A Scoutmaster's Blog

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.

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Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 used to like to song songs, mix them up a bit, and write new lyrics to them. They would then perform these “new” versions at campfire programs or during their annual Laughs For Lunch Show. This episode of Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast features one of those songs.

The troop has been spending one spring weekend a year at Camp Watchamagumee (private land north of Melrose). It is one of the Scout’s favorite places to camp. We usually have a great time there, but one year things did not go very well. A local farmer had cattle grazing on the forty acre site. Usually, the cattle are not a problem. We leave them alone and they leave us alone. Not that year. The troop was away from camp for awhile to play some softball. When we arrived back at the site the cows had invaded the camp and had damaged equipment along with a few other problems. It was the one time we left camp due to cattle issues.

A couple years later we decided to take the song “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” and rewrite the lyrics to describe what happened during the weekend in which the cows drove us away from our campsite. Everything in the song did actually take place. This video was taken from the 2001 Laughs For Lunch Show performance. I forgot where the cow costumes came from, but they did add a little something to the song.

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It is hard to believe that it has been over twenty years since some volunteers at Mel-TV 3, our local community access television station, recorded a show in which five men were interviewed. Each gentleman was very involved with the local Scouting program. It turned out to be a fun and informative show. It was filmed with VHS tape unfortunately and is showing its age.

A few years ago I decided to transfer some of those old tapes of Scouting programs to my computer and burn them to DVD before they deteriorated any further. “The Leaders Of Scouting” was one of those shows. Once I had it on the computer I decided to break the nearly two hour show into five smaller segments and post them to the Melrose Scouting Productions video podcast. The first segment was posted nearly 21 months ago. I guess I should have been a bit more diligent about posting them on a more timely basis. But never fear! Today I post part five, the final portion of the television show.

Mike R. began his adult Scouting career when his son John joined Cub Scout Pack 68 in Melrose, Minnesota. When John crossed over to the Boy Scout troop, Mike followed and became a committee member, and soon accepted the committee chairman position. During this time Mike also served as a unit commissioner. Dr. Hedglin, the show’s host, has a great time asking Mike R. about his positions in Scouting. The other guests are still on hand so the show soon involves all five guests as they reminisce about their time in Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting.

As this series comes to a close I would like to take a moment to once again thanks all five guests: George O., Joe T., Mike H., Gerry W., and Mike R. I would also like to thank Dr. Hedglin for hosting the show. He did a great job. Thanks also goes to the Mel-TV 3 volunteers who spent an afternoon filming the program.

I hope you enjoyed The Leaders of Scouting series on the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. Please post a comment and let me know what you thought of them, and if you would like to see more of this type of program.

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

Show Notes:
The Leaders of Scouting episodes:
George O. – Episode #46
Joe T. – Episode #51
Mike H. – Episode #61
Gerry W. – Episode #72
Mike R. – Episode #87.

Thank you for watching Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast.

For thirteen years the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 held an annual show they called Laughs For Lunch. It was a campfire-style show featuring various songs, skits, and stories. The shows made the new Scouts nervous because, for most of them, it was their first time on stage in front of an audience. The older more experienced Scouts loved performing in front of the crowd and getting the laughs. We usually tried to keep the younger Scouts in groups when they were onstage but the older boys would get the chance to perform a skit or song on their own. This video post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast features one of those skits.

Andy may have been shy were he joined the Boy Scout troop but he soon became one of the guys who loved to ham it up on stage. In this video from the 2001 Laughs For Lunch Show, he plays the artist Vincent Van Go-Go who plans to create a living sculpture on stage using people from the studio audience. He soon has both young and old people on stage portraying trees, rabbits, birds, and other things from nature. I am sure you will enjoy watching it.

Does your troop have fun performing in front of an audience? Have they ever done this skit? Tell us about it by leaving a comment.

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Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
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Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 holds four courts of honor per year. We begin with an opening ceremony, followed by the presentation of year pins and merit badges, a short entertainment spot by the Scouts, recognition of Scouts who have earned a rank, and finish with a closing ceremony. Refreshments and announcements wrap up the evening.

Our court of honor ceremonies usually consist of three parts: something patriotic, something Scouting, and an invocation. It is a nice solemn beginning to the meeting. Once in awhile though, the boys get into one of those moods. You know, the giggles begin, or something goes wrong. Unpredictability reigns.

The opening at our March court of honor started well, but the little things soon started. The snickering began. The Scouts had decided to do a Scout Law candle lighting ceremony. Boy Scouts. Matches. Candles. The Scout Law. And that the movie playing in the next room was loud enough for us to hear easily in our room. You can probably guess what happened. If not, you can watch this post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast to see it for yourself.

Has your troop ever had an opening or closing ceremony go slightly astray? Share it with us by leaving a comment below.

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April 3rd happened to be a Tuesday during the year of 2007. After months of thought, planning, and preparing it was time to begin my new project. It was time to begin the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast by posting the first video. That first video featured Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, reciting the Scout Oath. Since then, he has starred in nearly two dozen videos and taken on a life of his own. He is also a co-host of the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast.

There are currently 83 videos posted to the Melrose Scouting Production Podcast. In addition to the shorts with Buttons there are video of Boy Scout skits, songs, stories, and interviews with people involved in the Scout program. That is an average of over two videos per month. I was amazed to discover that it would take nearly nine hours to watch them all.

To tell the truth, I did not think I would be posting Scouting videos three years later. I did not think I would have enough material to keep going that long. I just wanted to share the video I already had on my computer. But new things kept coming up that provided me with new footage to keep producing new videos.

I hope you have enjoyed watching the videos over the last three years. It has been fun making them. Spread the word about them to you friends and people you know within the Scouting program. When I see the download numbers growing it kinda gets me excited about posting more videos. I also want to thank Chris (and Bob) and the other folks at PTC Media for accepting MSPP as one of the family of Scouting podcast found on the site, and for the encouragement to keep posting new videos.

What have been your favorite videos over the years?

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 were a little nervous when they arrived at the Melrose City Council meeting. They really did not know what to expect, and neither did I as their scoutmaster. The troop was at the meeting because the city council was going to pass a proclamation recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America and the 30th anniversary of Boy Scout Troop 68.

When the time came for the city council to pass the proclamation, the city’s mayor, Eric Seanger, spoke a few words about how the city appreciates the hard work of the Boy Scout troop. He then invited a member of the troop to come forward to accept the proclamation. Our senior patrol leader received that honor. I took a couple of pictures, one which ended up in the local paper.

Unfortunately, because the council had to attend another meeting with the local township boards, they did not have time to read the proclamation. Since we had an outing the following weekend I recruited a few Boy Scouts to read it in front of the video camera. I received a copy of the city council meeting from Mel-TV, our community access television station, and went to work editing everything together to make this video for the Melrose Scouting Production Podcast.

The proclamation can be read at http://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/?p=667

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Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
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Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Boy Scout Troop 68 recently honored another of its members who has earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Alex K. is the troop’s eighteenth Eagle Scout. That means it was time for me to create another slideshow for an Eagle court of honor. Alex and his mother picked out several pictures from before when he joined Scouting, and I had plenty of pictures of his years in Scouting. Alex picked out the two songs used, both of which caught me by surprise, but they seem to work out very well.

To honor Alex K., our newest Eagle Scout, I add his slideshow to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. I hope you enjoy it as well as the audience did at his court of honor.

More information and videos about the Eagle Scouts of Troop 68 can be found at the troop’s Eagle Hall Of Fame: http://melrosetroop68.org/EagleHall.html

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.