A Scoutmaster's Blog

When the Boy Scouts of Melrose Area Troop 68 first attended a week of summer camp at Many Point Scout Camp in the late 1980s the staff had to quickly reopen a campsite that had not been used for awhile. The troop had signed up later than they should have and all the usual campsites had been filled. The camp decided to reopen the Tyler campsite in the Buckskin Camp for the troop. Even though it was at the end of the trail of campsites, far from any others, the troop liked it and stayed at the site for several years.

The troop changed campsites in 2006. The walk was getting too long, about a half mile from the campsite to the dining hall, for some of the aging adult leaders so we decided to reserve a camp right smack in the middle of Buckskin Camp. Seton was located at the top of a small hill near the lodge and trading post. It was also near the shower house which was nice. The Seton Campsite was smaller than Tyler but that was alright since the troop had gotten smaller over the years. The site was just the right size for a troop with eight to ten Scouts in attendance.

The troop used the Seton campsite for the next 19 years, except for the two years the troop stayed in the Ten Chiefs Camp. The site served our needs quite well so at the end of our week stay in 2024 we reserved it once again for the following year. We thought we were all set until I received a phone call a few weeks later stating that Troop 68 could not stay in the Seton campsite for 2025. The camp had plans to remake the site into the staff quarters area. We would have to choose a new site.

Needless to say, the adult leadership of Troop 68 was not very happy to hear this. It made us a bit upset that they did not tell us this while we were at camp making our reservation for 2025. We felt that since we already made our reservation and they should plan to move the staff in 2026. We liked Seton. We did not want to move, but we had no choice in the matter.

They told me which sites were still available, which was not many to choose from. We chose the Beard campsite, which was still somewhat centrally located. I did not recall ever having visited that site but we discovered it was one of the campsites in Buckskin that had a screened shelter. Neither Tyler nor Seton had a shelter. We thought that a shelter would be nice to have for those rainy days.

When we arrived at camp on Sunday, July 13, 2025, we noticed there was more parking area than Seton had to park our trailer. We also discovered the latrine was at the bottom of the hill where the campsite was located. It was going to be a long steep climb to get from the main road to the campsite. Not a problem for the Scouts, but not as much fun for this scoutmaster who is getting up there in years.

The Beard campsite itself was pretty nice. It was much bigger than the Seton site which allowed the Scouts to camp away from the adult leadership. The shelter was very nice and we spent most of our evenings in there trying to stay away from the mosquitoes. We also discovered there was a back trail that lead to the trading post and shower house. We liked that. Once again though, it was a steep trail.

The troop did a little work on the steep trail to the campsite during the week, trying to make the steps more even and equal in size. It did help. We have plans to improve it more next year. We are also thinking it might be nice to have a bench near the campsite’s fire ring. We had done the same in the Seton Campsite. Of course, we will have to ask permission before making these campsite improvements.

I have a feeling that the Beard campsite may become our new tradition while at Many Point Scout Camp. The Scouts enjoyed the site and it will give us more room as the troop tries to expand its membership. I also enjoyed the site but was not a fan of the long hillside trail to get to it. I may have to work out and exercise more before next year’s week at camp.

Many years ago our troop began an activity on a camping trip that has since become a yearly tradition. We call it the egg drop competition. Each Scout gets a raw egg and has to create a package of natural materials. These packages are then dropped from higher points until only one egg remains unbroken. Has your troop ever tried something like this? #boyscouts #camping #activity

Here is the video we made from the 2012 Competition.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have been attending a week of summer camp at Many Point Scout Camp every year since the early 1990s. They enjoy the program and the staff at the Buckskin Camp. This year, 2019, will be the first year they will change camps as they attend the Ten Chiefs Camp which is located south of the Buckskin Camp. That means the Scouts will not be eating in the Buckskin dining hall this summer. They will be eating their meals in their campsite.

Part of the fun of the Buckskin dining hall is the songs lead by the camp staff before heading into the building to eat. The staff does a great job getting the Scouts fired up and singing.

As I start posting Scouting videos online again I thought I would begin with a video featuring the MPSC staff leading the troops in songs before a few meals. This video was recorded during Troop 68’s stay in June 2017. The video is approximately 20 minutes long. Maybe it will give your troop a couple of ideas for their next campfire program.

The video can be seen at: https://youtu.be/c6IEdWK_t90

Don’t be afraid to subscribe to the Melrose Scouting Productions YouTube channel to receive notifications when videos are uploaded.

Six Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 are now attending summer camp at Many Point Scout Camp in northwestern Minnesota. They left Sunday morning with Scoutmaster Dave and Jason, a father of one of the Scouts. They were all pretty excited about going to camp again. The older Scouts are hoping to get to spend a night in one of the two tree houses found at Many Point. (I found out earlier today that they would get their wish Thursday night.)

I am planning to go up to camp Thursday morning and spend the rest of the week with the troop. During every year that I was the scoutmaster I spent at least one week on a long term camp with the Scouts, either a week at summer camp or two weeks at a high adventure camp like Philmont Scout Ranch. I may not be the scoutmaster anymore but it just does not feel like summer if I do not go to summer camp for at least one day. I have to have fun for at least one day, if not two.

Unfortunately, I see the weather forecast says I may get a little wet once I arrive at camp but, oh well, that is a part of what camping is about. I will pack my Gore-Tex rain gear and umbrella, and make the best of it. It is not like it will be the first time it has ever rained while I was camping. And it probably will not be the last.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 have completed their weeklong summer camp for the year. Once again, the troop went to Many Point Scout Camp which is located northwest of Park Rapids in Minnesota. Only four Scouts of the troop attended camp because the older boys will be going on a high adventure trip this week.

Three adults spent a week at the camp, two fathers and Eymard, our 89 year old assistant scoutmaster. I believe this was Eymard’s 27th year attending summer camp, and his 24th or 25th year at Many Point. I did not spend the week at camp but did take one day off work to visit the troop, and it was a full scheduled Thursday that I picked to spend with the boys.

I arrived at camp an hour later then I had planned. I forgot it took 2.5 hours to get there. For some reason I was thinking it was only going to take two hours. I walked into the Seton Campsite at the Buckskin Camp at 10:00 that morning. I was not to worried about missing anything though. I knew the Scouts had merit badge sessions in the morning and would be scattered around the camp. I took a few minutes to chat with Eymard and Dave, the dad who was there for his second year of camp, to see how things were going before I grabbed my camera and started the hunt to find the Scouts. Jason, the other dad and first time camp attendee, was checking out the older boy program camp.

I discovered I was not the hunter, or at least not a very good one. The Scouts found me. As I walked past the old handicrafts lodge, which I now call the gaming lodge since it is the location of the Chess and Game Design merit badges, I heard someone yell my name. As I turned around I saw three of the four Scouts standing in the doorway inviting me into the lodge to see what they had been doing. I quickly discovered all four Scouts were in the building working on the Game Design merit badge.

As the next merit badge session began, the boys separated as they headed to three different classes. I visited each class and took a few pictures of each of the Scouts. After all, that was my unofficial job, troop cameraman. It was funny when one of the Scouts made a comment that now someone will be taking pictures during camp. I guess he thought the dads had been a little lax in this area. But than, in their defense, I am well known for taking lots of pictures. I do mean lots of pictures. I went home after that one day of camp with nearly 180 pictures. Yeah, maybe I take too many, but you know, everyone likes to look at them later.

We did not eat lunch in the dining hall. Instead, we grabbed bagged lunches because we were going on a field trip. We were going to spend the afternoon at Itasca State Park, which is located only 45 minutes from camp. It was time for the Scouts to see the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River. There would be a lot of photo taking opportunities for me.

We arrived back in camp the the 4:00 merit badge session. There was a little free time after that session to goof around and chat. Then it was time to retire the colors and head to supper at the dining hall. After being well fed the Scouts did some merit badge homework and attended some of the  open programs. When the boys started coming back to the campsite about 8:30 we prepared to start a fire for making s’mores. I had stopped on the way to camp that morning to pick up the ingredients.

Unfortunately, I was not able to stay around to enjoy the campfire. I had to go to work the next morning. I left camp at 9:30 that evening to start the long journey home. I walked into my house at midnight, tired, but glad I had spent a day at camp. I had a good time, and it looked like the boys and adults were having a great time.

The 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?

What do you think of when you hear the words “bear skin”? Is your first thought a bear skin rug? Maybe a sporting game between the Bears and the Redskins? Maybe a sunburn after sitting with bare skin in the sun too long? One of the things I think of is summer camp. It was the name of the campsite my troop used for two years when I attended camp as a youth.

I attended Parker Scout Reservation of the Central Minnesota Council for three years during the mid-1970’s. It is a small camp by some summer camp standards, but it was the home of Troop 68 and other troops for a week of fun and excitement. In its earlier days it was called Camp Clyde. These days it is sometimes called Camp Parker. It closed as a summer camp in the late 1970’s but is still used as a weekend camp for council Boy Scout and Cub Scout activities. Troop 68 has used the camp on several occasions over the years for their own weekend activities.

The council has done several major renovations and additions to Camp Parker during the last few decades. The old dining hall was completely renovated and an addition was built onto it. A storage building was added next to it at the same time. A new shower house was constructed back in the nineties. Several older buildings have been remodeled with new heating systems installed. The biggest addition to Camp Parker took place when the castle was built. Yes, you read that correctly. A castle. (Pictures of the castle can be seen at http://www.bsacmc.org/photo_gallery_miller_castle.html .)

A few months ago I received a phone call at work asking if the lumber yard would like to donate some cedar lumber so new signs could be built for the campsites. The signs were getting pretty run down and looked rather shoddy. I did not even give my boss a chance to reply to the request. I used this as a chance for myself to give back a little to the place I have been going to for four decades. I donated the materials.

But I had one request. I wanted the old campsite sign of the camp I stayed in as a young Boy Scout. I wanted the old Bear Skin sign. I was told that should not be a problem and that they would set it aside for me.

That was a couple months ago. Yesterday, when I arrived back home from working at my parents renovation project, I found something placed between my front door and combination door. Later in the morning my district executive had stopped by my house on his way through town and dropped off the sign. Other than patches and pictures, this is the first item from Camp Parker I have been able to add to my Scouting collection.

The sign was actually in decent shape considering it has weathered several Minnesota winters and summers. I really have no idea how long this sign has marked the campsite. I would doubt it is the same sign that welcomed Boy Scouts in the 1970’s, but it is a piece of camp history and I am happy to have it in my collection.

Below you can see a map of Parker Scout Reservation from a camporee probably held in the early 1990’s. As you can see, Parker is not a big camp but it really does not matter. I have made a lot of great Scouting memories there.

The Boy Scouts have come home. About an hour and a half ago the ten Boy Scouts and two adult leaders of Melrose Troop 68 arrived home from spending the week at Many Point Scout Camp in northwest Minnesota. From the few minutes I was able to talk to them I discovered they had a great time but were ready to get home, clean up, and get back to life with their families.

The ten Scouts did an excellent job earning advancement while they were at camp. When I left them Monday afternoon I made a deal with them. I told them that if they earned a total of 25 completed merit badges during the week I would host a movie/pizza party. Eight of them were earning the Cooking merit badge which I did not think they could complete during camp so I did not count these against the total. I thought that 25 badges would present a good goal but would still be challenging.

Someday I will learn my lesson for betting against the Scouts. They earned their goal and went beyond it. They came home with 33 completed merit badges. It might be 34 after we check one Scout’s camping outings to see if he completed his Camping Merit Badge. Eight of these merit badges were the Cooking badge. It seems that with the new requirements this year the boys can complete the award during the week at camp. Oh well, even if I took the eight Cooking merit badges off the total it still leaves 25 completed badges, which met the goal. I guess I better get ready to buy some pizzas.

Here is a breakdown of the merit badges earned at summer camp this year:
8- Cooking, 2- Climbing, 2- Environmental Science, 4- Fishing,
1- Fish and Wildlife Management, 1- Forestry, 3- Game Design,
2- Geocaching, 1- Kayaking, 1- Lifesaving, 1- Mammal Study,
1- Nature, 1- Rowing, 1- Shotgun Shooting, 3- Weather,
1- Wilderness Survival (and possibly 1- Camping).

Congratulations to all the Boy Scouts for doing a great job at camp this week. Even though they earned a lot of badges while at camp they still managed to have a lot of fun and participate in in lots of activities.