A Scoutmaster's Blog

I do not think it matters if it is a Cub Scout or a Boy Scout who visits a fire department, they are all going to enjoy the field trip. After all, fire trucks are cool, and so are the firemen.

A few years ago the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 visited the local volunteer fire department. After a tour of the facilities the firemen taught the Scouts the six man lift which the first responders use to place an accident victim onto a body board for transport to a hospital.

I was quick enough to grab my camera and record the Scouts trying to lift a few people using the six man lift. One of those people was their scoutmaster. The boys were having fun and learning an important skill in the process.

I recently upload the video to the YouTube channel Melrose Scouting Productions. You can view it at https://youtu.be/lHcFbJUgqGg
or watch it below.

Where has the time gone? I just realized that it has been over twelve years since I threw a troop tee shirt on a puppet I own and created Buttons, the radical Boy Scout. It honestly does not seem that long ago.

On April 17, 2006, I posted a video on YouTube featuring Buttons reciting the Scout Law. Little did I know at the time that he would actually get a small following on the Melrose Scouting Productions channel and my podcast. For the next few years I created more videos featuring the puppet. There were nineteen videos of Buttons by the time I ended creating them.

The videos began very simply with Buttons reciting the Scout Law, Oath, or Outdoor Code. They were getting more elaborate toward the end of the run. There was a video of him exercising. There were videos of Buttons interviewing people involved in Scouting. There were a few videos of him explaining when you know you have been in Scouting too long. There were even videos of Buttons and other puppets telling jokes.

I still Buttons out occasionally to take a few pictures of him in different situations. Last summer I had him on the local disc golf course since Buttons has always stated on the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast that he likes disc golf. I recently posted a few of those pictures in the disc golf subheading on Reddit and surprisingly got a mixed reaction from people. Some people thought it was good fun. Others thought he was wierd. A few did not like him at all.

A couple of the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 think I should create some new videos with Buttons this summer. They even offered to help make the short films. Maybe if we can come up with a few good ideas it just might happen.

Do you think we should create some new videos featuring Buttons, the radical Boy Scout? Leave a comment and let me know. In the meantime, have fun watching the very first video featuring the radical puppet.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have been attending a week of summer camp at Many Point Scout Camp every year since the early 1990s. They enjoy the program and the staff at the Buckskin Camp. This year, 2019, will be the first year they will change camps as they attend the Ten Chiefs Camp which is located south of the Buckskin Camp. That means the Scouts will not be eating in the Buckskin dining hall this summer. They will be eating their meals in their campsite.

Part of the fun of the Buckskin dining hall is the songs lead by the camp staff before heading into the building to eat. The staff does a great job getting the Scouts fired up and singing.

As I start posting Scouting videos online again I thought I would begin with a video featuring the MPSC staff leading the troops in songs before a few meals. This video was recorded during Troop 68’s stay in June 2017. The video is approximately 20 minutes long. Maybe it will give your troop a couple of ideas for their next campfire program.

The video can be seen at: https://youtu.be/c6IEdWK_t90

Don’t be afraid to subscribe to the Melrose Scouting Productions YouTube channel to receive notifications when videos are uploaded.

The city of Melrose once had a cable access television station. It started up in 1986 and lasted for nearly twenty five years. It closed when the city decided to keep the cable franchise fees for the general fund instead of giving them to the station for operating funds.

I saw the potential of promoting our Boy Scout Troop on this television channel almost immediately, and decided to make good use of it. I would videotape our courts of honor to air on the station. I would take a VHS video camera with me on outings to create programs to inform people what the Boy Scouts have been doing. We even created some original programming using the Scouts as actors. I joined the station’s board of directors and created Scouting related programming for over twenty years.

One of the earliest Scouting related programs was an interview with five of the adult leaders of the Melrose Scouting program. It was titled The Leaders of Scouting. It was filmed in 1988. The guests included cubmasters, assistant scoutmasters, and committee members. I was a producer for the show and thought it turned out pretty good.

After Mel TV closed its doors the city donated all the programming to the Melrose Area Historical Museum. I am now a board member of that organization. The board’s chairman and I were talking one day and thought it would be a good idea to create a Youtube channel and post some of these old programs online for the community to watch once again. With the help of Shalon we have been digitizing some of the old VHS tapes and DVDs to post online.

Six programs have been posted online so far. I am happy to report that The Leaders Of Scouting was one of the videos uploaded to the channel. If you have 90 minutes some evening and are looking for something to watch I would like to suggest you watch this video. It is an interesting look at the Scouting program of Cub Scout Pack 68 and Boy Scout Troop 68 in the 1980’s.

The YouTube channel is called Mel TV3 Revived. The video can be found at https://youtu.be/cG7bjhYGqp4

Let us know what you think of the show. Do you think we should create a new show since we are now in the 2010s?

It has been quite awhile since I have posted a video to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast so I thought I would try something different this time. In the past I have posted articles about the two Scouting patch blankets I have. I thought it might be fun to record a short film highlighting the blankets. So, here it is!

Click here to Watch  this Podcast.
Subscribe to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast
at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
or through iTunes  (Please take time to rate the show).
Leave a comment below, or at the iTunes store.

As a take a break from writing today I thought it would be a good time to introduce to you, or reintroduce to you, a song performed by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68. Years ago the troop would do an annual show they called Laughs For Lunch. It was a two hour campfire style show that featured songs and skits that were performed around many Scouting campfires. The troop did thirteen of these shows over the years but had to quit when the membership shrunk to seven Scouts.

This song was performed by the Scouts as the opening song of one show. I think it reflects their humor quite well, and they did a good job with it. What do you think of it?

Wow! Has it really been a month since I last posted an article to this blog? I guess so. I suppose I should write a few articles again. In the meantime, have fun watching this video performed by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 about a furniture store. Audience participation is required.

Scoutmasters are proud of their Scouts.  They welcome them as they come into the troop as a 10 or 11 year old, sometimes frightened, Webelos graduate from a Cub Scout Scout Pack and than watch them grow as they develop Scouting skills and become leaders within the troop. Sometimes they even acheive Scouting’s highest honor, the rank of Eagle Scout. But there are many more ways a scoutmaster becomes proud of his Scouts. Many of them come to pass after the young man leaves the troop.

On example is when a scoutmaster receives word that a former troop member does well with his chosen occupation. I have two alumni, that I know of, that now work for the Boy Scouts of America. Keith works in Texas at Boy’s Life magazine, after spending several years at Northern Star Council. When Keith moved on his position opened up and another alumni of Troop 68 applied for the job, and got it. Sergio is now a Communications Specialist at Northern Star Council.

Sergio recently posted a new video to Youtube that he created about Scouting. This video was shown at the Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America 2015 Annual Meeting. The name of the video is Vitamin N. You will understand after watching this three minute video.

Great job Sergio!