Archive for the ‘Scouting’ Category


Everyone seems to have their favorite music playlists these days. They could be on your mp3 player but chances are you have them on your mobile phone. I do. Too many of them in fact. But you never know what kind of music you will be in the mood to listen to so you need to have several playlists from which to choose.

One playlist on my phone is labeled Scouting Songs. It only has nine songs in it but all the songs are Scouting related. It is a fun list to listen to when I am working on troop paperwork or getting ready for the next meeting. It can help me get in the mood for Scouting. What songs does it include, you ask? Well, let’s take a look.

As you can tell from the picture with this post this playlist includes the theme song from Scout Camp: The Movie. “Born To Be A Scout”, by Alex Boye, is a fun upbeat song that may start your toes tapping. The song can be found through iTunes or whatever store you happen to use to download your music.

“The Scout Zone” is a song I ripped from the Scout Zone video which promoted the Scouting program nearly 20 years ago. It is another upbeat song telling about the adventures you could find in the Scouting program. The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKFnGDRaMQU .

“The Scout Law” is a fun song about The Scout Law and the meaning of the twelve points of the Scout Law. It is from the album suck, by the Croutons. You can listen to it and download it at https://thecroutons.bandcamp.com/album/suck .

“Boy Scout Rap” (a Tik Tok parade) is a fun video I discovered on YouTube nearly ten years ago. Created by Wild Youth Productions and sung by Thirty100, it pokes a bit of fun at Boy Scouts. I found it to be funny and enjoyed the song. The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rps1zdppqBA . It can be downloaded through iTunes.

“We Do It” is another song from a Scouting promotional video from a couple decades ago. Once again, it features fun things you could do in the Scouting program. The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tok9gePil3E .

“Proud To Be A Scout” is a song from one of the videos from the BSA’s Inspirational Shows DVD. Check out the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKxXx-6rOVg

The “Scout Song” was song by the Buckskin Staff of Many Point Scout Camp during a campfire program in 2007 (I think). I videotaped the program and ripped this song from the video. It is a nice easy listening song about Scouting. The video from this campfire can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxSGiY_XuvY .

Of course, a Scouting playlist would not be complete if it did not contain the theme song from perhaps the greatest Scouting themed movie of all time. That is correct, I am talking about Follow Me Boys. I tried to find a link to download this song but I am having some problems finding one.

The newest song on my playlist I heard for the first time at an Eagle Scout court of honor a few months ago. It was used during the slideshow. After the ceremony I asked what the song was told it was “Growing Wings”, by David Shipp. It is a song written about Eagle Scouts and the author has given permission for Scouts to use it for their court of honor. The video and song information can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xnEbRKvouA .

That wraps up my playlist. Do you have a Scouting playlist? What songs have you included? What songs do you think I should add to my list? Leave a comment and tell my about it.

Reddit

I was looking for a new social media site to join in early February. After all, Google Plus will soon be going away and the Yahoo groups are pretty much a cemetery these days. Facebook is okay but somewhat limited. I wanted a new site with Scouting groups to learn new things and share some of my stuff. That is when I came across Reddit.

I noticed Reddit had several Scouting themed groups. The was a BoyScouts group, a BSA group, and others groups including cubscouts, orderofthearrow, philmont, and scouting. A couple of them had quite a few members but others did not seem to be visited very often. Oh well, I will sign up for all of them, I thought.

I began to make a profile and quickly noticed my username was already in use. I found that to be interesting. After a few more clicks and a reset of the password I discovered I already had an account. It was created six years ago! I guess I made a profile and then forgot about it.

During the last month and a half I have been using it and testing the waters. I joined the subcategories listed above and found a couple more such as woodbadge and Scouts. I also joined a few more for good measure like disc golf, Minnesota, and a couple Star Wars groups.

Do you spend much time on Reddit? Which Scouting themed subcategories do you follow? What are some of your other favorite categories?

My brother and I were Boy Scouts for three and a half years in the mid 1970’s. My youngest brother was a Cub Scout. My mother was a den leader, and my father was a troop committee member. Scouting was strong in my family, but not quite as strong as it was in one of my cousin’s family.

Jim Ehlert, my uncle, had five sons. All five sons were involved in the Scouting program. Jim became a scoutmaster when his oldest son was a Boy Scout. Jim held that position for a number of years as all the boys grew threw the program. In fact, all five of the young men earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Once in awhile, back in the 1970’s, our families would meet at grandma’s cabin on Kings Lake. We would sometimes exchange skits and songs that were popular in our troops. We would also swap Scouting stories and experiences as we sat around the campfire.

I was a little in awe of Jim during my teen years, as a lot of Scouts look up to the adults who are Scout Leaders. I also admired him for holding the position of scoutmaster fo so many years. When his sons finally graduated out of the troop he retired as scoutmaster and took on a different Scouting position.

Occasionally, after I became the scoutmaster of Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68, Jim and I would have the opportunity to chat about Scouting. He would ask me how things were going in my troop, or ask me to tell him about the latest high adventure trip that we had attended. They were fun discussions.

On Tuesday, September 19, Jim passed away after a battle with kidney disease. He was in his 80’s. I guess I will not be sharing anymore Scouting stories with him. Until that is, until I join him in that great summer camp in the sky.

Scoutmasters are proud of their Scouts.  They welcome them as they come into the troop as a 10 or 11 year old, sometimes frightened, Webelos graduate from a Cub Scout Scout Pack and than watch them grow as they develop Scouting skills and become leaders within the troop. Sometimes they even acheive Scouting’s highest honor, the rank of Eagle Scout. But there are many more ways a scoutmaster becomes proud of his Scouts. Many of them come to pass after the young man leaves the troop.

On example is when a scoutmaster receives word that a former troop member does well with his chosen occupation. I have two alumni, that I know of, that now work for the Boy Scouts of America. Keith works in Texas at Boy’s Life magazine, after spending several years at Northern Star Council. When Keith moved on his position opened up and another alumni of Troop 68 applied for the job, and got it. Sergio is now a Communications Specialist at Northern Star Council.

Sergio recently posted a new video to Youtube that he created about Scouting. This video was shown at the Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America 2015 Annual Meeting. The name of the video is Vitamin N. You will understand after watching this three minute video.

Great job Sergio!

2014 2015The Christmas holiday is over and the new year is just a day away. The year of 2014 is coming to an end and like a lot of people I am looking back at its highlights. There are a few that stand out in my Scouting world.

I finally started camping again. When I stepped down as the scoutmaster three years ago I cut back on the number of troop outings I attended, giving the new leadership the chance to step into the role without me watching every move over their shoulder. I still attended some of the outings, but only part time, and only during the day. This past year was the first year I finally spent a night during an outing. I am easing back into it slowly. I spent one night at Camp Watchamagumee in May and one night at Many Point Scout Camp in July. Granted, that is only two nights during the whole year, but that is all I was needed. The parents have been stepping up pretty well.

Late this summer I signed on for a second year as the assistant roundtable commissioner. I had fun doing it last year so I thought I would give it one more season. I probably will not sign up for a third year because I am starting to get too many irons in the fire.

The biggest thing to happen to my little Scouting world was that I became quite involved with the local Cub Scout Pack. The previous leadership graduated out of the pack so I took up the challenge to form a new pack committee. We now have a good active committee but unfortunately did not find a person to take over as the cubmaster. After acting as the cubmaster for a few pack meetings I decided to formally take on the role until next May, thus becoming my biggest Scouting event of the year. While it has been fun working with the Cub Scouts my heart is still strongly resting with the Boy Scout troop.

I also gained one more volunteer position outside of the Scouting program. I am now a member of the local historical museum’s board of directors. I started this position in December. I think it is a four year or a six year term. I am not really sure though. I should probably ask about that.

How was your 2014? Any big events? Any new Scouting positions?

Scouter MagazineI was working on my second patch blanket today and came up to a spot for which I needed a patch. Along the edge of the blanket I have been placing patches that do not really fit with an activity I have attended. Instead, I have been using special patches for anniversaries, special occasions, and generic type things. I needed one of these type of patches for a spot around the perimeter of the blanket.

I began to look through my notebooks and bins to find one that would be a good one for the spot. I found one that would fit well, but it also reminded me of a magazine I once subscribed to that does not exist anymore. It was a patch given to charter subscriber of Scouter Magazine, an independent publication about Scouting, written by Scouters. I really enjoyed reading this magazine. It was full of great ideas and articles written by Scout Leaders from around the country. It was not meant to replace Scouting Magazine, but was a publication for adults in Scouting to share ideas in the late 1990’s. Remember, the internet was just starting to get popular and there was not a lot about Scouting online yet.

Scouter Magazine only lasted for about five years, unfortunately. I still have my issues, which are probably collector items by now. Then again, maybe not. Most of the people who received the magazine have probably left Scouting and thrown away their issues. It would be great if someday this publication could be started again, along with an electronic version. Bring it into the 21st century. I bet they would have a lot easier time getting articles from contributors these days. But then, when you think about it, maybe blogging has taking that role. HalfEagle.com has done a good job about bringing some of the best blogs about Scouting into one easy to use format.

As I was looking online for information about Scouter Magazine this evening, the only thing I found was an open letter written in February 2001 about the closing of Scouter Magazine.

Oh well, the magazine may be a part of history but my patch will finally see the light of day as it goes from the notebook to the blanket. At least people who see the blanket will know that for a short while I was a charter subscriber to Scouter Magazine.

Near the end of this month’s Scenic District roundtable meeting I asked the Scouters if many of them had any of the digital copies of the old Boy Scout themed novels written in the early 1900’s. I had noticed that many of the Scouters owned smart phones and tablets and that they used these during meetings, so I thought it was a valid question. I do not think a hand went up in reply. That surprised me a little.

I have collected over 50 of these old books in the open source epub digital book format. They are novels featuring the adventures of Tom Slade, Roy Blakeley, and Pee Wee Harris. You may recognize those names from the Boy’s Life magazine cartoon pages. There are stories of the Banner Boy Scouts and the members of the Eagle Patrol. All of these old novels have fallen into the public domain. I think I have more eBooks than I do actual hardbound books in my collection.

I understand the epub eBook file works well with many current tablets, including the iPad, but does not work with the Amazon Kindle tablets. I guess Amazon would rather sell you a copy in their own format. However, I hear that there are free programs available to reformat epub files to something the Kindle can use. It is just an extra step needed to work on the Kindle.

I asked the Scouters if they would like a digital copy of these books. Most of them said yes. This morning I got busy and started burning cd’s of the 50 Scouting novels for the next roundtable. I will bring 12 cd’s to the meeting. It will be a nice bonus for some of the Scouters who take the time to come to the roundtable. If more than one Scouter from a troop attends I am sure they would be willing to share the cd of books.

How many of these digital novels do you own?

patchblanket2layoutI recently completed my first Scouting patch blanket. I have received several positive comments about it already. One Scouter even wrote to say he may start his own after seeing the pictures of mine. I say, go for it. It is a great way to display the patches collected through the years. Much better than a notebook anyway. Unfortunately, my first blanket only displays patches collected to 1996. I have a lot more patches so it is time to think about creating a second blanket.

Today I began laying out the patches for that second blanket. The 4 foot by 4 foot piece of paneling I used to staple the patches to only went up to 2004, so I had to start looking around the house for last nine years worth of patches. You see, I did not have one nice place that I would put them after each outing. This could be interesting.

I began looking in the closet cabinet in my basement family room. I keep a lot of Scouting stuff in there. I did find quite a few in the various small totes but I knew there was more of them. I checked my briefcase, the bedroom, the office, and the kitchen. (I did actually find a couple in the kitchen.) I soon had enough patches to make a couple more rows.

I found a few Many Point Scout Camp patches but they did not have years shown on the design. Time to do a online search on the Many Point virtual patch collection. I discovered the years of all the patches on the site except for one. For some reason the site only shows patches to 2010. I hope that one patch is for 2012 because that is were I plan to place it.

No one will be playing table tennis at my house for awhile. As you can see in the picture, the second blanket is laying on half the table. The patches are laid out on the other half. Last time it took me nearly a year to create a patch blanket. The goal this time is to finish the new blanket by Christmas. This year. Or at least by the end of 2013.

I do have a question for those of you who have created your own patch blankets. Have you put your Scouting knots on your blanket?