The Patrol Leader Council of Troop 68 recently held their yearly planning session to create the agenda for the 2022-2023 program year. They did a great job, and I believe they had fun doing it. They did take it quite seriously.

As a start to the session, the five Scouts were given a sheet to rate the troop on 22 subjects. They rated each one on a scale of one to five, One being the most in need of work and Five being the high score. The Scouts were asked to be truthful as they rated each subject. The scores were then added up to create an overall score. We also took the individual scores and added them up together to create an average score.

The Scouts gave the troop good scores. Fourteen subjects had an average score of 5. Seven subjects had a score of 4. One subject had a score of 3. Five of the subjects received an unanimous 5 points. Of a possible 110 points, the Scouts gave their troop an average score of 101 points. Not bad when you think about it.

So, what are the questions? I am so glad you asked. Here are the 22 subjects. Give the “test” to your youth leaders and see would they rate your troop and program. If you dare!

a) Are parents involved with the troop?. 5 4 3 2 1

b) Do we have good youth leadership? 5 4 3 2 1

c) Scoutmaster and adult leadership? 5 4 3 2 1

d) Good example being set by youth and adult leaders. 5 4 3 2 1

e) Fundraising, Available funds. 5 4 3 2 1

f) Is good sportsmanship demonstrated? 5 4 3 2 1

g) Cooperation between troop members. 5 4 3 2 1

h) Number of members (scouts). 5 4 3 2 1

i) Good communication within troop. 5 4 3 2 1

j) Is there Positive encouragement within the troop? 5 4 3 2 1

k) Confidence shown by leaders and Scouts. 5 4 3 2 1

l) Is there Good Effort shown by the membership?. 5 4 3 2 1

m) Is the troop Seriousness when it needs to be? 5 4 3 2 1

n) Uniform used and worn properly. 5 4 3 2 1

o) Setting goals, attaining of goals. 5 4 3 2 1

p) Good attendance at meetings and outings. 5 4 3 2 1

q) Has there been good advancement? 5 4 3 2 1

r) Does the troop have Good Activities. 5 4 3 2 1

s) Do the Scouts have a Good attitude. 5 4 3 2 1

t) Is the troop Well organized? 5 4 3 2 1

u) Is the program FUN!!! 5 4 3 2 1

v) Is bullying avoided within the troop? 5 4 3 2 1

I have been collecting the Hallmark Scoutmaster Snoopy ornaments for about 15 years now so I was looking forward to picking up this year’s ornament today at my local Hallmark store. I saw the ornament online a couple weeks ago and it looked like a great addition to the collection. According to the Hallmark website:

Scoutmaster Snoopy and his Beagle Scouts know that great days are ones spent fishing with friends. Celebrate the timeless tradition of scouting with this cute Peanuts Christmas tree ornament featuring Snoopy, Woodstock and their yellow feathered friends.

I thought it was a great idea for the design. I was really looking forward to buying two of them, like I usually do every year. I walked into the store, gazed at all the various ornaments on display, and then found Scoutmaster Snoopy. I guess you could say the feeling I felt when I first saw it was… disappointment.

The design was great, but the ornament was very small. And I do mean small. It looked to be about half the size of last year’s ornament which was already a bit smaller then the year before. All the other ornaments on the display wall looked to about about the normal size that we have come to expect from Hallmark. So why was this Snoopy ornament so much smaller than the others?

By the way, this year’s ornament was the same price as last year’s ornament, even though it was so much smaller.

When I got home I took out the last two previous years ornaments to see just how much smaller this year’s was. The feeling began to change from disappointment to a little bit of anger. The 2022 model seemed to be about 40% smaller than the 2021 model. Take a look at the pictures below and see for yourself.

If this is how Hallmark plans to treat this series in the future then I may be done collecting Scoutmaster Snoopy ornaments. Yes, I bought this year’s decoration but I only bought one, not the usual two. I could not bring myself to buy a second one because I felt like I was being ripped off by Hallmark.

What do you think of this year’s ornament? Do you plan to buy one? What do you think of the size of it? Leave a comment and let me know if you like this year’s “The Peanuts® Gang Fishing Friends Ornament”.

Thank you for stopping by A Scoutmaster’s Blog.

The Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 performed two skits during the Buckskin closing campfire at Many Point Scout Camp on July 22, 2022, to the enjoyment of the audience. This one, The Radio Airwaves skit, depicts what could happen if your radio stations keep overlapping each other on the way to camp.

This skit has been a favorite of the Scouts of Troop 68 since we first saw it performed at a campfire program in the 1980s. It is a timeless skit that allows five five to participate in the performance.

When I began this blog I was the scoutmaster of Scout Troop 68. I spent over 30 years in that position. At the end of 2001 I retired from that position but stayed on as a committee member. I have enjoyed working with the Scouts for over 40 years.

Since I stepped down as the troop’s scoutmaster the troop has has four men fulfill that role. As 2021 came to a close our current scoutmaster decided to step down. Unfortunately, no one stepped up to take on the challenge. We currently have a small troop so there is not a large pool of parents to ask.

The year was coming to an end, and without a scoutmaster Troop 68 may come to an end after 41 years of continuous existence. Was it time for the Scout program to come to an end in Melrose?

A part of me thought it may be time to let the program come to an end. After all, if no one wanted to step up to the role then we could not have a troop.

But part of me did not want the troop to end. I have invested over 40 years into the local program. It would be a shame to see it end.

In December 2021 we held a parents meeting. We needed someone to fill the role of scoutmaster. Would someone step up to take the position? Or would Troop 68 come to an end? A name was needed on the recharter at the end of the month.

You have probably guessed that my name went into that slot. During the December parents meeting, after no one offered to take it over, I offered to take on the role for one year, but there were going to be a few changes that I felt would be needed.

I held a short meeting with the Scouts after the meeting with the parents. After all, I did not want to take the position if the Scouts had any issues or concerns. They all seemed to be on board with me taking on the role.

After a decade away from the role I find myself back as a scoutmaster once again. While the program is still the same there has been a few changes to the policies that adults need to follow. I have taken some of the online training to make sure I am ready for the role once again.

In a way I am looking forward to taking on the role for a year, but I also realize I am not as young as I used to be. While I am still dedicated to the program I am not interested in participating in 100 percent of the activities anymore. Parents are going to have to step up to help.

I am looking forward to the year of 2022. I hope we have enough help to make it a great year for the Scouts of Troop 68.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose area Troop 68 enjoy attending the campfire programs at the beginning of the week and at the end of the week while at summer camp. In fact, they have taking many of these skits and added them to their own troop activities. One of the earliest ones they learned, and continue to use to this day, is the I Want To Marry The Princess skit they saw performed at Crow Wing Scout Camp in the early 1980s.

I recently discovered a video of a couple of our Boy Scouts performing this skit during a court of honor held in December 1989. Considering this was recorded on VHS tape I was pleasantly surprised at how good it still looks. The Scouts did an excellent job performing this skit. Even an error does not slow them down, adding even more humor to the skit.

This is a fairly easy skit to learn but does take a few particles to perform it well. Does your troop ever perform this skit at a campfire program or court of honor? How well do they do it?

This video can be watched on the Melrose Scouting Productions channel on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/mnzP1Q7nYzg

I have been collecting the Hallmark Keepsake ornaments featuring Scout Leader Snoopy for quite a few years. Hallmark has been creating one for each Christmas holiday season for nearly two decades. I think I missed the first one or two but I have collected each one since 2007. In fact, once I discover a new one is for sale I usually post the news in this blog. In this video of My Scouting Collection I show all the Beagle Scout Snoopy ornaments in my collection along with a special Walt Disney ornament I found featuring Donald Duck and his nephews.

Do you collect these ornaments? Have you seen them in the stores? Which ones do you own?

This is the fifth video in the series and can be watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXQwSVrU23k

If you enjoy watching these videos please hit the LIKE button on the YouTube page and subscribe to the channel. Thank you for watching.

Sometimes plush animal toys are so cute you just have to buy it. At least that is what a Cub Scout aged child may think when one catches his eye in a store. As an adult I have collected several for myself, but they have a Scouting theme to them. Sometimes when I walk into the trading post at summer camp one of these toys may catch my eye and suddenly become the newest member of my stuffed animal collection.

In this video I show the plush animals I have collected. Many of them are from Many Point Scout Camp or the Scout Stuff online store. A couple have some from high adventure bases. Would do you think of them?

This video can be watched on the My Scouting Collection channel on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESqPKTNeeQg

Do you have many plush animals in your collection? If you enjoy the videos you are invited to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below the videos. Thank you for watching.

The sport of disc golf has been a part of the Scouting program at many Boy Scout camps for decades. Many Scout camps have disc golf courses. I was introduced to the sport back in 1981 at Crow Wing Scout Camp. They did not have baskets to throw discs into at the time so we had to hits the posts to finish each hole. It was very challenging but also very fun, and it was a great troop activity.

During the last couple decades disc golf became more popular with the Scouts of Melrose area Troop 68. We would schedule a time to play when we were at a camp that had a course. For several years we held a disc golf marathon day in which we would play at two of three different courses in central Minnesota. We would keep scores and award prizes to the Scouts who had the best scores.

As new Scouts joined our troop and played disc golf for the first time, I would encourage them to learn how to throw and work on their skills, not try to be the best and take the top place. That takes practice and lots of playing. Even though we handed out prizes during our outings I always stressed we were doing this for the fun of being together and beings outdoors. Of course, talking a little smack during the game was allowed as long as it did not get mean spirited, and the Scouts understood this.

Being a player of disc golf myself I have a nice disc collection I take with me on the course. I may not know what each disc one is for but it makes me feel like I know something. I have also collected several Scouting themed discs that have become part of my Scouting collection and are not used on the course. Some of these discs were bought at camp while other were bought through the Scout Shop. In this video I display the discs I have purchased and added to my collection.

This video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAfhA9L0CO8

Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoy it.