A Scoutmaster's Blog

My  last post about ten reasons to be a Scout leader has been a popular post to this blog. One of the replies I received about the post was from a member of the “Boy Scout/Cub Scout Adult Leaders” group on LinkedIn.

Rush Kester lives in the Washington D.C. area. He has been involved with Scouting for 23 years and has held several positions including cubmaster and assistant scoutmaster, so he has a little experience behind him. Here is what is wrote in regards to becoming a Scout Leader:

*Weekend campouts are a great change of pace from office work and a stress reliever from any occupation.
*Observing the other kids is a good reminder that the stuff your child does (that drive you nuts) is “normal.”
*Folks, both youth & adults, can disagree and still have fun together.
*It keeps you young and active
*Its a great way to bond with your children
*The “quality” time you spend with your children is multiplied by the many other youth who benefit from your leadership.
*Your children will turn out better for it.
*There are other’s to remind your children that “character counts” with an easy to remember 12 point program.
*It’s a great way to see & do things that you wouldn’t normally.
*It’s a lot cheaper than theme park vacations every year.
*It’s a good reminder that your community still cares about things that are important.

I especially like the “12 point program” reason. Thanks for the list Rush, and for giving me permission to reprint it here.

Four years ago I wrote a blog post that became one of the most read posts I have ever written. It was during the time when many packs and troops were conducting recruitment drives and school nights. The article listed some reasons on why a parent should get involved as a leader in Scouting.

Well, it is that time of year again, so here is that article for all the new readers to this blog, and to refresh the memories of those of you who have been with me for awhile.

Boys around the country will be joining Boy Scouting for the first time this month. And new parents will be asked to help their troop or pack by becoming an adult leader. There are many reasons not to be a leader, but let me give you ten reasons why you should become a Scouter. (These are not in any sort of order.)

1) Be a positive influence in a boy’s life. I think we can agree that there are many youth out there who can benefit from more of this in today’s world.
2) Learn new skills. You are never too old to learn a new skill. And to tell the truth, I don’t think a person can ever learn too many skills.
3) Teach boys new skills. There are few things in life that will make you feel more proud then when you watch a boy or young man using a skill that you have helped them to master.
4) Make new friends. Not only will you form friendships with the boys, but you will also form new friendships with other Scouters.
5) Help your community. You provide this service through your unit’s service projects and by helping boys grow up to be better adults.
6) Spend time in the Great Outdoors. You really do need to get out of that recycled-air, stressed-filled office environment at least once a month.
7) Have a good laugh. Working with Scout age boys can be fun and funny in many ways. Just remember to laugh with the boys, not at the boys.
8 ) Go traveling. There are thousands of places to go that provide a great Scout Outing. And do not forget the opportunities to go to a National Jamboree, Philmont, or the other high adventure bases.
9) Get some exercise. We could all use more exercise. Just try keeping up with a group of Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts.
10) Be a kid again! Scouting gives adults the chance to have just as much fun as the Scouts themselves. Make sure that you do!

Well, those are ten of my reasons for being an adult Scout Leader. I am sure that some of you reading this could add some more to the list. I invite you to leave a comment and add those reasons.

It has been awhile since I have placed a slideshow of Troop 68 on the blog, so let’s go back to 1983 for a look at what the troop was up to nearly thirty years ago. (Sometimes, I find it hard to believe I have been a leader of the troop for that long.) There are 111 photographs in this set.

In 1989, several women who were involved with the Scouting program in Melrose, met at the local community access television studio to do a talk show about Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting in Melrose. The show was titled The Women Of Scouting. It was broadcast several times over the years, usually during Boy Scout anniversary week in the first part of February. This program has now been broken down into five parts and will be shown on the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast during the next few months.

Part one features Mary H., a mother of a Boy Scout who also went through the Cub Scout program. (Tom would later become an Eagle Scout.) Ann B., our hostess, talks with Mary about being a member of the Cub Pack leadership, and her current role on the Boy Scout troop committee. They also discuss some of Mary’s best times being involved with Scouting. Find out how Scouting today compares to Scouting in 1989.

Click here to DOWNLOAD and watch this Podcast.
Subscribe to Melrose Scout Productions Podcast through iTunes (and rate the show)
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

This year’s closing arena program at the BSA’s 2010 National Jamboree was “totally awesome”, as Buttons would say. The Boy Scouts and adult leaders were entertained by Alex Boyé (who sang “Born To Be A Scout” from Scout Camp, The Movie”, national recording artist Switchfoot, and Mike Rowe, from Dirty Jobs. I watched the show online, and to tell the truth, it made me wish I was there to experience it.

I attended the 2001 National Jamboree. Our closing arena show was postponed one night due to storms moving through the area. Unfortunately, the acts and guests that were scheduled to appear, including President Bush, were not able to make it the following evening. The show became a program presented and performed by the participants at the Jamboree, just like a council camporee campfire program. And to tell the truth, it turned out to be a great closing program.

I recently came across a bit of information that caught my attention about the 1953 National Jamboree and discovered the arena shows featured well known Hollywood stars including Jane Powell, Hank Ritter, Debbie Reynolds, Will Rogers Jr., and Danny Kaye. But the person that really caught my eye was the emcee of the show, Bob Hope! I had no idea that Bob Hope had a connection to Boy Scouting.

I did some quick research on the internet and discovered that Bob Hope must have had a great relationship with the BSA. The Boy Scouts of America bestowed their highest honor on Bob Hope by presenting him with the Silver Buffalo Award. I do not think many people living today in Hollywood can boast about receiving that award.

I also discovered that Bob Hope starred in a movie, titled The Great Lover, in which he was the Scout leader for a group of Boy Scouts during a cruise. According to one description of the movie, “Mr. Hope stars as Freddie Hunter, a reporter who is chaperoning a troop of scouts aboard a ocean liner. The scouts see it as their duty to save Freddie from himself by making sure he doesn’t smoke, drink or enjoy the hug of a woman “other than his Mom”. The fact that the head boy of the troop is the son of Freddie’s boss doesn’t help Freddie when he decides to flirt with the Duchess Alexandria. But women are the least of Freddie’s troubles. There is a killer on board. This killer decides to frame Freddie for his murderous deeds. Fortunately, there is a detective on board, hot on the trail of the true murderer, but wait, Freddie discovers the body of the murdered detective. How will Freddie prove his innocence?”

Unfortunately, many of today’s Boy Scouts probably do not know who Bob Hope was, and how he was so much more than a Hollywood star. In his own way he was a fantastic leader in this country. He was always one of my favorites when I was young, and know that I now he was a great supporter of the Scouting program, he just went up another notch in my book.

In the last article I printed a copy of the letter I sent to parents in 1986 when I was a scoutmaster having problems with the troop and ready to resign from the position. Part of that letter was a questionnaire that I asked the parents to fill out and send back to me. I really did not expect many questionnaires to be returned, but I received a pleasant surprise. (Keep in mind, this was long before everyone had access to the internet and email. We sent letters to each other by the US Postal Service!)

Here is a copy of that questionnaire:

.

TROOP 68 PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME: ____________________________________________

Do you know the Scout Oath and Law? If not, would you be willing to learn them?

Do you think that the principles set forth in the Oath and Law are good goals to strive for?

Would you be willing to work with your son(s) on developing a proper and positive attitude about Scouting?

Do you know the requirements of the award(s) which your son(s) are currently working on?

Do you know what a merit badge counselor is? What is it? What subjects do you feel you could be a councilor for?

What kind of discipline actions should a scoutmaster be allowed to take?

What is your opinion of Scouts wearing the Scout uniform?

Are you willing to make sure that your son participates in Scout activities?

Would you be willing to spend two hours, or more, a month toward helping out and developing a better troop?

How important do you think it is for parents to attend a court of honor?

How do you think your son feels about Scouting in general? How do you feel about Scouting in general? What do you think about Scouting in Melrose?

How many hours a week do you think a scoutmaster should spend working on Scouting?

Please write any additional comments below.

You may not believe this, but I still have the questionnaires that were returned to me. I have them in a file in my Scouting cabinet. Nineteen people replied, which represented most of the troop when you count how many families had brothers involved. It gave me a pretty good idea about how the parents felt on the topics. For example, only 5 parents checked knowing the Scout Oath and Law, but nearly everyone replied that they would be willing to learn them.

How would your troop’s current parents answer these questions?

(And this irritates me. I cannot get the picture of the hats to rotate properly.)

If you have been a leader in the Scouting program for a few years, or any sort of program for that matter, you have probably reached a point when you have said to yourself, “Why am I doing this? Am I the only one who cares? Why do I put up with these problems and these people?” It has happened to me several times during the 30 years I have been a leader of a Boy Scout troop.

The first time I was ready to hang up my scoutmaster hat was in 1986. I was a 25 year old scoutmaster, on the job as the scoutmaster for less then five years. The boys had become an unmanageable group, at least in my opinion. I was so frustrated that I wrote a letter to the parents. Then I called a friend of mine who lived nearly 100 miles away but had one of those new personal computers and a dot matrix printer. I asked him if he could type this letter and print enough copies for me to send to each family of the troop. After he agreed to do it I drove to his place that night. It was early in the morning when I arrived back home and mailed the letters but I didn’t care. I wanted the parents to know how I felt about things. I listed the problems I saw in the troop, and gave some solutions on how we all could solve them. Here is what I wrote in that letter 24 years ago…

FROM THE DESK OF: Scoutmaster Steve B
TO: parents of the Scouts of BSA Troop 68
REGARDING: Problems of our troop.

Dear Parents,

The BSA program strives for three aims: 1) building character, 2) fostering citizenship, and 3) developing metal, moral, and physical fitness. Could our troop be failing to do this? I think so.

The month of April was the worst month, at least in my opinion, in our history as a troop. At the April 15th troop meeting the boys reached an all time high for rowdiness, goofing off, not listening, and not giving a darn. The meeting had to be halted twice to settle things down. It was after this meeting that I almost quit being a scoutmaster. But I didn’t. And I will tell you why.

First of all, I like the boys and I care about them. I believe that each one has the potential to be a great human being. Second, I believe in the Scouting program. I feel it is the best program in the world that a boy can belong to. Third, I think that you and I both realize that if I quit this troop will more then likely fall apart for lack of a scoutmaster. I do not want that to happen.

During the week following that meeting I did a lot of thinking about the troop and my involvement with it. Should I stay on as scoutmaster? Is our troop really Scouting? Do the boys really care about Scouting? Do the parents care?

By the next meeting I found six things wrong with our troop: attitude, advancement, discipline, Scout spirit, uniforms, and participation. Quite a bit, isn’t it? In the following pages you will read my feeling about these six items and my solutions. At the end there is a questionaire. If you as a parent care about your Scout and want Scouting to continue in Melrose, I would like you to fill it out and send it back to me by Monday, May 13th. If you do not send it back, my opinion will be that you do not care about your son being a Scout or Scouting in general. If this is the case, I ask you to keep your son at home. Scouting is a three way partnership between the boy, the scoutmaster, and the parents. If this partnership is not complete, the battle is lost.

And I am finally sick and tired of battling parents and boys.

Now, to get down to business. PROBLEMS:

1) Attitude
I feel this is the most important problem. If this problem was solved, everything else would probably fall into place.
Problem – The boys just do not seem to care about Scouting anymore. They want all the fun and games involved with Scouting, but they do not even try to act like Boy Scouts. They will often fight things that deal with Scouting (for example – knots).
Solution – This one is up to the boys. Either they start trying to be what a Scout should be, or as far as I am concerned, they are out of the troop. I have several boys that would like to be good Scouts and I will not have their time wasted by kids who have an attitude problem. I have tried discussing this with the Scouts. It is now your turn.

2) Advancement
This is a way of measuring a boy’s interest in Scouting. But most important, it builds confidence in the boy and recognizes him for his achievements. This is extremely important at his age.
Problem – Advancement in our troop is almost at a standstill. I knew it had been bad, but I did not realize how bad until May 3rd when I did a report on troop advancement. The report is on the 24 boys who were in the troop for at least three months. Out of these 24 boys there is 1 Life, 1 Star, 4 First Class, 5 Second Class, 7 Tenderfoot, and six Scouts without a rank. Over one half of the troop is Tenderfoot or lower. These thirteen Scouts averaged 9.3 months with no rank advancement. Eight boys have not advanced in rank in over one year. Four of these have not advanced for over a year and a half.
Solution – The solution comes in two parts. First, and most importantly, you have got to show that you care. Sit down with him and calmly talk about it. Do not yell at him or he will shut you out. Find out how he feels about it. And then, this is very important, volunteer to help him, and then carry through with that promise. It is going to take some of your time, but he is worth it, isn’t he? Secondly, I have tried to push the boys along. It is now time for me to take more drastic action. Any Scout who has not advanced at least one rank during the previous eleven months as of 5/31/85 will not be allowed to attend any troop monthly outings until he does advance. The only exception to this rule will be summer camp.

3) Scout Spirit
Scout Spirit is defined as following the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, Slogan, and Outdoor Code, and having a positive attitude about things.
Problem – The boys’ Scout Spirit is at a very low point right now.
Solution – Other then to keep reminding them about it, I do not really have a solution. All of us, myself and you parents, must try to live up to the Scout Oath and Law, setting the example the boys need.

4) Discipline
To put it bluntly, a lack of it.
Problem – There is not enough of this in our troop. There are two groups of people who are at fault, the adult leaders and the parents. When I say the adult leaders, I am referring to one person, namely myself. This is the main area in which I must improve. I realize that I have been too lenient in disciplining and have let the kids go too far. But I have one problem. How far can I go in disciplining them? After all, they are not my kids.
Solution – First of all, I must get tougher and do more disciplining. This will be hard for me because I hate doing it, but the attempt must be made. Secondly, our troop is presently at 29 members, which is too much for one man to handle. Therefore, I ask that at least one other parent should be present at all troop functions or they will be cancelled.
Are you willing to give two hours a month to help your Scout and Scout troop?

5) Uniforms
The scoutmaster handbook states, “Just as it identifies the wearer as a Scout, the uniform reminds him that he is a Scout and influences his actions. The Scout uniform is also a leveler. Whatever a boy’s background, when he puts it on he shares equally in the program.”
Problem – The boys do not like wearing the uniform outside of a meeting. Sometimes the parents side with the boys.
Solution – The Scout handbook, scoutmaster handbook, Council and National Office state that whenever a Scout is on a Scout Function then he shall wear the uniform. As I told the boys last month, “You don’t have to wear your uniforms, and you don’t have to come to Scout activities either.” If a boy wants to be a Scout in our troop then he will wear the uniform.

6) Participation
Problem – First, the boys sometimes feel they do not have to come to meetings or activities unless they fell like coming. Wrong! Part of Scout Spirit is actively participating in meetings, outing, good turns, and service projects. Secondly, it seems that some parents feel this is a baby sitting service. There are a number of parents in this troop who seldom help out. A couple have not helped at all yet. They keep saying they are busy and don’t have the time.
Solution – Well, you should make the time! They are your kids, not mine. If you can not find the time to help out with the organization your son belongs to, then I can not find the time either. From now on I expect a lot more parent participation at troop meetings, outings, activities, committee meetings, and such. I am not going to try to handle 29 boys by myself. And I do not expect those parents who are already helping a lot to help anymore then their share.

I will be asking all of you to make commitments to your son and the Scouting program. If this troop is to work properly, we will have to work together. I myself am making a firm commitment toward helping the troop. At the end of April, I dropped out of every other organization I was involved with except two – Boy Scouts and the city council. I did this for a couple of reasons. One, I was getting involved with too many things. I finally realized this and set my priorities.

Secondly, I strongly believe that our children are our greatest resource. If we don’t take the time to teach them and show them what is right, who will?

Third, the boys need adult guidance. By getting out of all the other activities, I will have more time to spend with the boys. But remember, your guidance is the most important to them.

Fourth, when I took the scoutmaster position, I promised the troop committee that I would dedicate myself to the troop. Well, I have been slacking and it is time I got back on the right track.

I have said a lot in this letter, and I have probably made a few of you angry. But I have been quiet for too long and it is time these things were said. I would like to hear your comments and remarks. Please remember to fill out the questionnaire and mail it back to me.

Thank you.
Your scoutmaster,
Steve B.

Looking back at this letter today I am amazed by what I actually wrote. I am also amazed to see that things have not changed that much during the last 25 years. We are still having a few of these problems with today’s troop.

I am curious, what do you think of this letter by the 25 year old scoutmaster in 1986?

It is time once again to make that trip to your nearest Hallmark store and pick up this year’s Scoutmaster Snoopy Keepsake Ornament. This year’s ornament, The Fearless Crew,  features Snoopy leading Woodstock and two of his friends on a wilderness hike. As they reach the hilltop the old Beagle Scout plants a Camp Snoopy flag into the ground. It is another great addition the Scoutmaster Snoopy series of ornaments.

I have already picked up two of these ornaments, one to hang on the tree and one to keep as a Keepsake. It will be a nice addition to the three other Keepsakes from previous years that I have including Snoopy and his friends canoeing, roasting marshmallows around the campfire, and  reading a spooky story before going to bed. (Do a search for “Snoopy” to see the articles of previous ornaments.)

The ornaments are listed at $14.95 each. It can be seen on the Hallmark online store but I believe they can only be bought at your local store.

So, do you have any of the Scoutmaster Snoopy ornaments? How many do you own? Which ones do you hang on your Christmas tree? Will you get one for your scoutmaster?