The Miller Castle

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 recently spent a weekend at Parker Scout Reservation, the Central Minnesota Council's camp. One of the highlights of the weekend was a tour of the newest building on the site, the Miller Castle.

The castle was built with Cub Scout camps in mind. The building really does give the impression of a medieval castle nestled in the woods. It features a grassy courtyard surrounded by a 15 foot high masonry wall, complete with an outer catwalk. Inside, the medieval theme continues with banners hanging from the walls, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and suits of armor placed around the great meeting hall. The meeting hall also contains a small stage that is accessible for interior and exterior programs.

The castle was built for year round use. Unlike some of the camp's buildings, this one includes heating and air conditioning, insulated walls, and insulated windows. There are separate restrooms facilities for boys and girls, and also separate shower facilities for men and women. The two large bunk rooms can sleep 32 Scouts each. There are separate sleeping quarters for the adults. A large modern kitchen is found off the great meeting hall.

When the Melrose Boy Scouts walked up to the castle's outer walls I could tell they were impressed. As they entered the courtyard the stood and looked around in awe. When they entered the great meeting hall their imaginations were flowing. "We need to play a game of Dungeons and Dragons in here", they remarked.

I took a few pictures of the boys touring the Miller Castle which I plan to post to the troop's website in the next few weeks. In the meantime you can check out the photos at the council's website found at http://www.bsacmc.org/ under Camp Parker.

The Troop's New Program

The Patrol Leader Council planned it. The committee approved it. The parents and troop members were told about it, and liked it. The Boy Scout Troop 68 program for 2009-2010 is now official.

The theme for September is campsite safety, with Totin Chip and fire safety being the key points. The troop will attend a merit badge weekend at Parker Scout Reservation as their activity for the month.

The theme for October will be Personal Fitness and will touch on that merit badge. A weekend camping trip will be held south of town. It is also the month of the Scouting For Food Drive, and the month of the troop's fall fundraiser.

In November, the troop will switch from personal fitness to personal management as the meeting theme. The monthly activity will be an all day event which will include skating, a pizza party, a theatrical movie, and late night bowling.

During the December meetings the Scouts will be reviewing special awards available through the Boy Scouts of America. The troop will spend a day downhill skiing at Powder Ridge and follow that with their annual Christmas Party. The year's final court of honor (award night) will be held this month, along with the troop auction.

Citizenship will be the theme for the meetings in January. An overnighter is planned for the month's activity. Past overnighters have included table tennis, darts, chess, and Wii bowling tournaments. And, of course, their will be movies.

The B.S.A. will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in February 2009. Troop 68 will begin the month by celebrating Scout Sunday and plan to have several displays about Scouting set up around town. The theme for the month will be Scouting Heritage. A weekend outing at Camp Stearns is the planned activity.

Family Life merit badge will be the theme for March. The activity will be a camping weekend at parker Scout Reservation, located north of Brainard. The troop will hold a court of honor near the end of the month to recognize Scouts for their achievements.

The boys will be practicing their first aid skills during the month of April. The troop plans to attend the Central Minnesota Council's Ripley Rendezvous which will be held at the Camp Ripley National Guard base.

During May, the Scouts will be honing their roping skills and work on pioneering. Troop 68 will spend a weekend at one of their favorite camping spots, Camp Watchamagumee. The Order of the Arrow's spring conclave will be held this month.

The month of June will begin with a paper drive and end with a community project by helping to clean up the city park after the festivities. A camping trip at King's lake is planned. The year's second court of honor will be held.

There will only be one troop meeting during July as the troop prepares to spend a week at Many Point Scout Camp, located north of Park Rapids.

Troop 68 is planning to cover a new topic in August as we explore the excitement a geocaching and GPS gadgets. A weekend at Minnesota's Sibley State Park will finish our program year.

Memories Of 1980: Part 2

Boy Scout Troop 68 really did not have a regular meeting place during its first year in 1980, so we would sometimes have our meetings in the clubroom of our sponsor, VFW Post 7050. It worked out fairly well but the boys could not play any rough and tumble games there. Some parents did not think it was very appropriate to hold Boy Scout meetings next to the VFW's bar but we really did not have many choices at the time.

The troop held its first (and one of its few) Halloween parties at the VFW clubroom. Of course, it was a costume party and we did have a contest for the best costume. Many of the Boy Scouts participated. We had the typical Frankenstein monsters and vampires. Two of the boys must have had some help from their mothers because they looked pretty good in a wig and dress. One of my favorite costumes was the Scout who came to the party with two heads. I was dressed up as a clothed chimpanzee using facial appliances from a costume kit I bought that was based on the type of makeup used in the Planet of the Ape movies. It was an awesome costume, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, no one thought to take a picture of me.

It was getting a little late in the season when we decided to have one more overnight camping trip. The leaves had already fallen from the trees but the snow had not yet arrived. We drove several miles north of Melrose to the Lake Sylvia park and public access. We did not realize that camping was not allowed at the park until a sheriff happened to drive by and see us there. He was very nice and very understanding, and allowed us to stay the night but instructed us not to camp there again.

There was not much to do at the park. It did not take long before a couple of boys picked up some sticks and began having a sword fight. Or was it a lightsaber fight? A couple more boys joined in. Soon, the whole troop had sticks, including the adults. We broke the troop up into two teams for the big battle. It was interesting watching the sword fights take place in (somewhat) slow motion. After all, we did not want bashed fingers or hands.

After supper the boys competed in a timed obstacle course. The course was created using things found at the park. It included bench jumping, trench leaping, stump leapfrogging, and log crossing, along with other things. The course was a hit with the boys.

It was about this same time that I moved into an apartment. Some of the boys decided my place would be a great place to hang out. I had a decent stereo system along with a recordable cassette tape player and a couple of microphones. We began making spoof versions of radio and tv shows, recording them onto cassette tapes. I still have a couple of those tapes, but unfortunately, many have been lost over time. Little did I realize at the time that those early shows would develop into my current hobby of making videos and podcasts.

Isn't it funny how some things work out?

Pictures of the year's activities can be seen by clicking HERE.

Memories Of 1980

The year of 1980 was the first full year of the newly reformed Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 which had started up in December of 1979. I joined up with the troop in April as a nineteen year old assistant scoutmaster. There was about 15 youth in the troop at the time, ranging in age from 11 to 13 years old. There was not much of a planned program that first year. We planned things from month to month, but soon we began doing yearly planning with the boys doing most of the planning.

The troop's first camping trip was held during the summer at Uhlenkolts Lake, located about six miles from town. The grass was knee high when we arrived. It did not take long before we were pulling off the wood ticks. Lots of wood ticks. One boy came up with the idea of collecting all the ticks in a soda can which we then threw into the evening campfire. We could hear the popping sounds as the ticks exploded in the heat.

Once it was dark we placed the boys throughout the woods for a snipe hunt. Yeah, I know, we can not do that in today's Scouting program, but back then it was not a big deal. One of the boys claimed he almost caught one of the elusive birds.

It was only a one night camping trip but for many of the boys I believe it was the first time camping without their family.

The troop did not attend a week of summer camp in 1980. There had not been enough time to prepare for it.

In August, the troop went on a one day canoe trip down the Sauk River which runs through Melrose. The boys and the adults had a great time. We even did a little fishing and swimming. Did we follow the safe swim and safety afloat guidelines? I don't think so. I do not think anyone even knew about those guidelines yet. That came later after we attended training.

The troop attended the fall camporee at Parker Scout Reservation in September. In addition to the various activities, I remember waiting in line for Saturday's supper and our troop receiving a ribbon during the Saturday evening campfire program. But the thing I remember most is the great egg war that involved three troops.

There was a short time Saturday during which the Scouts had free time. Some of the boys wanted to play catch but no one had thought to bring a ball to camp. A suggestion was made to use an egg. The campsite was shared by three troops so more boys began joining the game. The circle began to grow. The boys began tossing the eggs the more force. Some boys became too cautious about catching the breakable missiles. After a couple eggs were broken a few rules were made. One was that if you threw an egg too hard and the egg broke the catcher of the egg would get to throw an egg back at you.

The rules worked for awhile. Until someone threw an egg hard at another guy. Of course, the egg broke so the other Scouts were egging him on to throw an egg back. One Scout even ran off to fetch another egg to throw. Anticipation was high. Would the Scout through the egg back or not? I did not think he would. Until he did! That set off the egg battle. Scouts ran back to their camps to fetch the round white breakable ammo. By the time it was over three troops were nearly out of eggs for Sunday breakfast.

Luckily, no one got hurt, but it sure did make a mess.

Ten Reasons Scouting Is Good For Life

The Northern Star Council has an interesting website called Scouting: Good For Life. In addition to some local videos and commercials it lists ten reasons that Scouting is good for you life and family. Here is their list:

1. Scouts are Leaders
   More than two thirds of Scouts say there have been real life situations were Scout experience has helped them be a better leader.
2. Scouts are Helpful
   Over two thirds of Scouts' parents and Scouts themselves say their willingness to help other people since their involvement in Scouting has increased.
3. Scouts are Responsible
   Over two thirds of Scouts' parents and Scouts themselves say their willingness to take on added responsibility has increased since their involvement in Scouting.
4. Scouts have Fun with a Purpose
   By enjoying the outdoors and gaining new experiences in the company of friends and mentors, Scouts build confidence and competence.
5. Scouts earn Better Grades
   Statistically; Scouts earn more "A's" than their non-Scouting counterparts.
6. Scouts have Higher Levels of Education
   91% of men who were Scouts completed high school, compared with 87% of men who were never Scouts, and 35% versus 19% earned college degrees!
7. Scouts earn Higher Incomes
   Men who were Scouts five years or more earned average household incomes of $80,000, compared to $61,000 by men who have never been Scouts.
8. Scouts are Respectful
   80% of Scouts say that Scouting has taught them to treat others with respect.
9. Scouts Do Their Best
   78% of scouts say that Scouting has taught them to always give their best effort.
10. Scouts Live by the Principles of the Scout Oath and Law
    84% of scouts say the values they learned in Scouting continue to be very important to them today.

The site can be found at http://www.scoutinggoodforlife.org/

Canoeing With Electric Fences

The Sauk River runs through the city of Melrose, the home of Boy Scout Troop 68. This river nearly cuts the city in half. It is not very large. In fact, A teenager could through a football across most portions of the river. Below the dam in Melrose, in the city park, a person can walk across the river and not even get your chest wet.

The Sauk is an "old" river, with a lot of twists and turns as it flows from Sauk Centre to the Mississippi River in St. Cloud. It is actually a nice river for canoeing. It is quite scenic, and at times you will not see any signs of civilization. But it also has its challanges. There are curves of strong currents, downed trees, and the occassional wire fence stretched acrossed its width.

Yes, you read that correctly. The Sauk River meanders through a lot of farmland and pasture. There are parts of the river in which a farmer owns pasture land on both sides of the river so he stretches a single wire across the river to keep the cattle from "escaping" the pasture. There are many wire fences along the bank of the river. Many of them are electified with enough current to keep the cattle from walking through it.

In 1994, the troop was canoeing down the river for a weekend outing. We had permission from one of the farmers to camp overnight in his pasture. Between the river and the pasture was an electric and barbwire fence. The Scouts were very careful as they moved the gear from the canoes to the campsite. No one wanted to receive an electric shock.

After supper, some of the guys became bored. A couple of them walked up to the fence and decided to see how strong the current was by giving it a quick touch. More boys joined the crowd. They noticed that some guys received a larger shock then other guys due to the soles of the shoes.

They began experimenting. Two guys grabbed hands. One would touch the fence to see if the second would receive a shock. A third joined the line. It did not take long before all the guys had formed one line to see who would get a jolt, and how far the current would travel. After a short period the boys grew tired of this and began looking for other things to do.

The following morning was cool. A heavy dew covered the ground. An 18 year old alumni of the troop who had joined us for the weekend walked out of the tent in his barefeet. He walked across the dew covered campsite and, for some unknown reason, grabbed the electric fence. His yelp was loud enough to alert the whole camp that the current was still flowing through the wire.

As we loaded the gear into the canoes the Scouts were very careful handing the packs and bundles over the fence. No one wanted to experience the same shock that the eighteen year old had received that morning.

View some pictures of the trip at http://melrosetroop68.org/Web%20site%20yearly%20highlights/yh94.html

E.R. - The Real Thing

Last year, during one of our Boy Scout troop meetings, the whole troop ended up in the emergency room of our local hospital. Oh, don't worry. There were no serious injuries. Our theme for the month was first aid so our committee chairperson set up a tour of the hospital's emergency room and facilities.

Melrose is a community of 3300 people, but we have a very well staffed hospital. Our emergency room is not as big and chaotic as the one in the television show, or as a big city hospital would be. Our E.R. only has three beds but is fully equipped to handle most emergencies, from heart attacks to car crashes. Luckily for the troop, it was not being used while we were there for our visit.

The nurse was a great tour guide. She was very patient with the Scouts and answered all their questions very professionally. I think there were a couple of times a few of the boys were being grossed out, but you know teenage boys. They like being grossed out.

The nurse began our tour in the entry/garage for the ambulance. Almost immediately, the boys started asking questions. "Has anyone ever died in here?" The nurse told us that sometimes people die on the way to the hospital while being transported by the ambulance, and sometimes they may die in the hospital.

The emergency room was out next stop. The nurse explained the uses for the many pieces of equipment found in the room. The boys were very interested in the "shockers" that are used on some heart attack patients. They were surprised to see the drills and other equipment used to puncture hip and shoulder bones. The various kinds of I.V.'s and fluids also caught their interest.

The nurse lead the troop to the surgery room. Due to the sterile environment needed in there we did not actually get to enter the room, but we were able to look through the door windows into the staff prep room. Once again, the nurse gave a nice but brief summary of the things that happen in the area.

The tour lasted a bit over thirty minutes which was just enough time to give everyone a basic understanding of the E.R. and still have enough time to return to our meeting location (the school gym) and play a game, have a quick patrol meeting, and have our closing.

The troop thanks the staff of the Melrose Centracare Hospital for allowing us to tour their facility.

The Castle At Scout Camp

The Cub Scouts of the Central Minnesota Council will have quite a surprise when they attend Day Camp this year the Parker Scout Reservation. The medieval them will come to life like never before with the completion of the new Miller Castle. Yeah, you read that correctly. A castle! Complete with a courtyard surrounded by masonry walls and towers at the corners.

During last night's district roundtable we were shown pictures of the nearly completed castle. I will not lie. I was impressed. From the masonry exterior to the medieval decor on the interior of the building it appears to have captured the feel of the "knights of old" very well.

Of course, the castle includes all of today's modern conveniences. The building is well insulated and heated for year round use. It has a large modern kitchen and a large "commons" room for dining and activities. There are separate bathroom and shower facilities for the youth and adults. A "barracks", complete with bunk beds, is available for troops and packs who wish to use the building for overnight stays. The basement adds one more storm shelter to the camp, in addition to a large storage area for program materials.

I am looking forward to going to Parker this spring and touring the castle. I believe it will be a great addition to the camp and will help to increase the number of Scouts, packs, and troops who use the facilities.

Pictures of the Miller Castle can be seen at our council's website at http://www.bsacmc.org/camp_parker.htm .

Full Day Of Activities

Today, the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 will participate in the yearly LPMRB outing. It is a twelve hour activity extravaganza that is very popular with the boys.

The outing begins with a few hours of rollerskating at a local roller rink in St. Cloud. "Rollerskating?" you ask. Yes, rollerskating, or inline skating. The boys still enjoy getting out once a year to skate. The younger boys learn how to skate while the older boys like to do some socializing. It is still a great social activity.

After the work-out at the roller rink, the troop heads to their favorite pizza place for supper. We have discovered that four boys per large pizza seems to work out well. As we eat, the Scouts review the day at the rink and talk about other subjects interesting to the life of teenage boys.

One topic that must be discussed is which movie to see when we leave the pizzeria. Of course, this being a Scout activity, no R rated movies will be allowed. A PG-13 movie could be allowed depending on the reason for the movie, and how strong that reason is. For some reason, I do not think that the new movie Twilight will be high on the list today. I think we will be going to the new James Bond flick.

The final activity of the day is Midnight Bowling at the local bowling alley. This will take place from 11:30 pm to 1:00 am. I am amazed by how much energy the boys still have at this point of the day. (Of course, some Mountain Dew helps things along.) They are usually still going strong, looking to bowl that perfect game, or at least get a strike on their score sheet.

I have heard from many parents over the years that the boys fall asleep quickly once they arrive at home. They usually sleep as late as they are allowed on Sunday morning.

I will admit that this is not your typical Boy Scout outing, but it is a part of our boy-planned yearly program. It is an activity that most of the boys enjoy, and it is very well attended. In fact, nine of the ten members of the troop will be going along today. It has proven to be a good one-day activity for these Minnesota winter months.

No Winners? No Way!

There are some people in our society that think children should play games in which there are no clear winners. They think everyone should be a winner so that nobody's feelings get hurt. There are some people in Boy Scouting that share these same thoughts. Everyone wins, no one loses.

Sorry, but I do not share that sentiment. Life is made up of winners and losers. Just ask the guy that got the job that the other guy really wanted. Or the high school basketball player who missed the winning shot. Or the Cub Scout who won the Pinewood Derby.

Having winners and losers is not the problem. How we act when we win or lose is more important. Or, as parents and adult leaders, how we treat the winners or losers is the most important thing.

Professional sports is all about winning or losing. I can understand this since these sports are actually an entertainment business. Millions of dollars are on the line. But the players, coaches, and team owners do not always set a good example of graceful winning or losing.

I do not like that same attitude used at the high school level. I am not a fan of parents, coaches, and schools applying a "win or nothing" attitude on their teenage players. Get rid of that "only winners count" attitude. It can be extremely stressful to the players. Yes, there should be competition, and yes, there needs to be a winner and a loser, but how we adults treat the two will demonstrate whether we provide a harmful environment or a growing environment for the students and players.

In the Scouting program we try to provide a growing and learning environment. We do not want to provide an atmosphere where winners mock the losers. Ideally, we want the winners to help the others to do a better job the next time. We want the winners to help the losers become winners also! We want everyone to "do their best".

We play a lot of games in our troop, both by team and individually. Each team and Scout tries hard to win. He does his best to win. Yes, we do have winners and losers. The difference is that we do not let the winners gloat over the losers. Oh, there might be a minute of high fives, or a couple of comments, but the boys do it in the spirit of fun, not out of spite. In three minutes they don't even care anymore because they have moved on to the next activity. To tell the truth, there have been many times when the Scouts are playing a game when they do not even try hard to keep a score. They are more concerned about having fun than they are about a scorecard.

I guess you could say the boys have learned the lesson. Winning or losing is not as important as having fun and being with your friends is. And as adults we need to remember that how we treat the winners and losers is the the most important thing of all. Our attitudes can make winners out of the losers too.

Mini-Camporee (Part 2)

The weekend had arrived for the mini-camporee. The Boy Scout troops from Albany, Avon, and Sauk Centre had arrived at the site Friday night. The Scouts from Melrose arrived early Saturday morning due to the high school homecoming football game held Friday night.

When the four Scouts from Troop 68 arrived at my house at 7:00 that morning, it did not take me long to notice that something was missing. No one had taken time to get the food for the outing. I was not happy, but to tell the truth, I was not surprised. During the troop meeting four nights earlier the boys had been arguing about who would get the food. "I don't have time." "I got it the last time." No one wanted to do it. As I watched the boys load the truck I thought to myself, "This is a great way to begin the outing." We ended up leaving town thirty minutes late, after the boys went to the store to do some shopping.

The rest of the weekend went very well. Once we had camp set up we went to work to prepare the blowgun target range. The four activity sessions began at 9:30, with each troop doing their own sponsored activity first to make sure the kinks were worked out before the other troops came through. The Troop 68 Scouts did all four stations before lunch, but I discovered later they had only completed half of the first aid activity.

Most of the afternoon was open time so each troop could plan its own activities. My Scouts did some exploration of the woodland in which we were camped. Then we played disc golf for nine holes, or maybe I should say tree trunks. A church service, hosted by our troop, finished off the afternoon.

Supper was quite interesting. It was a pot luck, and boy, was there a lot to eat. There were brats, baked beans, chili, and beef stew. My troop made fried potatoes and spaghetti with meat sauce, which quickly vanished from the table. Desert was pudding served in ice cream cones, topped with cool whip. It was a little messy, but no one complained. No one left the meal hungry.

The evening program began with a camp-wide Capture the Flag game, which was played in the dark. A few of us adults were a little concerned about playing in the dark, but the boys had a great time. In fact, many of the boys were so tired after the game that they turned in for the night instead of going to the planned campfire program. The Scouts from Troop 68 were the only boys to show up at the campfire so they did not stick around long.

The outing was a complete success and we are already talking about doing another camporee next fall, and maybe even doing some training sessions together.

Mini-Camporee (Part 1)

Earlier this year, a few adult troop leaders from neighboring communities got together after a roundtable and began talking about having a mini-camporee. The goal was to get the local troops together for a weekend, line up a few activities, and let the Scouts get to know each other. I missed the first and only organizational meeting due to a family matter, so it was emails and phone calls from there on.

Each of the four troops was responsible for an activity. The activities would be conducted in a round robin fashion from Saturday morning to the early afternoon. The Sauk Centre troop prepared a blind soccer activity. The troop from Albany planned theirs around orienteering. Avon put together a first aid demonstration.

I wanted Troop 68 to do something unique, something that most of the Scouts had not done before. My troop owns two blowguns so I brought up the idea to the membership about setting up a blowgun target range. They liked the idea and thought it would be fun.

A little over a week before the camporee I visited the land where the camporee would be held with one of the adult leaders from the Albany troop which was hosting the event. It was privately owned land about 3 or 4 miles southeast of Albany. There was a great wooded area for camping, and a large grassland for activities. It would work very well for our outing. The owner of the land was very supportive and told us that two of his sons had earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

The date of the camporee was chosen by the Albany and Avon troops so it would not take place during their school's homecoming weekend. Unfortunately, the weekend they chose happened to be the weekend of Melrose's homecoming weekend. It did not present any problem though. The Scouts from Troop 68 went to the camporee early Saturday morning instead of Friday evening. There was not any program planned for the outing on Friday night so it worked out well.

As the weekend approached I bought some targets and a large blue tarp to act as a backdrop for the range. After all, I did not want to lose any of the small darts in the brush if I did not have to. I also began watching the weather forecast. It looked like it could be a cool and wet weekend. I do not like camping on cool and wet weekends anymore after twenty eight years of Scouting. Oh well, too late to back out now.

(To be continued...)
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Spelunking 1997

The first time the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 scheduled a trip to southern Wisconsin to spend a weekend at Eagle Caves we had one young Scout who was very excited about going spelunking. In fact, after a month about hearing him talk about nothing except spelunking we finally had to turn down his excitement a bit because it was getting on everyone's nerves.

Eagle Caves is a large privately owned cave. Scouts and youth groups can make arrangements to spend the weekend camping in and exploring the cave. Campgrounds, a shower house, and a dining hall are all located on the site. We visited the cave during the winter months so we chose to stay inside the cave, along with a couple dozen other troops.

Due to the seven hour trip from Melrose to Eagle caves we did not arrive until after 11:00 Friday evening. The staff placed us just inside the entrance to the cave. The entrance had a door to keep the cave at a constant year round temperature.

After breakfast in the dining hall Saturday morning, the boys began their spelunking experience. The cave was quite large and they were many nooks, crannies, and tunnels to explore. The main areas of the cave were large and easy to walk through. Other areas, especially the tunnels, could be so small that you would crawl on your belly to get into them. It did not take long for the boys' clothes to be covered in cave dirt and slim.

Jeff, the father of one of the boys, and I were relaxing in the cave when his son and another Scout ran up to us. They were excited about a tunnel they found and they wanted us to follow them and explore it. Okay, we were game.

The tunnel entrance was small, like crawling on your hands and knees small. The boys charged into the tunnel, leaving Jeff and me to follow. We were starting to have second thoughts but we got down to the floor and followed them. Soon, we were flat on our bellies creeping through the shrinking tunnel. We could hear the squeals of delight ahead of us. The tunnel finally opened into a small area in with Jeff and I could stand at an angle, but the tunnel continued through another small opening.

As we stood there in that tight little area, I had a completely random thought. "What if an earthquake would happen?" I asked Jeff. That was the last straw. We were done. We could back on our bellies and shimmied our way back out of the tunnel.

Jeff and I did not explore anymore tight tunnels that weekend, but the boys had a great time.
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The 2008-2009 Program

The Patrol Leader Council has created the Troop 68 program for the September 2008 to August 2009 year. I think they did a pretty good job. It is not quite as ambitious as past years, but that is okay. Several of the Scouts wish to attend the 2010 National Jamboree so they scaled down the program a bit, but they still let it include plenty of opportunity to have fun and experience great Scouting. Here is a brief summary of the upcoming program year.

September 2008 - The theme for the month is Freaky First Aid. The fall breakfast fundraiser kicks off with the Scouts preselling tickets. The outing will see the troop camping at one of their favorite spots south of town, on Hellermann's property. The month ends with a court of honor held at the city hall.

October 2008 - The theme this month is Tweaked Out Training, with leadership training as the goal. Two service projects will be held on October 4 as the Scouts participate in the Scouting For Food Drive, and do their annual fall road-up project. The fall breakfast fundraiser will be held on October 5. The troop plans to camp with other troops in the area during a small mini-camporee held later in the month.

November 2008 - This month's theme sounds a little strange, "Go Games Sports". Popcorn orders will be taken. The outing is the LPMRB, which is an acronym for laser tag, pizza, movie, rollerblading, and bowling. This makes for a long day.

December 2008 - Personal Safety is the theme this month, including internet safety. Activities include a day of downhill skiing at Powder Ridge Ski Resort and the troop's Christmas party. The troop will hold a court of honor before taking a break over the Christmas holidays.

January 2009 - Swimming safety is the theme. You know, like Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat. The Order of the Arrow Lodge will hold its winter banquet this month. The troop's activity will be an overnighter with plenty of games and movies. Unfortunately, there will not be a Laughs For Lunch Show this year.

February 2009 - Arctic Adventure is the cool theme for the month. The Scouts will participate in Scout Sunday on February 8. The winter outing will see the boys at Camp Stearns. Don't forget to bring your sleds.

March 2009 - The subject of March will be Wild Wilderness. Things like the Outdoor Code and the Wilderness Pledge will be discussed. The troop plans to go to a waterpark for its activity. The month will end with the first court of honor of the new year.

April 2009 - Low Impact Camping will continue the camping theme started last month. The troop's spring breakfast fundraiser will be held on April 5. The troop will be participating the the council annual Ripley Rendezvous which will be held at the Camp Ripley National Guard Base in central Minnesota.

May 2009 - Let's learn a few more dishes to cook up as we hit the theme of Crazy Cool Chef. The local Order of the Arrow Lodge will have its spring conclave this month. The troop will be going to Camp Watchamagumee for a three night mega-weekend toward the end of the month.

June 2009 - Cycling is this month's theme. Time to get some work done for the merit badge. The troop will travel to King's Lake for a weekend camping trip. The troop will also help out the community by cleaning up the park during the city's summer festivities. And don't forget this month's court of honor.

July 2009 - We will be spending a week at Many Point Scout Camp in the middle of this month. Lots of fun and activities, and maybe even the chance to learn a few new things.

August 2009 - The program year wraps up with a theme of Medieval Madness. I think we may be looking back in time toward the middle ages. The month's activities will fit in well when the Scouts go to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival and Valleyfair Amazement Park. The patrol leader council will hold its annual planning conference early in the month to plan the next program year.

So, that is the Troop 68 program for the next twelve months. How does it stack up to your troop's program?

A "Boy Planned" Program Revisited

The post I wrote a week ago about how our troop plans its yearly program seems to have created a little buzz with some of you. I have received a few comments and emails asking about the form we use to rate our troop. So, being the swell guy that I am, I created a pdf file to share with those of you who are interested in seeing this. Keep in mind that this is a troop form, not something that was created by the national office. It has come in handy to give the Scouts a guide to looking back and seeing how the program and troop is doing. I have even used it with the parents a few times.

The form can be found here:
http://melrosetroop68.org/forms/TroopRanking.pdf

I would be interested in hearing what you think of it. You can leave me a comment through this blog or email me at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org.

A "Boy Planned" Program

The Yearly Planning Session (YPS) is an activity held by the Patrol Leader Council of Troop 68 the first weekend of each August. During this session the PLC, under the supervision of the scoutmaster, will plan the troop's program for the next twelve months.

Boy Scout Troop 68 has conducted these sessions in different ways over the last twenty six years. Sometimes they are weekend events held at a resort or cabin. Sometimes they are a simple one day event that ends with a movie or game. However we do the session, we always try to mix in a little fun with the work.

The troop usually begins the session with the Scouts rating the troop on how it has done during the past year by filling out a questionnaire. The form covers about twenty-plus areas and gives us a good look at where improvement is needed and where we have been doing well.

The PLC will take several minutes to review the previous year's program. What went well? What did not? What were the popular outings? Which ones had low participation, and why? Were any activities canceled? If so, what was the reason? Based on these evaluations the junior leaders will set goals for the next year. These goals will be incorporated into the next year's program.

By this point the guys usually need a break. If we are conducting a weekend session the break may be followed by some leadership training.

Now it is time to brainstorm ideas for monthly themes and activities. Each junior leader will make a list of ideas he thinks should be part of a great program. The patrol leaders include any ideas from the patrol members. All these ideas are then written onto a white board for the whole PLC to see.

This list of dozens of ideas for activities and monthly themes must now be narrowed down to twelve months of program. This will take two or three rounds of voting. During the first round each Scout will vote for twelve activities and themes. Ideas that receive no votes or only one vote are eliminated from the list. During the second round the boys will only vote for eight ideas. If a third round is needed they will vote for six ideas.

Once this list is narrowed done it is time to place the themes and activities into a monthly schedule. Dates are chosen for meetings, activities, fundraisers, service projects, and other events. This new program is then reviewed one last time and tweaked a little if it needs it. The final step is for the senior patrol leader to present the program to the troop committee at their next meeting for their stamp of approval. The committee then calls for a parents meeting to review the program and find chairpeople for each event.

This is a very brief description of the process in Troop 68. It has worked well for us. How does your troop plan its program year? Do you have any other ideas to share?

An Arrow Through The Apple

Four Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 attended a week of summer camp at Many Point Scout Camp near Pondsford, Minnesota, during the week of July 13-19, 2008. They worked on advancement during the morning hours, had various troop activities in the afternoon, and participated in open programs during the evening.

On Wednesday evening, the Melrose Boy Scouts decided to go to the archery range and test their skills. In addition to the five regular round targets found on the hay bales there would be an apple hanging from a string to further test their skills. Would the Scouts be able to hit an apple with an arrow fired from a compound bow at 30 feet? It would not be easy.

The Melrose Scouts had already proven that they were fairly proficient with the compound bow during the troop shoot the day before. The range master was impressed and told them that should be working on earning the Archery Merit Badge. A few of the boys decided to earn it next year.

The four Scouts picked up their bow, knocked an arrow, and began firing arrows at the targets, hoping their would hit an apple. The two hour session was not even half way done before Avery pierced an apple with a well placed shot. Several minutes later, Lucas accomplished the same feat. That was two apples shot in one night by two Scouts from the same troop. The range master was impressed.

As the time neared to close down the range for the evening, the last group of Scouts walked up to the firing line. Jonah became the third Scout from Troop 68 to shoot an apple as his last arrow of the evening hit the target.

Pictures were taken, congratulations were expressed, and the Scouts went back to their campsite, each with two new apples in hand to eat at their leisure. It was a good evening at the archery range, one that would be remembered for years to come.

I Am Full of Sugar!

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 continued their theme of cooking during the June troop meetings. The first meeting we worked on breakfasts (see previous post). The second meeting's topic was easy desserts.

Cooking has never been a strong point with the Scouts of Troop 68 for some reason. At times, I get the feeling they would rather be doing anything then cooking or cleaning up. (I do not know if your troop is like ours, but some of the loudest patrol arguments happen when it is time for meal clean-up.) That is one reason we decided to work on our cooking skills this month.

The seven Scouts who attended the month's second meeting divided into three teams. Each team was in charge of making one dessert. Everyone would get a chance to try each dessert at the end of the meeting. The three desserts for the meeting were chosen to show the boys how quick and easy it was to prepare some desserts. The first was a cheesecake. The second was a chocolate pudding pie. The third was a cake with frosting.

The cheesecake and pie were very easy to prepare. Both were made using a pre-made graham cracker pie crust. Once the ingredients were mixed they were spread evenly in the pie crusts and then placed into the refridgerator for thirty minutes. Of course, on a camping trip they would have been placed in a cooler. The cake took a little more work since a dutch oven was needed. I had started the coals about 15 minutes before the troop meeting began. By the time the cake mixture was poured into the pan the dutch oven was heated and ready to use.

As the cake baked and the other desserts cooled the Scouts played a game of football. I took the time to mix the frosting for the cake and prepare the plates and silverware for the taste testing. By the time the boys finished their game the desserts were ready to be eaten. They began with the pie, then the cheesecake, and finally the frosted cake. There was not much left after the boys, two adult leaders, and two parents had eaten their fill.

Then came the magical moment. A fourteen year old Scout who is known within the troop as being very "energetic" made the comment that, "I am full of sugar." His stomach was full and he could not eat another bite. Luckily, we did not have sodas for the boys to wash it all down with. They were already on enough of a sugar high when they left the meeting.

Hopefully, we will start seeing some desserts made with supper on upcoming camping trips.
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MSPP #41: Troop 68, The Early Years

It has been a long time (April 1980) since I asked the scoutmaster if he could could some help with the Boy Scout troop. Little did I know that I would be an adult leader with that troop for the next 27 years. It has been quite a ride, with both highs and lows.

I have been taking photographs of the Boy Scouts during the outings, meetings, and courts of honor since I began attending troop functions. In the late 1980's, I took a number of photographs from the years of 1980-1985, had slides made from them, wrote a script, and recorded a few Scouts as they read it. This became a slideshow Troop 68: The Early Years that was shown at a court of honor. It was the first Scout show I produced, and soon lead me into videotape and editing.

When a public access television station began operating in Melrose I saw the opportunity to produce Scouting shows for a wider audience. This slideshow was soon videotaped and slightly edited for television viewing. Unfortunately, it looked liked a slideshow that was videotaped off a movie screen. It got the point across, but the quality was not very good.

Fast forward several years. I now have a computer at home that can do digital editing. It was time to give this early show a face lift. The original photographs were scanned into the computer and more photographs were added to the show. Unfortunately, I only had the original soundtrack. The boys had all grown up by this time and had moved away from town. I really did not want to redo the soundtrack anyway. It had a quaint charm all its own.

Now, thanks to the magic of the internet, you can take a trip back in time to Scouting during the first half of the decade we call the 1980's. Yes, the uniforms have changed. Yes, the shorts are not as short these days. But you will see that boys back then had just as much fun as do the Boy Scout of today's program. So sit back, relax, and enjoy watching this entry to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, Troop 68: The Early Years.

Watch this video post of Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, and then leave a comment if your troop has done anything similar to this. You can leave a note below by clicking on the COMMENTS link, or at the PTC media forums.

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Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Evening Breakfast in the Garage

Boy Scout Troop 68's theme for the month of June is Cooking. Each troop meeting will cover a different area of cooking and give the Scouts a chance to sharpen their cooking skills a little. During the first meeting we will do breakfasts, the next will be desserts, and the last will be suppers. Of course, everyone is looking forward to desserts.

The troop usually meets at one of the city parks during the summer months, but this month we will meet in my backyard. The troop's storage shed sits next to my garage so it is easier holding the meeting here instead of loading up all the gear needed and bringing it to the park. Much easier to put everything away also.

It was thirty minutes before the first meeting of the month during which the Scouts would be making pancakes and omelettes. As I began to take the gear from the shed it began to lightly rain. "Oh well," I though, "I guess I will have to set up the stoves in the garage."

The light rain continued throughout the meeting but the Boy Scouts did not seem to mind. After opening the meeting with the Pledge of Alligience and the Scout Oath, and a brief intro about cooking today's items, they began having fun cooking an evening breakfast, and then eating their creations. They could have cared less that they were in a garage.

They tried various ingredients in their omelettes. They tried making pancake batter at different consistencies. They discovered thick pancake batter is as challenging to fry as batter that is too thin.

As the last scrambled pancake was scraped out of the frying pan, the dishes and stoves were cleaned and stored away in the shed, and the floor was swept. Then it was into the basement of the house for game time which included card games, darts, and ping pong.

As the meeting came to a close we discussed the June calendar, this month's camping trip to Duluth, and the upcoming court of honor. The Scouts ended the meeting with the America Yell, and then the parents arrived to take them home.

It was great watching the boys as they had fun cooking breakfast at 7:00 in the evening. They had a good time trying new foods and working on their skills. I hope on the next camping trip they put those skills to use.

Next week is desserts. I have a feeling the meeting will be even more fun as the boys try making a cake in a dutch oven, and a pie, and a cheese cake. My mouth is already starting to water.

A Long Day of Scouting

Last week the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 held their monthly activity which happened to be the LPMRB. What is that, you ask? Long day of Pizza, Movie, Rollerskating, and Bowling. It is basically a twelve hour activity that has been a popular troop activity for many years. (The L of the LPMRB was originally for Laser tag, but the BSA does not want Scouts playing that game any more.)

The activity begins at 12:30, Saturday afternoon, when the Scouts gather at my place. We then drive to the Skatin' Place in St. Cloud, about 35 miles from Melrose. The troop rollerskates, or inline skates, for about three and one half hours, also playing the occasional arcade game. There were not many people at the rink this year. There were times when the Scouts were the only people skating, which in a way was nice since we did not have to skate around other skaters.

Godfather's Pizza was the next stop on the list of places to go. This year we only needed to buy three large pizzas to fill the bellies of the nine boys and two adults. We had a little time to kill after eating so we did a little shopping at a dollar store and browsing through a skateboard and snowboard store.

When we arrived at the movie theater complex it did not take long to decide on a movie. Over half of the eighteen movies showing were R rated. Most of the PG-13 movies were not suitable for the age group of our Scouts. We ended up watching Dan In Real Life which was a pretty good movie. Even the younger Scouts enjoyed it.

We arrived back in Melrose with over an hour to to kill before our session of bowling would begin at 11:30 pm. I thought the boys would play table tennis, darts, or boards in my basement but we all ended up in my living room watching a dvd of Weird Al music videos.

I was getting tired by the time we arrived at the bowling alley. I quickly discovered that my bowling skills had deteriorated since last year's event. Either I have to spend less time playing Wii bowling, or more time actually throwing a bowling ball. By 1:30 in the morning the last parent had arrived to pick up their son. The boys had gone home. I was ready for a good night's sleep.

Yes, the LPMRB makes for one long day but the Scouts really enjoy it. Maybe this event does not fit the usually outdoorsy type of Scouting activity, but the boys have a great time with each other and enjoy the camaraderie. Once in awhile you just have to leave the tents and knots behind and do something different.

An Hour A Week?

If you have been involved with Scouting for any length of time you have probably heard someone say, "It only takes an hour a week." What a joke that is! Just a bit of a misleading line there, huh? Let us take a look at a typical month of Scouting during this scoutmaster's life.

We have three troop meetings a month. At ninety minutes per meeting, plus drive time, plus waiting for parents to pick their boys after the meeting, I can estimate two hours per meeting. Monthly total here is 6 hours.

One committee meeting per month, average of 1.5 hours. One patrol leader council meeting per month, average two hours. One district roundtable meeting each month with drive time to council office, average of three hours. Total of monthly meetings is 6.5 hours each month.

One weekend camping trip per month. The Scouts arrive at 6:00 Friday evening. Parents pick up the last boy at 11:00 Sunday morning. Total hours of camping trip is 41 hours. (Yes, I counted the sleeping hours. I am still in charge of the Scouts, am I not?)

Now, let's add this up. It comes to 53.5 hours during the month. (Keep in mind that this does not include any prep time, fund raising, training, or special activity time yet.) Divide this figure by four weeks per month. Gosh! That comes to an average of 13.75 hours per week.

An hour a week? Not even close! But this demonstration does show that those of us who are scoutmasters can be quite dedicated to the program and the boys. The amazing thing is that I sometimes feel that I am spending more "quality time" with the boys then some of their parents do. What does this say about our society?

Scouting can be a great organization for boys and their parents. It gives them a chance to do some things together. Come on parents! Get involved with that Cub Pack or Boy Scout Troop. Become a committee member, a pack leader, or an assistant scoutmaster.

After all, it only takes an hour a week.
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Ripley Rendezvous: 10,000 Boy Scouts

Over ten thousand Boy Scouts and leaders gathered at Camp Ripley in central Minnesota for this year's Ripley Rendezvous. I will be writing a blog entry about this event later, but in the meantime you can check out this article found in a local paper: St. Cloud Times.

(Sorry, but the Times does not archive its articles for very long.)

Letter to a Scoutmaster

I recently received an email from a troop Scout leader asking for help in a few areas in which they are having some difficulties in their troop. Two of the questions were about troop meetings and having a boy planned program. As I wrote my reply, it occurred to me that this might be a good blog entry for other leaders, especially newer adult leaders. So here it is, the letter I wrote in reply to this Scout leaders questions.

"Hi Rick,
Okay, first of all, I am no expert, but I do have quite a few years of experience (over 25 years as scoutmaster.) I can tell you what works or not in our troop, but that may not be the case in yours. That being said....

Melrose is a community of 3300 people. Troop membership has varied over the
years. We peaked at 41 boys a decade ago but membership has been in a decline
since then. We are currently down to ten boys, nine active. Part of this is due to
the Cub Pack having a rough 5-6 years, barely surviving at times. Of course, most
of the boys graduated from the Cub Pack. During the last 5 years I think only 3-4
have graduated from Cubbing.

I blame parents for a good portion of this because it appears that many parents
do not want to get involved in Scouting anymore. I think many parents are blind
to what Scouting can offer their sons. Of course, and I hate to say it, there are many
lazy parents also. But I also think some of them do not understand what Scouting is
all about.

Our troop meets year round. Many of our boys have been involved in sports over
the years. I encourage them to attend the meetings as often as they can. It works
pretty well until the parents pull them from Scouting to concentrate on sports
instead of Scouting. (I could right a whole column on how I feel about high school
sports. Maybe a subject for a future blog entry.) The troop meets the first three
Mondays each month except July (summer camp month) and December (only two
troop meetings), from 6:30 to 8:00. Once in awhile we make take a month off, but
that does not happen too often. There are too many activities the boys want to do
during the year.

We begin the meeting with an opening ceremony involving something Scouting and
something patriotic. Then we have skill development taught by older Scouts,
adult leaders, or special guests, depending on the subject. This is followed by
15 minutes of game time or patrol competition, which is the highlight of the
meeting for the boys. After patrol meeting time we end with announcements and a
quick closing ceremony. Just try to keep meetings fun.

We try to keep the skill development portion of the meeting hands-on if possible so
the boys are actually doing something, instead of just sitting there. Boys like to do
something, not sit around like in school. You just need to be sure to bring enough
"props" for everyone to work with.

The patrol leader council plans the meetings during their once a month meeting held
on the last Monday of the month. They plan the opening, closings, games, and the skill
development sessions. They decide who does what and if guests need to be brought in.
The PLC also plans the details for the outing each month, and the agenda for courts of
honor. Of course, there is always a bit of training involved after each election, but the
boys ARE capable of doing the planning, so LET THEM. Just be there to help them out
when they run into problems. Also, the boys are more willing to participate if they
planned the program instead of being adult planned.

Once a year the troop has a weekend "yearly planning session" in which the boys
brainstorm and plan a program schedule for the next twelve months. In is interesting
to watch the boys in action, but can be a bit frustrating at times. It would be quicker
for the adults to do it, yes, but then it would be the adult's program and not the boy's
program. It is important for the boys to plan their own program. The adult's job (troop
leaders and committee) is to help the boys carry out that program.

You can see some of my troop's yearly programs at
http://melrosetroop68.org/yearlyprogram.html
Okay, this email has gotten long enough. I will write back about more later.

YIS
Steve B  Scoutmaster, Troop 68, CMC "