Archive for December 27th, 2009


Philmont 25 Years Ago

on December 27, 2009 in High Adventure No Comments »

As the year 2009 comes to an end, it suddenly dawned on me that this year was the 25th anniversary of my first trip to Philmont Scout Ranch. It was not a trip to partake in a twelve day trek, but to spend a week at the Philmont Training Center (PTC).

I was a 23 year old scoutmaster when I received a letter from PTC inviting me to attend a Scoutmaster Fundamentals Course during the 1984 season. Needless to say, I was quite excited. I had never been to Philmont but it had always been a dream of mine to get there someday. Unfortunately, I was a young adult who was pretty much living from paycheck to paycheck at the time. The money to pay the course registration and the airfare was not in my budget or savings account.
The troop committee must have seen this as a great opportunity to invest in the local Scouting program. So did the business community, it turns out. One of the committee members went to several local businesses to explain the committee’s plan. A short time later, the committee surprised me with the news that I would be going to Philmont Scout Ranch for the training. Enough businesses had donated funds to pay the airfare and registration. I was shocked! I was surprised. And I was going to make a commitment to stay the scoutmaster of Troop 68 for at least a few more years.
There were a few firsts for me involved with this trip. It would be my first time to Philmont. It would be the first time I would travel by airplane. It would be the first time I had ever traveled on my own. I was a little nervous, but a lot excited.
The trip went well. I proved to myself that I could handle a trip on my own. The course had great instructors. I learned a lot about being a scoutmaster. I met many dedicated Scouters from around the country. I saw the movie Follow Me Boys for the first time. And I climbed to the top of the Tooth of Time (for the first time).
Of course, me being the type of guy who likes taking a lot of photographs, I did use up several rolls of film. I have posted those pictures on my Flickr account. Here is a slideshow of those photos:
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Boy Scouts Of Harlem

on December 27, 2009 in Promotion No Comments »

Earlier this year I heard about a new documentary about a Boy Scout troop from Harlem. The film followed four Boy Scouts from Troop 759 as they went to summer camp. The film centers on Keith, the newest Scout as he attends his first long week of camp out in the woods.

I looked forward to seeing this film coming out in theaters, but soon discovered that it was only being shown in special screening around the country. There were rumors that the film would be shown on PBS stations in 2010 so I though I may have to wait until then to see it, or buy the dvd which became available this fall.

I thought is was great that two films about Boy Scouting had been released on dvd this year. The first, Scout Camp: The Movie, had come out on dvd in June. This new film, 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem, came out later this summer. (I guess if you want to include Russell from UP, the new Pixar movie, you could say there were three movies about Scouting released in 2009.)
In September, Cubmaster Chris (of the An Hour A Week and The Leaders Campfire podcasts) and I received an email from our friend Scott at the InsaneScouter website. He wanted to know if we would like to interview one of the directors of 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem, Justin Szlasa, for an episode of The Leaders Campfire. Chris and I had interviewed Garret Batty, the director and writer of Scout Camp: The Movie earlier this summer, and the show had been quite popular. We thought it would be a great idea to interview Mr. Szlasa.
After several weeks of emailing back and forth we were about to set a date to record a show. Mr. Szlasa was a great person to interview. He and his brothers are Eagle Scouts so he knew a lot about the Scouting program. We talked about the special challenges of filming a documentary, the Boy Scouts of Troop 759, and the camp featured in the film. He even had a couple stories to share with us. Chris and I had fun interviewing him, and I think that comes through on the podcast.
The podcast episode ended up being #73 of the Leaders Campfire podcast. It can be found at PTC Media (click here). The podcast can be subscribed through PTC Media or through the iTunes music store (link here). The dvd of 759: Boy Scouts Of Harlem can be ordered through the website at http://www.harlemscouts.com/store.html . I suggest you get a copy. It is an enjoyable film.