A Scoutmaster's Blog

Philmont Scout Ranch. Land of adventure, living history, and magical wonders.  It is a place where deer walk through your campsite, billions of stars can be seen at night, and the views can literally take your breath away. It is a place to get away from the stress of modern society. Leave you computers, iPods, and cell phones at home because you will be without electricity for ten days while backpacking in the Philmont wilderness. In other words, this can be a great place for that “get away from everything” vacation.

Well, maybe not quite away from it all. As an adult crew advisor you will be with a crew of up to ten teenage boys (and girls if you are with a venture crew.) That youthful group can present you with an unique perspective of the backcountry, but they will also challenge you from day to day. Believe it or not, but there will be times when the adults and the Scouts will not quite see things the same way or even agree on things.

Philmont is a great place to relax. There is nothing like finding that special spot in or near the campsite that overlooks the valley below, or the mountains above. Just lay back and enjoy the peace and quiet. That is, if the boys are peaceful and quiet. Oh, and your body might be a little sore from hiking that last 13 miles with a 45 pound pack strapped to you back. If it rains you can always crawl into you tent and catch a quick nap. That can be very relaxing.

Some people consider a vacation to be great when they get to participate in new experiences. Philmont has plenty of those to choose from. How about rock climbing, panning for gold, or burro racing? Standing on top of a mountain and watching the clouds float by below you is a great one. Hiking with a heavy pack during a downpour while you are marching up the side of a mountain is not so great.

If you have a chance to participate in a Philmont trek GRAB IT! Yes, there will be moments when you may wish you were at home, sitting in front of the television in your comfy recliner, but it is the other moments that will be fondly remembered ten years later. I should know. I have been on five Philmont treks and I would not mind going back for a sixth time. Philmont IS a great place for a vacation.

Have you ever retired from an organization only to feel that they never let you go, or that they are trying to pull you back? That happened to me Monday night with the Boy Scout troop. Unfortunately, I have no one to blame but myself. I volunteered for it all. Next week will now be a very busy Scouting week for this retired scoutmaster. Here is why….

On Monday, the 19th, the troop is using their regular troop meeting night to begin selling tickets for next month’s Dad’s Belgian Waffle supper fundraiser. The Boy Scouts will go door to door selling tickets, covering as much of the town in one evening as their are capable of doing. As the troop’s treasurer it will be my job to hand out the tickets, collect the leftovers and money taken in, and start the record keeping for the boys going out on their own.

Tuesday night is the monthly troop committee meeting. I still need to sit down and balance the checkbooks and prepare the report of the troop’s finances. I least I do not have to leave the house. I still volunteer to host the meetings in my basement family room.

I am a Collections merit badge counselor. One of the Scouts caught me after this week’s troop meeting to begin working on the badge. We decided on Wednesday, the 22nd. That makes three nights in a row I will be doing something Scouting related.

So far I have nothing planned for Thursday, but I volunteered my home to host a troop event on Friday. The troop’s one day outing for February was scheduled for this Saturday but only one boy was able to attend. I have always hated the idea of completely canceling a monthly activity so I offered to hold a movie night. The boys took me up on the offer. They plan to watch a couple movies and enjoy pizza, snacks, and sodas. I plan to send them home at 11:00 pm.

On Saturday, the 25th, the troop is hosting an afternoon retirement party to celebrate the three decades I spent as the scoutmaster. I hope some of the troop alumni are able to attend or it will be a small party. I do plan to bring the thirty or so photo albums I have made from those thirty years of activities and functions.

That brings it to five of seven days next week that I will be busy doing something Scouting related. I thought my schedule would slow down after stepping away from the position of scoutmaster. Wait. What’s that? Something is pulling on the back of my shirt. Aaahhhhhhhhh!

It has been over 25 years since 1985 came to an end. It was a busy year for the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68. They went to winter camp at Parker Scout Reservation, attended the council’s Ripley Rendezvous at Camp Ripley, held a spring pancake and sausage breakfast fundraiser, went to camp Watchamagumee in the early spring, hopped onto their bicycles for a weekend outing in June, attended summer camp at Tomahawk Scout Camp in Wisconsin, visited the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in September, took part in a city’s emergency drill in October, and even found time to hold a few courts of honor. Like I said, it was a busy but very fun year. Here is a slideshow featuring pictures from those events.

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Nascar may be one of the most popular sports in the country but it may not be on a Cub Scout’s radar during the next couple of months as Packs across the nation prepare for one of the biggest annual Cub Scout events: The Pinewood Derby! Hundreds of thousands of Pinewood Derby cars are about to be distributed across the 50 states. Young boys and their fathers (or mothers or older siblings) will take that block of wood and attempt to create an awesome work of art that is also speedy enough to race down the track and earn its owner the victory trophy.

I attended Cub Scout Pack’s derby last year along with three of the Boy Scouts who had younger brothers in the pack. It was the first time I had been able to attend a derby in several years. The races were usually held the same night as our troop’s patrol leader council meeting. I brought my camera and became the evening’s unofficial photographer, taking dozens of pictures of the boys and their cars.

It took the fathers awhile to set up the track and get the lanes to run smoothly because it had been a couple of years since the last Pinewood Derby. The pack membership had dwindled down to just a couple of Cub Scouts, but last year there were eight of them. And they were ready to race!

The adults kept the atmosphere light. The emphasis was to keep the races fun and exciting. Even though it was a double elimination tournament, the competitive aspect of the evening was downplayed. Each of the eight Cub Scouts received a trophy, though the top place trophies were a little larger.

The Cub Scouts had a great time. They continued racing their cars after the formal races had been completed. Even the Boy Scouts got to race their cars against each other. Toward the end of the evening the Cub Scouts were racing the Boy Scouts to see who had the better cars.

The Pack has added a few more members this past year so the next derby promises to be a little bigger and a little more exciting. I plan to attend the event again and be the unofficial photographer. It should be a great night in February.

By the way, here is a fun thing I did with some of the pictures taken at last years Pinewood Derby. I used them to create Derby Cards of each of the racers. The boys thought they were pretty cool. Check them out at Pinewood Derby Cards (100 DoS: Day 6) .

This month’s troop outing was to be one day filled with several activities. The LPMRB, as it has become known by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68, starts with rollerskating and laser tag at the Skatin’ Place in St. Cloud, about 35 miles from Melrose. After a stop at Godfather’s Pizza, we would arrive at the Parkwood 18 movie theater to watch the latest flick. We end the day back in Melrose at Melrose Bowl for a few games of late night bowling. We gather at noon and the day ends about 1:00 am.

We had a problem this year. A snowstorm moved into the area Saturday morning. By the time the Boy Scouts arrived at my house we had received reports that I-94  was closed near Albany, about 15 miles away from town, due to an accident and cars that had slid into the ditch. Parents commented that the road conditions were not very good. They had reached top speeds of only 35 mph on the rural roads.

It was time to come up with a Plan B for the outing. Obviously, we would not be going to St. Cloud. We were not going to completely cancel the outing because everyone had already arrived. We gathered in the living room and discussed our options. It did not take long to come up with a new agenda.

The boys would spend the afternoon at my house playing ping pong, darts, Wii games, and other games. For supper we would head uptown to John Dough’s, a local pizza house. We would go to a movie (Puss In Boots) in Sauk Centre which was located only 8 miles away. The evening would still end at Melrose Bowl. We would miss rollerskating and laser tag, but the rest of the outing would still take place.

The Boy Scouts received a bonus after watching the movie. The movie theater manager took the troop into one of the projection booths to see the film and digital projectors. He explained how they worked and then answered the Scouts’ questions. I believe it was the first time that most of them had ever seen this type of equipment. I think they enjoyed the quick tour.

By the time 1:00 am arrived at the bowling alley the boys were ready to go home. It had been a long but fun filled day. And to tell the truth, I do not think they missed rollerskating.

The Atlanta Area Council has posted a promotional video on Youtube titled “I Am Scouting”. I like it. A lot! It not only does a good job of showing Boy Scouts participating in outdoor activities, but it also features boys from all races and backgrounds. It really showcases the diversity of young men in the Scouting program.

Men like their trucks. Young boys like playing with their small trucks. Both like monster trucks. When Cub Scouts are invited to tour the shop of a monster truck you can bet they and their fathers are going to attend.

Paul Strong, owner and driver of the monster truck, Martial Law, and Kaila Savage, driver of Heart Breaker, recently invited two Cub Scout packs and our Boy Scout troop to take a tour of their shop in Albany, Minnesota. Paul showed off some the parts commonly replaced in trucks while explaining how much time is spent working on them to get them ready for the shows. The boys enjoyed the tour and had plenty of questions for Paul.

After the tour, the Scouts had the chance to crawl inside Heart Breaker to have their picture taken. They also had their photograph taken with Paul and Kaila in front of the truck. The drivers autographed photos of the truck for the boys. The tour ended with Paul and Kaila providing sodas for their guests. Paul even started up the engine of Heart Breaker for the boys to hear. There were a lot of small hands covering ears while the engine roared.

Pictures of the event can be seen on the troops website at http://melrosetroop68.org/yearlygalleries/yh11.html#Monster_Truck .
A video or two is being planned to post for the Melrose Scout Productions podcast.

Hundreds of Boy Scouts, troop leaders, and staff meet at a special location during this weekend’s Ripley Rendezvous to form a huge human outlined fleur-de-lis, the universal Scouting symbol. The Camp Ripley Public Affairs Office had their staff take this photo from a helicopter. (Start the Mission Impossible theme song.) Your job, if you decide to do it, is to find me, Scoutmaster Steve, in this photo.

Click on the photo and it will take to to my Flickr page for a larger version.