A Scoutmaster's Blog

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 had a lot of fun on the climbing wall at St. Cloud State University in early 2014. I had my camera along, like I usually do, so I was taking a lot of photos of the Scouts as they tried their skills on the various climbs. A few times I switched the camera to video mood to record some of the climbs.

A few days later I was playing around with iMovie. I had never used their “create a movie trailer” function so I decided to give it a try using the footage I recorded from the climbing trip. I discovered it was fairly easy to use and made a trailer of the day.

It trailer has been sitting on my computer for the last few years. Last week I decided to share it on the Melrose Scouting Productions channel on Youtube. I invite you to take a look at at it. Hit the like button on the channel and subscribe to it.

It can be found at https://youtu.be/u6Tqn-j3CMU or viewed below.

I was looking for a new social media site to join in early February. After all, Google Plus will soon be going away and the Yahoo groups are pretty much a cemetery these days. Facebook is okay but somewhat limited. I wanted a new site with Scouting groups to learn new things and share some of my stuff. That is when I came across Reddit.

I noticed Reddit had several Scouting themed groups. The was a BoyScouts group, a BSA group, and others groups including cubscouts, orderofthearrow, philmont, and scouting. A couple of them had quite a few members but others did not seem to be visited very often. Oh well, I will sign up for all of them, I thought.

I began to make a profile and quickly noticed my username was already in use. I found that to be interesting. After a few more clicks and a reset of the password I discovered I already had an account. It was created six years ago! I guess I made a profile and then forgot about it.

During the last month and a half I have been using it and testing the waters. I joined the subcategories listed above and found a couple more such as woodbadge and Scouts. I also joined a few more for good measure like disc golf, Minnesota, and a couple Star Wars groups.

Do you spend much time on Reddit? Which Scouting themed subcategories do you follow? What are some of your other favorite categories?

I do not think it matters if it is a Cub Scout or a Boy Scout who visits a fire department, they are all going to enjoy the field trip. After all, fire trucks are cool, and so are the firemen.

A few years ago the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 visited the local volunteer fire department. After a tour of the facilities the firemen taught the Scouts the six man lift which the first responders use to place an accident victim onto a body board for transport to a hospital.

I was quick enough to grab my camera and record the Scouts trying to lift a few people using the six man lift. One of those people was their scoutmaster. The boys were having fun and learning an important skill in the process.

I recently upload the video to the YouTube channel Melrose Scouting Productions. You can view it at https://youtu.be/lHcFbJUgqGg
or watch it below.

Where has the time gone? I just realized that it has been over twelve years since I threw a troop tee shirt on a puppet I own and created Buttons, the radical Boy Scout. It honestly does not seem that long ago.

On April 17, 2006, I posted a video on YouTube featuring Buttons reciting the Scout Law. Little did I know at the time that he would actually get a small following on the Melrose Scouting Productions channel and my podcast. For the next few years I created more videos featuring the puppet. There were nineteen videos of Buttons by the time I ended creating them.

The videos began very simply with Buttons reciting the Scout Law, Oath, or Outdoor Code. They were getting more elaborate toward the end of the run. There was a video of him exercising. There were videos of Buttons interviewing people involved in Scouting. There were a few videos of him explaining when you know you have been in Scouting too long. There were even videos of Buttons and other puppets telling jokes.

I still Buttons out occasionally to take a few pictures of him in different situations. Last summer I had him on the local disc golf course since Buttons has always stated on the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast that he likes disc golf. I recently posted a few of those pictures in the disc golf subheading on Reddit and surprisingly got a mixed reaction from people. Some people thought it was good fun. Others thought he was wierd. A few did not like him at all.

A couple of the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 think I should create some new videos with Buttons this summer. They even offered to help make the short films. Maybe if we can come up with a few good ideas it just might happen.

Do you think we should create some new videos featuring Buttons, the radical Boy Scout? Leave a comment and let me know. In the meantime, have fun watching the very first video featuring the radical puppet.

A parent of one of the Boy Scouts of Melrose Area Troop 68 approached me after a troop meeting last month. She is a member of the Cub Scout Pack committee and asked if I could put together a Scouting display for the Blue and Gold Banquet which would be held on Tuesday, February 26. Well, of course, I said yes.

I have been an adult leader in Scouting for over 38 years so I have accumulated a lot of Scouting related items including handbooks, training materials, mugs, patches, and even stuff animals. Putting together a tabletop display would not be too difficult.

The weekend before the banquet I began to think about the display. I wanted it to be Cub Scout themed, of course, with something to catch the attention of both the Scouts and their families.Maybe something with various colors to attract the eye.

I began with the backdrop. One of my patch blankets would serve that purpose. The dozens of patches would attract attention with all the colors and designs. I chose my second blanket since the patches were closer to the date. I own a clothing rack so hanging it would not be a problem.

I made a decision to showcase the history of Cub Scouting with the other items. I chose that theme partially because the older handbooks have better cover designs than the current books. Since I was limited to a table top I could only choose a book or two from each grade level. I also used a couple of adult leader handbooks.

I added a large Norman Rockwell print of a Boy Scout teaching a couple Cub Scouts a new skill for one corner of the table. I finished the display with some Cub Scout awards, an old Cub Scout cap, and a few Scouting themed stuff animals. The table was nicely filled but not so much that it would look cluttered.

The display went over pretty well at the Blue and Gold Banquet. I saw both Scouts and parents checking it out. I guess you could say my mission was accomplished.

Did you have a display at your Blue and Gold? What was your theme? What did it include? Let us know by leaving a comment.