A Scoutmaster's Blog

Bob and I had a quick discussion about what we would do that Wednesday afternoon in June. We were at the Philmont Training Center and trying to plan our afternoon activity since there were no classes to attend. Philmont offered several options. I wanted to take a hike into the mountains, maybe go to the Tooth of Time. Bob wanted to check out the T-Rex footprint since he had never seen it during his previous visits to Philmont. The hike to the Tooth was not an option presented to us. I had not seen the footprint either, and it would give us an afternoon in the mountains, so we agreed to visit the fossil.

Philmont has the distinction of having the only documented Tyrannosaurus rex track in the world. It was discovered within the camp’s boundaries in 1993. It was formally identified in 1994 in North Ponil Canyon near the Anasazi Trail Camp. A cast of the famous T-Rex footprint found outside the Philmont museum matches the real one found near Ponil Canyon.

Wednesday afternoon arrived. Bob and I and several other Scouters and family members gathered for a short bus ride that would take us to the drop off point at which we would start our hike into the mountains. Two Philmont rangers joined us to be our guides.

It was great being in the Philmont backcountry once again. It had been ten years since my last visit to the ranch, and this time my hike would not involve wearing a full backpack. Our tour group included a young family and an older couple who were in their eighties. It was a nice easy going hike that actually followed a road. A hiking trail was seen a short distance to our left. I was hoping to get a picture of a crew as they hiked to their next campsite.

The trail to the footprint was supposed to be a short walk from our drop off point. We soon discovered that this was also the first time our rangers would visit the site also. They were as excited to see it as we were. Unfortunately, everyone in the group was taking and enjoying the hike so much that we walked right by the trail and did not even notice it.

I got a bit suspicious when I noticed we had come across a backcountry campsite. The rangers pulled out their maps to determine where we were. I notice a trail sign up ahead so I ran up to see what it said. Yep. We had gone too far. The T-rex footprint was now behind us.

Most of the group was okay with the extra hiking we had done but everyone had noticed the older couple was having a tougher time of it. They were getting pretty slow and quite tired. By the time we arrived back at the trail we needed to be at the older woman decided to stay behind and rest. The trail looked steeper and more rugged than the road and she did not want to risk it. Her husband decided to check out the site.

The three-toed T-rex footprint was not quite what I expected. I thought it would be an indentation into a fossilized rock or something. Instead, it was a footprint that stuck out of the fossil. The actual footprint had filled with something after being made by the dinosaur and actually became a relief of the print. I also wondered how the experts had determined this was the footprint of a  Tyrannosaurus rex. It was still cool to see it.

The site is now surrounded by a fence to keep people and larger animals off the fossil and causing any damage. A roof offers some protection from rain and the harsh sunlight. One of the people in the group told me the fence and roof were a recent addition to the site. I was glad to see the protective measures taken. Hopefully many future generations will be able to see the footprint.

Since we hiked a bit further than planned we were running behind schedule. One of the rangers ran ahead to tell the bus driver to wait for us. I was able to get the picture I wanted of a crew hiking a Philmont trail. The older gentleman of our group was determined to walk all the way back to the bus, even though we could tell he was physically pushing it further than he should. His wife gladly accepted a ride in a staff pickup that just happened to meet us on the road.

That evening Bob and I bought a patch as a souvenir of our trip to the T-rex footprint. We had both enjoyed our short trip into the Philmont backcountry. I had taken quite a few pictures during the hike, but it would be back to the classroom in the morning. Add it as one more great memory of my 2014 trip to Philmont Scout Ranch.

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Here is a picture of the crew we saw during the hike.

What do you think of when you hear the words “bear skin”? Is your first thought a bear skin rug? Maybe a sporting game between the Bears and the Redskins? Maybe a sunburn after sitting with bare skin in the sun too long? One of the things I think of is summer camp. It was the name of the campsite my troop used for two years when I attended camp as a youth.

I attended Parker Scout Reservation of the Central Minnesota Council for three years during the mid-1970’s. It is a small camp by some summer camp standards, but it was the home of Troop 68 and other troops for a week of fun and excitement. In its earlier days it was called Camp Clyde. These days it is sometimes called Camp Parker. It closed as a summer camp in the late 1970’s but is still used as a weekend camp for council Boy Scout and Cub Scout activities. Troop 68 has used the camp on several occasions over the years for their own weekend activities.

The council has done several major renovations and additions to Camp Parker during the last few decades. The old dining hall was completely renovated and an addition was built onto it. A storage building was added next to it at the same time. A new shower house was constructed back in the nineties. Several older buildings have been remodeled with new heating systems installed. The biggest addition to Camp Parker took place when the castle was built. Yes, you read that correctly. A castle. (Pictures of the castle can be seen at http://www.bsacmc.org/photo_gallery_miller_castle.html .)

A few months ago I received a phone call at work asking if the lumber yard would like to donate some cedar lumber so new signs could be built for the campsites. The signs were getting pretty run down and looked rather shoddy. I did not even give my boss a chance to reply to the request. I used this as a chance for myself to give back a little to the place I have been going to for four decades. I donated the materials.

But I had one request. I wanted the old campsite sign of the camp I stayed in as a young Boy Scout. I wanted the old Bear Skin sign. I was told that should not be a problem and that they would set it aside for me.

That was a couple months ago. Yesterday, when I arrived back home from working at my parents renovation project, I found something placed between my front door and combination door. Later in the morning my district executive had stopped by my house on his way through town and dropped off the sign. Other than patches and pictures, this is the first item from Camp Parker I have been able to add to my Scouting collection.

The sign was actually in decent shape considering it has weathered several Minnesota winters and summers. I really have no idea how long this sign has marked the campsite. I would doubt it is the same sign that welcomed Boy Scouts in the 1970’s, but it is a piece of camp history and I am happy to have it in my collection.

Below you can see a map of Parker Scout Reservation from a camporee probably held in the early 1990’s. As you can see, Parker is not a big camp but it really does not matter. I have made a lot of great Scouting memories there.

It is that time of year. Hallmark is now selling the new Keepsake Ornaments for this year’s Christmas season. That means there should be a new Beagle Scout Snoopy ornament if the company is continuing the series they began several years ago. I was in St. Cloud last Saturday afternoon so I decided to stop in the store and see if there was a new one that I needed to buy. There was!

This year’s ornament is called “learning The Ropes”. According to the Hallmark web page, “Square knots, slip knots,…the Beagle Scouts have Snoopy tied up in knots. They’re not trying to be “knotty,” though, they’re just learning the ropes! This ornament would be great for a Peanuts® fan, or anyone who has experience with Scouting.” The size of the piece is only 2.58″ W x 2.09″ H x 1.83″ D, which I believe is a bit smaller than previous year’s ornaments. The price is $14.95. I believe they are for sale in the stores only, and not available online.

I picked up two them. One to use on the tree and one to keep as part of my collection. I have done the same with each year’s piece. I am thinking I may have to set up a tree this Christmas season, put all eight of my Beagle Scout Snoopy ornaments on it, take a picture of it, and post it to this blog again to see if you can find them all.

The store also had several 2013 Lego Yoda ornaments on sale for 80% off. I picked up a three of those since they were less then $4.00 each. I may place one in the tree with the Snoopy ornaments just to mess you up a bit in this year’s tree picture. The others may end up as presents for someone this holiday season.

Here is the Hallmark website page if you want to check out this year’s Beagle Scout Snoopy ornament: http://shop.hallmark.com/christmas/christmas-ornaments/learning-the-ropes-1495QXI2556.html#prefn1=characters&prefv1=Peanuts®&start=1

Hole #3.

If you have been keeping up with this blog you know that both I and the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 like to play disc golf. I usually go to a nearby town to play since Melrose does not have a disc golf course. I like to get out at least once per week. Gotta keep that throwing arm a bit loose, you know?

Today, Sergio, who is an alumni of Troop 68, and I tried a course at Rivers Edge Park in Waite Park that I knew of but had never played. Playing a course for the first time can be a bit of a challenge if the course is not marked well, and this one fit into that category. It took us a few minutes to discover where the course started (found out we parked in the wrong parking lot), and then where the tee off points and baskets were located.

The course was only nine baskets, which was fine with us for the afternoon. None of the holes contained any long distance throwing, like the Albany course, but the course was a fair test of our skills. The fairways were mostly flat but some were narrow between the trees. There were a lot of trees. The Sauk River bordered three or four holes, and a few of the baskets were hidden within or behind groups of trees. Like I said, challenging, but fun.

According to the DG Course Review website, the course has a par of 27. That means each hole is a par three. They gave it a rating of 2.73 out of five. I think I would have rated it a bit higher, except the course does need a little bit of maintenance.

By the time we finished the ninth hole I thought I was losing by one throw. Sergio thought he was losing by one. We added up the scores and discovered a tie at 36. We had not made par, but we were both happy with our scores so we did not play another nine. We had a good time and that is what really counted.

Now I have a new course to introduce the Boy Scouts to. They will have fun on it but will have to watch out for wild throws, or they may find themselves swimming in the river to retrieve their discs. (See picture.)

It is inevitable. If you are in the Scouting program for several years you will start collecting something. It could be activity patches. Maybe it will be council shoulder patches (csp’s) or Order of the Arrow lodge flaps. It might be coffee mugs or bolo ties. Would handbooks or fieldbooks be more to your liking? What do I collect? All of the above.

When I went to the Philmont Training Center in June I brought along some Central Minnesota Council shoulder patches to trade with Scouters from around the country. The first time I was introduced to patch trading was at the Philmont Training Center in 1984, and I was not prepared to do any trading. I have tried not to make that mistake anymore whenever I leave the council.

I brought 19 csp’s with me to trade at Philmont this year. Trading was to take place Monday evening that week. I was going to be ready.

I was a bit disappointed to see that only a half dozen people show up to trade patches at the South Tent City activity building, but I was able to do some trading. I was also able to trade a couple patches during the rest of the week. I went back to Minnesota with ten new council strips and one Order of the Arrow patch. I did well. I was happy.

There was one patch for trade that night that I really wanted for my collection. It was a Far East Council should patch that featured James E. West, the first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America. The young Scouter (a possible staff member?) that had the patch did not want to trade one for one. He wanted more. I did not want to give up any of my new patches so I prepared to leave without it. But than another young Scouter arrived and he had the same patch to trade. He was willing to trade one for one. I was able to add James E. West to my collection.

There was one patch that eluded my trading. National Commissioner Tico Perez was in attendance during the week I was at the training center. I tried to trade csp’s with him a couple of times but each time he did not have any patches with him to trade. He did however have his special red “National Commissioner Tico Perez” patch which he gave me. To tell the truth, I was more excited to add this rare patch to my collection than his council patch.

What do you collect? How many items do you have in your collection?

The opening campfire of a week of Boy Scout summer camp. It is time to meet the staff that will play an important role during the success of your troop’s time at camp. Is the staff enthusiastic? Are they energetic? Are they ready to provide you with the totally awesome program you have come to expect from camp? Are they a little bit crazy? In the case of the 2014 Many Point Scout Camp Buckskin staff, the answer is yes to all the above, and their opening campfire was a great demonstration of how enthusiastic and crazy they could be.

This video was recorded during the July 6, 2014, opening campfire. This will be the first of a few videos filmed during the campfire that will be posted to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast. As you can see when you watch this, this year’s staff was pumped to start working with a new week of Boy Scout campers. This video features the staff introductions and the singing of the Many Point Rouser. As all “repeat after me” songs, it gets pretty loud and rowdy by the end.

Video Information: 960 x 540, time 05:22, 145.4 MB. m4v format.

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The Boy Scouts have come home. About an hour and a half ago the ten Boy Scouts and two adult leaders of Melrose Troop 68 arrived home from spending the week at Many Point Scout Camp in northwest Minnesota. From the few minutes I was able to talk to them I discovered they had a great time but were ready to get home, clean up, and get back to life with their families.

The ten Scouts did an excellent job earning advancement while they were at camp. When I left them Monday afternoon I made a deal with them. I told them that if they earned a total of 25 completed merit badges during the week I would host a movie/pizza party. Eight of them were earning the Cooking merit badge which I did not think they could complete during camp so I did not count these against the total. I thought that 25 badges would present a good goal but would still be challenging.

Someday I will learn my lesson for betting against the Scouts. They earned their goal and went beyond it. They came home with 33 completed merit badges. It might be 34 after we check one Scout’s camping outings to see if he completed his Camping Merit Badge. Eight of these merit badges were the Cooking badge. It seems that with the new requirements this year the boys can complete the award during the week at camp. Oh well, even if I took the eight Cooking merit badges off the total it still leaves 25 completed badges, which met the goal. I guess I better get ready to buy some pizzas.

Here is a breakdown of the merit badges earned at summer camp this year:
8- Cooking, 2- Climbing, 2- Environmental Science, 4- Fishing,
1- Fish and Wildlife Management, 1- Forestry, 3- Game Design,
2- Geocaching, 1- Kayaking, 1- Lifesaving, 1- Mammal Study,
1- Nature, 1- Rowing, 1- Shotgun Shooting, 3- Weather,
1- Wilderness Survival (and possibly 1- Camping).

Congratulations to all the Boy Scouts for doing a great job at camp this week. Even though they earned a lot of badges while at camp they still managed to have a lot of fun and participate in in lots of activities.

“Many Point Scout Camp. That’s the place to be. It’s where the best of Scouting is and that’s the place for me. You hear the loon a’calling, and the Little Beaver roar, and you’ll come again the legend says, just like the Scouts of yore.”

You can almost hear the staff singing this song as you drive into the parking lot near the Administration Building and Welcome Center of Many Point Scout Camp. Maybe the ten Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 were not thinking about the song, but I was as I parked the car. You could really feel the excitement from the staff as the new campers arrived for the week of July 6th.

The Scouts of Troop 68 have been spending a week of their summers at MPSC for 25 years. The troop stays in the Buckskin Camp, one of the four camps available at Many Point. In Buckskin, the Scouts eat in the dining hall instead of cooking their own meals.

My car was one of three vehicles bringing the Melrose Scouts to camp. The trip took nearly three and a half hours with a stop along the way for lunch in Wadena. The three Scouts who rode with me had an extra reason for choosing my vehicle. We worked on a couple requirements for the Citizenship in the Community merit badge.

Since I planned to spend the night at camp I helped to set up the adult leader’s tent while the senior patrol leader and acting scoutmaster were meeting with our camp counselor at one of the campsite picnic tables. During the rest of the afternoon the Scouts stopped by the dining hall for instructions, stopped at the beachfront for safety talks and swim checks, and finished setting up their camp.

One reason I wanted to stay for the night was to watch the opening campfire program. I was hoping to record a good video or two of the songs and skits the staff would perform. I hit the jackpot! The staff did an outstanding job. Even the Scouts who have been to camp for a few years were laughing and enjoying the program. I plan to post some of the video to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast so check checking back for that.

Monday morning arrived. One of the Scouts and I were anxiously awaiting the arriving of our camp councilor and the schedule of the troop’s afternoon activities for the week.The Scout had broke his arm Saturday evening and he was wondering if it would be worthwhile for him to stick around for the week. Yes, he could work on merit badges during the morning sessions, but would there be activities he could take part in during the afternoon session?

The camp councilor brought the schedule after breakfast during the first merit badge session. I looked it over and when the Scout returned to the campsite we reviewed it together. Yes, the swimming activities and climbing tower were out for him, but we agreed that he could participate in 3/4 of the rest of the schedule. The assistant scoutmaster offered to work with him on his First Class Rank during those activities that he would not be able to partake in. The Scout decided to stay for the week.

I decided to leave camp early Monday afternoon. I said goodbye to the Scouts as they left for their first afternoon troop activity, which happened to be a nature canoe trip. I did sit down at the picnic table to play a couple quick hands of rummy with Eymard, our acting scoutmaster for the week. After we both won a game I decided it was time to leave.

I think the Boy Scouts will have a great time at Many Point this summer. They have a fun afternoon schedule and are enjoying their merit badge classes. The camp staff seems pumped and enthusiastic which will really help the Scouts have a fun and enjoyable week.

Where is your troop going to camp this summer?