A Scoutmaster's Blog

When I was a Boy Scout I attended summer camp at Parker Scout Reservation in Central Minnesota. We ate our evening meals in a dining hall. Once the troops were seated, one of the staff members would get up in front of the troops and lead us in a song. The Hole In The Ground song was one of the songs I learned during those meals.

The Hole In The Ground song is an audience participation song. The song leader sings a portion and the audience repeats it. Everyone joins in on the refrain. As the song continues it gets a lot longer and a whole lot faster. By the end of the song there are only a few people who will usually be able to keep up. It is a song that does require some practice if you plan to lead it.

Here are the words to the refrain of the song:

Refrain:
Well, in the ground, there was a hole, The prettiest little hole, that you ever did see. Well, the hole’s in the ground and the green grass grew all around and around. And the green grass grew all around. (The refrain will get longer with each verse.)

I invite you and your son(s) to watch this video posting to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast and let me know if you were able to keep up with the singers. Learn it and use it during your next campfire program.

Please leave a comment here using the link below, at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Or drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have been performing a little skit/song called Star Trekking since the mid-eighties. (See blog post from August 2, 2006) It has been quite popular with most campfire audiences. In 1990 (wow, eighteen years ago) the troop performed this skit on a local television station station. This video was taped by one of the parents, luckily. Two and a half years ago I placed the video online at YouTube for the world to see. Since then, the video has received over 39,000 views, and averages somewhere around 50-60 views per day.

Well, it seems that several of this year’s Buckskin staff at Many Point Scout Camp has seen the video. Some more then once. One Friday, the last full day of camp, our camp commissioner visited our campsite and asked me if I was the one in the video that was on YouTube. I said I was and gave him a quick explanation how that all came about. He was grinning from ear to ear when he asked me to sign his cap, and then asked me if I would perform the skit with some of the camp’s staff during the Friday night closing campfire program. I agreed, but wondered when we would have time to practice. After all, the staff would be busy all day. He replied that I should meet them at the camp lodge at 9:00 that evening.

The campfire was scheduled to start at 9:30 pm. Not much time to practice.

I was at the lodge at 9:00, which was a one minute walk from our troop’s campsite. Only half of the staff that were to be a part of the skit were there. The rest showed up as they arrived from their program areas. Unfortunately, we did not really have much time to practice. In fact, all we had time to do was to choose who would play what roles, go over each person’s lines once, and practice the refrain. We did not even get to run through the song one time. This could be interesting, I thought to myself as I walked back to my campsite. Luckily, most of the participants had viewed the skit on YouTube and had a good idea how it was done.

I brought my camcorder along to the campfire program and was able to find another staff member to record the skit. When the time came, I left my seat in the audience to join the staff at the side. As we walked out to center stage I could not help but think of the possibility of the train wreck that was about to occur. After all, we really had not practiced together.

I did not have to worry. The staff came through with flying colors. And better yet, the hundreds of Scouts and adult leaders in the audience loved it. The cheering at the end of the skit was overwhelming. We had pulled it off, and pulled it off well.

Once I returned home from summer camp I had a problem with the camcorder. It began eating my tapes. One of the tapes it tried eating was the one that had the footage of Star Trekking. I had promised the staff that I would put this video online for them to see. I needed that footage. I bought a new camcorder, and luckily was able to retrieve the video from the campfire program. In fact, I should be able to get a few podcasts from the footage. Unfortunately, the footage is pretty dark since it was filmed after sunset.

So here is that video of Star Trekking, performed at the Many Point Scout Camp closing campfire program on July 18, 2008. This video is dedicated to the 2008 Buckskin camp staff, and to the camp’s Ranger Scott, who appears in that YouTube video.

Please leave a comment here using the link below, at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Or drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast throughiTunes.
or at http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 have had a lot of fun performing at campfires over the years. They have been doing it since attending summer camp at Crow Wing Scout Camp in 1981. Then in 1996, they began doing a yearly campfire-style show for the community that they call Laughs For Lunch.

The performances have really improved over the years. During that first summer camp in 1981 the troop sang a country music song called Running Bear. The only change the troop made to the song was to substitute camp staff names for Running Bear and Little White Dove. We did nothing very fancy, just stood in front of the campfire and sang the song for the campers, but the Scouts loved it. I think we embarrassed the male staffer we picked on though, although the female staffer thought it was funny.

The next year the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 wanted to do better. We rewrote the lyrics to The Battle of New Orleans, and created a song we called The Battle of Plenty Coup, named after our campsite at Crow Wing. Instead of a song about battling the British, our song was about battling the mosquitoes. The troop was invited to perform the song at the Friday night closing campfire. Imagine our surprise when we received a standing ovation! We were all grinning from ear to ear as we returned to our seats.

The performing bug had bit us! We were determined to sing again at the closing campfire the next year. We wrote the Battle of Plenty Coup, Part 2. This time we battled the staff instead of the bugs. Once again, it was a hit with that week’s campers.

During the following years we created more songs, and even developed a few skits. Our repotour began to grow. The troop began performing at camporees and other Scout gatherings. By the late 1980’s Troop 68 had become well know throughout the district and council.

Scouts and other leaders began asking us for the words to the songs we created, and the scripts to the skits. When I began forming the idea for a troop website I thought this would present a great way to share these songs and skits with other units. I posted them into two categories. The first was our troop’s original songs and skits. The second included our favorites that we had picked up over the years.

You can check out these songs and skits by going to our troop website at http://melrosetroop68.org/campfirestuff.html
We also have a lot of songs and skits videotaped that can be seen at our troop’s video site:
http://melrosetroop68.org/videos.html

So tell me, does your troop (or pack) like to perform songs or skits at meetings or campfire programs? What are their favorites?

The 2008 Laughs For Lunch Show is now part of history. Once again the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 did a great job of performing skits and songs before a live audience. Approximately 70 people attended the show, including family members, friends, and even Scouts and adult leaders from neighboring communities.

After our final practice Saturday afternoon, the troop gathered at my house for a supper of pizza and sodas before heading back to the school auditorium for the actual show. We even had enough free time to watch about fifteen minutes of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

While we were in my basement family room eating pizza, I told the boys that I had heard that a Hollywood talent agent, who happened to be in St. Cloud, had heard about our show and was planning to come to Melrose and watch it. Of course, most of the older boys did not believe me, but the younger ones were not sure if I was telling the truth or not. After a few minutes, I confessed that I was kidding.

As people arrived for the show, I noticed that the chairperson for this year’s Ripley Rendezvous, a council event held at the Camp Ripley National Guard Base in central Minnesota, had arrived to see the Scouts perform. She had emailed me earlier in the week to ask if the troop would be interested in doing a few skits and songs during the evening program at Ripley. I invited het to attend the show and see if this type of thing was what she was looking for.

So, in a way, a talent scout was sitting in our audience, just not from Hollywood. I did inform the Boy Scouts about our special guest before we started the show, but once the curtains opened I do not think they gave it another thought.

The Ripley chairperson came down to the stage after the show to chat with me. She was very pleased with the Scouts’ performance and would like them to be part of the Ripley program. I steered her to our senior patrol leader to discuss the matter with him. I am sure this will be a topic during our next patrol leader council meeting.

It has been a few years since Troop 68 has performed at a council or district event. We do participate in the closing campfire program at summer camp, but the Ripley Rendezvous will have a much larger audience, two to three times that of summer camp, and ten times the size of the Laughs For Lunch crowd.

Will the Boy Scouts be able to handle that? I know they can. A little more practice, along with a little more encouragement, and they will be able to perform for anyone. Even the president of the United States.

There is less then two weeks left to prepare for this year’s Laughs For Lunch Show, a community show put on by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68. (I have discovered that Scouts in some other countries call this type of show a “gang show”.) As the scoutmaster of the troop, I find myself in the position of producer and director.

As the producer I work with other people to arrange the facilities, make sure we have the props and gear needed, and get the word out to community. I write the releases for the local newspapers and cable television stations. I also arrange to have the show videotaped to be broadcast over one of the local stations.

My job as the director begins a month before the show when I meet with several Scouts to plan the show’s format. The boys will discuss dozens of songs and skits. Then they begin to narrow them down to the ones they think should be in this year’s production. Finally, they decide the actual agenda. My job is to keep them moving forward and on track, to answer questions they have, to explain new songs or skits, and get in one or two things I would like to see included. We plan the show similar to the way we plan our yearly program.

As the director, things can get pretty interesting during practices. I have to try to keep the Scouts focused, which is always a challenge with teenagers. I also help the boys understand what needs to be done during the skit. That means I may be on stage acting out a skit or singing a song with the Scouts. I sometimes think the Scouts find me amusing when I am acting out the various roles.

During the show I am backstage making sure the Scouts are ready to go out on stage when they need to. I will also find myself on stage introducing a skit or even performing with the boys. This year I will find myself on stage without the Scouts as I lead the audience in a wild version of the song Vista.

I always enjoy working with the Boy Scouts as we prepare for the show. It is challenging. It can be a little stressful. But overall, it is always fun.

Two practices are done, and there are only two more to go as the Boy Scouts prepare for this year’s Laughs For Lunch Show. I can not help but think that there are only eight Scouts this year to perform in a show that used to take over thirty Scouts to do.

For those of you who may be new to this blog, the Laughs For Lunch Show is an annual campfire-style show done for the community by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68. The boys perform various songs and skits during the ninety minute production. Many of the videos seen on the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast feature performances from these shows.

The show is open to the public. Family, friends, and families from surrounding troops and packs who are looking for an evening of live entertainment attend the show. People have traveled over one hundred miles to attend the shows. The troop does not charge anything, but we do ask that people bring an item for the local food shelf. Thus we provide the laughs, and the audience provides the lunch for the needy in our area.

I affectionately call this year’s show our “gross out” show. The Scouts have included skits and songs as “My Dead Dog Rover”, “God Bless My Underwear”, and the Ice Fisherman skit. Of course, they will be doing a few troop favorites like The Movie Skit and the Mad Scientist Skit. Nearly thirty songs and skits are part of this year’s program.

The troop uses its three January meeting to practice. The meetings are two hours long instead of the usual ninety minutes. The fourth and final practice takes place during the afternoon before the evening performance. Many of the skits only get practiced twice, and a couple will only get one quick run-through. I have been amazed each year that we can put together a show of this scale with only four practices. It proves how dedicated the Scouts are to this show.

Do we make mistakes during the show? Of course! Does it matter? Not usually. The best thing about doing campfire songs and skits is that you can usually work a mistake right into the skit. Adlibbing is part of the process. We do not take ourselves so seriously that we forget to have fun with the show.

As the scoutmaster I also serve as the producer and director of the show, but do not let that fool you. After the Scouts get comfortable with a skit they begin to change it, add to it, and make it their own. They are always trying new things. During the last practice the boys were constantly making each other break out laughing as they tried various adlibs. It is surprising how many of them will be finding their way into the show. One thing I like about our shows is how we combine pieces of various skits within other skits. For example, the Scouts will be using characters from the Bell ringer skit, the Mad Scientist skit, and the Group Jump skit during the Trip To Hell skit. I think it adds a nice continuity to the show.

We still have a lot of work to do during our remaining practices, but I am confident that the Scouts will do their best to once again entertain the audience when the curtains open on Saturday, January 26th.

The Black Forest is an original campfire horror story developed in the 1980’s by the members of Melrose Troop 68. It all began with a couple of the Boy Scouts writing a poem while on a camping trip. The poem described the deaths of four people, each death occurring in a different manner. It was a short poem, but one that served well as the foundation for the story of The Black Forest.

The story changes a little each time I tell it to the troop, but the basic plot remains the same. If I am tired and not really in the mood the story is quicker, shorter. On one of those nights when I am in a groove, then look out! New bits may be added to the storyline and the details become more graphic. The television of the mind can really go into overdrive during one of those evenings.

The story opens with George, the central character, when he receives a notice that a distant, nearly unknown relative has died and left him a cabin located deep in a remote wilderness area. George, his brother, and his parents decide to pack up, drive the couple hundred miles, and spend the weekend at the cabin that they have never been to before.

As they near the forest they drive into a huge thunderstorm. The downpour cuts the visibility as the father carefully drives the car through the thickening forest. The dirt road becomes so narrow and and overgrown with weeds that it appears to be nothing more then a wide animal trail.

As the family finally arrives at the cabin the rain is coming down so hard that the group almost expects to see an ark float by the ravine located about fifty yards away from the building. At least the nearly continuous lightning helps to light the way as they unload the car of supplies, although the thunder makes it difficult to carry on any sort of conversation.

Luckily, the four room cabin has electricity and light as the family begins to unpack the groceries, bedding, and clothing. The rooms consist of two small bedrooms, a small bathroom, and a larger great room which seems to take half of the cabin. Toward the end of the great room is a small kitchenette. It would be a cozy little getaway if the weather would cooperate.

Suddenly, lightning strikes a tree near the cabin. The thunder rattles the windows to nearly the breaking point. As the winds howls around the cottage, the family hears a tree crash to the ground. And the house goes dark as the electricity goes out.

As the story continues the members of the family leave the relative safety of the cabin, one by one. One by one, they disappear. Soon George finds himself alone in this dark cabin in the middle of the wilderness during a storm to end all storms. George finally makes a decision and….

Sorry to cut the story short, but you really did not expect me to write the whole thing in this blog, did you? But now that I have your attention I would like to take a moment to wish you a happy and safe Halloween!

Halloween is almost upon us. Soon there will be little spidermans, princesses, and a variety of monsters knocking on my door looking for whatever treat I decide to offer this year. Halloween is also the time for scary movies and stories. Like most Boy Scouts, the boys of Troop 68 love to hear a good horror or ghost story while sitting around the campfire. The story of the wolfen has been a troop favorite for nearly twenty years.

I began telling the Scouts about the wolfen soon after I read the novel by Whitley Streiber. I did not tell the tale like a typical campfire story. No, I told it more as a warning of a newly discovered creature that all campers need to be made aware of while camping in the wilderness. The story is usually told when new campers are attending the camping trip.

The story may begin with a warning about storing food in the tents overnight. I talk about the local animal pests, the skunks, raccoons, chipmunks, bears, and coyotes. Then I begin the description of a new animal that has been discovered within the last few years. When I notice the Scout’s flame-lit faces watching my every move then I know they will be listening to every word.

I tell the campers that at first appearance this creature looks like a large wolf. But if you get close enough to get a good look at its face, and hopefully you never will get that close, you will discover one of the ugliest animal faces that you will ever see. It will be a face to haunt your dreams for years to come.

I explain that this creature is as fast as a cheetah, can track scents better then a bloodhound, has acute hearing that rivals any other animal, and can see heat radiation, thus being able to see in the dark of dark. Instead of paws simular to a dog or wolf, this creature has longer digits that end in razor sharp claws. The powerful jaws latches onto its prey’s throat so quickly, and the claws kill so rapidly, that the scream of its prey is literally torn from its throat. This creature is nature’s best killing machine. (Of course, sitting around the campfire I will go into more detail then I will as I write this article.)

The most important and dangerous characteristic of this creature is its ability to to think and rationalize. It is intelligent. It can and does learn. It has a form of communication through which it can “speak” with others from its pack. It has been theorized that this creature know as the wolfen is the basis for the legend of the werewolf.

Of course, after I tell the campers about all these abilities of the wolfen, I end by telling them the most important thing of all, the one thing that will protect them as they go to bed, the one thing that will keep them from being attacked this night or any other. That is that they must realize that the wolfen is… a fictional story. They do not exist. They are not real. They are creatures from a fictional novel.

At least, I do not think they are real. I hope they are not real. (Insert nervous laughter and the howl of a distant wolf.)