A Scoutmaster's Blog

I am still having fun with my Flickr account. Travel back in time and watch this slide show of Boy Scout Troop 68 pictures from 1981. If you wish to see the pictures individually check out the photo gallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8515713@N06/sets/72157622054953898/

Bob, our Scenic District Executive, told me that he would be in town on Thursday for the school’s Health and Wellness Fair. He had reserved a table during the three hour event to promote Scouting, which was a good idea. Membership in the local program had been declining over the last few years so we could use a little extra promotion. Maybe this could stir up a little interest and bring some boys and their parents to school night to join Scouting on Monday.

The fair began at 5:00 pm and would run until 8:00. I went there straight from work and arrived about 5:20. It did not take long to find Bob’s table. There were only about a dozen groups set up in the school cafeteria. The Boy Scout table was right next to the Girl Scout’s table. I said hello to Bob and the representative from the Girl Scouts.Jason, one of the committee members from the Cub Scout Pack was also present.

As we were standing there talking about Scouting it did not take long to notice that most people walked right by the table without stopping to check out the display or talk to us. I was almost like they were avoiding us, like we had the flu or something. It was making it difficult to get the word out about the Scouting program and school night.

Something needed to be done. We needed something to draw the boys (and their parents) to our table. We talked about how it would have been nice to have a movie or slideshow playing, but none of us had brought anything like that to the event. I ran to my car to get my iPod which had photos of various Scout activities, but the screen was too small to be of any value. Behind the table I noticed a toy air rocket that Bob had brought to the fair. He did not have anything in mind to do with it, but I thought it might be just the thing to bring the kids (and their parents) to our table.

It worked like a charm. After I shot the rocket a couple of times, and discovered how far the thing could shot (which was pretty far), the kids started coming over to try it themselves. It gave Bob the chance to talk to the parents and I talked to the boys and girls. I usually asked the boys what grade they were in, and then told them which part of the Scouting program they could be join during the meeting on Monday. We were passing out a lot more flyers.

I think that Bob and I both learned that having an activity to engage the boys and girls will make a huge difference in the amount of people drawn to a table. Hopefully, this will pay off on Monday when we have school night and kick off the year for the Cub Scout Pack.

On a final note, a few boys were having so much fun playing with the rocket that I promised to bring it along to the meeting on Monday. Maybe I will use it as a door prize for the boys who sign up for Scouting.

If you are or have been a scoutmaster you may have had young boys in your troop that really look up to you. Everything you say is truth. Everything you do is amazing. You are their “Scouting Idol”. They will follow you everywhere, do whatever you tell them. As I scoutmaster I try to do my duty as well as I am able. I admit, at time it feels great to be truly awesome in the eyes of a young Boy Scout, but it is pretty tough to live up to that standard. Here are a few examples of my “awesomeness” this year as a scoutmaster, at least in the eyes of my Scouts:

– hitting the black center of the target with all five shots at the rifle range during summer camp. Most Scouts are happy to hit the center of the target with a couple shots.

– hitting the apple with an arrow at the archery range. Although, to tell the truth, three of my Boy Scouts did this last year, but none of them did this year.)

– getting a hole in one at the first green of the miniature golf course, to which one of the Scouts commented about how playing a game with me was so unfair.

– teeing off on the camp’s disc golf course and throwing the frisbee so well that it flew through a grove of trees to land only ten feet from the basket. The boys were simply amazed. (So was I, to tell the truth.)

But then, reality crashed in and the awesomeness leaves me, like later on that same miniature golf course when it took me seven putts to sink the ball on one hole. Or when I missed the target at the archery range. Those type of things bring a scoutmaster back down to earth.

A huge reality check came not long ago when I was playing disc golf with Sergio, an alumni of Troop 68. He and I were playing at a local course for the first time. The first several holes went well for me. Then we discovered water traps in the form of streams, marshes, and bogs. My game suddenly became all wet, literally. It was like the water had a strong magnetic pull on my discs.

To make a long story short, by the time we finished the eighteen holes my socks and shoes were caked with mud. I tried washing them off at the park but ended up throwing the socks in the trash. I drove home barefoot because I did not want the smelly shoes back on my feet. The worst part of the game was when I lost one of my throwing discs in a bog with shoulder high grass. After ten minutes of searching I finally gave it up for lost. It was literally like throwing ten dollars away.

On the up side, I still won the game, even if by only one throw. Even after the reality check I guess I proved I was still awesome. Don’t you agree?

Has your troop, patrol, or den ever had to develop a new skit or patrol for a campfire program? The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 created several new ones over the decades, mainly in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The Scouts would take a song, chance the words a bit (or a lot), add some actions, and suddenly had a popular campfire skit.

The Patrol Leader Council planned it. The committee approved it. The parents and troop members were told about it, and liked it. The Boy Scout Troop 68 program for 2009-2010 is now official.

The theme for September is campsite safety, with Totin Chip and fire safety being the key points. The troop will attend a merit badge weekend at Parker Scout Reservation as their activity for the month.

The theme for October will be Personal Fitness and will touch on that merit badge. A weekend camping trip will be held south of town. It is also the month of the Scouting For Food Drive, and the month of the troop’s fall fundraiser.

In November, the troop will switch from personal fitness to personal management as the meeting theme. The monthly activity will be an all day event which will include skating, a pizza party, a theatrical movie, and late night bowling.

During the December meetings the Scouts will be reviewing special awards available through the Boy Scouts of America. The troop will spend a day downhill skiing at Powder Ridge and follow that with their annual Christmas Party. The year’s final court of honor (award night) will be held this month, along with the troop auction.

Citizenship will be the theme for the meetings in January. An overnighter is planned for the month’s activity. Past overnighters have included table tennis, darts, chess, and Wii bowling tournaments. And, of course, their will be movies.

The B.S.A. will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in February 2009. Troop 68 will begin the month by celebrating Scout Sunday and plan to have several displays about Scouting set up around town. The theme for the month will be Scouting Heritage. A weekend outing at Camp Stearns is the planned activity.

Family Life merit badge will be the theme for March. The activity will be a camping weekend at parker Scout Reservation, located north of Brainard. The troop will hold a court of honor near the end of the month to recognize Scouts for their achievements.

The boys will be practicing their first aid skills during the month of April. The troop plans to attend the Central Minnesota Council’s Ripley Rendezvous which will be held at the Camp Ripley National Guard base.

During May, the Scouts will be honing their roping skills and work on pioneering. Troop 68 will spend a weekend at one of their favorite camping spots, Camp Watchamagumee. The Order of the Arrow’s spring conclave will be held this month.

The month of June will begin with a paper drive and end with a community project by helping to clean up the city park after the festivities. A camping trip at King’s lake is planned. The year’s second court of honor will be held.

There will only be one troop meeting during July as the troop prepares to spend a week at Many Point Scout Camp, located north of Park Rapids.

Troop 68 is planning to cover a new topic in August as we explore the excitement a geocaching and GPS gadgets. A weekend at Minnesota’s Sibley State Park will finish our program year.

I recently saw this video posted at the Scouting News blog and felt I had to share it with all of you. According to the Youtube site: Doug “Satchmo” Stone performs his unique Boy Scouts themed take on Louis Armstrong’s classic “What a Wonderful World.”

The Eagle Project is one of the biggest challenges to attaining the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. For many Scouts it is probably the first time they have ever had to plan, prepare, and conduct such an activity. Dozens, even hundreds, of hours will be spend on a project. Papers need to be signed, people and groups contacted, materials bought, and refreshments need to be provided. It is quite a job for a teenager to carry out. Yet they do, and communities benefit from the projects.

There has recently been an article passed along in Scouting groups about an Eagle project that helped a group of children half a world away. Alex Griffith, a sixteen year old from Maryland, decided to help an orphanage in Russia when it came time for his project. It was the same orphanage that he lived in before he was adopted by Dwight and Jenny Griffith as a young child. To understand the enormous nature of this project here is an except from an article on the CNN website:

Alex devoted 2 ½ years to his Krasnoyarsk Playground Project. In addition to recruiting more than 500 volunteers in five countries, he raised more than $60,000 by soliciting help from local Rotary Clubs and joining forces with other Boy Scouts for candy sales, car washes and barbeque fundraisers. Alex oversaw every aspect of production, from designing and purchasing the playground to shipping equipment overseas.

The whole article can be seen at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/09/10/cnnheroes.alex.griffith/?imw=Y
Be sure to check out the project’s website for the facts and figures from this project: http://www.krasplayground.org/ (By the way, the picture shown with this article is from this website.)

This was an awesome project. And tell the truth, another awesome aspect of this project is that CNN decided to list Alex as a CNN Hero. It is great to see a national news agency picking up a positive story of Scouting.

In the previous post to A Scoutmaster’s Blog, I wrote about the local American Legion’s Ceremony for Disposal of Unserviceable Flags, and the Boy Scouts’ participation in the ceremony. Mel-TV, our local community television access station, was on hand to film the event. The station’s co-ordinator was kind enough to let me borrow the video tape so that I could make a podcast video from it. I edited the footage down and added photographs that I took during the event.