MSPP #72: The Leaders of Scouting (Gerry W.)

Twenty years ago the volunteers at Mel-TV, our local cable access television station, filmed a program in which five men who were Boy Scout leaders were interviewed about their Scouting experiences. I took that old vhs tape and transferred it to a dvd. I thought to myself as I was transferring the program that many of the things being said by those gentlemen still apply to Boy Scouting today. I thought I would break this show down into parts for the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, each part featuring one of the interviews.

This podcast video features the fourth interview from The Leaders of Scouting. Gerry W. began his adult Scouting career as a Cub Scout Pack committee member when his son became a Cub Scout. He moved to the Boy Scout committee when his son graduated into the troop. He soon became the outdoors chairman, making the arrangements for the troop activities. During this interview Gerry talked about being on the troop committee, going along on various troop outings, the values found in the Scouting program, the stunts he and the scoutmaster pulled, and his pride in seeing his son work through the ranks of Scouting.

Leave a comment using the link below, or at the PTC Media forums. You can also rate the videos of Melrose Scouting Productions at the iTunes Music Store. (We could always use more iTunes love.) It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

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Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
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MSPP #61: The Leaders of Scouting (Mike H)

Twenty years ago the volunteers at Mel-TV, our local cable access television station, filmed a program in which five men who were Scout leaders were interviewed about their Scouting experiences. I took that old vhs tape and transferred it to a dvd. I thought to myself as I was transferring the program that many of the things being said by those gentlemen still apply to Scouting today. I thought I would break this show down into parts for the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, each part featuring one of the interviews.

This podcast video features the third interview from The Leaders of Scouting. Mike H. began his adult Scouting career as a Webelos den leader when his son joined the den. He moved to the Boy Scout committee when his son graduated into the troop. When the current committee chairman stepped down, Mike agreed to take the position for one year. That one year stretched into more then five years. During this interview Mike talked about being on the troop committee, going along on various troop outings, the values found in the Scouting program, and his pride in seeing his son earn the rank of Eagle Scout.

You are invited to leave a comment here using the link below, at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Or drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It really is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

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.

The Online Forms

There has been a lot of talk in a few of the Scouting forums about some new online forms that can be found on the scouting.org site. I would like to write about two of them today - the tour permit and the medical form.

The new Tour Permit is actually a writable pdf document in which you can fill in the blanks on your computer. I have downloaded to my computer and have used it for a couple of troop activities. It is pretty much the same information as the old forms, but since it is digital there are a few advantages. The first is that the committee chair, the council, and I can email it to each other, thus making it quicker to use. The other thing I like about it is that we can use digital signatures, which we discovered are very easy to set up and use. It has saved us time in trying to track each other down for those signatures.

Our council has posted this digital tour permit to its website and can be found at http://www.bsacmc.org/34426_Tour_Permit_App_2008.pdf . I am sure it can also be found on the national website, but I did not look for it there.

After looking at the new yearly Medical Form, I will admit that I like it. It is simple to follow and easy to understand. Best of all, this new form will replace the three current forms that are being used (Class 1, 2, and 3). It looks like the new form will be used by both adults and Scouts, and will even be used for high adventure bases.

This new form is broken down into three parts. Part A is the general medical information which is provided by the parents, similar to the old Class 1 form. It lists basic information including address and insurance stuff, plus has a section to list up to six perscription drugs. This part is for one day or weekend activities.

Part B of the form is for long term and strenuous camps and activities, like high adventure bases and summer camps. This is the part that needs to be filled out by a doctor or licensed health-care provider. A height and weight chart is also featured on this page.

Part C is a new addition to the form. It includes a "Hold Harmless/Release Agreement" and a talent release form for the parents or gaurdian to sign. To tell the truth, in today's digital age, I think this is an excellent thing to add to the form. This new medical form can be found at
http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34605_Letter.pdf

I plan to hand out the new medical form to all the Scout families this month, even though it looks like they will not be required until next year. I want to get a headstart on this. I also plan to email the digital version of the form to parents in case they would like to fill out the personal information on their computer before printing it off.

I think these two forms are an excellent step to making things a little easier for troops, crews, and packs. Now the councils and districts just have to get these units to begin using them. I would not think it should be too hard to get that done.

That First Committee Meeting

The year 1980 will always be a special year for me. It was the year I began life on my own, and began life as an adult. I was nineteen when I graduated from vocational college in April. I moved into a apartment. I began working at my first full time job. And I became an assistant scoutmaster to the newly formed Boy Scout Troop 68. (For more information about how that happened, click HERE.)

I did not join Troop 68 until later in April, so I missed going to Camp Ripley with the troop, which I believe may have been the new Scouts first outing. There was not a yearly program yet because troop leadership was still in the process of going through training.

I was one of three assistant scoutmasters. Each of us were single men. One was a little older then me, the other a little younger. I was the only one to stay with the program for more then a year. The other assistants left town to pursue a career or college.

The committee was made up of several parents who were dedicated to get the troop up and running well. Our charter representative was the commander of the local VFW Post. I will never forget my first committee meeting. The charter rep and I got into a heated "discussion" about troop finances. He began by talking about how much money the Post had already pumped into the troop. I already knew from talking to committee members and parents that the Post had not given the troop much of anything yet. (In fact, one of the parents had loaned the troop some money to get things started.) I guess I got a bit vocal about correcting him. Our discussion began to get a little heated.

After the meeting, and after the charter rep had left, a couple of the committee members told me I had stated what they had been thinking. I could not help but think to myself why did the nineteen year old new assistant scoutmaster have to stand up to the sixty year old charter rep? After all, there were at least five other committee members at the meeting.

Oh well, if nothing else, I guess I demonstrated my passion and dedication to the Scout troop. By the way, the charter rep and I worked well together for the next few years, until he retired from the committee.