A Scoutmaster's Blog

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.

Melrose Scout Troop 68 held their annual fall meal fundraiser on Friday, October 25. The troop had a good turnout and served up a lot of spaghetti. The Scouts set tables, cleared tables, washed dishes and helped serve some of the food and beverages. Parents were in charge of the kitchen and serving the food.

One of my jobs was to set up a Scouting display. I tried to make it a little different then previous fundraiser but a few things stay the same. Of course, I included several photo albums featuring pictures of troop meetings and Scouting events. There were also some framed group pictures and both of my patch blankets. I stayed away from the small bookcases along with all the various handbooks and nicknacks this time. In their place I included a copy of framed posters and two binders of newspaper clippings of Scouting events through out the last several years. The merit badge poster was somewhat popular with the Scouts.

What do you think of the display? Leave a comment to let us know what was your favorite item.

August is now part of the past, which means that Melrose Scout Troop 68 has held its yearly planning session to plan the 2019-2020 program year and that the program has been approved by the committee (with a couple small changes.) Let’s take a quick look at it.

The theme for September 2019 will be sports, maybe touching on the Sports merit badge. The monthly activity will be a trip to Fort Snelling near the Twin Cities, and to the stadium to watch a Minnesota Twins baseball game. A couple members of the troop may help out with School Night To Join Scouting on Thursday, the 19th. A court of honor will be held on Monday, the 30th.

October’s theme will be hunting and shotgun shooting. This is Minnesota, after all. Our troop has several hunting families. The activity will be the district fall camporee held at Stearns Scout Camp located south of St. Cloud. The fall meal fundraiser will also be held this month.

The November theme will be camping, and will particially cover the camping merit badge. The activity will be the LPMRB which may have to be renamed since it may include a trip to Airmax in place of rollerskating and bowling.

Ice fishing and winter sports will be the theme for December. December will be a short month due to the Christmas season, but it will still be a program packed month. The troop plans to have include downhill skiing, a Christmas party, a court of honor, and the popular troop auction.

Winter survival will be the theme for January. An ice fishing trip is being planned. This will be a light program schedule this month.

February’s theme will be comedy and skits. Scout Sunday is planned for February 2nd. A winter outing at Camp Stearns will be the monthly activity.

Even though it may be a bit chilly during March the Scouts planned Biking as the theme. A court of honor will be held at the end of the month along with a summer camp planning meeting. The troop may go to Camp Parker for the activity and may get the chance to work in some biking and time at a waterpark. The spring meal fundraiser is planned for March.

The theme for April will be Agriculture, which is not surprising since Melrose is located in the middle of prime farming land in Central Minnesota. The activity will be the Central Minnesota Council’s Ripley Rendezvous, which will be held at the Camp Ripley National Guard Base.

In May the Scouts will be working on their lashing and pioneering skills. The troop will be going to Camp Watchamagumee, a spring tradition for the last 30 years. There may be a chance to have some fun at a go-cart track sometime this month.

June will be a busy month. The theme is Fun In The Sun, with a camping trip planned for the weekend of the 12-14. A court of honor is planned for the 16th. The troop will once again hand out flags provided by the VFW and American Legion clubs before the Riverfest parade. Several Scouts will be attending a trek at Philmont Scout Ranch during the last half of the month.

July will be a light month with a week at Many Point Scout Camp being the only activity. Things will pick up again in August with the theme of Minnesota History. A camping trip is planned for the weekend of August 14-16. The troop may have an activity during the annual Nite To Unite program in the park.

So, what do you think about it? Does it sound like a fun year for the boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68? Let us know by leaving a comment.

The Bottomless Lake song may have been new to the Boy Scouts at this Many Point Scout Camp summer camp campfire, but they sang good and loud by the end of it.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have planned a disc golf marathon for each of the past few years when they planned out their schedule during the yearly planning conference in August. This year’s marathon was held on Saturday, March 30. The troop will try to play at two or three courses in central Minnesota during this activity.

This year’s event began at the Calvary Park 18 hole course in St. Cloud. This year was made a little more special because a member of the St. Cloud disc golf club met the troop and gave the Scouts some pointers on how to improve their skills. He then played a game with one of the three teams.

After lunch at Pizza Ranch, the troop moved on to the course at North park in Albany. Due to the extra time used for the disc golf instruction before the first game the Scouts would only be able to play at two parks this year. That did not seem to matter to them since they were having a great time.

A video of the disc golf instruction can be seen on the Melrose Scout Production channel on YouTube at https://youtu.be/aFUhiw07iUw

Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68’s spring fundraiser is done and over. The troop did very well at this year’s pancake and sausage breakfast. Over 400 people were served and everyone who attended seemed to enjoy themselves and get enough to eat. The Scouts worked hard cleaning and setting tables.

The older Scouts made the pancakes, for the first time ever. That is usually the job of the parents, a duty claimed by a few of the fathers during most years. We were a little short on parental assistance this spring so the older Scouts gave it a try. The Scouts may have been a bit wet behind the ears when they started their shift but by the end of it they were getting good at making Mickey Mouse pancakes.

They troop would like to thank everyone who attended the fundraiser, and the parents who worked hard both behind the scenes and in the kitchen. The troop would also like to thank the Melrose American Legion for providing their facility.

Boy Scout Troop 68 of Melrose holds two meal fundraisers each year. The spring meal is usually a pancake and sausage breakfast that includes scrambled eggs. The fall meal has been a spaghetti supper for the last few years. The troop does well with both fundraisers and is able to keep up with the yearly expenses.

The 2019 spring breakfast fundraiser takes place this weekend at the Melrose American Legion. The parents will be working in the kitchen while the Scouts take care of the tables and the dishes. I will probably do the same thing I have done for the last thirty years, pour coffee, visit with the people who come by for breakfast, and keep an eye on the Scouts to make sure they get their work done.

Another of the jobs I have, and one that I really have made my own, is to create a table top display for the meal. I began to take items out last night to prepare for Sunday’s meal. As you can see from the picture I will have both Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting items in this year’s display. The Cub Scout Pack has been doing well and I wanted to include something for the elementary aged children.

One item not shown in the picture is the patch blanket I plan to hang. I may even bring both of them. I do have clothing racks that work very well to display them. Add in a few photo albums and I think there will be enough Scouting memorabilia for families to view.

How often do you set up a Scouting display in your community? What do you include in it? When do you set it up? Leave a comment and let us know about it.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 had a lot of fun on the climbing wall at St. Cloud State University in early 2014. I had my camera along, like I usually do, so I was taking a lot of photos of the Scouts as they tried their skills on the various climbs. A few times I switched the camera to video mood to record some of the climbs.

A few days later I was playing around with iMovie. I had never used their “create a movie trailer” function so I decided to give it a try using the footage I recorded from the climbing trip. I discovered it was fairly easy to use and made a trailer of the day.

It trailer has been sitting on my computer for the last few years. Last week I decided to share it on the Melrose Scouting Productions channel on Youtube. I invite you to take a look at at it. Hit the like button on the channel and subscribe to it.

It can be found at https://youtu.be/u6Tqn-j3CMU or viewed below.