A Scoutmaster's Blog

I recently received an email from Greg Jameson asking me to review a new “widget” on his website that allows Scout leaders to create certificates for all kinds of functions, activities, and awards. I took a quick look at it, and to tell the truth. I was a bit impressed. The site includes a lot of options.

You begin with choosing a template, either vertical or horizontal. There is 48 horizontal options, and 40 vertical options. All of them look sharp. Next, you choose from 68 “gold seals” for your certificate, and then one of six colors of ribbons for the seal. In the fourth step you choose what will be printed on the final certificate. I did some quick math and discovered there are over 107,000 variations of the backgrounds, seal, ribbons, and ribbon locations. (88 x 68 x 6 x 3) Wow!

Now you just need some nice parchment on which to print the certificates, and wallah, you have a great looking presentation for your pack or troop. Give it a try and see what you think of it. I think Greg did a great job. You will find this resource at:
http://www.cyberbasetradingpost.com/docs/create-a-certificate1.cfm
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It is time to announce the Buttons ’08 campaign! After all, isn’t it time we put someone in the White House who is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent? Isn’t it time for real change? Isn’t it time for someone to lead this country that has a sense of morals and can tell really bad jokes?

Join the campaign and order your buttons for Buttons ’08! You can order them at http://www.cafepress.com/ptcmedia. Hurry! The chance to order these buttons of support will disappear after the election.

I can’t guarantee that you will get the buttons before the election, but I hope we can count on you to help support the campaign. Yeah, I know, we should have started the campaign earlier, but we just did not have the funds to buy the newspaper ads and television spots. All we have is this blog and the buttons.

Show your support and get out and vote on November 4th!

Here is a skit you do not see very often anymore. At least I have not seen it performed by a troop outside of Troop 68 for a number of years. This post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast features the Submarine Skit.

The Submarine Skit is about a group of misfits on a submarine. It is war time and they are looking for an enemy ship to sink. Once the captain spots a ship through the periscope, he sends the order down the chain of command to fire the torpedo. Unfortunately, his crew is not very good at hitting ships.

Troop 68 added this skit to their repertoire after seeing the skit done at a summer camp during the 1980’s. Some “politically correct” people may not think it is very funny, but the Scouts and the people in the audience get a good chuckle out of it.

I invite you to leave a comment using the link below, or at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Twenty years ago I bought a game called Scouting Mania, which is a trivia game based on Boy Scouting and camping knowledge. We used the game as an interpatrol activity for many a troop meeting. Now the trivia book is somewhat out of date, but much of it could still be used. I thought I would use it to present trivia questions for you to test your Scouting knowledge, both old and new.

(Question answers will be written at the bottom of this post, and are from the Scout Mania book. No cheating is allowed, after all, you are a Scout or Scout leader, correct?)

1) Name two of the three methods for measuring height in the field.

2) What is the “Scout’s Pace”?

3) To conserve water in your canteen, what can you do on a hike to keep from getting thirsty?

4) What is the most important piece of equipment for a hike?

5) What constellation is used to find the North Star?

6) What is the most effective heat to boil on?

7) Name two methods of measuring width in the field.

8) When packing a backpack, where do the heaviest items go?

9) What is another way to refer to a Scout backpack?

10) When packing a pack for overnight camping how haevy should it be?

Okay, do you have you answers chosen? Are you ready for the correct answers according to the Scout Mania Trivia book? Here they are….

1) Pencil, tree felling, muddy water
2) Jog 25 paces, then walk 25 paces.
3) Place a small clean pebble in your mouth.
4) Good hiking shoes or boots to take care of your feet.
5) Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper
6) Flame, not coals.
7) Napoleon, stick, compass
8) High, and close to the back.
9) A bag of bags.
10) No heavier than one-fourth of your own body weight.

Did you do well? Stay tuned for more trivia in future postings.

The year 1980 will always be a special year for me. It was the year I began life on my own, and began life as an adult. I was nineteen when I graduated from vocational college in April. I moved into a apartment. I began working at my first full time job. And I became an assistant scoutmaster to the newly formed Boy Scout Troop 68. (For more information about how that happened, click HERE.)

I did not join Troop 68 until later in April, so I missed going to Camp Ripley with the troop, which I believe may have been the new Scouts first outing. There was not a yearly program yet because troop leadership was still in the process of going through training.

I was one of three assistant scoutmasters. Each of us were single men. One was a little older then me, the other a little younger. I was the only one to stay with the program for more then a year. The other assistants left town to pursue a career or college.

The committee was made up of several parents who were dedicated to get the troop up and running well. Our charter representative was the commander of the local VFW Post. I will never forget my first committee meeting. The charter rep and I got into a heated “discussion” about troop finances. He began by talking about how much money the Post had already pumped into the troop. I already knew from talking to committee members and parents that the Post had not given the troop much of anything yet. (In fact, one of the parents had loaned the troop some money to get things started.) I guess I got a bit vocal about correcting him. Our discussion began to get a little heated.

After the meeting, and after the charter rep had left, a couple of the committee members told me I had stated what they had been thinking. I could not help but think to myself why did the nineteen year old new assistant scoutmaster have to stand up to the sixty year old charter rep? After all, there were at least five other committee members at the meeting.

Oh well, if nothing else, I guess I demonstrated my passion and dedication to the Scout troop. By the way, the charter rep and I worked well together for the next few years, until he retired from the committee.

I do not subscribe to very many magazines. I receive Boy’s Life and Scouting magazines, of course. I own a Macintosh computer so I receive Mac/Life and MacWorld magazines. I also get Entertainment Weekly just for the fun of it. Once in a while I may subscribe to Consumer reports or Popular Science. A magazine I once subscribed to and enjoyed was American Scouting Digest (ASD).

I liked receiving American Scouting Digest. It was a magazine published and written by people who cared about Scouting. The articles were well written. The photographs were outstanding. There was even an “Ask Andy” section of the magazine.

The magazine was a high class printing. Each page was thick stock paper and in color. The photographs were great to look at. The articles were well written. Each issue was only about 44 pages long, but they were worth looking at. The magazine was a fine addition to the official magazines I receive that are published by the Boy Scouts of America.

Tonight, I was sorting through a pile of magazines that had accumulated in my rack (about a two foot tall pile) and I came across my last issues of ASD. The last one I recieved was the Fall 2007 issue. I do not recall getting a subcription notice in the mail so I went online and checked out their site, and noticed it was very out of date. My first thought was, “I guess they quit printing the magazine.”

I did a little more digging on the site and found a phone number to call about subscribing, so I called it. To tell the truth, I did not expect to get on answer, or if I did that it would be the operator telling me this number has been disconected. I was surprised when, after a few rings, Ron Miller ( I think) answered the phone. Mr. Miller is the publisher of ASD.

After a short conversation with Mr. Miller, I discovered that the magazine is printed only after they have enough advertising to cover the printing costs. They do not accept paid subscriptions anymore, but send out issues free to those who ask for one, when they get around to printing one. I asked that he add my name to his mailing list.

I look forward to once again receiving American Scouting Digest, but I realize there may only be two or three issues per year. I hope they find more advertisers to get things running again to printing four to six issues per year. That would be great.

Ah, the closing campfire program at summer camp. The final bit of fun and laughs. The place were awards are presented from a week of adventure. The last gathering of the campers and troops. And, if your troop is doing a skit or song, it could be the last time at camp for the Scouts to experience excitement or anxiety. Luckily, the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have enough experience to fall more into the excitement group instead of the anxiety group.

The four young Scouts of Troop 68 (the older ones were at Philmont this summer) threw around a few ideas during the week for a skit to do for the closing campfire. The Buckskin Staff of Many Point Scout Camp had encouraged each troop to come up with a song or skit for the program. My four Scouts finally decided on the Invisible Bench skit.

Everything was fine, until Friday morning when the senior patrol leaders met with the camp’s program director and were told that skits should have a “Superheroes” theme to them. My Scouts went into a near panic mode. They did not know any Superhero skits. What could they do now?

During the morning program and afternoon activities we threw around several ideas and finally decided on the Invisible Bench skit. Only it would now be the Invisible Plane skit. The boys would portray various Superheroes gathering to join Wonder Women on an adventure. They would wait in the invisible plane until she arrived. Various superheroes were chosen to be in the skit, along with a quick intro for each one. After a few practices we Scouts were ready to perform.

The Scouts from Troop 68 were called down to do their skit during the middle of the program. I thought the boys did a good job, as did all the troops who did a skit. There was some impressive talent during this year’s program. And of course, I had my video camera there to record it so I could share some of it to you.

This post to the Melrose Scouting Production Podcast features the Invisible Plane skit, and the Supersize skit done by another troop from the Central Minnesota Council. I have to apoligize about the lighting. It was getting pretty dark by the time the troops performed their skits. And for some reason my camera decided to “hiccup” a couple times at the start of the Invisible Plane skit. Recording Boy Scout functions can be frustrating at times.

I invite you to leave a comment using the link below, or at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

I received an invitation by email in August, 2007, to participate in a Scouting-related podcast called The Leader’s Campfire. The subject of the podcast would be Webelos Transition, and would include five pack and troop leaders from around the country. It was fun to be a part of, and it was informative. It was great to meet other leaders from around the country. (You can listen to this episode by clicking HERE.)

Little did I realize what was to happen a few months later…

Cubmaster Chris and Mr. Bob, the hosts of The Leaders Campfire, did an excellent job of producing a nearly weekly podcast about Scouting subjects. Even though most of their topics were Cub Scout related, I enjoyed listening to the shows. I found it to be a way to keep track of what was going on in the world of Cub Scouting.

Toward the end of the year 2007, Mr. Bob decided to take some time off doing podcasting. Cubmaster Chris asked me if I would be willing to step into Bob’s place for awhile. Chris thought it would be good to have the perspective of a scoutmaster (me) and a cubmaster (Chris) on the show, so I agreed to be a “guest” host.

Ten months later, I have found myself to be the regular co-host of The Leader’s Campfire with Chris. It appears that Mr. Bob has retired from doing podcasts. Chris and I usually record two or three podcast episodes each month, usually on Wednesday evenings. Then Chris will take the recorded material, do some editing, add the opening and closing spots, and put in a message from one of the great sponsors of the show. The show is posted Tuesday evenings, and can be downloaded free through the PTC Media website or through the iTunes music store (under podcasts/Kids and Family).

It has been an interesting and fun year being a part of The Leader’s Campfire. I have met many great Cub and Boy Scout leaders from around the country through the chatrooms, forums, and Skype. (My Skype nickname is stevejb68.) It has been a great way to share ideas and get a feel of how Scouting is doing throughout the country.

The best thing about being part of the podcast is working with Cubmaster Chris. Though I have never met him face to face, I feel like I have know him for years. He is very dedicated to his boys and to Scouting. He has the drive and energy that I had fifteen years ago, and I find that he helps to recharge my Scouting batteries. He has become a good friend.

Check out The Leader’s Campfire yourself (http://www.leaderscampfire.com/), and listen to a few episodes. Let us know what you think about them. Is there a topic you think we should cover? You can write us and leave comments at the PTC Media forums (HERE). I hope to hear from you.
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