A Scoutmaster's Blog

I recently wrote an article about recruiting parents to become involved in the pack and troop. I posted an interesting talk I found called the “adding machine tape presentation”. I decided to use it during the Pack’s recruitment drive and recorded it. I was surprised to see how well it worked to get the parents to think about their time with their boys. Click HERE if you would like to read the presentation.

As today’s post to the Melrose Scout Production Podcast, I submit the “Adding Machine Tape Presentation”. Have you used this in your own Pack or Troop? If you have, how did parents receive it?

Do not forget to go to iTunes and rate the podcast. We really appreciate your time to help us climb in the ratings.

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

One of the reasons I enjoy Twitter is that I can keep in touch with Scout leaders from around the country, and around the world. Sometimes they post links to something that is pretty cool. Like today, for example, David Copeland posted a link to a thread about wearing the Scout uniform. It is a fun video created by a troop in Utah featuring the Boy Scouts singing a rap about wearing the uniform properly. I enjoyed watching the video and thought you may enjoy it also, so here it is.

What do you think about the video?

A few years ago, I started posting videos about Boy Scouting to YouTube to share them with other Scouts and Scouters. I soon began seeing more people posting Scouting related videos and thought we should have a channel group to post our videos. I began a YouTube group called “Boy Scout Stuff”. While most of the videos of the group were ones that I posted, there were others who began using to group. The group grew to 135 members and 176 videos.

A couple months ago I began having problems approving new videos posted to the group, and new members who wished to join. I thought it might be a problem with my computer at first, or that YouTube was having a few problems. I tried again tonight to approve 8 new members to the group but I was not able to get past the spinning ball. So I Googled the problem to see if anyone else was having a problem. I quickly discovered that many more group administrators were having the same things happen in their groups.

Google/YouTube has decided to drop support of YouTube groups. According to YT-Josh, who claims to be a Google employee:

Hey folks – bad news here I’m afraid. We’re no longer supporting groups and will likely remove them from the site in the next couple months.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that we have some cool ideas about how to re-create groups in the context of collaborative channels. Probably going to take awhile, but stay tuned.

And again, sorry we can’t continue to support the old groups.

Well, thank you very little Google/YouTube! Not only did you quit supporting our groups, but you want to eliminate them? Once again, thank you very little.

It will be interesting to see what these new collaborative channels will be. Until then, I guess we have no choice but to sit here twiddling our thumbs with a group(s) we cannot change.

It sure makes me glad I have my podcasts.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Boots Hanson was the first caretaker of Many Point Scout Camp. In fact, he and the other council leaders created a new style summer camp in which Boy Scouts would camp together with members of their own troop. His hard work and great love of the outdoors and Scouting brought this new idea to reality. According to the Many Point Alumni website (http://mpalumni.nsbsa.org/lanternslight/SU1991.pdf):

Click here to DOWNLOAD this podcast.Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at the RSS feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other great Scouting podcasts at PTC Media, including The Leader’s Campfire and Around The Scouting Campfire.

It has been nearly a year since Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, has been featured in a new video. He has been pretty busy with school, Scouting, and his podcast, Around The Scouting Campfire. He recently began to work on his Cinematography merit badge and decided to make a video in which he answers several questions sent to him by some Wolf Cub Scouts from California. Even the sister of one of the Scouts gets to ask a question. The kids ask Buttons about the Scout Promise, leadership, den chiefs, grapes, and more.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at the RSS feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other great Scouting podcasts at PTC Media, including The Leader’s Campfire and Around The Scouting Campfire.