A Scoutmaster's Blog

As scoutmaster I always keep an eye open for the latest camp gadgets. I usually only buy gadgets that I think I would actually use, but once in awhile I will buy something because it has the “cool” factor. Unfortunately, I now own so many gadgets that more stay at home in the garage then go along on a camping trip. But that does not stop me from looking for something new.

This month I added the Kamp Kadi by Nebo to my collection. I was able to buy it at less then half the MSP retail price. It was cheap enough that I thought it was worth giving it a try on the next Boy Scout troop camping trip.

This gadget is basically a simple camp kitchen organizer. Everything fits on a single metal pole that can be stuck in the ground or attached to the end of a picnic table. It comes with a bag to for storage. This is for drive-up camping. It is too heavy for a backpacking trip.

While it is not the most elegant looking of camp gadgets, it does appear to be very functional. The two things that first caught my eye were the trash bag and paper towel holders. I am hoping this will create a more “user friendly” environment so the Boy Scouts keep a cleaner cooking area. The shelf and utensil hooks are a bonus to me. (I think we will find something other than a radio to hang on the other bar.)

Will this Kamp Kadi be worth my investment? We will find out in the spring when the troop begins its camping season again.

Does your troop use the Kamp Kadi or something similar? Leave a comment on how it has worked for your troop.

The Board of Review. Terrifying to the new Tenderfoot Scout. Confusing to the new committee member. How does the Scout prepare? What are the board members supposed to cover and ask?

I have been scoutmaster long enough to see a lot of people come and go on the committee. Many times the new committee members are confused when it comes to serving on their first board of review. I usually let the more experienced committee members instruct the newer ones about what to do or say. However, during the past 25 years I saw they could use a suggestions or two, so I made a Board of Review sheet for them to use during the BOR. It seems to have helped them quite a bit during the years. In fact, I think newer members now think it is a sheet required to be filled out during a BOR. I have to correct them that it is a sheet of suggestions to cover for our own troop use, it is not a national requirement form.

So, what does the sheet have on it? It has seven areas I suggest the BOR to talk about with the Scout.

Participation. How has the Scout been doing with attendance at meetings, outings and fundraisers? If he has not been showing up for functions then it is time for them to ask about the reasons behind the poor attendance. Many times the Scout has valid reasons, but sometimes he does not. Sometimes the board will discover things that the scoutmaster does not know about. It is also a good time to praise the Scout who has a great attendance record.

Scout Spirit and ideals. Does the Scout know the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan? Does he know what they mean? Does he try to live by them? Of course, the board members better know and understand these oaths themselves or it may look awkward if the Scout catches them in a mistake of understanding.

Merit badges and advancement. First of all, this is not a re-test of the badges! My suggestion is to ask which merit badges were fun to earn and why? Which ones were difficult? Did he find any of the skills learned while earning the badges to be useful in everyday life? Keep the questions about general topics.

Service Projects. Did he participate in the troop’s service projects and/or help out with other troop members Eagle projects? What were the purpose of the projects? Did he learn anything while doing them?

Leadership. What position of leadership did he hold in the troop since the last board of review? Was it difficult or easy? What type of leader was he? What were his duties? Did he do them well? Most of the time the BOR members really don’t know much about how the Scout did with a leadership position because the members do not regularly attend troop meetings and outings. However, they should ask the Scout questions, and also talk with the scoutmaster before the BOR.

Religious principles. Of course, a Scout must have a belief in God. How does he practice his faith? What does he believe is his duty to God? We have to be careful with this topic because there are Scouts of many different religions. We don’t want to make the Scout feel uncomfortable with the wrong questions. However, I think we do need to touch on this subject and not ignore it as if it is unimportant.

Goals. Everyone needs goals. What goals has the Scout set for himself, both in and out of Scouting? Does he have a goal to complete his next rank? Does he have leadership goals? Is there a goal to attend a high adventure base and a national jamboree? Does he have any goals in school? How does he intend to meet those goals?

Of course, the BOR members can bring up other subjects also. But these few areas cover a lot of territory. If asked correctly, they can begin a great dialog between the board and the Scout.

A copy of this form can be found on our troop’s website at:
http://melrosetroop68.org/advancement.html
Leave a comment if you have any other suggestions that you think would be good topics for a board of review to cover.

Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, have put together a special Christmas show for your enjoyment. The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 sing Jingle Bells and Rudolph, the Red Nose Reindeer. Stories include the Christmas Scout, the legend of Santa Claus Camp, and Matthew’s Christmas story.

Steve and Buttons wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. They also thank you for being a fan and listening to the podcast.

Send us your emails. You can contact Buttons at buttonst68@yahoo.com. You may contact Scoutmaster Steve at stevejb68@yahoo.com. Please rate the show and/or leave a comment at the iTunes store.

You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at twitter.com/stevejb68 or twitter.com/buttonst68 .

We are in the final week of the Christmas season. This time of year always reminds me of one evening in August of 1992 when I was with my troop on a trek at Philmont Scout Ranch. We decided to spend an evening around the campfire celebrating Christmas and singing songs. Yes, it was odd, but it was also a lot of fun. During the fun each of the twelve of us took one verse and made a new version of the Twelve Days of Christmas. I have written this to the blog during a previous year, but I thought it might be fun to look at it once again.

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The Philmont Twelve Days of Christmas.
On the twelfth day at Philmont my ranger gave to me;
twelve meal packs (Tom)
eleven Sierra cups (Tim)
ten hikers hiking (Josh)
nine bottles of iodine (Nathan)
eight backpackers packing (Ross)
seven teriyaki helpings (Corey)
six good meals (Paul)
a five mile hike (Jason)
four hot showers (Al)
three dirty socks (Peter)
two Powerbars (Greg)
and one pemmican bar. (Steve)

Have you been on a Philmont trek? What would you have added as a verse to the song?

You can read more about our evening of Christmas at Philmont at
http://www.melrosetroop68.org/High%20Adventure%20Journals/Philmont92part6.html

Every so often I get a note from someone asking me about the Peanuts comic strip in which Snoopy appears as a Beagle Scout or as the scoutmaster of a troop of Woodstock’s friends. I never had a collection of all the comic strips, but today I found a couple of sources that will help you to find them all.

The first is http://peanuts.wikia.com, a site that answers all your questions about Charlie Brown and his gang. It is where I started looking for the comics featuring Snoopy, the Beagle Scout. (Who, by the way, started his Scouting as a Tenderpaw.)

The second site you will need is comics.com.

Between these two sites I was able to find over 35 strips dealing with the Beagle Scout and his troop. In one of the last strips he attends a wedding of a couple of the troop members and becomes the groom’s First Beagle. Have fun reading through them all.

Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, introduces the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 as they sing Christmas songs during a couple of December courts of honor (from 2003 and 2007). Join the Scouts as they sing a couple of Christmas favorites: Jingle Bells and Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer. (And stick around until the very end for an outtake of Buttons’ intro.)

Everyone at the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast and Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 wish you and yours a safe and very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! See you in 2011!

Fa la la la la, la la la la!

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Okay. I usually do not cover sporting events in this blog but I just watched a couple of videos that really show how a community can come together and do a super sized service project. As we all know, Boy Scouts love their service projects, but it was simply amazing to see this.

According to an article on Yahoo Sports: While tossing hats onto the ice when a player scores three goals might be hockey’s most famous tossing tradition, it simply doesn’t compare to the Technicolor grandeur of 23,096 teddy bears and other stuffed animals blanketing the rink as they did at the Calgary Hitmen game on Sunday. For 16 years the Hitmen, who were co-owned by and named after former WWF champion Bret Hart, have held a Teddy Bear Toss to benefit over 50 charities in Alberta that work with children. On Monday, after the 23,000-strong toss, the players hand-delivered teddy bears to the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Read the article at http://tinyurl.com/2eh7l4q

“Totally awesome”, as a furry friend of mine would say.

It looks like Boy Scouts with iPhones and iPod Touch’s will soon be able to keep track of their merit badges on their devices. According to scoutingnews.org:

Beginning in early 2011, Boy Scouts will be able to manage their merit badges with an interactive application for the Apple iPhone. The application which will be available for $1.99 through the iTunes Store, will let Scouts review merit badge requirements, keep track of their progress by requirement, and even share their success on Facebook.

I can see good points and bad points about this. It may be good for the boys to have a “tech” way to keep track of advancement other than carrying around a handbook which never seems to be very handy. It might not be so good because many troops have a “no phones or electronic devices on outings” policy. This could create some conflicts.

It will be interesting to see if this will become a popular download for the boys. I also wonder if they will be creating an app for Android based devices.

Read the whole news story at
http://www.scoutingnews.org/2010/12/15/merit-badges-iphone-app/ .