myself, have had a lot of fun doing them. And I hope they have learned a few things along the way.

One of the skills I hope they learn is what I like to call adlibbing. Anyone who has been involved with a campfire program needs to know how to adlib. After all, something is bound to go wrong during the program and a person needs to know how to cover for the forgotten line or the mistake that was made.

Here is an example of Scouts not knowing how to adlib….

Troop 68 attended summer camp at Crow Wing Scout Camp during the 80’s and early 90’s. On Wednesday nights the camp would hold area campfires involving 4-5 troops. Each patrol was supposed to do a song or skit. One or two skits and/or songs would be chosen from these area campfires to be in the Friday night closing campfire program.

One year, two boys from another troop got up to do the “Ugliest Man in the World” skit. One boy would be the caller and the other boy would put a towel over his head and be the ugliest man in the world. I had seen this skit done so often that I had actually started to dislike it. But, it was an easy and popular skit for Scouts to perform, just like the “Lawnmower” skit.

Several boys from my troop turned to look at me and ask me if they could volunteer to be called up to look at the ugliest man in the world. I had my suspicions as to what they had in mind to do but I nodded my head and said to go for it. It happened that one of my Scouts, Tim, was called up to be the “last” person to look at the ugliest man in the world.

Now, if you know how the skit works, you know that the last person called up to look under the towel will not join the earlier volunteers who have “fainted” after looking at the ugly man. No, this time the ugly man falls to the ground and the other Scout of the skit will declare the last volunteer to be the new ugliest man in the world.

Needless to say, things did not go as planned for the two boys doing the skit. When Tim got up to the ugly man he looked under the towel and immediately dropped to the ground before the ugly man had a chance to fall to the ground himself. The two boys just stood there. They did not know what to do. Finally, when the boy who was not the ugly one said “That was not supposed to happen,” the audience roared with laughter. An old skit suddenly had a new and unplanned ending.

In one way, I felt sorry for the two boys who had done the skit. Tim’s little prank had messed up their rehearsed skit. But you know, the one boy only needed to call up one more volunteer to make things appear to be alright. An opportunity to adlib had been missed.

I have always told the Scouts of Troop 68 to keep going and work around any mistakes made during songs and skits. (I have even made several of my own over the years.) If you do not draw attention to the mistake most people will not catch on that a mistake has been made. Sometimes the adlib will even make the skit or song funnier. I know that has been the case several times during Troop 68 performances.

So next time you are doing a skit or song at a campfire and goof up, keep going, work around it, and have fun. After all, that is part of what Scouting is about… just having fun.