Archive for January, 2020


The Star Shopper is one of our local weekly newspapers. For several years they have placed a special insert in the issue just before Scout Week that features the local troops and packs. This year was a four page spread that included Scouting units from eight communities, including Melrose. It is very well done and features several photos of Cub Scouts and Scout BSA troop.

The units would like to thank the Star Shopper for their recognition of Scouting units. We would also like to thank all the sponsors who made this insert possible.

Does a local newspaper in your community do something similar to this for Scout Week?

(Names of the Scouts have been removed from these pictures in occurrence with online youth protection policies.)

Many years ago our troop began an activity on a camping trip that has since become a yearly tradition. We call it the egg drop competition. Each Scout gets a raw egg and has to create a package of natural materials. These packages are then dropped from higher points until only one egg remains unbroken. Has your troop ever tried something like this? #boyscouts #camping #activity

Here is the video we made from the 2012 Competition.

I was having lunch with my dad today when I noticed he had a copy of the American Legion magazine laying on his coffee table. I picked up the January 2020 issue and paged through it while we were eating our chicken fries. There were several good articles but one page really caught my attention.

A page named “Still Serving America” had several interesting facts, most about how the American Legion financially supported various groups over the years. The last fact did not list any dollar amounts but did list an interesting number. Did you know that a minimum of 45,373 Boy Scouts were sponsored worldwide by the American Legion in the most recent membership year? That is a lot of Scouts! (The page did not say anything about if this was just Boy Scouts or if Cub Scouts were included in that number so I think it may have just been Boy Scouts.)

The factoid did not list the ways the Legion sponsored these Scouts but I am sure many of those Scouts’ troops were sponsored by a local Legion club. We all know that the American Legion and the V.F.W. sponsor many troops and packs across the country. In Melrose, the Legion is the charter sponsor of the Cub Scout Pack while VFW post 7050 is the charter sponsor of the Boy Scout troop. Both units have also received financial support from the other club.

The Scouts, parents, and leadership of Boy Scout Troop 68 and Cub Scout Pack 68 would like to thank the American Legion for their support over the last 40 years and hope we can work together in our community for the next 40 years.