A Scoutmaster's Blog

The Scouts of Melrose Area Troop 68 have been attending Many Point Scout Camp for their week long summer camp adventure for over 35 years. The troop usually stays in the Buckskin Camp although they have tried Ten Chiefs Camp a couple times. Buckskin Camp has a dining hall. The Scouts do some of the own cooking in Ten Chiefs with one cooked meal per day brought to their site.

The troops attending Buckskin Camp gather on the parade ground outside the dining hall before each meal. They are released one troop at a time to enter the dining hall so there are not hundreds of Scouts trying to enter the building at one time. Various methods are used to decide which order the troops are sent to the hall, with trivia being a popular way to do it.

At breakfast time, the staff will lead the all the Scouts in a rousing song, which is usually a “repeat after me” song. Many of the songs will also involve some sort of hand gestures. It is a fun way to get the Scouts ready for another fun day at camp.

I video recorded a few of these songs this summer and edited them to one video which I then posted to the Melrose Scouting Productions channel on Youtube. Watch the video and let us know how you feel the staff did during these songs.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose area Troop 68 enjoy attending the campfire programs at the beginning of the week and at the end of the week while at summer camp. In fact, they have taking many of these skits and added them to their own troop activities. One of the earliest ones they learned, and continue to use to this day, is the I Want To Marry The Princess skit they saw performed at Crow Wing Scout Camp in the early 1980s.

I recently discovered a video of a couple of our Boy Scouts performing this skit during a court of honor held in December 1989. Considering this was recorded on VHS tape I was pleasantly surprised at how good it still looks. The Scouts did an excellent job performing this skit. Even an error does not slow them down, adding even more humor to the skit.

This is a fairly easy skit to learn but does take a few particles to perform it well. Does your troop ever perform this skit at a campfire program or court of honor? How well do they do it?

This video can be watched on the Melrose Scouting Productions channel on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/mnzP1Q7nYzg

The motorcycle gang skit has been a favorite of Troop 68 for decades which is probably why it was performed during the troop’s Laughs For Lunch Show on many occasions. Here are the Scouts performing it in 2019.

Most Boy Scouts realize very quickly when they start camping with a troop, that if they want a campfire in the evening they better prepare the firewood during the day. If the Scout does not find and cut the wood needed early on his campfire will be a very small and short lived one. The darkness comes sooner and becomes thicker.  (Dum, dum, dum)

Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, is not one who shuns his duties on a troop outing. He loves to sit around an evening campfire as much as the next guy does. He knows that when it is his turn to prepare the campfire he needs to take the time to gather the fuel, and then cut it into pieces so that it is ready to be used. He knows how to use the tools in a safe area, and to use them without any other Scouts in harm’s way.

Holy cow! The Boy Scouts of America have announced a new high adventure base to be opened in the near feature, and only a few years after the latest one, The Summit, opened. Boy, they are really trying to get new youth into the program and retain the current membership for as long as they are able. According to the Bryan On Scouting blog:

Fifty years, to the day, after an Eagle Scout was the first human to set foot on the moon, the Boy Scouts of America will create a permanent high-adventure base there.  Tranquility High Adventure Base — the fifth jewel in BSA’s high-adventure crown — will open July 20, 2019.

The BSA is partnering with NASA, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX to make this sci-fi dream a reality. Thanks to their support, it’ll cost just $24,995 to spend a week at Tranquility. That cost does not include transportation.

This article was posted on April 1st. Yes, it is an Aprils Fool joke, but just think about it if it. What if it would have been true!

Being a Boy Scout leader can be serious work. And it can be a lot of fun. Sometimes we can look at ourselves and have a spot of fun at our own expense. That is why I like some of the “special” awards I have seen some councils and troops develop over the years.

A few years ago our council developed a special award for Scout Leaders, The Nap On Safely Award. After all, naps are serious business! If you need to take one during an afternoon while at camp you want to be sure you are doing it properly and safely. This is so important we took time during one of our roundtables to have a training session for this critical award. Here were some of the subjects covered to earning it:

Remember the S.L.E.E.P. acronym.
Safety
Lifestyle
Environment
Enjoyment
Practice

Safety: location, equipment, preventative measures .
Locations: shelters, cots, mats, tables prefer not, chairs, benches.
Environment: hydration, shade, air conditioning or wind, become one with nature.
Enjoyment: relax, timing, find your happy place.
Practice: frequently, consistency, trial and error, repeat, more than 45 minutes is sleeping and not napping.

Once a Scout Leader completed the training he or she received the patch to hang on the right pocket of their uniform. Does your council have a similar award?

It is fun looking around the internet and finding comical views about Scouting. Here are a couple that may make you think you should cut back on your Scouting time. You have been in Scouting too long if…

You don’t mind losing power to your house for three days.

You gave your wife a mummy sleeping bag rated for -15 deg F for Christmas, and it was the nicest gift you have given her.

You bought 10,000 shares of Coleman stock on an inside tip that they are about to release a microwave accessory for their camp stove line of products.

You can not eat eggs anymore unless they are cooked in a zip-lock bag.

You were nearly arrested by the airport security because you would not give up your official BSA pocket knife until the security guy said “thank you.”

You decide to lash together that new deck for your backyard.

Do you now of any others that should be added to this list?

I admit it. Once in awhile I get bored. And when I do strange things sometime happen. Like the other week for example.

I was listening to the Carly Rae Jepsen song, Call Me Maybe, when other words started popping into my head. For some reason I saw a Boy Scout at summer camp walking up to his merit badge councilor, hand him his blue card and ask, “But here’s my blue card, so sign it maybe?”

Hmmm. Could this be the start of a campfire song? I soon had pencil and paper out and was writing down words for a new version of the song. A couple lyrics gave me a spot of trouble, but I think I have it. Here is what I came up with:

Scoutmaster gave me a list,
Merit badges with a twist
My hand turned into a fist,
Nervousness in my way

Summer camp is coming soon,
Packed my clothes, shoes, food, and a broom
What is this feeling of doom?
Nervousness in my way

Your stare was holdin’,
My head, eyes are rolling
Hot night, wind was blowin’
Where do I think I’m going, baby?

Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!
It’s hard to earn one
When you are lazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!

Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!
And all the other boys,
Are really lazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!

You took your time with the crew,
I did not know what I knew
You gave all lots to do,
But still, you’re my councilor
I beg, and borrow and steal
My need for this badge is real
I didn’t know I would feel,
Like it’s some Indian Lore

Your stare was holdin’,
Beads of sweat were showin’
Hot night, wind was blowin’
Should I cry like a baby?

Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!
It’s hard to earn one
When you are lazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!

Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!
And all the other boys,
Are really lazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!

This merit badge I need for Life
I need it so bad
I need it so bad
I need it so, so bad
This merit badge I need for Life
I need it so bad
And you should know that
I need it so, so bad (bad, bad)

It’s hard to earn one
When you are lazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!
Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!

And all the other boys,
Are really lazy,
But here’s my Blue Card,
So sign it, maybe!
This merit badge I need for Life
I need it so bad
I need it so bad
I need it so, so bad
Tenderfoot, First Class, and Life
I need it so bad
And you should know that
So sign it, maybe!

Your goal is now to have your Boy Scouts sing this during the evening campfire at summer camp and send me the video!