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.

I was a Boy Scout for three and one half years in the 1970s. I became an assistant scoutmaster of Troop 68 in June 1980, and the scoutmaster in September 1981. I currently serve on the troop and pack committees. I recently decided it was time to fill out the paperwork for the 40 Year Veteran Pin of the Boy Scouts of America.

After a little searching, I discovered I do have a pin for 10, 15, and 20 years of service. I guess I did not think about it much after receiving the 20 year pin since I am not finding one for the years that followed. I must not have filled out an application for the following pins.

It seems, at least in my council, that the council office does not keep records of these awards very well. I discovered this fact when I brought in my application for the 40 year pin. I was missing a couple dates and was hoping that the council would be able to look up the previous records so that I could write in the correct information. Imagine my surprise when there was not a record of me ever receiving a Veteran Pin in the council database.

I was shocked, to be quite frank. In fact, they did not have many records of any of the awards I had earned over the last 40 years. The only ones listed in the database were the District Award of Merit, and the Silver Beaver Award. I had expected better record keeping than this on the council level.

I filled out the rest of the application for the B.S.A. 40 Year Veteran Pin as accurately I was able and turned it in the the person at the front counter of the council office. I wonder if this will now be added to the information about my Scouting tenure or if it will be deleted/thrown away after I receive my pin.

I have a question, and I have not had the opportunity yet to ask anyone on the council level yet. Now that I have turned in my 40 year application, is it possible to get the pins I am missing? I am referring to the 25, 30, and 35 veteran year pins.

When I received a phone call from the Melrose Chamber of Commerce a few weeks ago I thought it might be about the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 handing out the small USA flags before the Riverfest parade again, like the troop has done for many years. I was about to receive a big surprise.

During the Chamber’s Riverfest festival planning meetings they choose a person or persons to be the grand marshal(s) of the parade. This year it was suggested the Eymard Orth and myself should be the grand marshals in recognition of the many years each of us has not only put into the local Scouting program, but also the other organizations we have been involved in over the last 4 decades.

The phone call was to ask if I would accept the honor of being a parade grand marshal. I said if Eymard would than I would also accept the honor. He did, so we are.

The local newspaper, the Melrose Beacon, interviewed the two of us last week. The article based on that interview was on the front page of this week’s edition. As always, Carol, the writer, did a great job with the article. (The picture seen with this article is the one used in the newspaper.)

So, on Saturday night, Eymard Orth and myself, Steve Borgerding, will ride down Main Street in Melrose in a red convertible. We will be wearing our Scout uniforms. We will be representing the Scouting program. We will also be drinking a lot of water since the temperature is forecasted to hit the 90s. We might even have to carry an umbrella to provide some shade along the route.

As this night approaches I can not help but think of how the movie Follow Me Boys ends with a parade for their scoutmaster of 20 years. I realize the parade we will be in is not a Scouting parade like the one in the movie, but I still feel there are a couple parallels there. Eymard now has 30 years with the troop, while I have 39 years.

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!

As a scoutmaster I did not plan any Eagle courts of honor. After all, that was not my job. The Eagle Scout plans his court of honor with the help of his parents. I did give advice and help a bit when asked, but I usually stayed away from the planning. That is not to say I was not involved in the court of honor. As a scoutmaster I often spoke about the Scout during the ceremony, and many times I was the presenter of the award. Since stepping down from the scoutmaster position I have served as the master of ceremony for one court of honor.

Monday night was the first time I found myself involved with the planning of an Eagle ceremony. The new Eagle Scout sat down with me, the assistant scoutmaster, and another Eagle Scout of Troop 68, and threw around various ideas as he decided on what he liked and did not like. Text messaging came in handy as he contacted a few people to see if they could participate in the ceremony. By the end of the meeting we had the agenda pretty well planned, and he seemed happy with the way it looked.

So why did I become involved in the planning this time around? Because the Scout has a short amount of time to get things organized. He is currently in college, working most nights, and to put it simply, is quite busy. His court of honor is going to be held this Sunday so yes, he needed some assistance getting things planned. I have agreed to be the master of ceremonies and his scoutmaster will be the presenter of the Eagle award. He does have a few people lined up to say a few words.

I have seen some fairly elaborate courts of honors over the last 36 years, and I have seen some simple ceremonies. This one will not be an elaborate one, and that is okay. Like I said at the beginning of this post, the court of honor is planned by the Eagle Scout to be the way he wants it to be. That is what matters. Too tell the truth, that is all that really matters. It is his moment and no one else’s. I think Sunday’s Eagle Scout court of honor will be a nice ceremony, and I am looking forward to being a part of it.

The Central Minnesota Council has several special awards they present each year at their recognition banquet. I received an email from Mary at the council office asking if I was planning to attend. The way she worded the email made me a little suspicious, so I gave her a call. I attended the recognition banquet.

One of these special presentations is the Good News award. The council usually gives the award to a newspaper, radio station, or television station who have done a great job covering Scouting events and promoting the program. Our local newspaper, the Melrose Beacon, has received this award. So did our community access television station. Unfortunately, the city has closed the tv station, but the Melrose Beacon continues to include articles about Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting events.

This year the council decided to give the award for promoting Scouting on social media. They looked at local troop and pack Facebook pages and chose two who they felt did an outstanding job covering their local program and activities. One of those two units was Troop 68 of Melrose. And that is why Mary was wondering if I was going to attend the banquet. She knew I was the administrator of the site and did most of the posting to the troop’s Facebook page. She wanted me to accept the award on behalf of Troop 68.

A week later I “received” the award again at the Scenic district’s annual program kickoff and award presentations. It is not often you can receive the same award twice. 😉

It is nice to realize that the council has noticed our work promoting the local Scout program. It is really nice to receive recognition for the the years of work toward that purpose. Troop 68 would like to thank the Central Minnesota Council for this award.

The Melrose Lions Club is one of several service organizations that do a great job of helping our community. They also support our Boy Scout troop. While our troop’s usual fundraisers raise enough money for our regular program needs The Lions, VFW Post, and American Legion help us out when it is time to replace equipment like tents and dining flies.

Once a year, the Melrose Lions invites community volunteers to a dinner to recognize them for their service and commitment. Members of the fire department, the ambulance corps, and the police reserve attend along with members of the local food shelf, Project Give-A-Gift, Scouting, and others.

Three adult leaders from Boy Scout Troop 68 attended this year’s meal held on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scoutmaster Jim, Assistant scoutmaster Eymard, and myself as a committee member enjoyed a great meal of chicken, dressing, mash potatoes with gravy, corn, and a choice of cookie. Joining us at the table were members of the police reserve and a couple members from the Lions Club.

It was a good night of fun and fellowship, and nice to be recognized for the many hours of service we all donate to our community. I would like to thank the members of the Melrose Lions club, and also thank them for all their support of Scouting over the years.

Many Scouters will tell you that Wood Badge is like the college course of training for adult Scout Leaders. Not only is the course fantastic for any branch of Scouting but participants also receive training which they will find useful in the field of work and life in general. The woodbadge.org site states:

Wood Badge is Scouting’s premier training course. Baden-Powell designed it so that Scouters could learn, in as practical a way possible, the skills and methods of Scouting. It is first and foremost, learning by doing. The members of the course are formed into patrols and these into a troop.  The entire troop lives in the out-of-doors for a week, camping, cooking their own meals, and practicing Scout skills.

Wood Badge is more than just mechanical course work. Wood Badge is the embodiment of Scouting spirit. Like many intense training experiences, it has always relied on a busy schedule forcing the participants to work together, to organize and to develop an enthusiasm and team spirit to accomplish the tasks and challenges placed before them. Carried out in context of Scouting ideals and service to young people, the course brings out a deep dedication and spirit of brotherhood and fellowship in most participants. Certainly were it not for the common goal of the movement and its program for young people, it would be hard to get grown men and women to endure the 16-hour days required by a program that runs from early morning to late at night.

During this month’s Scenic District roundtable, three Central Minnesota Council Scouters received their Wood Badge beads and neckerchiefs for completing the course and their “ticket” of goals. Kevin Schatz, Mike Peters, and Troy Payne stood proud as they received the tokens of their achievement. I have always considered an adult completing a Wood Badge ticket the equivalent of a Boy Scout completing his Eagle Scout award. This video post to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast further recognizes these three men for completing their goals.

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