A Scoutmaster's Blog

Did you know that the great American actor John Wayne was a Boy Scout in his youth? It seems that even in his adult life he never forgot his time in Scouting. In fact, even as Mr. Wayne was dying of cancer, he attended a benefit dinner to raise money for a new Scout camp. President Gerald Ford, who also attended the dinner, said of Mr. Wayne, “It occurs to me that John Wayne, like so many other great Americans, has never lost the sense that there is a higher good, something outside the individual, which each of us should seek to achieve.”

When the time came for Mr. Wayne to speak to the crowd he surprised everyone when he recited the Scout Law. Then he added, “”Trouble is, we learn them (the points of the Law) so young we sometimes don’t get all the understanding that goes with them. I take care of that in my family. As each boy reaches Scout age, I make sure he learns the Scout Law. Then I break it down for him, with a few things I have picked up in more than half a century since I learned it.” He then went on to break it down for the audience.

I am not going to print the whole thing Mr. Wayne said in this blog because you can read it at Boy Scout Trail or the USSP site. It is a great explanation about the meaning of the Scout Law so I do encourage you to check it out. I have wanted to use this a couple of times at a court of honor, but for some reason I always seem to forget to put it in my briefcase.

I am always amazed with the number of well known people who were involved with Boy Scouting in their youth, and how they fondly remember their days as a Boy Scout. I wish more people would come forward and tell the public about what Scouting has meant to them.

One thing about being the webmaster for the troop is trying to find the time to keep the web site up to date. It is not an easy task, and I have fallen behind a bit, but today I did get the chance to do some work on it.

I am happy to report that the 2007 photo gallery is now complete. The gallery contains over 100 pictures taken during the year. There are photos from the Laughs For Lunch Show, courts of honor, the Ripley Rendezvous, troop activities, and summer camp. It is quite a collection, but only a fraction of the 1200 photos I took during troop functions this year.

You know, before the digital photo era, when I used something know as 35mm film, I would be doing well to take a couple hundred of photographs each year. Now, thanks to memory cards, I take a few hundred photos just at summer camp. Isn’t technology wonderful?

Check out all the pictures of 2007 by clicking HERE. And then leave a comment about what you think of them.

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.

You need to check out Buffalo Eagle’s latest post to the Lone Star Scout Blog. It lists over eighteen great humorous tips for camping. One of my favorites from this list is, “Lint from your navel makes a handy fire starter. Warning: Remove lint from navel before applying the match.” You can find the posting here:
http://buffaloeagle.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/some-camping-tips/

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 in Melrose have been doing an annual show called Laughs For Lunch for over ten years. The show follows a campfire program format and features songs and skits you may see while you enjoy a program at summer camp or a camporee. The Laughs for Lunch Shows usually last for ninety minutes or so. Both the Boy Scouts and the audience have a good time.

This entry to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast features five Scouts from the 1998 show performing an old favorite, “Singing In The Rain”. I am sure you are very familiar with the song, but are you familiar with the actions that go with it during a Boy Scout campfire program? It is great fun to have the audience stand up and perform this song with the leaders. Try it yourself. It could be quite interesting to do this song at your next pack meeting or troop weekend camping trip.

Just for your information, it has been ten years since this skit was filmed with a vhs camera. These boys are now close to finishing college. One has even served his country over in Iraq. Gosh, where does the time go?

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It had been a good day at Many Point Scout Camp, but it was time for a good night’s sleep. My last check of the campsite was complete. The Scouts were all in their tents, crawled into their sleeping bags, laying on their cots. I walked into my canvas A-framed tent and began changing my clothes. I noticed a small field mouse exploring the far corner of the floorless tent, looking for something to eat. “You are looking in the wrong tent,” I thought to myself as I pulled off my socks.

I had just crawled into my sleeping bag when the yelling began in the tent that was next to mine. It was the tent that housed the senior patrol leader (SPL) and his assistant. “There is something in our tent,” the SPL shouted. “Steve, there is something in our tent!”

My first thought was of the little field mouse I had just seen in my tent, so I called back to him, “It’s probably just a field mouse. Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s not a field mouse,” he yelled back. “There is something in our tent.” Then, his voice became louder and higher pitched as he screamed, “My backpack just disappeared!” Okay, so it is not a field mouse, I thought to myself as I crawled out of my sleeping bag, grabbed a flashlight, and put on my shoes. I poked my head out of the tent, shined the flashlight around, and almost immediately spotted a couple beady pair of raccoon eyes reflecting back to me. I was startled to see how big they were. Obviously, they had been eating well this summer. I also saw two young raccoons on the edge of the woods. Isn’t that nice, I thought. The whole family is here.

The raccoons were checking out the SPL’s backpack for any tasty snacks. After scaring them off and returning the pack, the SPL admitted to having food hidden in his pack. He removed the food and returned the pack to his tent. Unfortunately, the damage had been done. The raccoon family now knew of a tent that may have food in it. That family of critters returned every night about 10:30 for the next three nights, hoping to find something to nibble on.

It turned out to be a good lesson for the troop, although it was a hard lesson for the senior patrol leader. It has turned into a good story for around the campfire. To me, it will always be known as “The Night The Backpack Disappeared!”

I was a pretty good student in high school. Mathematics was my best class. I did well in English classes, but not so well in phy ed class. (I was the 98 pound weakling of my class, literally.) I did like to read, but I never considered myself a writer. If someone had told me back then that I would someday be writing articles for the local newspaper, or penning scripts for the local cable access television station, or posting entries to internet blogs, why, I probably would have laughed in their face. And then go back to reading whatever book I was into at the moment.

I may have had no desire to be a writer when I was in high school, but when I was nineteen years old my first article about the local Scouting troop and pack was published in the local weekly paper. I was the new assistant scoutmaster of Troop 68 in June, 1980, totally unaware of what I was about to get myself into.

Those first few articles were only a few paragraphs long, co-written by one of the committee members. They covered what happened during troop and den meetings. Short articles, and straight to the point. As the years passed, my writing style began to change and develop. I focused more on the monthly activities, and less on the humdrum meetings. The articles became less frequent, but they became longer. Pictures accompanied the articles so the reader could see what the Scouts were doing in addition to reading about them.

In 1986, five Troop 68 Boy Scouts and myself spend two weeks at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. I kept a journal while hiking through the mountains. Using those notes from my journal, and the pictures taken during the trip, I wrote a long article for the local newspaper. I think I got a little long winded. The article ended up being a two parter, with each part taking up nearly half a page of the paper with the photos.

I have written many articles about Scouting during my twenty seven years with Boy Scout Troop 68. I have saved these articles and keep them in four scrapbooks. I now have three local newspapers that agree to print my articles when I write them. You might think I am making a little money with all that writing. Not a cent. I write the articles to promote Scouting, not to make money.

I still get a warm feeling when someone mentions that they enjoyed reading one of my articles. I will not lie, I am rather proud of myself for being able to write something that some people enjoy reading. But I am also humbled that people enjoy reading things that I write. After all, I am not a professional writer. Stephen King has nothing to worry from me.

Hmmm… That gets me thinking. Maybe I should write a book about my Scouting experiences. Maybe title it, “The Scoutmaster Thinks, and Unfortunately Wrote It Down.“