A Scoutmaster's Blog

Buffaloeagle, on the Lone Star Scouter blog, has posted an excellent poem about Confidence. I think it would make for a great scoutmaster minute at the end of a troop meeting. Check it out and see what you think about it. Click HERE to read it.

There is a post on another Scouting Blog, The Scoutmaster Minute, that has an excellent description on styles of leadership. He writes about the various styles as used in a football team, but they work well with a Boy Scout Troop also. Give the site a visit and check it out HERE.

The previous blog post explained the agenda of a Troop 68 court of honor. This agenda works well for us. However, we sometimes need to be flexible. Our September court of honor was a good example who things can change quickly.

One of our youngest and newest Boy Scouts, we’ll call him Duke, had worked hard to complete his Tenderfoot Rank requirements to receive the award at this court of honor. He was very excited about getting his first rank. During the course of working on his Tenderfoot he also almost completed his Second Class Rank.

When the day of the court of honor arrived Duke’s parents happened to be in the Twin Cities, one hundred miles away from Melrose. They called Duke to let him know that they would be a little late getting to the court of honor. Duke informed me of this as soon as he arrived at the city hall. He wanted his parents to be there with him when he received the award. I told him there would be no problem. We could rearrange the agenda a bit to push back the rank presentations.

We began the night with announcements which we usually do at the end of the ceremonies. That gave his parents about ten extra minutes to get closer to town. Then we began the opening ceremony. The honor guard brought the flags forward and we recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Unfortunately, the Scouts did not have a Scouting-related opening ready so we lost a few minutes there.

The award presentations began with the year pins, the recruiter patch, and the merit badges. Duke’s parents still had not arrived. No problem. It was time for some entertainment. Wait! The Scouts had forgotten to plan or practice a skit or song for this portion of the meeting. Now we have a problem. Wait! We could present the Progressive Scout Award and the Progressive Patrol Award.

Finally, all the awards had been given out except for Duke’s Tenderfoot Rank. I knew that Duke had really looked forward to his parents being there for the presentation. And I knew his parents wanted to be there. There was only one thing left to do. Break out the refreshments!

Duke’s parents arrived as we were drinking punch and eating the cookies. As we reconvened the court of honor they stood proudly next to their son as he received the first of his ranks on his way to attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Eagle Scout, you ask? Oh yes, I reply. Duke has two brothers who are Eagles. This eleven year old has already set his sites on soaring with the Eagles. I have no doubt that I will be attending his Eagle court of honor someday, with his parents standing proudly by his side again.

Ah, the troop court of honor. The quarterly award night. Time to recognize accomplishments. Time for the Scouts to shine before their family and friends.

The Boy Scouts and families of Troop 68 usually have a good time during our courts of honor. After twenty-five years the troop has an agenda and format set. We try to have a mixture of fun and seriousness as we go through the ceremony.

We begin the court of honor with the presentation of the colors, a patriotic ceremony, a Scouting-related ceremony, and an invocation by the troop chaplain. Then we begin the presentations with the recruitment patches, year pins, and other such awards. This is followed by the recognition of merit badges that have been earned since the last court of honor.

This brings us to the “half way” point of the evening. The Scouts provide entertainment by performing a skit or song, or we could play a brief game, like a trivia contest between the Boy Scouts and their parents.

It is time for the presentation of the ranks. The Scout is asked to escort his parents to the front of the room. We usually use the various rank ceremonies found in the Woods Wisdom book. I will then present the rank patch, card, and pin to the father so that he may then have the honor of presenting it to his son. The Scout will then take the pin and pin it to his mother’s shirt or scarf. This way we involve both parents in the ceremony. By the way, if the mother is not able to attend the ceremony then the Scout pins the pin on his father’s shirt.

The final awards presented are two troop recognitions. The Progressive Scout Award is given to the Boy Scout who has earned the most advancement since the last court of honor. The Progressive Patrol Award is given to the patrol with the most accumulated advancement, with a minimum of at least two boys showing progress. Both awards are certificates, but the Progressive Patrol Award also comes with a twenty dollar credit for the patrol to use for a patrol activity held before the next court of honor.

The court of honor ends with a closing ceremony and the retiring of the colors. After a few announcements we make our way to the table where the juice is waiting to be drank and the cookies are waiting to be eaten. Of course, parents and families members get to eat and drink first. Sometimes, the way the boys rush to the tables, I think the refreshments are the main reason we hold the court of honor.

Happy Scouting!

I am a webmaster! That does not mean that I am a cousin of Spiderman or some sort of superhero. It does mean that I have created a website. A website that has become a monster. A monster that is getting harder to control.

I began creating the Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 website after several talks with Dave. Dave was a member of Troop 68 for six years. He was always interested in computers, and after college he began his own business which included internet and server support. Dave agreed to set things up for a troop website if I agreed to take care of it and keep it updated.

I decided early on that I had no desire to learn html. If I was to create this website I needed a wysiwyg program that would write the html for me. Luckily, I found a free program to do this called Netscape Composer. A few years later I switched over to Nvu and still use that today. Both programs are very basic, but that is all I really wanted. I have no desire to put all those new annoying web doodads on the site.

The next step was to decide what should be included on the site. It began with photo galleries, newsletters, rosters, high adventure reports, and a bulletin board for troop members to keep in touch with each other. It has since expanded to include videos, games, this blog, and a podcast.

The site is now a monster that includes over 200 pages of information, dozens of videos, and thousands of photographs. It covers 30 years of Boy Scouting in Melrose. I would be willing to bet it is one of the largest Boy Scout troop website on the internet.

A website of this size demands a lot of attention. Spammers are constantly trying to enter the forums and must be cleared out on a regular basis. The photo galleries need to be updated after each event. I try to post at least a couple blog entries each week, and post at least one or two videos to the podcast each month.

It takes time to do this, and unfortunately, I am starting to fall behind. This year’s photo gallery needs to be updated, and a few yearly galleries still need to be created. I need to update the advancement review pages and the roster pages. (Don’t worry, I do not use the full names of the current Scouts, or place their phone numbers or addresses online.) I know there must be a few dead links within the site that need my attention.

Yes, it is a lot of work, but I think it has been worth it. Troop alumni are able to keep up with current troop events, and are able to take a trip down Memory Lane as they view the galleries. Other Scouts and leaders from around the country, and around the world, have visited the site and sent me emails to tell me they have enjoyed it and found a few useful ideas to use in their own troops.

Yes, it has become a monster. But it is my monster, one of my own creation, so I really have no one to blame for it. The site has changed a lot over the years. It is something I am proud of. I invite you to check it out at http://melrosetroop68.org. Write a note and let me know what you think about it.

Joe Timmins had been the cubmaster of Pack 68 for five years as the year of 1985 began. Two of his boys were already in the Boy Scout troop after their tenure as Cub Scouts, one was currently in Cub Scouting, and one would soon be a member of the pack. Joe was an excellent cubmaster. He was enthusiastic. He was willing to put in the time needed to have a successful pack. He surrounded himself with a good committee. And the boys liked him.

It came as no surprise when I was told that Joe was to receive the district’s Scouter of the Year Award at the annual recognition banquet in February. He deserved it. He and the other pack leaders had built up the pack to nearly 50 members in a town of only 3000 people. When asked if I would attend the banquet I did not even have to think about it. I was going to be there to support Joe.

About a dozen of us carpooled to the banquet, including Joe and his wife Carol. I do not think Joe suspected anything. They had told him that someone he knew would be receiving an honor so he was attending to support that other person. The plan was working well.

After the meal they began to present the various awards to leaders from around the district. Then it was time for the Scouter of the Year. The presenter of the award started by talking about the recipient’s achievements and community service. It did not take me long to realize he was talking about our cubmaster. Joe was both surprised and honored as he accepted the award. Those of us sitting at the table were wearing ear to ear grins as he sat back down among us.

The presenter began reciting the achievements of a another person who would be receiving the Scouter of the Year. This time it would go to a scoutmaster. It did not take long to realize that the recipient was the 24 year old scoutmaster from my own troop. Me! I was shocked, and very honored, as I walked up to accept the certificate. I had no idea that this would be happening.

The pack and troop committee had told me that I should attend to support Joe. They had told Joe to attend to support me. It was a sneaky but great way to get the two of us to attend the banquet and keep it a secret from each of us.

I place my first video on the YouTube video website on January 8, 2006. It was a video made by one of my Boy Scouts as a project for a class project. He knew that video work was a hobby of mine and that I had the equipment needed to produce a simple film, so he asked me to help him with making it. Since it was a class project I told him he had to do the planning, directing, and editing. I would film it for him and provide the equipment to use after showing him how to use it.

Nathan did a great job producing and editing the video. We were both pleased how it turned out. So was his teacher. Nathan received an A as his grade. I had started watching videos on YouTube about that time so I asked Nathan if we should post it online for others to watch. He agreed, we posted it, and my channel on Youtube began.

There are now 67 videos found on my Youtube channel, which can be seen HERE. Most of the videos are Scouting related. The videos include videos produced by the BSA and videos made by the Scouts of Troop 68 and myself. I also started a Youtube group called Boy Scout Stuff which people have joined to share and watch Scouting videos from around the world.

My YouTube channel hit a milestone today sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 pm. The total “video views” of the videos I have posted has reached 250,000. Wow! The videos have been watched a quarter of a million times. I guess it goes to show that there are people out there who do want to watch videos and films about Scouting. (Are you reading this National?)

When I began posting videos on YouTube there were only a few hundred Scouting related films. Today, there seem to be thousands of them. Many packs and troops have been posting videos online for families members and friends to see. I think it is great, as long as we all follow the safety guidelines set by the National Office to keep our kids safe.

Earlier this year I took the online video thing to the next level by starting the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (MSPP). The podcast allows people to easily download the videos to their computers to watch at any time. It can even be subscribed to on the iTunes music store. The videos found on MSPP are videos produced within our troop. Videos by the National Office can not be found there, at least not yet. I have been hoping that the National Office would start their own podcast that would feature those videos.

I would like to thank all of you who have watched the videos and brought my YouTube channel to the 250,000 landmark. I have some ideas for more videos and hope you enjoy them as well. Happy Scouting!

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.