A Scoutmaster's Blog

As a scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 68, I have seen seventeen young men earn the Boy Scouts of America’s highest award, the rank of Eagle Scout. During most of the Eagle courts of honor, the new Eagle Scout will at some point stand up before the audience of friends and family and talk about his time in Scouting, and thank those who have helped him get to this point of his life.

Troop 68’s latest Eagle Scout is Mike Schwieters. Mike finished his Eagle award with only days to spare before his eighteenth birthday. Mike was an active member of the troop throughout his teen years, and still volunteers to help the troop if we need it when he is home from school. He is now in his second year of college and remains a good friend.

As Mike’s Eagle court of honor came to its closing, Mike stepped forward to say a few words to those who gathered for his special day. His speech was full of memories and some humor, but it also hit a few points that were good for the younger Scouts to hear. He spoke about how to treat others in the troop, and to take the challenge and earn the rank of Eagle Scout.

Mike’s Eagle court of honor was held last May, and ever since then I have wanted to post the video of his closing comments. He stopped by for a visit this weekend so I asked him if he minded if I would post the video to this podcast. He did not mind, so here it is for you to view. I hope you and your sons and Scouts enjoy it and take as much away from it as the members of our troop did.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

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

It is time once again for ten questions from the Scout Trivia book. This week’s topic in “Social Skills”. Keep in mind that these questions are based on the 1984 Boy Scout Handbook so you may find a question not covered in the current book.

(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) What is the nickname of the flag of the United States?

2) What is the most common immediate treatment for chemical burns?

3) What are the two ways of communication?

4) There are four “C’s” which describe the way to act in an emergency. Name three.

5) When carrying the United States flag, where does it go in relationship to other flags?

6) What system of communication uses a series of dots and dashes?

7) What sums up, in the words of great Americans, the things for which America stands?

8) What are the three “W’s” when phoning for help for an accident?

9) When should the United States flag be flown below another flag?

10) Which one of the following is NOT a right granted to you as a citizen of the United States in the Bill of Rights? a) Freedom of speech, b) Freedom of worship, c) Free access to all land, d) Freedom to vote.

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) Old Glory
2) Wash off with lots of water
3) Two-way, one-way
4) Confidence, Common sense, Calmness, Cheerfulness
5) At its own right, or in front of other flags
6) Morse code
7) The American’s Creed
8) Who, What, Where
9) Never
10) Free access to all land.

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

The Thanksgiving Holiday has once again come to those of us in the United States. As I prepare to join my family in the annual turkey dinner I look back on my years in Scouting and discover there are a lot of things to be thankful for over the last three decades with the troop. I am thankful…

…for the ten great boys who are now members of Troop 68. They are full of energy and fun times.
…for the over 230 boys who have been Scouts in Melrose since I became a leader of the troop in 1980.
…for a fantastic assistant scoutmaster named Eymard, who has worked by my side for over twenty years.
…for a committee who is dedicated to the program and do the things needed to be done to provide the program for the Scouts.
…for past committee members and assistant scoutmasters for providing the leadership and program in the past three decades.
…for the seventeen young men who had the drive and desire to complete Scouting’s highest honor by earning the rank of Eagle Scout while I have been their scoutmaster.
…for the readers of this, A Scoutmaster’s Blog, and the fans of the two podcasts I am involved with: Melrose Scouting Productions and The Leader’s Campfire.
…for all the new Scouting friends I have met online through the internet forums, podcasts, and Skype connections.
…for all the Scouts who grew up and moved on with their lives but still stay in touch and remain good friends.
…for a family that supports my Scouting “habit”, and understands when I miss the occasional family gathering.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving holiday and safe holiday weekend.

Today, the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 will participate in the yearly LPMRB outing. It is a twelve hour activity extravaganza that is very popular with the boys.

The outing begins with a few hours of rollerskating at a local roller rink in St. Cloud. “Rollerskating?” you ask. Yes, rollerskating, or inline skating. The boys still enjoy getting out once a year to skate. The younger boys learn how to skate while the older boys like to do some socializing. It is still a great social activity.

After the work-out at the roller rink, the troop heads to their favorite pizza place for supper. We have discovered that four boys per large pizza seems to work out well. As we eat, the Scouts review the day at the rink and talk about other subjects interesting to the life of teenage boys.

One topic that must be discussed is which movie to see when we leave the pizzeria. Of course, this being a Scout activity, no R rated movies will be allowed. A PG-13 movie could be allowed depending on the reason for the movie, and how strong that reason is. For some reason, I do not think that the new movie Twilight will be high on the list today. I think we will be going to the new James Bond flick.

The final activity of the day is Midnight Bowling at the local bowling alley. This will take place from 11:30 pm to 1:00 am. I am amazed by how much energy the boys still have at this point of the day. (Of course, some Mountain Dew helps things along.) They are usually still going strong, looking to bowl that perfect game, or at least get a strike on their score sheet.

I have heard from many parents over the years that the boys fall asleep quickly once they arrive at home. They usually sleep as late as they are allowed on Sunday morning.

I will admit that this is not your typical Boy Scout outing, but it is a part of our boy-planned yearly program. It is an activity that most of the boys enjoy, and it is very well attended. In fact, nine of the ten members of the troop will be going along today. It has proven to be a good one-day activity for these Minnesota winter months.

I still had my copy of the Boy Scout Handbook I used as a youth when I became an assistant scoutmaster in 1980. I bought a new handbook so I would be current, and picked up a scoutmaster handbook so I would have an idea what I should be doing. Then I bought a committee guidebook. Before I knew it, Scouting books began taking up space on the bookshelf. It did not take long before I had a small collection of Scouting handbooks.

The book collection kept growing during years as I began adding older editions of the books. I started with Boy Scout handbooks and scoutmaster handbooks, but soon expanded to committee books, fieldbooks, and Explorer handbooks. Soon there were handbooks about wolves, bears, lions, and a thing called Webelos in the collection. I began looking through used bookstores and flea markets trying to find new treasures.

I finally built a small 36″ wide, two shelve case for the collection. Grooves in the top and bottom pine boards allowed me to install a couple pieces of glass to be used as sliding doors, thus keeping most of the dust away from the pages. Several years later I built a three shelf case to house the growing collection. Today, both of those cases are nearly full.

In the eighties I could buy used handbooks that were in good shape for very good prices, usually only a few bucks apiece. Then, in the late eighties and early nineties, something happened. More people began collecting Scouting-related books. Handbooks became harder to find, and were more expensive when I did find them. I began passing on the few books I found because the prices were higher then I was willing to pay.

There are a couple of books that I am proud to have as part of the collection. The first is a 1941 two volume hardcover scoutmaster handbook set that is in near mint condition. One of my committee members found it at a flea market and called me to ask if he should pick it up. After hearing the price, I almost said no, but I am glad I said yes. The second is a 1932 edition of the Handbook For Boys (the Scout handbook at that time.) I picked that one at a local auction. It is the oldest Scout Handbook that I own. Someday, if the price is right, I hope to add an original Handbook for Boys to the collection.

The collection has not grown much during the last few years. I do not actively search for books any longer, but if I come across one I need to fill a gap in the collection, and it is a decent price, then I will leave the store with it.

A year ago I wrote about my trip to a Hallmark Store before Christmas and discovering an ornament featuring Snoopy, the Beagle Scout, roasting marshmallows around a campfire with Woodstock and a couple of his friends. I left the store with two of the ornaments, one to hang on the tree and one to store away.

Out of curiosity, the other day I decided to check the Hallmark website to check if there was a new Snoopy ornament this year. Guess what? There is! The new ornament is called “Beagle Scout Day Out” and features Beagle Scout Snoopy canoeing with his yellow bird friends. It is pretty cool.

On Saturday I will be traveling to St. Cloud for an activity with the Boy Scout troop. You can bet that I will try to find a minute or two to stop at a Hallmark store to pick up a couple of these new ornaments. Of course, if I really wanted to, I could order it online at the Hallmark website, but why wait for it when I can get it sooner.

Up until now, Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, has always been about the Boy Scouting program. He has talked about the Scout Oath and Law, being physically fit, how to tell when you know you are a Boy Scout, and has interviewed a Cub Scout and an assistant scoutmaster. Today, he begins to expand his Scouting knowledge into something he has never talked about before – Girl Scouting!

In the United States, boys and girls have separate Scouting programs (except for Exploring). Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting are very different programs even though they share many of the same goals. In both programs the members may chose to earn the highest award available to them. In Boy Scouting that would be the rank of Eagle Scout. In Girl Scouting it is the Gold Award.

I recently had the honor of attending the Gold Award ceremony of my niece and two other Girl Scouts. It was very impressive, and I learned a few things about Girl Scouting that I did not know. I video recorded the ceremony at the request of my sister, and we plan to broadcast it over our local community television station.

After the ceremony, I had the chance to congratulate each of the girls, and ask them if they would be willing to be interviewed by Buttons, the radical Scout. They had all seen a Buttons video or two so they knew what I was asking. To my pleasant surprise, they all said yes to the idea.

This video posting to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is the first of these videos. Ali Kociemba, one of the Gold Award recipients, is the first Girl Scout to be interviewed by Buttons. They discuss the different age groups of Girl Scouting, what some of the awards are, service projects, what Ali did for her Gold award, and what her favorite troop activities were. It turned out to be a nice introduction to Girl Scouting.

You are invited 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://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

My friend Jerry, who writes a blog called The Scoutmaster Minute, recent wrote about an experience he had while waiting to checkout in a store. Jerry was wearing his Scout uniform. A lady next to him started a conversation with him and began expressing her negative opinions about the Scouting program. She began complaining about the new uniform, then shifted gears to God, gays, and guns. It appears that she was looking to provoke an argument with Jerry. But Jerry kept his cool and answered her questions in a well mannered and professional manner.

To read about Jerry’s experience check out his blog at The Scoutmaster Minute.