A Scoutmaster's Blog

When Mike Rowe attended the 2010 National Jamboree Arena Show the Boy Scouts went nuts! At that moment he was more popular then a rock star. And to top it off, he is an Eagle Scout. Did you know that a couple of Scouts had the chance to interview him while he was at The Hill? Yes they did. They asked him why he was not wearing his uniform. They asked him why he did not use all his powers to get a Dirty Jobs merit badge passed by the national office. They even got him to sing a song he remembered from his days as a Boy Scout. In other words, it was a fun video to watch.

100 Days of Scouting – Day 8

Monday nights are troop meeting nights. Tonight the older boys will be reviewing things for the Personal Management merit badge. Our two younger Boy Scouts will be finishing their Tenderfoot Ranks requirements (at least, that it the plan). I am hoping that the boy who came to our meeting last week to “test the Scouting waters” will be back this week. I also plan to show the Cubmaster the first draft of the Pinewood Derby trading cards I made to see what he thinks about them.

It will be a busy night, but I am used to it. I have been doing it for 30 years. In fact, if this troop ever folds, or if I decide to resign someday, I am going to have a hard time filling all the free time I will suddenly have.

I collect Boy Scout handbooks. I started collecting them shortly after I became a scoutmaster. I would check out any used bookstores that I would come across to find any Scouting themed books; handbooks, history books about Scouting, fictional novels. I have a decent collection. I have noticed that books in the used bookstores have gone up in price, dramatically at times, so I would guess that more people have been collecting them also. The last few books I added to my shelves have come from eBay.

The oldest Boy Scout Handbooks in my collection are from 1932. I was lucky enough to find two of them over the years. Both are in pretty good condition. Both have writing in them from the boys who once used the books. It is fun to look through them and see how Scouting has changed over the years, especially the advancement program. It is also interesting to how the Scouting program has not changed. Outdoor program, character building, and values are still an important part of the program. The more things change, the more the stay the same.

Do you collect handbooks? What is the oldest one in your collection?

The Scouter Mom blog posted an article today that caught my attention, and moved me to action. The article was about Cub Scout Trading Cards, similar to baseball trading cards. She described it as a possible den or pack project.

This gave me an idea. Now that I am a committee member of the Cub Scout Pack, and the photographer of this year’s Pinewood Derby, I thought I could take this card idea one step further and create 2011 Pinewood Derby cards. I opened the Pages program on my MacPro, picked out a business card template I thought would work, and went to work.

I had taken photographs of each of the Scouts holding their car, and a separate picture of each car. Both pictures were used on the front of the card with the boy’s name. On the back of the card I used a couple Cub Scout logos and the pack’s name and location. Then I printed them on business card stock. The picture above is the back of the card. The picture below is the front.

I think they turned out very well. I plan to make a set for each of the Cub Scouts who participated in the Pinewood Derby and present each Scout with a set at the Blue and Gold banquet this month. Have any of you ever done anything like this?

100 Days of Scouting, Day 6.

Today is the fifth day of the 100 Days of Scouting program. What do I write about? Hmmmmm. How about a quick shout out to Boy Scout Troop 68’s Charter Organization? For over thirty years the Melrose VFW Post 7050 has supported our Scouting program. They have been the troop’s sponsor since it began in December 1979.

Last night I received a phone call from Jim, the post commander. The VFW has had some tough times during the last few year and is in the process of selling its building. Jim needed to move boxes of records and stuff and was wondering if I could get a couple Boy Scouts to help. “That might be a bit tough on a Friday night”, I replied, “but I could give you a hand.” The only thing I was going to do was to post a podcast to the website. I met him at the building and it did not take long for the two of us to load his truck, unload his truck at another storage place, and load it a second time. We were done within an hour and I was able to do my good turn for the day.

How many other troops out there are sponsored by a VFW post?

I usually try to keep this blog in an upbeat mood, but I received a letter today from Justin Szalsa, the director of 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem, with some unhappy news this morning. One of the stars of the film, Colin “KC” Byers, has passed away. Here is Justin’s letter, reprinted with his permission:

Dear friends of 759,

I am writing you to report some very sad news. As some of you already know, our friend Colin “KC” Byers, an Eagle Scout and a star of “759,” died suddenly on February 1st . He would have celebrated his 18th birthday on February 9th.

Colin was struck down within a matter of hours by a massive brain trauma related to a blood disorder called ITP that developed very rapidly. Some of you may know that Colin organized a blood drive for his Eagle service project and made it a point to regularly donate blood.

For the Byers family this is a second tragedy in too short a time–Colin’s father, the composer Patrick Byers, died just a few months earlier after a battle with cancer. Colin leaves behind his mother, Jennifer, two younger brothers and a younger sister—along with a very large family and huge group of friends. The Scouts of New York City, The Village of Harlem, Troop 759, Miss Ann, Mr. Sowah, Jake and I are devastated by the loss of our friend. Please remember Colin and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

For those of you in New York City, there will be a memorial service in Colin’s honor at LaGuardia High School at 100 Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street on Saturday, February 12th from 10AM-noon.

Also, many of you have asked how you can materially support the Byers family. The Boy Scouts of America Greater New York Councils have offered to assist anyone who’d like to make a donation to support the family. The gift will not be tax deductable but your support will go directly to the family. Simply indicate on your check “Byers Family”and mail it to

Byers Family
c/o Greater New York Councils
Boy Scouts of America
350 Fifth Ave, #430
New York, NY 10118

Finally, Albert Maysels, one of the greatest American documentary filmmakers who I admire very much said to make a good documentary you have to love your subjects. Jake and I love KC, Patrick and the rest of the Byers family. We will miss them.

-Justin Szlasa

Update: A video has been posted to YouTube in memory of Colin –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbLWnAtFTMM

A few days ago I wrote about a full page ad in the weekly newspaper celebrating the anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America and the local Scouting program. The spread featured pictures of the local Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. It was pretty impressive.

I received a copy of the Sauk Centre Herald yesterday. (That is the weekly newspaper in our neighboring town that is also owned by the same group as our Melrose Beacon.) I was quite surprised to see a two page ad about Boy Scouting in the center of the first section. The spread features photos of Sauk Centre Troop 25 and Pack 25, Brooten Troop 66, and BBE Pack 667. Sixteen businesses sponsored the ad. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger picture.

Does your local newspaper do something similar? Let us know about it by leaving a comment.

Note: The names of the boys have been deleted from the picture as per the Guide To Safe Scouting guidelines.

Around The Scouting Campfire #22 is finally released. In this episode, Scoutmaster Steve talks about the Scoutmaster Award of Merit and a scout leader’s reality check. Buttons answers questions from a few Cub Scouts from out west. Buttons also reads some feedback left on the PTC Media forums about his awesome pictures from summer camp.

Send us your emails. Steve and Buttons would love to hear from you. What do you think about the show. Do you have any suggestions? You can contact Buttons at buttonst68@yahoo.com. You may contact Scoutmaster Steve at stevejb68@yahoo.com. Please rate the show and/or leave a comment at the iTunes store.

You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at twitter.com/stevejb68 or twitter.com/buttonst68 .