A Scoutmaster's Blog

One thing that is exciting about being a blogger is when you write something that gets noticed and read by many. It seems that I have written a couple articles over the past year that have been popular reading for a several people. It is very exciting when a post is found noteworthy enough to be mentioned on other people’s blogs. I am always amazed when I find links on other Scouting blogs that mention an article from “A Scoutmaster’s Blog”.

So you can imagine my surprise to find my blog listed on a non-Scouting related site. It has not happened very often, but it did happen this week. The newest video of Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, has been found worthy to be mentioned on a blog that covers puppetry. The PuppetVision Blog does a weekly post called “Weekly Puppet Web Series Round Up” in which the writer highlights puppet videos he has discovered and enjoyed. I guess he liked the video of Buttons asking the question “You know you are a Boy Scout when…” I would like to thank Andrew for adding Buttons and “A Scoutmaster’s Blog” to his list of puppetry sites.

If you have been in Scouting for awhile then you probably have an answer to the question “You know you are a Boy Scout when…” (If you don’t, then you have not been involved with Scouting long enough.) I belong to a Facebook group which does its best to answer that question in dozens of different ways.

I thought it would be fun to bring back Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, as he covers a few of the answers to this question. We (me and a volunteer crew) had fun filming him as he tries to answer the question at a cabin on King’s Lake in central Minnesota. Unfortunately, it was pretty windy that day, as you will hear when you watch the video. Buttons presents five answers to the all important question, and things do not always go according to plan. My favorite part of this episode is when Buttons is sitting on the edge of the tent and the weather changes on him.

This is the first of two videos planned that will feature Buttons on this subject. I have seen many good answers to the question, but unfortunately they do not all lend themselves to being filmed with a character like Buttons. Especially when I do not have the budget that the Muppets have. (Um, there is no budget here.)

I hope you enjoy the video. Leave a comment and let me know what you think about it. If you have an answer to “You know you are a Boy Scout when…” then add it to the comments. If I receive enough good ones then maybe Buttons will appear in a third video on this subject.

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Watch Video on the troop’s website.
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Here are a few interesting facts about the Boy Scouts of America. As of December 31, 2005, the total membership of Boy Scouts and Varsity Scouts was at 943,426 young men, nearly one million strong. The were 50,996 Boy Scout troops and Varsity teams. There were 543,971 registered adult volunteers.

Think about that for a moment. Over one half of a million adults in this country believed in the ideals, spirit, and goals of Boy Scouting so much that they were willing to give their time to help the BSA accomplish its goals to our young men. That is quite a statement.

So, what are the goals of the Boy Scouts of America? The BSA was incorporated in 1910 to provide a program that offers effective character, citizenship, and personal fitness training to our boys and young men. To quote the official BSA website (www.scouting.org), “…the BSA endeavors to develop American citizens who are physically, mentally, and emotionally fit; have a high degree of self-reliance as evidenced in such qualities as initiative, courage, and resourcefulness; have personal values based on religious concepts; have the desire and skills to help others; understand the principles of the American social, economic, and governmental systems; are knowledgeable about and take pride in their American heritage and understand our nation’s role in the world; have a keen respect for the basic rights of all people; and are prepared to participate in and give leadership to American society.”

That is an ambitious set of goals for any organization to meet, especially one that has been designed for boys. The BSA has been accomplishing these ideals for over 97 years. The organization is able to meet these goals through eight methods: Ideals (the Scout Oath, Law, Slogan, and Motto), Patrols, Outdoor program, Advancement, Association with adults, Personal growth, Leadership development, and the Uniform.

Many of the half million adults are parents of Scouts who wish want their boys to get the best experience out of their local Scouting unit. There are many more adults who do not have sons involved in the program. They are college students, middle age workers, retirees, single and married. They come from all walks of life.

On Tuesday, September 25, Cub Scout Pack 68 and Boy Scout Troop 68 of Melrose will be holding their annual fall “School Night To Join Scouting”. This meeting will begin at 7:00 pm at the Melrose High School Cafeteria. Boys in the first grade through fifth grade are invited to join the Cub Scout Pack. Boys in sixth grade or higher are invited to join the Boy Scout Troop. Boys must be accompanied by a parent.

So… Why not Scouting? Why not enroll your son in a program that has over 95 years of experience in helping our boys and young men develop into tomorrow’s outstanding citizens? And have fun while they are doing it! We hope to see you and your son at School Night To Join Scouting on Tuesday, September 25th.

(This is an article that was sent to our local newspapers to promote School Night.)

As the new program year begins once again for Cub Packs and Scout Troops, I thought it would be time to review a blog post from one year ago. It is called “Ten Reasons To Be An Adult Leader“. The article lists ten reasons to become a leader of your pack or troop.

Everyone always seems to have plenty of reasons not to be a leader. I always thought there should be more reasons to become a Scout Leader then reasons to avoid being a leader. After all, these are our kids we are talking about. This is the next generation that (hopefully) will be taking care of us as we get older. If we (the parents and adults of today) do not take the time now to spend the time with our boys and train them to be physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight, then who is going to do it? We certainly cannot trust our school systems to do it.

Scouting gives us adults a perfect opportunity to help our youth become good leaders. Scouting teaches our boys many things that will help them throughout their lives. The question is, are we ready to take the challenge? Are you ready to to take on the responsibility? I think it is time that parents, and other concerned adults, take the time to invest into our youth, and quit trying to find reasons not to get involved.

Click HERE to read “Ten Reasons To Be An Adult Leader.”

In 1996 the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 held their first Laughs For Lunch Show. There have been quite a few since then, eleven in all. The boys have a great time doing them, and the audience seems to have a lot of fun watching the shows.

This video is part of that very first show. It is the Echo System skit, which is one of the oldest skits in Scouting. At least I think it is an old skit. It has been one of the favorites of the troop’s, and very easy for the younger Scouts to learn. In this version we used a “remote control” to turn the echo system on and off.

One thing that always scares me a little when the boys do this skit is that I never know what line they will come up with for the punchline. It often changes from performance to performance. But that is okay, as long as they keep it clean.

Enjoy it and let us know what you think of it by leaving a comment.
Download Podcast
Watch Video on the troop’s website.
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Our troop and pack will be holding the annual fall “School Night To Join Scouting” just as many troops and packs around the country will be doing. It’s like, you know, a tradition or something.

The cubmaster and I (the scoutmaster) have already spoke on the phone a few times coming up with ideas to get the word out to both the boys and their parents. Here are a few of the ideas that we came up with. If you have other ideas I would like to hear them also.

School Visits – Since the cubmaster and I have full time jobs that would make this hard to do we leave this up to the district executive. He goes to the elementary schools and talks to the boys about Scouting. (My gripe is that he concentrates on Cub Scouting, and not much about Boy Scouting.) Unfortunately, not every school in the area will allow him to talk to the boys. Would you believe the Catholic school will not let anyone in to talk about Scouting? The D.E. will hand out flyers for the boys to take home to their parents.

Posters – Another part of the plan is to get posters displayed in the school and around town. The posters in school are to remind the boys. The posters around town are to remind the parents. Banks, credit unions, grocery stores, and other popular places of business would be good places for posters.

Newspapers – There are three local weekly newspapers found in our area. All of them would be happy for us to place an ad, of course, but that would have a cost with it. Luckily, they all except stories about Scouting if we take the time to write them. They will print articles at no charge. Add a picture to the article and I think it would attract as much, if not more, attention then an ad would.

Yard Signs – I have collected several yard signs for School Night overs the years. They are sort of generic and do not have a date on them. The trick will be to place them in strategic places around town, high traffic areas.

Church Bulletins – By putting a short, simple note in local church bulletins we can reach hundreds of families… for free!

Mailings – Yes, we could mail a flyer to each family in the area with a Scout-age boy, that it is expensive and time consuming. The troop tried it several years ago. We were not pleased with the result of our efforts.

Community Access Television – We regularly make use of our local access television station. We video tape out courts of honor and other Scouting events to be played on the air. The station also has a bulletin board that plays between programs that lists local meetings and events. We will be sure to get School Night listed on that.

Bank and Business Marquees – The credit union and both banks have electronic marquees outside of their buildings. We hope that each will agree to place a notice for a few days before School Night.

Well, there you have it. A few low cost ways to get the word out about School Night to Join Scouting that we intend to employ. I will write an article in a few weeks to let you know how it turns out.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 are beginning their 2007-2008 program year with a few service projects that will be conducted during the next few weeks.

CLOTHING DRIVE
The Boy Scout Troop will be conducting a clothing drive in Melrose on Saturday, September 15. It is a great opportunity for you to clean out your closets of those clothes that are out of style, or that just do not fit well anymore. Please donate only gently used clothing. This drive is not meant to be used as a garbage or junk collection. All clothing should be bagged or boxed and placed on the street curb by 10:00 that Saturday morning. Clothing set out too late will not be collected. Proceeds from the clothing drive will be split between the Boy Scout Troop and a disabled veterans group.

SCOUTING FOR FOOD DRIVE
This year marks the twentieth year the Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs across the country will participate in the annual Scouting For Food Drive. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people locally, and hundreds of thousands of people nationally have benefitted from the Scouting for Food Drives. All food items collected will go to the local food shelf. This year’s food drive will be held on Saturday, October 6.

ROAD CLEANUP
Another project the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have done for nearly twenty years is to clean up the ditches of a three mile stretch of County Road 13 south of Melrose as part of the Adopt A Highway Program. This project will also be done on Saturday, October 6.

The Boy Scouts are proud to be a part of their community. It makes them proud of their community when its citizens support their projects. Please help the Scouts have a successful clothing drive and food drive this fall.

Here are a few pictures from summer camp at Many Point Scout Camp.