Archive for the ‘Program’ Category


The Patrol Leader Council of Troop 68 recently held their yearly planning session to create the agenda for the 2022-2023 program year. They did a great job, and I believe they had fun doing it. They did take it quite seriously.

As a start to the session, the five Scouts were given a sheet to rate the troop on 22 subjects. They rated each one on a scale of one to five, One being the most in need of work and Five being the high score. The Scouts were asked to be truthful as they rated each subject. The scores were then added up to create an overall score. We also took the individual scores and added them up together to create an average score.

The Scouts gave the troop good scores. Fourteen subjects had an average score of 5. Seven subjects had a score of 4. One subject had a score of 3. Five of the subjects received an unanimous 5 points. Of a possible 110 points, the Scouts gave their troop an average score of 101 points. Not bad when you think about it.

So, what are the questions? I am so glad you asked. Here are the 22 subjects. Give the “test” to your youth leaders and see would they rate your troop and program. If you dare!

a) Are parents involved with the troop?. 5 4 3 2 1

b) Do we have good youth leadership? 5 4 3 2 1

c) Scoutmaster and adult leadership? 5 4 3 2 1

d) Good example being set by youth and adult leaders. 5 4 3 2 1

e) Fundraising, Available funds. 5 4 3 2 1

f) Is good sportsmanship demonstrated? 5 4 3 2 1

g) Cooperation between troop members. 5 4 3 2 1

h) Number of members (scouts). 5 4 3 2 1

i) Good communication within troop. 5 4 3 2 1

j) Is there Positive encouragement within the troop? 5 4 3 2 1

k) Confidence shown by leaders and Scouts. 5 4 3 2 1

l) Is there Good Effort shown by the membership?. 5 4 3 2 1

m) Is the troop Seriousness when it needs to be? 5 4 3 2 1

n) Uniform used and worn properly. 5 4 3 2 1

o) Setting goals, attaining of goals. 5 4 3 2 1

p) Good attendance at meetings and outings. 5 4 3 2 1

q) Has there been good advancement? 5 4 3 2 1

r) Does the troop have Good Activities. 5 4 3 2 1

s) Do the Scouts have a Good attitude. 5 4 3 2 1

t) Is the troop Well organized? 5 4 3 2 1

u) Is the program FUN!!! 5 4 3 2 1

v) Is bullying avoided within the troop? 5 4 3 2 1

I recently saw this picture online, smiled, and thought to myself that this describes my life for over 30 years. That is how long I was the scoutmaster of Troop 68 in Central Minnesota. I worked with patrol leader councils during those years to plan troop programs, and thus at least one weekend each much of my life.

I have to say, most of those weekends were very enjoyable. It is amazing what a council of 13 year olds can come up with.

I am now a committee member of that troop and the current patrol leader council still gets to plan an occasional weekend on my schedule.

Melrose Troop 68 had chosen the theme of hunting and gun safety for the month of October. This theme almost begged to have special guests brought in. After a short discussion it was thought to have someone from the Melrose police department come to talk to the Scouts during one meeting and someone from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources come in for another one.

The police chief himself came to the October 14th meeting. Police Chief Craig Maus spoke with the Scouts about gun safety and some of the different types of guns. He certainly kept the boys attention as he displayed a few items he brought to the meeting. It is always nice the have Chief Maus stop by for a visit. He was a member of Troop 68 for a short time as a youth.

At the following week’s meeting two officers from the Minnesota DNR stooped by to talk about the hunting rules in Minnesota. Officer Caleb Silgjord and his associate not only talked about hunting laws but they also brought along various animal furs for the Scouts to check out. Once again, the Scouts had a good time learning about hunting and gun safety.

The troop would like to thank the officers for coming to their meeting and sharing their knowledge.

Patrol Leader Council planning.

August is now part of the past, which means that Melrose Scout Troop 68 has held its yearly planning session to plan the 2019-2020 program year and that the program has been approved by the committee (with a couple small changes.) Let’s take a quick look at it.

The theme for September 2019 will be sports, maybe touching on the Sports merit badge. The monthly activity will be a trip to Fort Snelling near the Twin Cities, and to the stadium to watch a Minnesota Twins baseball game. A couple members of the troop may help out with School Night To Join Scouting on Thursday, the 19th. A court of honor will be held on Monday, the 30th.

October’s theme will be hunting and shotgun shooting. This is Minnesota, after all. Our troop has several hunting families. The activity will be the district fall camporee held at Stearns Scout Camp located south of St. Cloud. The fall meal fundraiser will also be held this month.

The November theme will be camping, and will particially cover the camping merit badge. The activity will be the LPMRB which may have to be renamed since it may include a trip to Airmax in place of rollerskating and bowling.

Ice fishing and winter sports will be the theme for December. December will be a short month due to the Christmas season, but it will still be a program packed month. The troop plans to have include downhill skiing, a Christmas party, a court of honor, and the popular troop auction.

Winter survival will be the theme for January. An ice fishing trip is being planned. This will be a light program schedule this month.

February’s theme will be comedy and skits. Scout Sunday is planned for February 2nd. A winter outing at Camp Stearns will be the monthly activity.

Even though it may be a bit chilly during March the Scouts planned Biking as the theme. A court of honor will be held at the end of the month along with a summer camp planning meeting. The troop may go to Camp Parker for the activity and may get the chance to work in some biking and time at a waterpark. The spring meal fundraiser is planned for March.

The theme for April will be Agriculture, which is not surprising since Melrose is located in the middle of prime farming land in Central Minnesota. The activity will be the Central Minnesota Council’s Ripley Rendezvous, which will be held at the Camp Ripley National Guard Base.

In May the Scouts will be working on their lashing and pioneering skills. The troop will be going to Camp Watchamagumee, a spring tradition for the last 30 years. There may be a chance to have some fun at a go-cart track sometime this month.

June will be a busy month. The theme is Fun In The Sun, with a camping trip planned for the weekend of the 12-14. A court of honor is planned for the 16th. The troop will once again hand out flags provided by the VFW and American Legion clubs before the Riverfest parade. Several Scouts will be attending a trek at Philmont Scout Ranch during the last half of the month.

July will be a light month with a week at Many Point Scout Camp being the only activity. Things will pick up again in August with the theme of Minnesota History. A camping trip is planned for the weekend of August 14-16. The troop may have an activity during the annual Nite To Unite program in the park.

So, what do you think about it? Does it sound like a fun year for the boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68? Let us know by leaving a comment.

I subscribe to the Bryan On Scouting blog, found at https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org . I recently received an email about a post stating the online program Scoutbook would be free to use after January 1, 2019. I remember looking at the online program a few years ago but never went very far with it. I decided to take another look.

I like that it would be a good tool for keeping track of advancement but I question if the program as a whole would be a good fit for our troop of fourteen Scouts. So here is my question. How many of you who read this blog use Scoutbook? What do you think of the program? Has it worked well for your troop or pack? What do you like the best? Is it easy to use?

I would really appreciate your comments before making a decision to use it for our troop.

The very first time Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 played disc golf was when they attended a week at Crow Wing Scout Reservation in the summer of 1981. The camp had a nine hole course set up near the beach area. There were not any baskets at this course 37 years ago. The Boy Scouts had to hit poles with their discs in order to complete a hole.

Things have changed in the sport since that first camp. Disc golf courses now have baskets and many have tee pads. Many Boy Scout camps have courses, as do many towns and cities. The sport has been growing and tournaments are held in several central Minnesota cities.

The Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 have enjoyed the sport since those early years in the 1980’s. In fact, for the last few years, the troop has held a disc golf marathon as one of their monthly activities. They will usually play at two or three courses in central Minnesota, taking up most of a Saturday morning and afternoon.

This year’s marathon took the Scouts to three courses in the area, including two that have been recently installed. This year’s marathon, which was held on April 21st, began at the course in Albany, at which the twelve Scouts played a round of 18 holes. After lunch they moved on to the new Upsala course which was installed last summer. The final nine holes were played at the Long Prairie course, which was created a few years ago.

The Scouts kept their scores at all three courses. After the last disc was thrown, all the scores were added together to create a marathon total. The three Scouts with the best marathon score each received a three pack of disc golf discs. This year’s best scores were (3rd place) Jacob, (2nd) Luke, and (1st) Carter. Even though not every Scout received a prize, they did all agree they had fun and a great time.

When the patrol leader council of Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 planned their year long program in August 2017 they decided to bring back an event that had not been on the program since 2008. They decided to add the Laughs For Lunch Show back into their schedule!

The Laughs For Lunch Show was based on skits and songs seen at summer camps across the country. The Scouts would plan a two hour show which featured their favorites, along with several they developed themselves. They would practice during their January troop meetings, which were two hours instead of the usual 90 minutes. The last practice was held during the afternoon before the evening show. I was always amazed that the troop could pull this off with only four practices totally about eight hours.

The troop member ship began declining during the 200o’s so Troop 68 held their last Laughs For Lunch Show in January 2008. A few former members agreed to come back for the last show to fill in the two hour program.

The troop has begun to see an increase in membership recently so they thought it was a good time to bring back the show. There would need to be a few changes to the show since we still had a small troop that was somewhat inexperienced.

The troop would still hold the show at the end of January and use that month’s three meetings to practice. The show would be cut down to an hour long since many of the skits would be new to the boys and would have to be learned from scratch. The time of the show would move from the evening to the afternoon, meaning the final practice would be in the morning.

The planning meeting was held on Monday, January 1st. Six of the fourteen Scouts attended.We began by watching some video footage from previous shows. We discussed other songs and skits that were new to the group. By the end of the meeting the Scouts had planned an agenda in which they felt comfortable, and one that I thought would make a fun show.

The Scouts worked well during the January troop meetings as they practiced the songs and skits. It did not take long before they began to tweek little things in the skits to change them up slightly and make them more fun.

As we met on the morning of January 27th for our last practice I was feeling pretty good about the show. The Scouts had really stepped up to the plate and learned their lines and actions. This final practice was held at the high school auditorium where the show would be held in the afternoon. It was the only time they would have to practice the show from start to finish on the stage.

The troop had planned on one skit being performed by alumni members. Unfortunately, neither one of the young men was able to make it to the practices during the troop meetings, and they had not shown up for the final morning practice. The Scouts decided to add one more skit to the show to replace the one to be done by the alumni. The boys had the chance to run through the new skit twice but felt confident they could do it for the show. When one of the two young men showed up later in the morning I decided to do the original planned skit with him, but the Scouts also decided to keep the added skit in the program. This surprised me but also made me feel a little proud that they were willing to do it.

The 2018 Laughs For Lunch Show began at 1:00 pm. There was about 60 people in the audience, so it was a nice crowd. Other than for two small glitches the Melrose Boy Scouts did an outstanding job! The performed the skits and songs very well. The audience had a great time which meant the boys had an awesome time.Several people commented after the show that they hoped the Boy Scouts would do another show next year.

You know what? The Scouts are talking about it!

t68logoI like working with the Scouts. I think it is one of the best organizations for a boy or young man to be a member of. That is why I was a scoutmaster for thirty years, and than stayed on as a committee member. That is why I am now serving as a cubmaster.

I can usually juggle the troop duties and the pack duties without much of a problem. The pack meetings and activities are only three or four days a month. The troop only needs a few days a month of my time. It is pretty easy scheduling.

March was more challanging. The Cub Scout schedule was easy. The den meetings were held on the first Monday of the month. The pack meeting was on the third Monday. The pack committee meeting was on the 23rd. There was only three evenings of Cub Scout meetings.

My Boy Scout schedule, on the other hand, grew almost out of control. The troop decided to work on the Scouting Heritage merit badge in March. Guess who happens to be the merit badge councilor? I told the troop I would be able to attend the meeting the the second Monday, and could maybe get away from the den meetings on the first Monday, but the third troop meeting of the month I could not attend. I think this is a great merit badge for Boy Scouts to earn so I really wanted to help out as much as I was able.

The troop also had a court of honor on the fourth Monday of March. As the troop’s advancement coordinator I planned to attend. The troop’s spring fundraiser was a breakfast held on Palm Sunday. Since a fire at the local church affected our plans we held a special parents meeting to find a new location. I love to play play disc golf, so I agreed to be a chaperone for the month’s disc golf outing held on Saturday, the 19th. I offered to conduct a junior leader training course for the newly elected junior troop leaders later that same day. And then, of course, there was the regular troop committee meeting. Oh, and don’t forget the district roundtable. As you can see, my Boy Scout schedule became very busy in March.

It has been quite awhile since I have had ten days of Scouting meetings and activities in a single month. When I was the scoutmaster it happened quite often. In fact, it almost seemed normal. But this is not normal for my schedule anymore.

Oh well, it may have been a busy month, but it was worth it. And it was fun. And hopefully, several of the Boy Scouts will earn their Scouting Heritage merit badge.