Archive for the ‘Activity’ Category


Since 1986, Boy Scout Troop 68 of Melrose has held a Christmas Party. The parties were first held in someone’s home but sometimes the parties were held in other venues, especially when the troop’s membership began to grow. A few parties were held at the city hall. This year’s party was held in a church facility and followed the troop’s last court of honor for the year. We invited the second year Webelos to attend the party.

Each Scout was asked to bring a snack for the party The troop provided the pizzas and the beverages. No one went home hungry from this activity. We had food left over.

The first activity was the gift exchange. All the gifts were placed in the middle of the tables. Scouts took turns shaking a pair of dice. If he shook doubles he picked a gift from the center of the table to place in front of him. Once each Scout or adult leader had received a gift the real fun began.

In the past we would open our gifts at this point to see what they were. This year, the Scouts voted to try something different. The gifts would not be opened until the end of the game. Participants had to guess what was in the packages and determine which package they wanted to try to receive.

The Scouts set a ten minute time for the game. Once the time began the dice were passed around the table. Each participant would shake the dice. If he shook doubles he could trade the gift in front of him for a gift in front of another Scout. Whatever gift was in front of you at the end of the ten minutes would be yours to take home. Most Scouts liked what they received but I did notice a couple trades going on after the game ended.

The Scouts moved onto various other games during the evening. Shortly after 9:00 pm we watched a movie. The Scouts choose Home Alone for their entertainment this year. There were a couple Scouts who had not seen this movie yet.

We wrapped up the festivities around 11:30 that evening. A winter storm was on the way and we wanted everyone to be home before it began. The Scouts had a lot of fun during this last troop activity for the year.

Melrose Area Scout Troop 68 holds a Troop Auction following its December court of honor. This auction is a tradition that has been held for over 30 years. The first was held in 1987.

The Scouts use “Troop Bucks” they have earned during the year to bid on prizes. Troop Bucks, which are not real money, are earned by attending outings, earning merit badges, and earning ranks. The more active a Scout is during the year, the more Troop Bucks he will earn. The Troop Bucks are handed out during the December court of honor. Any bucks not spend may be saved by the Scout to use in next year’s auction.

There were fifteen prizes for the 2022 auction. The total cost of the prizes was only $120. Some of the prizes were donated. Surprisingly, the most expensive prize was the Boy Scout Handbook at a $25 cost. The item sold for the lowest bid happened to be a Scout web belt. Bids were place in $5 increments.

Once the bidding began it was fun to watch the Scouts. Some items were quite popular and had a lot of bids. Sometimes you could tell a Scout or two was bidding just to raise the stakes, hoping they would not get stuck with the item. Sometimes a Scout really wanted the item but did not have enough Troop Bucks to bid high enough to get the prize. In total, the Scouts bid a combined $3440 for the prizes.

So, what were the prizes and what were the final bids? Boy Scout Handbook – $160. Troop 68 Tee Shirt – $230. BSA Web Belt – $65. BSA Bolo Tie – $125. Merit Badge Sash with Clip – $350. Five piece Mess Kit – $125. Lock Blade Knife – $400. LED Flashlight – $175. Smartphone Adjustable Stand – $205. Pair of Carabiners – $150. Rawling Baseball – $175. Sharpening Stone with case – $310. Fleece Throw Blanket – $330. Gamer 3 Ring Binder (with a hidden $20 bill) – $450. Laptop Bag – $190.

More fun came after the auction ended. Some Scouts were trading their winnings with other Scouts. It seemed that all the Scouts were happy after the trading ended.

The goal for the October 2022 outing for the Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 was to play three disc golf courses in one day. The plan was to start playing in St. Cloud at the Calvary Park course (18 holes), move to the the Millstream Park course (18 holes) after lunch, and finish the afternoon at the North Park course in Albany (9 holes). Unfortunately, plans need to change sometimes.

Disc golf is usually a popular sport with Troop 68, but due to high school sports, hunting seasons, and family plans there was a small group of Scouts who signed up for the activity. There would be only three Scouts and one friend attending, along with three adult leaders.

It was a cool morning when we arrived at Calvary Park. The Scouts decided to play as one large group instead of breaking up into two smaller groups. I did not have a problem with that but I knew it would increase the amount of time to finish the course. Depending on how well we played we may have to alter our plans a little. The other consideration was that this group did not have a lot of experience playing disc golf.

Due to a number of factors it did take longer to play the Calvary Park 18 hole course. We were about 45 minutes late heading to lunch. It was time to alter our plans for the day. I suggested that we skip the Millstream Park course in St. Joseph and head straight to Albany. The Albany course has nine baskets but 18 tee pads. We could play all 18 holes at Albany instead of just nine, which was the original plan. Since the goal was to be fished playing disc golf by suppertime the Scouts agreed to the change.

We had a lot of fun. We talked a little smack. The Scouts with the top three scores each received a new disc golf throwing disc as a prize. Since we had four new discs, each of the Scouts and the one friend went home with a new disc.

Overall, it was a great activity. The four boys had fun. They improved their game skills, and each went home with a new disc. What more could you ask for?

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 sport of disc golf has been a part of the Scouting program at many Boy Scout camps for decades. Many Scout camps have disc golf courses. I was introduced to the sport back in 1981 at Crow Wing Scout Camp. They did not have baskets to throw discs into at the time so we had to hits the posts to finish each hole. It was very challenging but also very fun, and it was a great troop activity.

During the last couple decades disc golf became more popular with the Scouts of Melrose area Troop 68. We would schedule a time to play when we were at a camp that had a course. For several years we held a disc golf marathon day in which we would play at two of three different courses in central Minnesota. We would keep scores and award prizes to the Scouts who had the best scores.

As new Scouts joined our troop and played disc golf for the first time, I would encourage them to learn how to throw and work on their skills, not try to be the best and take the top place. That takes practice and lots of playing. Even though we handed out prizes during our outings I always stressed we were doing this for the fun of being together and beings outdoors. Of course, talking a little smack during the game was allowed as long as it did not get mean spirited, and the Scouts understood this.

Being a player of disc golf myself I have a nice disc collection I take with me on the course. I may not know what each disc one is for but it makes me feel like I know something. I have also collected several Scouting themed discs that have become part of my Scouting collection and are not used on the course. Some of these discs were bought at camp while other were bought through the Scout Shop. In this video I display the discs I have purchased and added to my collection.

This video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAfhA9L0CO8

Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoy it.

I was fortunate to be chosen as the scoutmaster of Troop 1417 for the B.S.A. 2001 National Jamboree. I had a great time at the event and shared it with a great troop of Boy Scouts and adult leaders from the Central Minnesota Council. I took home plenty of pictures and a lot of memories.

When I discovered that Boys’ Life magazine had created a video on VHS tape featuring many of the events and activities I had to buy it. Yes, you read that correctly. It was a VHS tape. DVDs had just arrived on the market but had not become popular in homes yet.

If I remember correctly, I bought the program as part of a three tape collection. Each tape featured a different Jamboree. The set included the events from 1993, 1997, and 2001. All three were created by Boys’ Life magazine.

I recently did a search on the Boys Life Scoutshop website and discovered that these videos are now available as DVDs. There are also DVDs available for the 2005 and 2010 Jamborees. If you wanted them all you could buy the set of 5 DVDs and save yourself a few bucks. You can find these at this link:

https://magazines.scoutshop.org/catalogsearch/result/?q=Boys%27+Life+Jamboree+Souvenir+DVD

Since I only have the VHS tapes I am very tempted to order the 5 disc set. The individual event DVDs sell for $11.95 each while the DVD set is only $40.00. That is like getting one event DVD for free!

I did not see any DVDs available for the 2013 and 2017 National Jamborees. I do not know if they made one for those events or not but there was not any listed on the website. That would be sad if there are not videos created for those two years.

Did you attend one of these Jamborees? Is this something you would consider buying? Leave a comment below and let us know of your opinion.

Let’s face it. The year 2020 was a tough year for Scout Troops. Troop outings were minimal, if your state even allowed your troop to have an outing. Meetings were tough. A Zoom meeting only holds a Scout’s attention for so long. Besides, how many Scouts wanted to be part of an online meeting when they spent several hours during online schooling?

So, just for fun, here is a look back at 2014 when it was easier to have a fun outing. The boys had a great time climbing the walls at St. Cloud State University. Hopefully things will get back to somewhat normal this new year.

#scouts #scouting #scoutsbsa #boyscouts

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.