A Scoutmaster's Blog

As I was looking online for a name of that Norman Rockwell painting mentioned in my last post, I came across a picture of a set of figurines based on six of his more popular Scouting themed paintings. I wish I had seen this sooner. I might have placed a bid on them. But the auction had already closed. They would have made a great addition to my Scouting memorabilia collection.

Do any of you have these figurines as a part of your collection? Where did you find them? When did you buy them?

Remember last year? Scout Shops around the country and scoutstuff.org sold the first(?) three pieces of the Scouting Village collection. Those pieces were the Ranger’s Cabin, the Camp Chapel, and the Trading Post. I never heard anything whether this was the start of a new yearly collection or if this was a one year deal, and the folks at my local Scout Shop could not answer my question either.

I decided to buy the collection anyway. At least I tried to buy the collection. By the time I decided to do it my council Scout Shop was already out the the Trading Post, but I bought the Chapel and the Ranger Cabin thinking I could by the Trading Post online. When I got home I went to the website and discovered they had sold out of the Trading Post. I called back to the Scout Shop to ask if they would be getting more Trading Posts in stock. They said they would try.

The story ends sadly. I never received a Trading Post. I almost returned the other two pieces since I would not be able to complete the set, but for some reason I kept them. And to tell the truth, I forgot about them. Until today.

I received a comment today on last year’s blog post of my village dilemma. Debora wrote to tell me that the Trading Post has reappeared on the scoutstuff.com website, so I went there to check it out. Sure enough, there it was. I would be able to complete my set. And I discovered something else. There are more pieces this year! That’s right, there is a 2013 Scouting Village collection.

It looks like accessories are the theme for this year’s collection. There is a snow covered bridge, and a set of pine trees. There are two sets of people/Scouts figurines: Scouts On A Fence and Campfire And Rowboat. There is only one “building” this year, and it is not really a building but it is something you need if you are going to have a Scout camp – the lighted BSA Wall Tent. The accessories and people figurine sets are $5.99 each. The wall tent is $14.99.

I know that I will be ordering the Trading Post, but should I order this year’s collection? I am leaning toward buying one of everything, but I almost feel like I need to buy two or three wall tents to make a campsite setting. That is maybe the reason they only put out one lighted piece this year. They want us collectors to buy several tents! The least they could have done is to make two different looking tents so there would be a little variety when everything is set up for the holidays.

I am never satisfied, am I?

What do you think of the new 2013 collection? Will you be purchasing them?

Cub Scouts like BB guns. Boy Scouts like rifles and shotguns. Check out the shooting ranges at Scout camps if you do not believe me. They are usually very busy places. Boys enjoy shooting at targets.

If you are a registered Cub Scout or Boy Scout leader you receive Scouting Magazine, an official magazine of the BSA. It is loaded with articles to help adult leaders and stories of interest. Recently, some advertisements have caught my attention. A few gun manufacturers have been busy creating Boy Scouts of America commemorative rifles. Here are a few of them.

Henry Repeating Arms has created a 22 rifle to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the B.S.A. This special rifle features the Scouts Oath, Scouts Law, scrollwork and traditional Boy Scouts of America logo embellishing the receiver, as well as a 100 Years of Scouting logo and Centennial Edition gold filled etchings in the buttstock and forearm. It can be seen at their website.

Henry Repeating Arms has also created a special edition Philmont Scout Ranch Rifle. The website states “This Henry Frontier Lever .22 is offered with the Philmont® Black Bull logo embellished with 18 kt. gold plate on the right side of the dark receiver cover. Into the right side of the American walnut stock is laser etched and hand painted in multiple colors a rendering of Philmont’s iconic Tooth of Time, a 9,003 foot molar in the sky with the words TOOTH OF TIME blazoned underneath the mountain’s slope. On the forearm is the Philmont® scripted emblem bracketed by the Slash backwards S horse brand and the Bar P backwards S cattle brand burned into the wood.”

The final rifle I would like to highlight is the Ruger Boy Scout 10/22 Rifle. The website states “Saluting the Boy Scouts of America in a manner befitting their heritage and spirit of adventure.The officially licensed Ruger model number 1255 features precision laser embellishment on a classically rich walnut stock and a special factory serial number.”

I do not own a rifle. I thought it would be great to add one or two of these guns to my Scouting collection. Until I saw the price. I did not realize that rifles could be so pricey. These guns have a MSRP of $480 to $600. That is a little pricey for me. But it sure would be fun to bring one to camp (if allowed) and show it off to the boys and the staff.

Have any of you bought a special Scouting commemorative rifle? Have you shot it? Leave a comment, along with a picture.