A Scoutmaster's Blog

The rank of Eagle Scout, Boy Scouting’s highest honor, is something to be taken seriously. The family, troop, and Eagle Scout will spend a lot of time planning the Eagle Court of Honor. In recent years, a video of the Eagle Scout’s years as a Cub and Boy Scout has become a common part of the ceremony. It is easy enough to put one together with today’s digital photos and computer programs. I should know. I have put together many of these slide shows over the years.

The first time I visited Philmont Scout Ranch was in 1984 when I attended Scoutmaster Fundamentals Training. The training center had been built near the Villa Philmonte, Waite Phillips home. It was a wonderful example of a southern home, complete with a courtyard and swimming pool. When I brought five Boy Scouts to Philmont for a ten day trek in 1986, I made sure the boys had the opportunity to tour the home of the man who gifted the land to the Boy Scouts of America. Here is an excerpt of the journal I kept of that trip:

That afternoon we took a tour of Waite Phillip’s home, the Villa Philmonte. We had walked around the grounds of the villa the day before. The outside only hinted at what the inside held in store we us to see. The first room we entered was the living room, and what a room it was. The room itself was nearly as big as some homes I have designed for people in Melrose. The room was fitted in luxury. Before the massive fireplace laid a bear skin rug, one of Mr. Phillip’s trophies. Placed along the west wall was an elegantly carved wooden chest depicting scenes of soldiers fighting a magnificent battle. A finely detailed model of a sailing vessel was shored on top the table and looked as if it was ready to head out to sea.

Then there was the piano. The do not remember the name of it but I do remember that it was only one of four to exist in the world. Our tour guide offered one scout in the group (not one from Troop 68) a chance to sit down and play a tune, but he declined the offered, muttering something about not being very good. I would not have thrown a chance like that away.

From the living room we marched up the grand staircase and toured the library, master bedroom and bath. Everyone seemed surprised to find two single beds in the master bedroom. Both beds had faces painted on the headboards. One face was smiling, while the other wore a frown. The story goes that Mrs. Phillips would chose which bed in which to sleep depending on her mood that evening.

The staircase leading to the lower level was almost as elaborate as the main staircase but was finished in a completely different decor. Mr. Phillips had this level designed and furnished to his own tastes. It was on this level the the trophy room and the “time with the boys” room was found. The trophy room was the only room in the house where the tour groups were allowed to touch anything, namely the stuffed animals and furs. The adults were allowed to sit in the chairs placed around the room.

A large painted portrait of Waite Phillips and his wife still hangs at the villa. The portrait used to hang above the fireplace in the living room until Mr. Phillips paid a visit to the ranch one time and saw it there. He asked the staff to remove it and hide it in a closet somewhere. He felt that by having it viewed above the fireplace people may feel as if they should be worshiping him. The staff respected his wish and moved it to a large closet on the lower level next to the trophy room, but it is still shown to all who take the tour of the villa.

The complete journal can be read at our troop’s website by clicking HERE.

The sixth episode of Around The Scouting Campfire is now available. It is time to join Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, for another 20 minutes of fun and reflection on Scouting.

During this show we discover what advancement rank Buttons holds in Scouting as he and Scoutmaster Steve talk about his upcoming scoutmaster conference. What merit badges has Buttons earned? Why did he choose those merit badges? Steve goes on to talk about the ten things he likes to cover during a scoutmaster conference. He follows it up with a little humorous story of a little old lady who every morning Praises the Lord.

During Buttons’ Corner we learn about ten nutrition myths. Yeah, Buttons talks to us slightly overweight adult leaders and Scouts about how to stay fit. I bet you never thought that would happen.

The show ends with Steve and his Scout Leader Minute, which is about The Stuff A Fellow Is Made Of, from the 1956 book Ideas and Stories For The Scoutmaster Minute.

Steve and Buttons would like to thank everyone who listens to the podcast, and who have sent emails about how they have enjoyed the shows.

Please rate the show and/or leave a comment at the iTunes store or at PTC Media forums.
You can contact Buttons at buttonst68@yahoo.com. You may contact Scoutmaster Steve at stevejb68@yahoo.com. We appreciate your emails and letters.

RSS Feed – http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingAudioPodcast
Download episode – http://www.melrosetroop68.org/podcastaudio/MSAPE6.mp3

This podcast is found on iTunes at
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=307979159
and is a member of the family of Scouting themed podcasts at PTC Media found at
http://www.ptcmedia.net/

Show notes:
Requirements for the Star Rank: http://www.usscouts.org/advance/boyscout/bsranks.asp
The Scoutmaster Conference: http://www.melrosetroop68.org/2006/09/scoutmaster-conference.html
Top 10 Nutrition Myths: http://www.centracare.com/community/spotlight/spotlight_spring_2009.pdf
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This note is more for myself then anyone, but “A Scoutmaster’s Blog” reached a total of 100,000 visits this morning (since the counter began in June 2007). It has been a little under four months since it reached 75,000 visits. The daily visits have been increasing nicely. The blog now receives 200-300 hits per day on average. The 100,000th visit checked out articles about Eagle Scout scoutmaster conferences.

I would like to thank you all for coming to this site and reading the blog. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to hit 150,000 views.

We have all heard of famous Eagle Scouts like Neil Armstrong, Steve Spielberg, and Ross Perot. But today’s Boy Scout may have a little trouble identifying with these gentlemen. After all, they are (dare I say it?) old. How about someone younger, someone 20, 30, or 40 years closer to the age of today’s Boy Scouts?

If you are a tech geek you may remember a television show on Tech TV several years ago called The Screensavers. The show featured a young man by the name of Kevin Rose. Kevin loved modifying computers and finding those special programs to make it run better and do more. He rapidly became a popular member of the show and soon became the host.

After The Screensavers was canceled, Kevin turned his interests to the internet. He and his friends began a little website called Digg.com which soon became an internet sensation. He is one of the driving forces of Revision 3, an internet television site, and occasionally appears on the This Week In Tech podcast with his old friends Leo Leport and Patrick Norton.

During a recent Diggnation podcast episode Kevin admitted to Alex, his co-host on the show, that he was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout. In fact, Kevin earned the rank of Eagle Scout when he was only 16 years old, and went on to earn two Eagle palms.

Kevin and Alex went on to discuss merit badges that Kevin had earned, goinf camping, and building campfires. It was pretty obvious that Alex was not a Scout when he was younger. These two guys are still very much like college guys even though Kevin is now 32 years old.

Watch the Diggnation episode HERE.

I had never thought of Kevin Rose as an Eagle Scout when I watched him on television and later on his podcast. He always came off to me as a bit of a rebel. But he is also very smart, seems to know what he wants, and he knows how to get there. Now, when I look closer at what he has accomplished in his short time as an entrepreneur, yes, I can see the traights of an Eagle Scout. But as a scoutmaster, I do wish he would watch his language a bit more and drink less beer.

You may have read the previous three-part posting of Boy Scout Troop 68’s adventure at the Central Minnesota Council’s Ripley Rendezvous this year. Yes, we had a few problems, but to tell the truth, we also had a pretty good time, and that is why I have chosen to post this video to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast.

The video is a slide show of the activities in which the Scouts participated. It begins with a few pictures from the First Class Emphasis program, and then moves on to the shooting ranges. One of the highlights of the trip for the Scouts was the visit to the military museum, and there are a lot of pictures of that. The video ends with pics from the carnival style games played Saturday night. All in all, it was a good weekend for Scouting.

Leave a comment here using the link below, or at the PTC Media forums. You can also rate the videos of Melrose Scouting Productions at the iTunes Music Store. It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
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Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 held a recruitment drive in the city park last Saturday, May 9th. We had a model campsite set up, dutch oven deserts prepared, and the council’s bouldering wall for the boys to climb. Seven of our nine Boy Scouts where on hand to assist. Even the Cub Scout Pack had a couple parents and Cubs on hand.

The troop had advertised the event. We handed out flyers at the schools, set up displays and posters around town, and listed the event in the local newspapers and the local television stations. The cities banks and credit union even placed a note about it on the outdoor marquees. We thought we had done a good job of covering all the bases to get the word out…

But no one showed up. Well, let me rephrase that. There was one first grader who checked things out, but not one boy of Boy Scout age choose to check out the program.

The troop has nine Boy Scouts. One will be leaving in August when he turns 18 years old. Another is thinking about dropping out of Scouting. Currently, our youngest Scout is 13 years old.

The Pack is in even worse shape with only seven members. Only one of them is a second year Webelos Scout. If something does not change soon, the Cub Pack will die out. And the troop will soon follow.

We have tried many ideas over the last several years to get boys and families involved in Scouting with minimal success. It is very frustrating, especially considering that ten years ago we had a strong troop with nearly 40 members.

Oh well, this recruitment drive is over, and it was a bust. The troop will now concentrate on its summer program. Hopefully, we will have better luck in the fall or Scouts in Melrose will become an endangered species.

Wow, I almost missed a couple of dates that I probably should not have forgotten. On May 18, 2006, I posted the first article to “A Scoutmaster’s Blog“. It is hard to believe that it has already been three years of sharing Scouting stories (430 posts) with you. There have been a lot of other Scouting related blogs that have come and gone during that time.

One April 4, 2007, I posted the first video to the “Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast“. That video introduced many Scouts, leaders, and families to a new character we know as Buttons, the radical Boy Scout. Sixty five videos have been posted to the podcast over the last two years.

I want to thank you all for reading this blog, watching the videos, and for listening to the new podcast, “Around The Scouting Campfire“. Your support, emails, and comments keep me fired up to continue these projects.

I would like to give special thanks to Cubmaster Chris of PTC Media for all the background help he has given me over the years, and to the Boy Scouts and family of Troop 68, both past and present, who have given me the material needed for these projects.