A Scoutmaster's Blog

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Area Troop 68 held their last court of honor for the year on December 10 at the Harvest Church in Freeport. Nine of the ten members were in attendance, along with their families and two Webelos from Cub Scout Pack 68. The troop presented 14 merit badges and 3 ranks during the award ceremony.

The evening begin with a flag presentation which was followed by a Scout Law ceremony. A few Scouts received year pins for their membership in the troop. This was followed by the presentation of the merit badges. Receiving merit badges were:

Braden Z: Citizenship in the Nation, and Citizenship in the World. Alex G: Citizenship in the Nation, Family Life, and Personal Management. Isaiah G: Citizenship in the World, Hiking, and Family Life. Dawson W: Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Climbing, Genealogy, Programming, and Scouting Heritage.

After a couple skits (short plays) were performed by the Scouts it was time for the presentation of the Ranks. Three Scouts had earned a Rank since the last court of honor in September. They were: Dawson W – Tenderfoot Rank. Braden Z – Second Class Rank. Isaiah G – Life Rank.

The court of honor ended with the Scouts singing Scout Vespers, followed by the retiring of the colors. After the ceremony the Troop held its annual Troop Auction during which the Scouts used their “Troop Bucks” earned during the year to bid on various prizes. The Scouts rounded out the evening with their Christmas party.

The Scenic District of the Central Minnesota Council held its final roundtable meeting of the year on Tuesday, December 11. I have not attended a roundtable for quite awhile but I attended this one because I was asked to speak about the B. S. A.’s high adventure bases. I am glad I did attend this meeting.

Scoutmaster Dave Norling of Melrose Area Troop 68 was recognized with two awards during the meeting. He received his certificate for completing “Basic Leader Training.” He also received the special council neckerchief for being 100% trained. I believe he may be second adult leader of Troop 68 who has received the neckerchief. District executive Sam Ross made the presentations.

Congratulations to Scoutmaster Dave Norling!

The Pinewood Derby is a highlight of nearly every Cub Scout’s program year. The Cub Scouts love to race their homemade car down the derby track, and hopefully, their car will be the one to cross the finish line first to advance to the next level of the races. Even the siblings and parents, especially the fathers, really get into the races. It ends up being a great evening activity.

I attended the Cub Scout Pack 68 derby in March 2012. I took video during the races (which still has to be edited) and pictures before and after the races, including the presentation of the awards. This video entry to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast features these pictures in a slideshow style format. There are a lot of smiling faces to be seen, along with a picture of each Scout and his car.

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It is amazing the things you can discover while visiting a museum. Yesterday, Monday, May 7th, the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 had a field trip at the Melrose Area Historical Museum. While we were there we took a look at the Scouting display and saw some new items added since the troop visited two years ago. Some of these items came from the first Eagle Scout of Melrose, Minnesota. His name was John Johnson. He earned his Eagle Rank in 1966.

As John got older he joined the Explorer Scout Post in town. One day he saved the life of a young child who was playing on the train tracks. John received the B.S.A.’s Honor Metal for his quick action. Boy’s Life magazine, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, was notified about this. John was featured in the magazine during the mid-1960’s on the “Scouts In Action” page. A copy of the page from Boy’s Life is found in the museum.

I knew that John Johnson was the first Eagle Scout of Melrose. In fact, he was a guest speaker at an Eagle court of honor in 1992. But I never knew he saved a young child’s life and that he was mentioned in Boy’s Life magazine. Amazing what a person can discover at a local museum, isn’t it?

Here is a photo of the Boy’s Life page found at the Melrose Area Historical Museum.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 held their summer court of honor on Monday, June 27th. The recognition ceremony began at 7:00 pm at the Melrose City Hall. All ten members of the troop attended along with many of their family members.

The award presentations began with the Year Pins which are given to Boy Scouts on their yearly anniversary of joining the Scouting program. Noah received his One Year pin. A Five Year pin was presented to Thomas. Dakota received a Seven Year pin. Very few young men stay in Scouting long enough to receive a seven year pin.

Three Boy Scouts received the Tenderfoot rank, which is the first of the six ranks a Scouts may earn, with the rank of Eagle Scout being the highest. Alex, William, and Noah received the Tenderfoot rank with their parents standing proudly by their side.

Troop 68 surprised committee member Chris Massmann with a Community Service Award. Chris began her service to Scouting when her oldest son, Dakota, joined the Melrose Cub Scout Pack. She joined the pack committee and became the pack treasurer. When Dakota graduated into the Boy Scout troop, Chris moved with him and became a member of the troop committee and its treasurer. She has been with the local Scouting program for about ten years. Chris plans to retire from the troop committee in August when her son leaves the troop to attend college.

Congratulations to all the award recipients!