Boy Scouts Of Harlem

Earlier this year I heard about a new documentary about a Boy Scout troop from Harlem. The film followed four Boy Scouts from Troop 759 as they went to summer camp. The film centers on Keith, the newest Scout as he attends his first long week of camp out in the woods.

I looked forward to seeing this film coming out in theaters, but soon discovered that it was only being shown in special screening around the country. There were rumors that the film would be shown on PBS stations in 2010 so I though I may have to wait until then to see it, or buy the dvd which became available this fall.

I thought is was great that two films about Boy Scouting had been released on dvd this year. The first, Scout Camp: The Movie, had come out on dvd in June. This new film, 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem, came out later this summer. (I guess if you want to include Russell from UP, the new Pixar movie, you could say there were three movies about Scouting released in 2009.)

In September, Cubmaster Chris (of the An Hour A Week and The Leaders Campfire podcasts) and I received an email from our friend Scott at the InsaneScouter website. He wanted to know if we would like to interview one of the directors of 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem, Justin Szlasa, for an episode of The Leaders Campfire. Chris and I had interviewed Garret Batty, the director and writer of Scout Camp: The Movie earlier this summer, and the show had been quite popular. We thought it would be a great idea to interview Mr. Szlasa.

After several weeks of emailing back and forth we were about to set a date to record a show. Mr. Szlasa was a great person to interview. He and his brothers are Eagle Scouts so he knew a lot about the Scouting program. We talked about the special challenges of filming a documentary, the Boy Scouts of Troop 759, and the camp featured in the film. He even had a couple stories to share with us. Chris and I had fun interviewing him, and I think that comes through on the podcast.

The podcast episode ended up being #73 of the Leaders Campfire podcast. It can be found at PTC Media (click here). The podcast can be subscribed through PTC Media or through the iTunes music store (link here). The dvd of 759: Boy Scouts Of Harlem can be ordered through the website at http://www.harlemscouts.com/store.html . I suggest you get a copy. It is an enjoyable film.

"Scout Camp" Winners

On Wednesday evening, Cubmaster Chris and I did a live recording of The Leaders Campfire podcast. We had never done that before but we had a special reason for doing it. It was time to give away the prizes for the "Scout Camp: The Movie" Twitter contest. Quite a few people joined us in the PTC Media chatroom for the event which made it even more fun. The winners are listed at ptcmedia.net, but I thought I would list them here also:

Scout Camp DVD Winners:

ScouterTom
johneegeek
Taxgeekkm
mbeyke043
Brian Leslie

Scout Camp Poster Winners:
kcwccc
joeparajecki
onlinst
bryanspellman
CD_Ranger

If you are a winner, please e-mail your address to: cubmasterchris@gmail.com

And thanks to Garrett Batty at Scout Camp: The Movie for making a lot of this possible!

The Drawing Draws Near

There is only a week left to register for the drawing to win dvd's or posters for Scout Camp: The Movie. You do need a Twitter account to enter. Details are found at  http://tinyurl.com/kksp3z

Scout Camp: The Director

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Garrett Batty, the writer and director of the new film Scout Camp: The Movie, during a recording of the Leaders Campfire podcast. Garrett was nice enough to give us an hour and a half of his time. The episode came in at about 45 minutes after editing. Check it out at the Leaders Campfire site or the PTC Media site.

I am a bit of a movie buff so when I saw the film's trailer on Youtube a couple of months ago I rated it and added it to my favorites. When I realized this film would not be going into general release I sent an email to Three Coins Productions through Youtube to ask if the movie would be shown in central Minnesota. I received a reply from Garrett stating the film was going to be released on dvd but some councils were arranging special screenings.

After a few more emails Garrett agreed to be a guest on the Leaders Campfire podcast. Cubmaster Chris and I had a great time talking to him about making the movie, the cast, and his Scouting background. I am not going to write much about the interview in this blog because I want you to listen to the podcast, but I will tell you that I am even more excited to see the movie now than I was before our chat.

Garrett was kind enough to send PTC Media some copies of the dvd and posters of Scout Camp: The Movie to be used as prizes for a drawing for the listeners of the Leaders Campfire and people who use Twitter. Details of the drawing can be found HERE.

Cubmaster Chris and I appreciate Garrett Batty taking the time to join us for the show. The three of us hope you enjoy listening to it and pass it on to your Scouting friends. Don't forget to leave us a comment and enter the drawing. And be sure to order your copy of Scout Camp: The Movie.

Scout Camp: The Movie (Behind the scenes)

I just discovered this video on Youtube featuring behind the scenes pictures from Scout Camp: The Movie, which is being released on dvd this month. I am looking forward to seeing this movie. I think the troop will be having a movie night after I get a copy.

And here is a short clip from the movie featuring the Boy Scouts as they arrive at the beach for their swim checks.

Scout Camp - The Movie

It appears that there will be a new movie making its way around the country this year. It is about spending a week at a Boy Scout summer camp and is called, oddly enough, Scout Camp. From the preview it looks to have some humor and some serious moments. I have read it a Scout forum that the movie is written by guys who were Scouts themselves growing up, and it does not follow the guide to safe scouting very well. Oh the horrors!

I am hoping this film comes to central Minnesota. I would like to see it and perhaps bring the troop along. After all, there are very few movies made about Boy Scouting. I love one line from the preview, "I'm fine. I am the scoutmaster."

Here is the preview of the movie:

Making Films

Remember sitting in a class room during high school and thinking to yourself, "When am I ever going to need to know this?" I was in a high school film class in the mid-seventies. I really did not take the class to learn anything useful. I took it to have fun. In addition to learning film history and how films were made, we had to break into groups and make our own short film. Each group had to write a script, decide who would star in what roles, who would be the cameraman, director, and editor, and so forth. I enjoyed the class.

There was no such thing as a camcorder in those years. We used a super 8mm film camera. Film, not tape. We has to send the film out to be developed. When it came time to edit we literally had to cut and paste (tape) the film. It was fun to make the film, and even more fun to watch the class reaction when we all watched it.

Let us jump ahead ten years. Melrose has a new community access television station, Mel-TV3. Camcorders (vhs) are becoming popular in households. In fact, one of the Scouting families owns a camcorder. I decide it is time to start filming troop functions to play "on the air". It will be a great way to show the community what we do in Boy Scouting, so I join the station's board of directors. We begin with taping court of honors and soon are creating "original" productions.

Let us jump ahead twenty years more, to today's digital world. I am still making videos with the Scouts. I now own a digital camcorder and a Macintosh computer so I can do all my editing at my home instead of at the television studio. I still produce Scouting shows for Mel-TV, and now am being asked to provide shows for a second local television station. I can hit a wider audience through placing videos on the internet. Some of my videos are found on our troop's website, my podcast, Youtube, and some other video sites. People from around the world can see these videos.

Sometimes I think back to those days in that high school film class, and then think about how much the technology of film making has come. I am doing things now I never would have dreamed of doing then. I just wish I would have taken a typing class.
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C-3PO Actor was a Scout?

It is amazing what you can find on the internet where you are bored and have nothing to do. This morning I found an article that brings together two things I really like - Scouting and Star Wars. Anthony Daniels, the actor who brought the droid C-3PO to life in the Star Wars movies, was a Cub Scout for a brief time. Unfortunately, he did not stay a Cub Scout for very long. It looks like he really did not quite understand what Scouting was all about.

You can read about it at the Official Star Wars Blog.
http://starwarsblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/08/c-3po-was-a-cub-scout/

I always like it when I find out well known people were in Scouting.

The Force vs Scouting

I was sixteen years old when I saw the full page newspaper ad for a new movie about to be released. The ad was a great piece of artwork. It created a desire in me to see this movie as soon as possible, which surprised me because I had seen a couple of production artwork storyboards a few months earlier in a magazine which did not impress me at all. The movie? Why "Star Wars", of course. The only movie to really make an impact on my life.

I saw the movie for the first time at the Paramount Theater in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The Paramount had the largest screen of any theater in central Minnesota in the summer of 1977. I will never forget the feeling of watching the seemingly endless star destroyer flying across the scene in the opening shots of the film. It was awesome! I had never seen anything like this before.

I was totally enthralled by the story, the characters, and the special effects. In less then two hours I had become a Star Wars fan for life. I had become a Star Wars geek.

It did not take long before the collecting began. I started with newspaper ads and articles. It soon expanded to comic books, toys, and action figures, as my spending money would allow. I have amassed quite a collection over the last thirty years. It dominates three rooms of my house and contains over 500 action figures, countless other toys, and a lifesize statue of Anakin Skywalker in podracer gear. I have seen the original movie over 11 times in the theater and countless times on video and television.

What do the Boy Scouts of my troop think about my Star Wars collection? Most of them think it is cool. Several think I am weird. A couple probably think I need need treatment. All in all though, it has been great to share my Star Wars experience with them. It gives us a common subject to relate to outside of Scouting. When it comes to Star Wars I will always be that sixteen year old awestruck teenager.

Just how obsessive about this movie am I? On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give myself a six. Yes, I do have a large collection of Star Wars memorabilia. However, I do not know all the words to every Star Wars movie. Nor do I dress up like the characters when I go to theaters to see the movies.

A fan of Star Wars? Definitely! But I am more a fan of Boy Scouting. Scouting takes much more time in my life, and more dedication. While I may have more materials things relating to Star Wars, Scouting is the thing that is closer to my heart.

May the force be with us all... in Scouting.

Scouting Related Movies

The Boy Scouts of America began in 1910 when the US Congress approved its national charter. Did you know that the motion picture industry started near that time? I think it is amazing that there has not been more films about Scouting during the last hundred years. The number of Scouting related films that I have seen I can count on my hands.

The first movie I saw about Scouting is probably the most popular Scouting-related movie of all time, Disney's "Follow Me Boys". I saw it in 1984 during a trip to Philmont Scout Ranch for a week long scoutmaster's training course. I thought it was a great movie and was in awe of Len Siddons' twenty year tenure being a scoutmaster. It is my favorite Scout movie and I own it on DVD. (A-)

I saw the movie "Mr. Scoutmaster" on television in the early 1980's. It is a 1953 black and white film about a television star who becomes a scoutmaster to get in touch with teenage boys who watch his television show. Of course, things do not go well for him because he is actually quite out of touch with the young men. I have not seen it aired on television very often so I am glad I taped it back then. (B)

"Scout's Honor" was a made-for-television movie that aired in 1980. It starred Gary Colemann as a young orphaned boy who joined a Cub Scout Pack and became a hero. I have not seen it since it aired but do remember it being a cute movie. (B-)

"The Wrong Guys" is a comedy released in 1988. It featured several stand up comedians who played grown members of a Cub Scout den who have a reunion and go out on a camping trip. It was a humorous movie but did not become a big hit in the box office. (B-)

Two Scouting related movies were released in 1989. "Troop Beverly Hills" starred Shelly Long as a leader of a Girl Scout troop who's idea of camping involved staying at a plush hotel. (B) "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was not a movie about Scouting, but it did feature a young Life Scout Indiana Jones during the opening scenes. (A-)

The latest Scouting movie was released in 2005. "Down and Derby" is a film about how obsessive some fathers can be about a Cub Scout pack's annual pinewood derby. It was well done and gave a humorous look at the world of derby races. (B)

I am sure there has been more movies about Scouting made over the years, but these are the only ones I have seen. I bet it will be another five to ten years before I see a new movie about Scouting.

"Follow Me Boys" plus five years.

I still remember the first time I saw the movie "Follow Me Boys." I was attending the Philmont Scout Ranch Training Facility for a weeklong Scoutmaster Fundamentals course. It was in the summer of 1984.

As I sat there that night watching the film with Scout leaders from all over the country, I kept thinking to myself, "Wow! A scoutmaster for twenty years. That would be quite an accomplishment." I was twenty-four years old at the time. I had not been a scoutmaster for three years yet. A twenty year stint seemed like an impossibility back then.

Well, it is now 2006. In September I will have been the scoutmaster of Troop 68 for 25 years, far surpassing Lem Siddons term of service.

Have any of my boys fallen off of a cliff? No. Have my boys tried building their own clubhouse? No. Has anyone offered to donate a valuable piece of property to my troop? No again. My troop is a real troop, not a Hollywood version of one.

However, Scouting has given me many memorable experiences. I have been hiking in the moutains of Virginia, canoeing in the BWCA of Minnesota, exploring caves and mines in Wisconsin and Minnesota, been the scoutmaster of a troop at the 2001 National Jamboree, and have attended five treks at Philmont Scout Ranch.

Best of all, I have had the opportunity to know nearly 250 young men through Scouting in Melrose. I have made many friendships, some even lasting long into their adulthood. Fifteen of the boys have attained the rank of Eagle Scout. And just like Lem Siddons, I consider all of them to be one of "my boys".

No, my years of being a scoutmaster may not have been as interesting as Lem's in the movie "Follow Me Boys". Mine have been more interesting and more fun.