Posts Tagged ‘records’


What To Do With All That Paperwork

on January 24, 2014 in collections, Memorabilia 1 Comment »

filesIt is amazing the amount of stuff you can collect when you are a scoutmaster for thirty years, especially the paperwork. What should you throw away? What should you keep? What do you file away and than forget about? I played it safe and kept a lot of it.

It has been two years since I stepped down as Boy Scout Troop 68’s scoutmaster so it is probably time to sit down and begin going through the hundreds of files I have accumulated. It is time to get rid of some of this stuff. I am sure the current scoutmaster is not interested in most of it since it does not apply to the current Scouts and program.

I have files dating back to the 1980’s. They include advancement reports, board of review notes, troop rosters, Eagle Scout court of honor programs and agendas, and committee meeting minutes. There are files of information from the yearly trips to summer camps along with info from high adventure trips to Philmont Scout Ranch, the 2001 National Jamboree, and Charles Sommers Canoe Base.

I wrote the troop’s monthly newsletter for over 25 years. There is a file of these for each year. These newsletters contain quite a bit of history of the Scouting program in Melrose. And there lies part of the problem. I don’t really want to “throw away the history” of Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68, but I really do not need to keep all this paperwork.

Then I got an idea! I emailed a note to the president of the Melrose Area Historical Society to see if they would be interested in receiving some of these old records for the museum. She responded quickly, writing, “We would definitely like to give them a home.”  I think the MAHS museum would be a great home for some of these records. It would be available to the public instead of just collecting dust in my office.

Now I need to find an evening or three to to go through the files. I may scan some of the records before passing them, like the old newsletters that were created using a typewriter and real “copy and pasting” techniques.

What does your troop do with older files and paperwork? Do you simply throw them away? Do you have a special place to keep them? Do you give them to your local museum? Let us know by leaving a comment.

100 Days of Scouting: The iPad Question.

on April 8, 2011 in camping, Gadgets No Comments »

100 Days of Scouting: Day 60.

Tuesday night, at the Scenic District Roundtable, a short discussion of iPads, iPods, and cell phones came up. Most of the troops represented stated they have a no-electronics policy on camping trips, similar to my troop. We also agreed, somewhat reluctantly, that these policies may need to be changed in the not-too-distant future. The boys are growing up with these gadgets and are becoming  an important part of their lives. Add to that the growing number of apps available that are Scouting related and I can see Boy Scouts and adult leaders wanting to bring these things along.

I have been wanting to buy an iPad since version 2 became available. Before the roundtable, I stopped at Best Buy to play with one and look at the accessories. I think I am going to hold off with that purchase for awhile. Here is what the budget looked like:

iPad 2, 64 GB – $700.00 (Wi-fi only)
Smart Cover – 40.00
Digital AV Adapter – 40.00
Charger        – 40.00
Misc Apps   – 50.00
Subtotal  – $870.00
Tax                 – 60.00
Grand Total – $930.00

Wow! The sticker shock got to me a little. Yes, I can use it for apps and games. Yes, I can use it as an e-reader. Yes, I can watch movies and Podcasts (like Melrose Scout Productions Podcast). This gadget would nicely compliment my Mac Pro computer. However, I do not think I would get $900.00 of use out of it. It would be a very expensive toy, one with a very cruddy camera system.

I still want one though.