A Scoutmaster's Blog

I almost wish I young enough to be a Boy Scout again. The merit badge I have been waiting for has finally arrived. Scouting Heritage is has been approved and is ready for Boy Scouts to begin earning. Since I am too old to earn it myself, I will be signing on as a merit badge counselor.

The merit badge requirements have been posted at scouting.org. It is not going to be an easy merit badge for a boy to earn. A Scout is going to have to interview at least three different people. He needs to create a Scouting memorabilia collection. Some research will also need to be done on Scouting’s history.

When I first read the requirements I thought that requirement #4 would be one that would limit many boys from earning the badge. It states:

1. Do ONE of the following:
   1. Attend either a BSA national jamboree, OR world Scout jamboree, OR a national BSA high-adventure base. While there, keep a journal documenting your day-to-day experiences. Upon your return, report to your counselor what you did, saw, and learned. You may include photos, brochures, and other documents in your report.
   2. Write or visit the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas.* Obtain information about this facility. Give a short report on what you think the role of this museum is in the Scouting program.

I missed in 4b where it states “WRITE or visit” the national museum. Good thing I read it a second time.

What do you think about this merit badge? Are you as excited about it as I am? Leave a comment.

If you are like me and kept putting off the day to buy the Boy Scout Uncirculated Silver Dollar, well, you are too late. According to coinnews.net:

The 2010 Boy Scouts of America Centennial Uncirculated Silver Dollar sold out today, April 26, 2010, leaving only the proof option open for unrestricted ordering. The United States Mint online store is now asking customers to join a waiting list, indicating new orders will be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis and only if an old order is canceled.

Not too bad. The coins have only been available for sale since March 23, 2010. Did you get your coin?

I have to thank jillzemp for sending the link to this Youtube video which pokes fun at Boy Scouts by doing a parody of the Kesha Tik Tok song. It was posted on February 3 and already has over 96,000 views.  Please have a sense of humor when you watch it. Everyone join me in doing the “Robin Hood”.

I was nineteen when I was introduced to a roll playing game called Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). A couple of my high school friends and I would get together on weekend when we were home from college and play a game at Chuck’s house. He had been introduced to the game by his college friends and he was eager to introduce this world of fantasy role play to Neil and me. We had a great time hanging out with each other during those games.

After I became an adult leader of Boy Scout Troop 68 I wondered if the Scouts would be interested in playing D&D. I talked to a few of them and they thought it sounded like fun, so I learned how to be a dungeon master (game master) and began to create dungeons and a world they could explore.

I will never forget the first game I hosted. Two of the Boy Scouts played. We created their characters and began the game, which only lasted for fifteen minutes before those characters were killed by monsters. I learned a lot about being a game master during that short time. I had managed the game by the rule books. I needed to use the books more as guidelines and fit them to the gameplay. Once I began doing that the games lasted longer and they were more fun. More boys wanted to get in on the action. Nearly 100 boys have played in my world during the last thirty years.

The realm of Tenne, the world of my D&D games, has grown to have quite a history. While many games are the simple explore the dungeon variety, there have been quite a few quests and other types of adventures. Villains have come and gone, giants fought, and dragons killed. There have even been wars between countries and gods. Some of the player’s characters have become legendary. Some of the games have become a part of the lore of Tenne, passed down from one group of players to the next.

To this day I am still amazed at how the boys, and sometimes myself, can get caught up in the game. They become very attached to their characters. They can recall events from past games that I have completely forgotten. When the guys who played in the 1980’s get together, they talk about their games with such clarity that it almost seems like it was a Scout camping trip they attended. Many of them still have their character sheets just in case they get the call to play again when they come back to town.

Most of the D&D games I host begin at 6:30 in the evening and end near midnight. Of course, there have been shorter games and some that last quite long. The longest game was a twelve hour marathon. We all got so caught up in the adventure that no one was watching the time.

Sometimes I have to remind the Boy Scouts that D&D is not a part of the Scouting program, but I have been known to use the promise of a game as incentive to get the patrol or troop to earn advancement or complete a project well. There have been many times while sitting around a campfire that the boys have discussed past games and strategies for future games.

(…to be continued.)

I have been a scoutmaster for quite awhile. Sometimes I think too long. Over the years I have taken thousands of pictures of Boy Scouts at hundreds of Scouting events. I am slowly getting them posted on my Flickr account.

Last year, I began posting slideshows on this blog featuring the yearly albums. I had all but forgotten that I was doing that. It is time to return to it. So here, for your viewing pleasure are the pictures of Boy Scout Troop 68 taken during the year of 1982. There are 76 photos in this set.

If you would like to further view any of the pictures, check out the set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevejb68/sets/72157621920667589/ .

It is time to join Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, Around The Scouting Campfire. In this episode they discuss city proclamations about the Boy Scouts of America’s 100th anniversary and Scouting For Food, some iTunes reviews, reasons you might be a Boy Scout, and gopher guts (the song).

Steve and Buttons thank PTC Media (http://www.ptcmedia.net) for allowing this program to be a part of the family of Scouting related podcasts. We would like to thank the Boy Scout Store (http://boyscoutstore.com) for sponsoring this show. Be sure to take a moment to check out their website. Finally, we would like to thank you, our listeners, for downloading Around The Scouting campfire.

I was listening to some music at work this afternoon when the Village People’s Y.M.C.A. was played. Suddenly, I was transported back to summer camp several years ago. Troop 68 liked taking songs, changing the words, and making a new campfire song. Y.M.C.A. happened to be one of those songs.

We had attended Many Point Scout Camp for several years and I thought we might be able to change Y.M.C.A. to M.P.S.C.  We worked on the lyrics and it did not take long to come up with a new song and actions to go along with it. When we performed it at the Friday night closing campfire it became a hit. The staff joined us onstage for the refrain and the campers and leaders joined us in the actions. We have performed the song several times since then. If I find a decent video of the troop’s performance I will be sure to get it online. Until then, here are the words to our version of M.P.S.C. –

1)  Young man, When you need to get out,
I said, young man, get away from the crowds.
I said, young man, don’t just sit there and pout.
Get up and camp with the Boy Scouts.

That’s where, you can shoot 22’s.
I said, that’s where, there’s always something to do.
I said, that’s where, you can eats lots of stew,
get belly aches and turn shades of blue.

(Refrain)
It’s fun to go to the M.P.S.C.  You’ve got to go to the M.P.S.C.
You can tie a few knots, you can cook your own meal,
You can do whatever you feel.

M.P.S.C.  You’ve got to go to the M.P.S.C.
Young man, young man, don’t just sit on your tail.
Young man, young man, get yourself on the trail.

2)  Voyagers, is the place you should be
if you want to, cook your food as you please.
Then there’s Ten Chiefs, out among all the trees,
with no shower facility.

Buck Skin, is the camp where you call
patrol members, to eat in the dining hall.
Project Cope is, the place where you do it all
even experience free fall.

3)  Young man, the bathrooms are quite unique.
I said, young man, wait till you get a peek.
I said, young man, it’s the place that you seek
When you can’t wait any longer.

Then there’s, the bedroom facilities
Where you can get, a bit caught up on your zz’s
Where the canvas, let’s in all the bugs and fleas
Unless you’ve got mosquito netting.

Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 holds four courts of honor per year. We begin with an opening ceremony, followed by the presentation of year pins and merit badges, a short entertainment spot by the Scouts, recognition of Scouts who have earned a rank, and finish with a closing ceremony. Refreshments and announcements wrap up the evening.

Our court of honor ceremonies usually consist of three parts: something patriotic, something Scouting, and an invocation. It is a nice solemn beginning to the meeting. Once in awhile though, the boys get into one of those moods. You know, the giggles begin, or something goes wrong. Unpredictability reigns.

The opening at our March court of honor started well, but the little things soon started. The snickering began. The Scouts had decided to do a Scout Law candle lighting ceremony. Boy Scouts. Matches. Candles. The Scout Law. And that the movie playing in the next room was loud enough for us to hear easily in our room. You can probably guess what happened. If not, you can watch this post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast to see it for yourself.

Has your troop ever had an opening or closing ceremony go slightly astray? Share it with us by leaving a comment below.

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