A Scoutmaster's Blog

I have heard it said many times over the years that anyone who is a scoutmaster (or cubmaster) must be a little crazy. Well, I do not know if crazy is the right word to use but I will admit that a Scout leader must have a lot of patience, must be able to still find the kid within yourself, and must have a good sense of humor. The sense of humor is a necessity. You must be able to laugh and have fun with the boys, and sometimes the summer camp staff.

During the weekly closing campfire at Many Point Scout Camp the staff asks the scoutmasters to come down to the stage. The staff thanks the scoutmasters, and the other adult leaders they represent, for taking the time to spend with the boys at camp. They then present the scoutmasters with a gift. Of course, this happens after they get the scout leaders to perform a song in front of all the Boy Scouts in attendance. You can bet the song will be silly and will be enjoyed by all the boys. Participating in this song is a great test of a scoutmaster’s sense of humor.

This video podcast demonstrates the humor of several scoutmasters during the closing campfire at Many Point Scout Camp in July, 2006. My Scouts thought I would erase this footage since I am one of the scout leaders in the video. However, I have often stated that if you can not laugh at yourself, then you should not be laughing at others. So, sit back, relax, and watch the MPSC staff and the week’s scout leaders “Go Bananas”.

I found this on one of the Scouting groups I belong to. It was too good to keep to myself so I wanted to share this with all of you. It is great to see other Scouters with a sense of humor. Thank you to Michael Conkey (who has a daughter who is dating an Eagle Scout) for posting this:

Dad’s Dating Rules for Scout Daughters

1. You may only date Boy Scouts that have achieved Eagle Scout rank.

2. You and your date must wear your scout uniforms at all times during the date.

3. If someone pulls into the driveway and honks, it better be UPS and not your date, as he will not be picking you up if he does so.

4. All activities on a date must count towards badge work, be acceptable under the Scout Law.

5. The only food on the date will be Girl Scout Cookies or Scout Popcorn and your date must agree to purchase a minimum of one case.

6. At least 2 members of your troop/crew or your leader must accompany you on a date as a chaperon.

7. There will be no Friendship squeezes, and the only thing you will do with your hands is give the scout hand sign and handclasp.

8. The only music you will listen to will be scout campfire songs.

9. The word “s’more” will not be spoken on the date.

10. You may only swap “Something with A Pin or a Patch”

11. On your honor you will only go to a nursing home, church or homeless shelter to perform service on your date.

12. As a Scoutmaster I can tie 100 kinds of knots, build a roaring fire that can consume anything, and dig a latrine at least 6 feet deep. I can hike 20 miles in a driving rain with a 75 pound backpack. I am very familiar with knives and guns. Please be home even earlier than you promise and don’t test my resolve to “Be Prepared” to protect my daughter.

I decided to upload two videos to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast this weekend, after all, it is raining outside so I can not go for a bike ride. Both videos feature your favorite Scouting puppet, Buttons, the radical Boy Scout. The first shows Buttons reciting the Scout Law, the second features him talking about the Scout Motto, Be Prepared.

The video featuring the Scout Law is actually the very first video made with Buttons. (Click HERE to watch it.) It was an experiment that went fairly well. I posted it on Youtube and actually received a few positive emails about it. So I made other videos with the puppet.

The video that features Buttons talking about the Scout Motto was probably the fourth or fifth video made with the radical Boy Scout. (Click HERE to watch it.) I thought it might be interesting to hear Buttons point of view on what it means to really Be Prepared.

There are more videos of Buttons waiting for their turn to be placed on this podcast, along with a few ideas for more videos of the radical Scout. Stay tuned to see them all. Or, if you can not wait, check them out at the troop’s website.

I do not think there are many people out there who can say they have been a Boy Scout leader for 27 years. I think I heard somewhere that the average tenure of a Scout leader is only about three or four years. I do not know if that is accurate or not, but I think I can safely say that I have a tenure longer then ninety percent of the Scouts leaders nationally.

Those years have included some excellent memories and great activities. I have made friends with some wonderful boys and their families. Some of those friendships are still going strong after twenty years.

I will not lie though. There have been some awful times during the last three decades. There have been times when I wanted to quit, tried to quit. Times that I have felt totally inadequate. Times that I have felt as if I was the only one in the world who cared. Times when I felt the troop would be better off with someone else as the scoutmaster.

Whenever I felt that way I would take a night to sleep on it. Usually, things would look better in the morning. Sometimes it would take two nights. I think once it took a week. Somehow, things always seemed to get better.

Anyone who has been a scoutmaster can tell you about the unique challenges that come with the job. Most scoutmasters are married and have a spouse to talk with about those very challenging moments. I am single. I do not have that option. It can be really tough having no one to talk to when things get overwhelming. Sometimes I wish I was the superman, the man of steel, the man who can solve all the world’s problems, or at least the troop’s problems. Well, I am not a superman. I am just a guy who happens to be the scoutmaster of a small town Boy Scout troop.

In my basement rec room there is a wall on which hangs the awards presented to me over the years. They include the District Scouter of the Year, the District Award of Merit, the Scoutmaster Award of Merit, and the Silver Beaver Award. I will admit, the wall looks impressive. Are these awards the reasons I have stayed involved with Scouting for so long? No, they are not. They are simply the icing on the cake.

The reason I have stayed on as a leader of Troop 68 is, simply, the boys. Yes, they can be very trying on my nerves at times, and yes, my patience is not the same as it once was. However, I really do enjoy working with them. They help to keep me young at heart. They teach me things as I try to teach them a few skills and pass on a few words of wisdom. I would like to think that the few years that I spend with them will somehow help them to be better citizens in some small way.

So yeah, the reason I am still in Scouting is the kids, the friendships, and the good times. It has been a great adventure, these last twenty seven years. I just might have to stick around for a few more.

Three members of Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 attended the Naguonabe Lodge Spring Conclave at Parker Scout Reservation in May of 2006. I was along for the ride to provide moral support, transportation, and to capture the weekend in photos. The three newly elected candidates did very well during the weekend, working hard, and passing the “tests”. The ate well at the Saturday night feast and met many fellow Order of the Arrow members. All in all, it was a great weekend.

Once I arrived back home I did what I do so well. I downloaded the pictures from my camera to the computer. Turns out I had taken quite a few during the weekend. During the next few days I thought about turning the pictures into a slide show but could not quite decide on what music to use. I finally decided to use a song from Steve McDonald’s Sons of Somerled album called Celtic Warrior. It was a great fit.

The video has been on Youtube since October, 2006. It has received nearly 1800 views since then, mostly by Order of the Arrow members, I believe. It has also created a small controversy which is something I did not expect. Because there are a few pictures from the ordeal ceremony several OA members from around the country thought I should remove the video from Youtube. Other members claimed that nothing was given away by the pictures unless you knew what happened during the ceremony. I agreed with the later comment and left the video on Youtube. Besides, most of the secrecy about the OA is no longer a secret.

Well, this video is the next installment on the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. You can view the video here. Watch it, and see which side of the camp you fall on.

**Warning – Rant Alert**
I began writing a monthly newsletter for the troop soon after becoming the scoutmaster. In those early days it was literally a “cut and paste” method to create the newsletter. You see, those were the days before home computers. I would type the articles using a typewriter, cut them out, and then tape them to a blank sheet of paper with some pictures or graphics. The look of the newsletter changed dramatically once I bought a home computer in the late 1980’s.

I began writing a newsletter for one simple reason – the information given to the Boy Scouts during the troop meetings was not making it home to the parents. You could say the newsletter was a way to keep parents informed more then the boys. The newsletter would usually take two to three evenings to write, organize, print, and mail. The look of it changed over the years as computer programs changed, allowing for bigger and better things to be done.

During the last three decades I have had to deal with newsletters “lost in the mail”, families losing their mailings, Scouts who would grab it before their parents see it and hide it in their rooms, and other problems. But the one thing that irritated me the most was when parents and Scouts admitted they did not read it. After all the work I did to create a newsletter I discovered that for some people it was not even worth the time to read.

So, in 2005, writing and printing the newsletter became a low priority on my schedule. In 2006, I pretty much quit writing them. Why should I if no one reads them? After 25 years I finally decided that if this troop wants a newsletter then a parent, or even the troop scribe, could start writing them. Besides that, I was tired of doing them.

Well, the troop has gone for one year without a newsletter. No one, parent or Boy Scout, has stepped forward to write one. The troop has fallen back to having parents in the dark about troop functions. It looks like if there is to be a newsletter I will have to write it, even though I really do not care to do it. I did break down the other night and put a newsletter together. The troop has several important functions coming up that the parents need to have information about.

Should the scoutmaster be in charge of creating the troop’s newsletter? As a scoutmaster myself, I would answer, “No!” The scoutmaster does need to assist in the preparation of it but he should not be expected to do it all. He already has enough to do between troop meetings, troop functions and outings, training sessions, and district events. I understand the parents and Scouts are also busy, but a troop works best when the work load is spread around to several people. When a scoutmaster is expected to do most everything you will end up looking for a new scoutmaster when he burns out from doing too much.

I ask you, is it easier to assist a current scoutmaster then it is too find a new one? Is it important for parents and Scouts to know all the information needed to carry out a successful program?

In the mid-1980’s Troop 68 began camping on 40 acres of private land north of Melrose. After a couple years the owners of the property allowed the troop to start developing campsites near a pond on the south end of the land. The campsite soon received the name Camp Watchamagumee, a name made up by one of the Scouts in the troop.

In 1987, the troop was still working on various parts of the camp. A council-style campfire ring had been started, three campsites had been cleared, and the adult’s site had been created on top of a hill overlooking the camping area. The adult’s site was named Bunker hill because the older Scouts and former troop members had built a small “bunker” there that contained a homemade bunk bed. (That bunker only lasted for a couple of years, but the hill has retained that name. It is still the adult leader’s site.)

If you have seen the camp food fight video on Youtube or the troop’s website then you are already familiar with this weekend. With this video, which is an exclusive to this website and podcast, you get to meet many of the Scouts who attended that weekend and discover what they think about Scouting. It is a great video of boys enjoying Scouting.

This video was edited from an old VHS tape which contained a show called “Silly Troop Tracks” that was aired on Mel-TV3, the local television access station. I wish it was better quality but it is what it is and there is nothing I can do about it. So, sit back, download it, and enjoy the video.

This podcast is brought to you from Many Point Scout Camp. During Troop 68’s stay at camp in July, 2006, we were treated to a great campfire program by the Buckskin staff. During the program the staff paid this tribute to the largest American legend of all time, Paul Bunyan. You can tell the staff had a lot of enthusiasm and were having a lot of fun. (Unfortunately, I do not know the names of all the staff members who were a part of this ski/song.) So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

http://melrosetroop68.org/QTmov/MPSCPaulBunyan.m4v