A Scoutmaster's Blog

The Naguonabe Lodge of the Central Minnesota Council began handing out patches to its members that are attending the 2015 National Order of the Arrow Conclave during this weekend’s spring conclave. Once again, it will be a two patch set, but unlike previous year’s these patches do not match into each other and do not feature Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox. But that is okay. After all, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Order of the Arrow so something different needed to be done.

The pocket flap patch is our lodge’s official patch to recognize the anniversary. The pocket patch is for the NOAC event and seems to feature a wolf spirit watching over the campsites. I like the colors used on the pocket patch. The picture is of the trading patches. The participant patches have a different color border on each of them.

I was able to receive two sets of the trading patches for my collection thanks to a Scouting friend of mine. I had to work this weekend so I was not able to attend the conclave. If they have any sets after the conclave I plan to get a few more sets. I would like to add a set of the participant patches to my collection, but since I will not be attending I do not think I will be able to do that.

What do your lodge’s patches for the the 2015 NOAC look like?

Today is the day! Today marks the one millionth camper at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. That is a lot of Scouts! To commemorate this milestone a new patch has gone on sale at the Tooth Of Time Traders website. What do you think of this patch?

I wanted to buy this patch last month when I was at the Philmont Training Center but they were not selling them yet. The Philmont decision makers decided to wait until this date to release the patch for sale. I did get to see the patch while I was there. They had already given them out to the staff members and one of them showed me his patch as we hiked one afternoon to see the T-Rex footprint. I will admit I was a little envious, but I got over it.

Bob and I will now have to go to the website to place our order, which can be found at the Tooth of Time Traders site listed below.  http://www.toothoftimetraders.com/2014-Adventure-Patch/PABAADJPFCJOEKNF/Product .

Do you plan to buy this patch and add it to your collection?

I am not really sure why I started doing it. Maybe it was to keep a kind of online journal. Maybe it was to see if anyone would be interested to read what I had to share. I did know I did not want to write about how a Scouting leader should be trained or how an adult could be an effective leader. There were already blogs about that subject. I just wanted to share my thoughts and experiences.

My first post to “A Scoutmaster’s Blog” appeared on May 18, 2006, eight years ago! Blogging was just starting to gain in popularity. There were not many blogs about Boy Scouting at that time. I wanted to keep mine fun and, hopefully, entertaining. There have been a few changes over the years. I switched from Blogger to WordPress, which has worked out well. Two podcasts became a part of the blog. I have even had a few guests writers.

One of the biggest changes was when I stepped down as the scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 68 at the end of 2011. I gave a lot of thought to changing the name of this blog but finally decided to leave it alone. Some of the names I had thought about changing to were already taken by others. Besides, I will still be writing from a scoutmaster perspective. It is hard not to after holding that role for over 30 years.

I am still very active with Troop 68. That means I will still have things to write about. Hopefully, you will continue to find these posts fun and entertaining, and maybe even gain a bit of knowledge or two. Who know, maybe there will be a tenth anniversary of “A Scoutmaster’s Blog”. That is not that far away anymore.

If case you do not know it yet, today, May 4th, is Star Wars day. That means it is time to say, May the fourth be with you! Yes, it is a bit of a silly pun, but it is a fun silly pun. The folks at Boys Life Magazine have decided to have a spot of fun with Star Wars day by creating their own poster to celebrate the new holiday. What is your favorite part of the design? Is it Pedro the burro as Luke Skywalker? Or could it be Pee Wee and Westly as the two droids? How about the Death Star depicted as a glazed donut? I do not think I would care for the alfalfa shake, even with the cherry on top.

In my last post I wrote about the four displays that Troop 68 set up around town for this year’s Scouting Anniversary week. I have collected quite a bit of Scouting related stuff during the past 33 years so it is not very hard finding items and photos to fill four displays. In fact, I could probably do a couple more if we had more places to set them up.

All this got me thinking about how many years I have been setting up displays in town, so I opened the old photo books and did a little looking back. I discovered that our Scouting display was set up in February 1985 at the Melrose State Bank. It was a project done by Cubmaster Joe Timmins and myself who was the scoutmaster. It was a fairly large setup. It contained Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting memorabilia, enough to fill two small tables. We also included a tent and some camping gear. You were not going to miss this display when you entered the bank lobby.

I scanned some of the photos of this first display so I could share them with you. Our current displays are a little different these days (as you can see from my last post) and do not include any tents. The lobbies of the current establishments are not big enough to set up a campsite.

It is that time of year to once again celebrate another anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. It has been 104 years since William D. Boyce was granted a charter by the Congress of the United States of America to begin this great institution. Just think about the millions of boys who have participated in Scouting, all the fun they have had, the skills they have learned, and the service they have done for their communities. It practically boggles the mind!

Boy Scout Troop 68 of Melrose, Minnesota, has been going strong since December 1979. During those 34 years the troop has sent hundreds of boys to summer camp, seen dozens of young men attend high adventure bases, and has had 22 Scouts earn the program’s highest award, the Eagle Scout Rank. There is a lot of history in this troop.

Troop 68 has a portion of this history on exhibition this month to celebrate Scouting’s anniversary. Four displays have been set up around town, each with a different theme. The displays contain old books and handbooks, framed photos and photo albums, patches, toys, coffee mugs, and other memorabilia.

The theme of the display at the Central Minnesota Credit Union is “troop activities”. At the US Bank you will discover the troop’s trips to high adventure bases. Visitors to the Melrose City Hall will learn a little about the history of the B.S.A.  At the local branch of the Freeport State Bank people will see photos of each of the Eagle Scouts since 1979.

The displays were set up on Friday, January 31st, and will be on exhibit for 2 weeks.

Does your troop or pack have the opportunity to do something like this in your community? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

It is that time of year again. Next week the Boy Scouts of America will celebrate its birthday. For 104 years boys and young men have enjoyed participating it the exciting program Scouting offers. I was one of those boys in the 1970’s. I enjoyed the program so much that when I was 19 years old I rejoined my hometown troop as an assistant scoutmaster. Shortly after I reached the age of 21 the troop committee appointed me as the scoutmaster, a position I held for over 30 years. I currently serve as a committee member.

Our local weekly newspaper, the Melrose Beacon, has been a great supporter of Scouting for over 30 years. They have printed hundreds of articles I have submitted, along with hundreds of photos of the Scouts enjoying their program. They have recognized nearly every Eagle Scout of Troop 68 with his own article.

In today’s issue of the Melrose Beacon there is a two page spread recognizing Scouting in our community. Five photos are included of the Boy Scout having fun on outings and doing service in the community. I think the editors did a great job putting this together. (Click on the picture to see a larger version.)

The troop would like to thanks the Melrose Beacon for once again recognizing Boy Scout Troop 68 during Scouting Anniversary Week. We would also like to thank the sponsors of the spread: the Melrose VFW Club, Midwest Dental, Kraemer Lumber Co., Spaeth Sodding and Landscaping, Coborn’s Grocery, Freeport State Bank, Heartland Security, and Hennen Lumber Co.

Has your local newspaper done anything like this?

It is only five more weeks until Boy Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs around the country celebrate B.S.A. Scout Anniversary Week. Local units will be setting up displays in their communities to promote their Scout programs. We will probably be doing the same here in Melrose. We have four businesses in town that allow us to set up displays. Soon it will be time to plan what will be on the tables in each establishment. (Check out our 2012 displays at http://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/?p=2892 )

If you have been following this blog you know that I completed my first Scouting patch blanket a month or so ago. It took several months for me to finish it but I think it turned out well. I plan to use that blanket as a part of one of the displays this coming year. I think it will attract a fair amount of attention.

I have now been working on the second blanket. This new blanket will hopefully display the rest of my patches (from 1996 to present day). I am also hoping their will be some room left over to apply future patches. At least a couple years worth. I think it will, but I will not be sure until I add a few more rows. If not, well, I guess I may have to start a third blanket.

Back to Scouting anniversary week. I really would like to be able to display both blankets, but that means I will not be able to take several months to complete the new one. In fact, I cannot even take several weeks. I have five weeks left. I guess I will not be able to drag my feet this time. I finished the third row tonight, and laid out the patches for the fourth row. As you can see, this will bring me to the year 2001. I guess you could say I have 14 years worth of patches to apply in a one month period. Lucky for me there are not as many patches in this 14 period as there was in the previous 14 years.