A Scoutmaster's Blog

I just have to share this quote with you… “A scout troop consists of twelve little kids dressed like schmucks following a big schmuck dressed like a kid.”

Jack Benny, a famous American comedian from radio and early television, said this. I came across this quote the other day when I was browsing the internet. I bet I laughed for the next five minutes after reading this. It is amazing that even though he died in 1974 he can still make me laugh.

So the question is, are Boy Scouts schmucks? I would say that would depend on your definition of the word. It is a word you do not hear used very often anymore. Are adult leaders schmucks? I cannot speak for everyone but I know there are times when I have certainly felt like one. (See “Lessons in Stupidity”.)

I think the thing about this quote that really struck my funny bone was the reference to adults dressing like kids. That may be true, in a way. Or is it the kids dressing like adults? Either way, I know that being a Scout leader helps to keep the kid in me alive and well. And yes, maybe the schmuck also.

It is hard to believe but a small milestone has been reached. This entry to “A Scoutmaster’s Blog” is the 100th time I have sat down at the computer to post something for my thirteen loyal readers to read. (Actually, I do not have a good idea how many people read this, but I know it is not in the thousands.)

While I do not know how many people read these ramblings that I post online, I do know of a few statistics that I am willing to share with you. First, and I find this interesting, is that the blog now receives more hits per month than the home page of the troop’s website. For example, last month, May, the site’s home page received 1515 hits while the blog received 1999 hits. This month the blog is also ahead in the number of hits. Is this impressive? I have no idea. I do not know what other troop sites received in number of hits.

I understand that this site is very much a niche site. The only people who visit the site are probably involved in Scouting as an adult leader, or are a Scout them self. This site does not include controversial issues of the day so people are not brought to the site looking for those type of articles. But that is okay. This site is about Scouting, and more importantly, about my Scouting experiences.

During the last year and a half that I have been writing this blog there have been a few changes. The first is the layout of the page. I have experimented with a couple looks and finally deceided on this one. I think it is easy to read and easy on the eyes. I also started hosting this site within our troop’s site, instead of leaving it hosted by Blogger. I did this to keep people on the troop’s site as long as possible. I did have to give up some features that are found in a blog that Blogger hosts, but that is a price I was willing to pay.

One of the biggest “changes” to the blog was the inclusion of video podcasts. I have had several people write me about how they could get some of the videos I have posted on our troop’s site and YouTube. I thought a video podcast would be a great way to make these videos readily available. I have to thank Mr. Bob of Akela’s Adventure podcast for giving me a hand getting things up and running, and helping to get Melrose Scouting Productions listed on iTunes.

I have no immediate plans to change anything about the way I write this blog during the next hundred entries. I will continue to write about my Scouting experiences, add more podcasts as they become available, and let you know about interesting Scouting-related articles I find on the web. If you have a suggestion or two about subjects you would like to see covered here then leave a comment or drop me a email. It would be great to hear from you.

I found an interesting blog post by Gene Kinsey called Living the Grand Life. A recent entry was about a book titled, The Dangerous Book for Boys. I have seen this book in the stores, even picked it up and looked at it. It was quite interesting.

Gene writes in his blog, “I think our experiment in changing the nature of boys hasn’t worked too well. Boys need a little danger. They need to learn to build a fire even if they sustain a little burn. They need to learn how to use a knife and an ax, even if they cut themselves.” and “they need to learn it in a context of responsibility.”

How true that is. I have seen how our current society in this country has been trying to change boys into (shall I dare say it?) a bunch of sissy girls. Boys are not allowed to be boys any more. Boys need to have a little danger in their lives.

Scouting provides an outlet for boys to try building fires, play with a pocket knife, and climb cliffs in a fairly safe environment. Yes, Scouts get nicked, get bruised, and sometimes even get hurt. But in Scouting we try to teach boys how to take risks responsibly, and we try to teach them to be safe, honorable, and dutiful.

Oh yeah, we also teach them basic first aid skills.

There have been sixteen members of Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 that have attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Each Eagle court of honor has been different, with each Eagle Scout planning the ceremony to his own liking. Some ceremonies have been simple, others have been quite elaborate. But none were quite like the latest one held last month.

Chris, our troop’s sixteenth Eagle, but the town’s seventeenth, scheduled his Eagle court of honor for Sunday, May 20, at the Melrose City Park pavilion. When I awoke that morning I noticed that it was not looking very nice outdoors. A quick check on the internet told me the forecast for the day included cool temperatures, wind, and a chance of rain. It did not sound like good weather for an outdoor court of honor.

The park pavilion has the kitchen and bathrooms located on its north end. The west side has a four foot high wall with roll up curtains above. The south and east sides have no walls and are open to the park. When I thought of the day’s weather and the openness of the shelter I was a little concerned so I called Chris’ home to ask about a plan B. I discovered there was not a plan B. I decided to dress warm.

The court of honor was the coldest and windiest one I had ever attended. I do not think the temperature ever made it into the sixties. The easterly wind chilled us even more as it blew through the pavilion. The clouds threatened rain but luckily did not live up to its thunder. Toward the end of the ceremony I did find myself shivering. But you know, the weather is not the thing I will remember the most about this day.

The most memorable thing about Chris’ Eagle court of honor was the upbeat attitude of everyone involved, and the jolly atmosphere of everyone in attendance. To put it simply, we had fun. It was one of the most humorous court of honors I have ever attended. Oh, it was solemn when it needed to be, but there were plenty of giggles along the way. This court of honor became a great example of how we can take a situation that is not ideal and turn it into something fun and memorable.

So you want to have a great campfire program, huh? Well, you have to have a great opening song, something to get the Boy Scouts fired up, something with a lot of energy. You need a song like the Many Point Scout Camp Rouser Song!

The MPSC Rouser Song is this week’s Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (MSPP) video. The staff begins each week’s Sunday night opening campfire with this song which sets the tone for the rest of the evening. It is fast. It is loud. It is energetic. It is rowdy. It is everything a good opening campfire song should be.

This video was taped at MPSC in July of 2006. You can tell that the staff is hyper and ready to have some fun. In four weeks the Scouts from Troop 68 will be attending MPSC again. It will be time once again to join the camp staff in being as loud as we can possibly be!

Download Podcast
Watch Video on the troop’s website.
Subscribe through iTunes.

I have been fortunate. During my twenty five plus years as a scoutmaster I have had the privilege of seeing sixteen of my Boy Scouts attain the rank of Eagle Scout. It is always fun, and a little work, to sit down with them after they have completed all their requirements and fill out the Eagle Scout Application. Looking back on all those merit badges, terms of leadership, and dates of board of reviews always bring back memories for the two of us to talk about. We are careful to get all the dates right and all the information correct as the Eagle Scout candidate fills out a rough form.

There have been a couple times over the years in which the council has contacted me about merit badges listed on the application. They do not always have a record of them. They should have a record. After all, I can not get a merit badge to present at a court of honor unless I send the council an advancement form listing all the merit badges. I guess someone at the council missed recording it. Luckily, I have kept all the signed blue merit badge application cards. I make a copy of it (or scan it these days) and send the copy to the council. Problem solved.

In a recent blog BuffaloEagle from the Lone Star Scouter Blog wrote about the ten most commons reasons that Eagle Scout applications are rejected, as listed by the national office. I found it to be pretty interesting. Almost all of them deal with paper work and dates. I thought it would be great to post them here in this blog for my readers to see also. So, here they are. If reprinting this list saves one candidate trouble in the future it was worth posting it.

• No Council Number on Application. This requires the application to be removed from the daily work stack and placed in a special file until time is allotted to perform council lookups.
• Signatures Missing. This requires the rejected application to be mailed back to council. This oversight will cause a delay of at least four weeks because the postal service will be used.
• No Boy Scout joining date or wrong date. Failure to indicate Boy Scout joining date requires us to reject the application to request the proper date. This is because all requirements must be met after a boy joins Scouting.
• No Board of Review Date. We must have a board of review date to ensure all requirements were completed prior to the board of review. This date is also necessary since it is printed on the Eagle Scout credentials.
• Duplicate Merit Badges on application. A total of 21 separate merit badges must be earned. Any application that requires a correction to merit badges that are listed twice on the application will be rejected.
• Explanation for delay in board of review not furnished. We will ask for a letter when this time frame as described on the application is not met.
• Proper badges are not indicated in merit badge numbers 6 and 9.
• If six months leadership between Life Scout and Board of Review does not indicate sufficient time, we must return for correction.
• Valid leadership position between Life Scout and Board of Review. The only valid leadership positions are those listed on the 2000 printing of the Eagle Scout Rank Application. if it is not listed on the 2000 printing, it is not a valid leadership position. (NOTE: WE RECEIVE A LOT OF APPLICATIONS FOR ASSISTANT PATROL LEADERS).
• New Eagle Scout Rank Requirements (as of 1 April 1999) have not been met. Scouts having completed any Eagle Scout rank requirements after 1 April 1999, must earn the Personal Fitness merit badge and Cycling, or Hiking or Swimming merit badges. We must reject the application if it does not meet this new requirement.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 have had an interesting and fun time during their troop meetings in May. The theme was cooking, and a special guest paid them a visit during the last meeting of the month.

The Scouts experienced new ways to prepare food during May. The guys kept busy during the first meeting trying to cook a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hash browns in a paper bag, and then trying to cook an omelet in a plastic bag placed in boiling water. During the second meeting they made tin foil dinners using carrots, potatoes, hamburger, and chicken patties. Deserts were the subject of the third meeting as the Scouts made apple cobbler and fritters.

Lance Stueve, race car driver at the local I-94 Raceway, brought his car to the troop’s May 21st meeting. As the boys stood around his race car Mr. Stueve discussed what it is like to be a racer, the fuel used, and the car itself. The Scouts were then given the opportunity to sit behind the wheel for a photo. The visit ended with each of the boys receiving a photograph and wrist band from Mr. Stueve and his son.

The troop would like to thank Lance Stueve for taking the time to visit with the Scouts. A video of the visit can be seen on YouTube and the troop’s website at http://melrosetroop68.org/videos.html

Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, loves to talk to Scouts about the Scout Oath and Law. In this video he talks about being physically strong, one of the Scout Oath’s duties to self. When he does some pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups he discovers it is not very easy to stay in shape.

This was the third time filming Buttons in his series of films. And in some ways it was one of the toughest. The pull-ups and push-ups were pretty easy to film, but the sit-ups presented a challage to film since nearly the whole body of Buttons was in view. I do not have the budget of the Muppets, or maybe I should say I do not have a budget at all, so I do not have access to all the special made sets available to those puppeteers. I have to discover the best way to film the puppet without being seen myself. I think things have been working out pretty well so far.

This video happens to be my favorite film of Buttons that has been done so far. I like the way he really seems to be alive and shows the “pain” of staying physically strong. I hope you have as much fun watching it as I did making it.

Watch it on the troop’s website here, or download the podcast here.