A Scoutmaster's Blog

Today’s adult Boy Scout leaders are well aware of the BSA’s “two deep leadership” rule. It states that a troop function must have at least two responsible adults in attendance. At least one of these adults must have attended “Youth Protection Training”. One part of Youth Protection states that an adult must not share a tent with a Scout unless that Scout is his own son.

Overall, the Youth Protection guidelines are excellent rules to follow, and unfortunately are needed in today’s (can you say “twisted”?) society. It was not always this way. In fact, two deep leadership did not become the rule until the late 1980’s.

I remember the first several years I was the scoutmaster back in the early and mid eighties. There were several occasions when I was the only adult leader on a troop activity. In fact, in 1986, I was the only adult adviser of our troop’s Philmont crew. I shared a tent with one of the Scouts, as did many adult leaders. Adults and Scouts used the same shower facilities. At the same time. And you know what? No one thought it was wrong! It was normal.

Then the winds of change began to blow. As my troop began to make plans to attend Philmont in 1989, we discovered some of the rules had changed. Two adults would needed with each and every crew. My first reaction to the new policy was “They have got to be out of their mind! Where are we going to find a second adult to attend when we have enough trouble finding adults for our troop’s weekend outings?” Then I thought, “Am I not good enough to take the Scouts on outings on my own? Have I not proved myself capable? Am I not trustworthy?”

Yeah, I know, it was stupid to think that and take it personal. Once I sat down and actually thought about this new two deep leadership policy I began to realize this was a smart move by the BSA. I began to think, “What would happen if I was the only adult and something happened to me. What would happen to the boys?” And then I thought about the lawsuits involving a couple scoutmasters who were not trustworthy and had taken advantage of boys in their troop. Yes, I began to agree more and more with the wisdom of two deep leadership.

It is nearly twenty years since that first trip to Philmont. Troop 68 follows the two deep leadership rule for its outings. And yes, there have been times were we have had to cancel an outing or activity because we did not have two adults who could attend. The rules can sometimes be a pain in the neck, but I have come to appreciate them. These policies were created not only to protect the boys, but also the adult leaders. I think they have worked out well.

There are times when I look back to those early days and think that it is a shame that society has changed so much that we have had to add these policies. I hate to say it (because it makes me sound old) but I almost long for the “good old days”. Those days seemed to be so much more innocent and carefree then they are now, or is that only the way an “old” scoutmaster remembers them?

What is the main reason that boys join Scouting? Is it to earn advancement? Probably not. Is it to learn how to tie knots? I doubt it. Do they join to learn to skills? Maybe, but I do not think that is the real reason. Do they join Scouting to have fun? Bingo! Give the man a cigar.

Boy Scouts like to have a good time, even more then adults do. When they are with their friends they can sometimes get downright silly. That is what happened on fall camping trip in 2003. While sitting around the Saturday night campfire a few members from the Hawks Patrol thought it would be funny to sign the “Song That Never Ends”. And it didn’t. For nearly twenty minutes they kept signing the song, with other Scouts joining in as the minutes added up.

A Scout had a “great” idea. Wouldn’t this be a great joke/song to sign during the troop’s annual Laughs for Lunch Show? The audience would not know what to think. I know what they audience would think, I thought to myself. They will think the Scouts have gone mad.

When the time came to plan the show’s agenda a few months later I thought that maybe they would forget about this song that never ends. They did not. In fact, they decided to open the show with the song. A few Scouts wanted to sign it for fifteen minutes, like they did around the campfire. I vetoed that idea, however, we came up with a plan to sign it for a few minutes and then remove the Scouts one by one from the stage, to give the impression that the song was going to end. By force.

Today’s addition to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is the video of that song performance. I thought it went pretty well, and that the Scouts did a great job with it. It is a great example of how Scouts can be silly, have a good time, and share that good time with other people. What silly thing has your troop done lately?

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or Watch the Video on the troop’s website.
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Twas the day of the party
for the Scouts of the troop.
Time for films, pop, and goodies,
and pizza (but not soup.)

One by one they arrived at
the scoutmaster’s door.
They took off both their shoes
then sat on the floor.

The decision of which movie
to watch must be made.
It’s a film about pirates for
which the scoutmaster paid.

The lights where turned off and
the Scouts settled down,
and the movie began in
full digital sound.

Ninety minutes later
the movie was paused
for the pizza had arrived
to the shouts of “huzzah!”
(The Scouts did not really shout that
but I needed something that rhymed.)

Then the Scouts formed a circle
on the living room floor.
Time for the gift exchange!
This was not time to snore.

The die were passed and rolled for
fifteen long minutes.
Each Scout wanted that one gift,
but could he roll right to win it?

There was candies and cookies,
a skateboard, and games.
There was not a bad gift so
there was no one to blame.

Soon the gifts were exchanged,
all the presents unwrapped,
and the movie was finished.
It was time for a nap.

The Scouts picked up their gifts and
zipped their jackets up tight
wishing “Merry Christmas to all,
and to all a good night.”

How many of your troop members know the Outdoor Code? How many of you adult troop leaders know it by memory? I think the Outdoor Code is an important part of Scouting that sometimes get overlooked.

As an American, I will do my best to be clean in my outdoor manners, to be careful with fire, to be considerate in the outdoors, and to be conservation minded.

The four c’s of the Outdoor code are great guides for camping anywhere, whether you are in a campground or
a back country wilderness area. Scouting is about keeping our country and campgrounds clean from trash and graffiti. Campfire safety is a priority. Scouts should be considerate of not only other campers but also the wildlife that call the woodlands their home. Scouts and leaders should always be thinking of conserving our natural resources and wilderness areas for future generations.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 are very familiar with the Outdoor Code. They sometimes recite it as part of the opening at troop meetings. It is part of their Totin Chip and Fireman Chit training.

In the First Class Rank ceremony found in Woods Wisdom, the First Class Scout is called a Scout Camper. A good Scout Camper should follow the guidelines of the Outdoor Code, so when a Scout comes to me for his First Class scoutmaster conference we will take a few minutes to discuss the code and what it means. Is it a requirement of attaining First Class? No. But I believe it is important enough that a Boy Scout should be familiar with it.

As adult leaders in Scouting we also need to follow the Outdoor Code. If we throw trash on the ground, or do things that are not safe around a campfire, or show disrespect for the outdoors, then we are telling the Scouts that the Outdoor Code is meaningless. Actions DO speak louder then words.

So, going back to the first paragraph of this post… Do you know the Outdoor Code? And more importantly, do you practice its principles?

I first read this tale years ago in a book of short stories. The title caught my attention, The Christmas Scout, so I just had to see what that was about. It turned out to be a great tale about a Boy Scout who does a great Good Deed for the unfortunate in his community. A couple years ago I read this story to the boys in my troop at our December court of honor. I debated with myself for the last week whether I should post this story here on the blog and finally decided it was worth it.

By the way, I did not write this. It was written by Sam Bogan. I do not know if this is a true story or a fictional one, but to tell the truth, it really does not matter.

The Christmas Scout

In spite of the fun and laughter, 13 yr. old Frank Wilson was not happy. It was true, he had received all the presents he wanted, and he enjoyed the traditional Christmas Eve reunions with relatives for the purpose of exchanging gifts and good wishes………. but Frank was not happy because this was his first Christmas without his brother, Steve, who during the year, had been killed by a reckless driver. Frank missed his brother and the close companionship they had together.

He said good-bye to this relatives, and explained to his parents that he was leaving a little early to see a friend, and from there he could walk home. Since it was cold outside, Frank put on his new plaid jacket. It was his FAVORITE gift. He placed the other presents on his new sled, then headed out, hoping to find the patrol leader of his Boy Scout troop. Frank always felt understood by him.

Tho’ rich in wisdom, his leader lived in the Flats, the section of town where most of the poor lived. His patrol leader did odd jobs to help support his family. To Frank’s disappointment, his friend was not home.

As Frank hiked down the street toward home, he caught glimpses of trees and decorations in many of the small houses. Then, thru one front window, he glimpsed a shabby room with limp stockings hanging over an empty fireplace. A woman was seated nearby….weeping.

The stockings reminded him of the way he and his brother had always hung theirs side by side. The next morning, they would be bursting with presents. A sudden tho’t struck Frank–he had not done his “good deed” for the day. Before the impulse passed, he knocked on the door. “Yes?” the sad voice of a woman asked. Seeing his sled full of gifts, and assuming he was making a collection, she said, “I have no food or gifts for you. I have nothing for my own children.”

“That’s not why I am here, ” Frank replied. “Please choose whatever presents you would like for your children from the sled.”

“Why, God bless you!” the amazed woman answered gratefully. She selected some candies, a game, a toy airplane and a puzzle. When she took the Scout flashlight, Frank almost protested. Finally, the stockings were full.

“Won’t you tell me your name?” she asked, as Frank was leaving.

“Just call me the Christmas Scout,” he replied.

The visit left Frank touched, and with an unexpected flicker of joy in his heart. He understood that his sorrow wasn’t the only sorrow in the world.

Before he left the Flats, he had given away the rest of his gifts. His plaid jacket had gone to a shivering boy. Now, Frank trudged toward home, cold and uneasy. How could he explain to his parents that he had given his presents away?

“Where are your presents, son? asked his father as Frank entered the house. “I gave them away,” he answered in a small voice.

“The airplane from Aunt Susan? Your new coat from Grandma? Your flashlight?? We tho’t you were happy with your gifts.”

“I was……very happy,” Frank said quietly.

“But, Frank, how could you be so impulsive?” his mother asked. “How will we explain to the relatives who spent so much time and gave so much love shopping for you?”

His father was firm. “You made your choice, Frank. We cannot afford any more presents.”

With his brother gone, and his family disappointed in him, Frank suddenly felt dreadfully alone. He had not expected a reward for his generosity, for he knew that a good deed always should be its own reward. It would be tarnished otherwise. So he did not want his gifts back. However, he wondered if he would ever again recapture joy in his life. He tho’t he had this evening….but it had been fleeting. He thought of his brother…..and sobbed himself to sleep.

The next morning, he came downstairs to find his parents listening to Christmas music on the radio. Then the announcer spoke:

“Merry Christmas, everyone! The nicest Christmas story we have this morning comes from the Flats. A crippled boy down there has a new sled this morning left at his house by an anonymous teenage boy. Another youngster has a fine plaid jacket, and several families report that their children were made happy last night by gifts from a teenage lad who simply called himself the ‘Christmas Scout’. No one could identify him, but the children of the Flats claim that the Christmas Scout was a personal representative of old Santa Claus himself.

Frank felt his father’s arms go around his shoulders, and he saw his mother smiling thru her tears.

“Why didn’t you tell us, son? We didn’t understand. We are so proud of you.”

The carols came over the air again, filling the room with music–“Praises sing to God the King, and peace on Earth goodwill to men.”

The Mad Scientist Skit was a favorite of the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 for several years. It became a recurring skit in the troop’s yearly Laughs For Lunch Show. The Scouts had a lot of fun with it and tried to change it a little bit each year.

This is a story about a mad scientist who has plans to take over the world! Of course, he has created a monster (like the Frankenstein monster) who will assist in his plans of world conquest. As he is finishing his plans, people begin knocking on his door. The scientist does not want to be disturbed so he uses his monster to take care of the unwanted visitors. Of course, by the end of the skit we discover that things do not go according to the mad scientist’s plans.

The troop changes the visitors who come knocking at the door from year to year. Of course, there is the Girl Scout selling cookies, or the Boy Scout selling popcorn. We usually do three visitors during the skit. In this video, the skit does not end when you think it does. The Scouts added one little feature that carried over into the next act during the show.

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or Watch the Video on the troop’s website.
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If you have been on a Philmont trek that included the northern and central portions of the ranch, then chances are good that you have wondered through Santa Claus Camp. The camp is located in Santa Claus Canyon, north of Bear Canyon and southeast of Head of Dean Camp.

I have been through Santa Claus Camp a few times on my Philmont treks. Usually, it was an unstaffed camp, but in 1992 I was surprised to discover that it had become a staffed camp, complete with a volleyball court for the day and a telescope for the evening. My crew had a great time spending a day there.

The 1992 staff invited campers to write a story about how Santa Claus Camp received its name. A few members of my crew took the challenge. Al, one of our crew advisers, wrote a great story about the history of the site. Since it is the Christmas season I would like to share it with you.

There was a lot of snow that winter of 1853, too much for the horses and tired people moving through the mountains of northern New Mexico. They had left in a train of wagons on the Santa Fe Trail, but were down to one wagon for two families; and they were lost. The wagon master, who knew the way to Cimarron, had died of typhoid on the plains of eastern Colorado. Now, they were nearing exhaustion as they searched through the canyons for human life.

It was December 24, and there were tears in the eyes of the parents as they kissed their children good night, for there was a chance that some of them would never wake up.

The sky was clear, with uncountable millions of stars, but the beauty of the night was swallowed by the intense cold. The Borgerdings and the Hansons were typical pioneer families, and they were near to meeting the fate that so many others met on the Westward march.

It took a few minutes before they realized that there was a stranger at the fire, before their cold-numbed senses could react. He was an old mountain man that the Utes called White Cheeks due to the soft white beard on his face. He had on snow shoes and a pack which was full of freshly butchered mountain lion. Asking no questions, he stepped up to the fire and cooked his lion steaks for everyone. After eating he led them up to his cabin and safety.

Of course the children called him Santa Claus, and since he offered no other name, the parents joined in. The mountain man stayed with them through that long winter, teaching them the skills they needed to survive in the mountains. In the spring, he loaded his beaver pelts in his pack and headed for the Taos Rendezvous. The Borgerdings and Hansons followed the clearly given directions to Cimarron where they told the story of Santa Claus to its inhabitants.

White Cheeks never got to Taos, nor was he ever again seen alive. The people who come to his canyon on Christmas Eve know that there is an old white faced mountain man sitting over a fire, and even though no lion has lived here for many years, there are always plenty of lion steaks for everyone. If you ask him, he’ll tell you about the winter of 1853, and the families that called him Santa Claus.

Al’s story of Santa Claus Camp is an excerpt of the journal I wrote about our crew’s 1992 Philmont trek. The journal can be read at the Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 website. You can read it and view pictures of the trip by clicking HERE.

Do you have any Christmas stories about your Scouts? Share them with us and leave a comment.

(The photo shown with this post can be found at
http://www.bottineaupartnership.org/pierre/bottineau2.html )

Do you have a Scouting related ornament hanging on your Christmas tree this year? (I have a few that were made for me by members of the troop.) If you do not, but are looking for one, you may want to make a trip to a Hallmark store and take a look at one of this year’s ornaments. It features Beagle Scout Snoopy roasting marshmallows around a campfire with Woodstock and a couple of his friends. It is a really cool ornament and may make an excellent gift for a Scout leader, or even an Eagle Scout.

I happened to be shopping last night and wondered into a Hallmark store to look at this year’s Star Wars ornaments. The Beagle Scout Snoopy caught my eye first. Snoopy was in my hand first. Two Snoopy ornaments were in my shopping bag when I left the store. I did not buy any Star Wars ornaments, although the Millennium Falcon looked pretty sweet.

I am looking forward to hanging Beagle Scout Snoopy and his campers on my tree tonight. It will be a nice addition to the other Scouting ornaments already on the tree.

Do you have any Scouting ornaments decorating your house? What are they?