A Scoutmaster's Blog

As I was gathering patches for my new Scout uniform shirt I went to the eBay auction site to find an adult leader 2001 National Jamboree patch since I did not want to remove it from my old shirt. I found one at a very reasonable price, for only $5.20 with shipping. As I was searching for it I came across a few other auctions that caught my attention.

Normally I just glance at the auctions since the prices usually end up going higher than I like. One auction did catch my attention. It was a patch set from the 2001 Jamboree that I had never seen before. The set included three patches from the Jewish Shomer Shabbat Contingent. I could be mistaken but I think it may include an adult leader, a participant, and a staff patch. It was a very good looking set.

I decided I would like to add it to my Jamboree collection. I checked the price and I thought it was very reasonable. The seller was only asking $9.95 for the set, and that included postage. I hit the Buy It Now button before I could change my mind.

The patches arrived last week and look sharp. I am glad I purchased them. But I do not know anything about this contingent. My mission to you is to leave a comment with some information of this group. I appreciate the help.

It was time to buy a new Scout uniform. The one I have been using I have probably been wearing for ten years. The sleeves are starting to fray at the edges. Some of the patches are coming loose. The worse problem with the shirt is that it seems to be shrinking. It was fine when I bought it but during the last couple years it just does not fit as well any more. I just don’t understand it.

So I bought a new uniform shirt along with a new batch of patches. I did not want to go through the work of taking the patches off the old shirt. Many of them were applied with Badge Magic and I do not think they would come off easily. I will hang the old shirt at the end of the closet with the other old shirts from the last 38 years that may one day find their way to the Scouting display at our local museum.

Anyway, like I was saying, I bought a new uniform shirt. That was ten months ago. It has been sitting in a bag on my bedroom dresser since I bought it. Along with all the new patches. It appears the patches will not apply themselves to the shirt even if you wait ten months.

A couple weeks ago I decided to do something with the new shirt. I spread it out nicely on the family room table. I sorted through the collection of patches that need to be applied to the shirt. There would be eighteen patches, three of which I still had to order from somewhere. I dug through the closet and pulled out the Badge Magic I had left over from preparing the old uniform. I then cut pieces of Badge Magic and started applying some of the patches to the new uniform. I was using the adhesive strips to place the patches, not as the permanent application method. My goal was to bring the shirt and patches to Judy, a seamstress in town, to sew them onto the shirt. She is very reasonable with her fees.

The shirt laid on the family room table in the basement for a few more days since I forgot to grab it on my way to work. One day I went home for lunch, remembered the shirt, grabbed it on the way out, and brought it to Judy. She said she would call me after she finished sewing the ten patches. Yeah, ten patches. I could not do the left shoulder yet because I was waiting for the 40 year patch. I also needed a 2001 Jamboree patch for over the right pocket. The new Journey to Excellent patches have not arrived.

Within thirty minutes of arriving back at work I received a phone call from Judy to let me know my shirt was ready. As I drove up the next day to pick up the shirt I was wondering how much she was going to charge me for sewing ten patches. The Scout Shop charges $4.00 per patch. I was hoping she would be less than that. She was. The bill was less than $8.00, and she did an excellent job.

Once the final three patches arrive I will place them on the shirt and bring it back to Judy for another round of sewing. The Jamboree patch has arrived but I am still waiting for the other two.

I hope I get another ten years or more from this new uniform. I hope it does not shrink like the last one did.

Hooray! Scoutbook is now free for all troops and packs to use. The Scoutmaster of Troop 68 brought laptops to our last troop meeting to introduce this program to the Boy Scouts. I think things went well. The boys seemed to be having fun checking it out during the meeting. Time will time if they actually use the program.

As the advancement coordinator of our troop though, I am not finding the love. Maybe I misunderstood how this program was to be used. I thought I would be able to go online with Scoutbook and update the Scouts advancement or see what they have accomplished and update my records. So far I have not been able to do any of that.

It seems that only the troop’s “key three” have access to the Scout’s information. I understand the need to keep things private but it is not helping me in my position. As far as the “key three” accessibility, I understand the scoutmaster and the committee chairman, but the charter organization representative? Really? Like many charter organizations across the country, ours is not very involved with the troop. I highly doubt that our charter rep even knows about Scoutbook, much less wants to access it.

After playing around with Scoutbook for awhile I have found I have no use for it. In fact, I grew very frustrated with it. Like I stated earlier, maybe I am trying to accomplish something with it that it was not designed to do, and if that is the case I see no reason for me to go back to it.

Am I missing something? Do you find it useful for your troop? Leave a comment and let me know what you think about Scoutbook.

Another January has come and gone which also means thousands of Pinewood Derby’s has been held across the country. Melrose Area Cub Scout Pack 68 held this year’s Pinewood Derby at the Melrose American Legion on Sunday, January 20. Twenty five Cub Scouts participated in the event.

I arrived at the Legion to help set things up before most of the families arrived. After asking the cubmaster what I should do she asked me to take photographs during the event. I guess she knows that type of work is right up my alley.

I took pictures of each Scout as they arrived. I took two pictures of the Scout holding his/her car, and one closeup of the car. I also took some pictures during the event. When I was asked by the cubmaster to hand out the Derby Patches after the races were complete I handed my camera to one of the Boy Scouts who continued to take pictures. I took the camera back when the cubmaster presented the trophies. I was also able to get a few group and den photos before families started to leave.

By the time the event was over I had over 160 photos from the Pinewood Derby. Since most of the families have a Facebook account I posted many of them to the site. I may also make a slideshow of the pictures and post it later. Of course, no names of the Scouts will be listed with the photos.

Does your Pack assign someone to take photo’s during its Pinewood Derby? How many photos did they take during the event? Did your Cub Scouts enjoy your derby?