A Scoutmaster's Blog

We all know that Boy Scouts can get quite dirty when they are on a camping trip. Sometimes they become filthy. Once and awhile, at the end of a week of summer camp, their clothes may stand up on their own. Even the adult leaders clothes can become grimy by the end of a weekend. That is why you need a good clothes cleaning detergent when you arrive back home. What detergent should you use? Really, there is only one choice for cleaning up after a Boy Scout outing. You need Sudsy Dudsy.

What? You have never heard of Sudsy Dudsy? Really? Where have you been? It is the best soap ever invented by mankind. It can clean everything, and every stain. In fact, let me show you. This video post to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast features a member of our troop demonstrating the cleaning power of Sudsy Dudsy during our Laughs For Lunch Show in the year 2000. You will see for yourself that this product is simply amazing.

Actually, this is an easy skit for your Boy Scouts to perform. You only need one Scout, a bucket, a few dirty clothes items, and a few identical clean items. Of course, it helps if your Scout is quite a showman. This is a short skit in which he can really ham it up a bit, as the Boy Scout in this video does.

Has your troop ever done this skit? What type of items did Sudsy Dudsy clean in your demonstration?

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The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 used to be very good with performing campfire songs and skits. The troop looked forward to performing at camporees and summer camp campfire programs. There were many times we would take a popular skit or song, change it up a bit, and make it something new. Today’s post to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast demonstrates one example of that trait.

Our troop had been attending a week of camp at Many Point Scout Camp in northern Minnesota for a few years when we came up with the idea for a new song to perform. We wanted to do something that poked some fun at the camp, and something the campers could identify with. We picked the popular song by the Village People because everyone knew the tune to YMCA. We completely changed the lyrics and the actions and came up with our version of M.P.S.C.  The song was a hit when we performed it at the closing campfire.

This video features the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 performing this song during their 2000 Laughs For Lunch Show, held at the Melrose High School auditorium. So get out of that chair, stand up, and join the Scouts as they sing their version of M.P.S.C.

Click here to DOWNLOAD and watch this Podcast.
Subscribe to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
or through iTunes  (and rate the show).
Don’t forget to leave a comment below, or at the iTunes store.

Ah, the Laughs For Lunch Shows. They were a yearly campfire-style program that the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 performed for our community for 13 years, the first one held in 1996. We had a lot of fun doing them and I believe the audiences really enjoyed them. An extra bonus was that the Scouts received experience in public speaking (and singing) which was something that would help them later in life.

I recently transferred the 2000 show from a VHS tape to DVD. As I was doing some touch up editing and chapter marking for the DVD I noticed the Boy Scouts did some really good performances doing the show. I decided to clip some of the better songs and skits and share them with you for this podcast.

The first post from this show for the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast is the campfire favorite, the Dirty Sock Song. How dirty do your socks get? How smelly do they become? Do they get strong enough to give your tent an awful scent or could they be used as a method of rat population control? The Boy Scouts chose a few members of their audience to poke some fun at during this song.

Has your troop used this song during a campfire program? Or have you seen it performed by another troop? How did your Boy Scouts like it?

Click here to DOWNLOAD and watch this Podcast.
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or through iTunes  (and rate the show).
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Those of you that follow Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, on Twitter (@buttonst68) have noticed that he has been posting a Scouting themed Twelve Days of Christmas. The twelve days follow the twelve points of the Scout Law, beginning with trustworthy and ending with reverent on the twelfth day. Here are the twelve verses, in case you missed them.

One the twelfth day of Christmas my Scout Leader gave to me…
Twelve reverent chaplain aides,
Eleven clean mess kits,
Ten brave teddy bears,
Nine thrifty gift cards,
Eight cheerful campfires,
Seven obedient Cub Scouts,
Six kindly Eagles,
FIVE COURTEOUS SCOUTS,
Four friendly camp staff,
Three helpful maps,
Two loyal dogs,
and a trustworthy GPS.

Now that you have that song stuck in your head, have a great day!

For those of you who like the poem Twas The Night Before Christmas check out this post from a few years ago:
http://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/?p=1233

I may not have spent the week with The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 at Many Point Scout Camp this summer, but I did spend Friday with them, and I had a great time. Of course, when it came to meal time, I had to stand in line with the troop and wait to be dismissed to the dining hall with the Scouts. The staff always leads the campers in a song before the meal. This time the leaders picked their “faaaavorite song”, My Dog Rover. It is a simple to learn song that enjoys pun filled humor. I am sure you have heard it before at a camp somewhere, but if you have not here is a new song that your troop can add to its list a fun campfire songs.

What pun-named dogs would you add to this song?

Click here to DOWNLOAD and watch this Podcast.
Or watch it online at the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast channel at PTC Media.

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Leave feedback here, at iTunes, or on the forums at PTC Media.

Boy Scouts have been doing skits since the dawn of the program. The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 sometimes do skits during courts of honor as a bit of entertainment for parents and family members. The old scoutmaster and the new Life Scout did just that during Troop 68’s June court court of honor. And they did not even practice it before the ceremony.

The Candy Store has been an old standby for decades in this area. I have seen several versions of it performed by dozens of Scouts and troop leaders. It is an easy skit to do, one that is mostly ad-libbed. Just be sure not to blow the punchline at the end.

How many times has your troop performed this skit. How many times have you seen it done during campfire programs? How well do you like it? Leave a comment and let us know how you feel about The Candy Store.

Click here to DOWNLOAD and watch this Podcast.
Or watch it online at the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast channel at PTC Media.

Subscribe to Melrose Scout Productions Podcast through iTUNES  (and rate the show)
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Don’t forget to leave a comment below, or at the iTunes store.

Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, has unofficially been the mascot of the Melrose Scout Productions podcast and the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast. He has even made guest appearances on the MISS Show and Akela’s Adventure. This puppet has his own Twitter and Facebook accounts. It has been awhile since he has been in a podcast, and he has not been very active online lately. I guess he has been busy doing other things.

Last month, the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 went to Camp Stearns for a weekend. Although Buttons did not attend he did come up during a discussion during one of the meals. I was quite surprised when one of the Scouts admitted he did not like Buttons very much and found him to be freaky. When this Scout’s father wanted him to stand next to Buttons for a photo during the scoutmaster retirement party in February the Scout refused, until he father TOLD him to stand next to the radical one.

When I asked the Scout why he did not like Buttons he compared it to how some people find clowns to be scary. It reminded me of a comment made by the caretaker of the American Legion as we decorated for the retirement party. This grown woman also found the puppet to be a little unnerving and told me to be sure to take it home after the ceremony. She did not want to walk into the meeting hall the following day and scare herself if she found Buttons standing off to one side of the room.

The only time I have ever noticed anyone afraid of Buttons is when he has been around young children. Sometimes the little ones come running up to him, but others times they stay close to their parents and are shy around the radical one. It has been rare to find a Boy Scout or adult who wants to avoid him.

How do you feel about Buttons, the radical Boy Scout? What does your Cub Scout or Boy Scout think of him? Leave a comment and let us know.

If you follow The Buckets comic strip you know that the youngest member of the household, Eddie, is a Cub Scout, and his father is a Pack leader. A few times a year Greg Cravens, the creator of the strip, uses his comic to share a humorous look at the world of Cub Scouting. Mr. Cravens obvious knows a little about the Scouting program because his comics can hit very close to home. I am sure many Pack Leaders and families can identify with the situations he shares with us. ( I sometimes wonder if Mr. Cravens is not a Cub Scout leader in his community.)

Mr. Cravens recently featured a weeklong series in which the Cub Scout Pack goes on a camping trip. If you have ever taken Scouts on a camping trip I am sure you will find these hitting the mark. Here is a quick rundown of the comic strips and the links:

A trip is announced / A pocket knife is needed: Click HERE.
The first rule of camping: Click HERE.
My last dry clothes: Click HERE.
How to gather the Scouts: Click HERE.
Texting while hiking: Click HERE.
A tick is on me! : Click HERE.

While these comic strips feature Cub Scout age boys, many of them could also apply to Boy Scout age youth. Enjoy.