A Scoutmaster's Blog

Everyone knows the song by Louis Armstrong, “What a Wonderful World.” It is a classic. Even young Boy Scouts are familiar with the tune. I have a feeling that the song will still be around during the next hundred years.

In August of 2009, a video was posted to YouTube  that featured Doug “Satchmo” Stone performing his unique Boy Scouts themed take on Armstrong’s classic. Doug was very active in Scouting and his council’s camp. His rendition of “What A Wonderful World” is fantastic.

I think you are going to enjoy it so it is this week’s featured video. It is a fitting way to recognize the half way point of this year’s 100 Days of Scouting. (8434)

100 Days of Scouting: Day 50.

This week will be a busy week for this scoutmaster in central Minnesota. It begins with this year’s first court of honor which takes place tonight at the city hall meeting rooms. There are not many awards to present, but we do have two new Boy Scouts to recognize and one Scout will receive his Tenderfoot Rank. Our district executive will give the annual Friends of Scouting presentation.

The patrol leader council will meet Tuesday night to plan for the next month’s meetings and activities. We had elections in March so we will also have to work a little training into the meeting.

Cubmaster Chris and I may record a Leaders Campfire podcast this Wednesday. I really need to make another Around the Scouting Campfire show to post on Thursday. I was able to write a script for it last week but have not got together with Buttons yet to record it.

The court of honor for this troop’s nineteenth Eagle Scout will be held Saturday afternoon. The plans are complete. The guest speakers have been contacted. The guests have been invited. I have finished the slideshow of Dakota’s Scouting years but I still have to burn it to a dvd. I also need to write a short speech.

This is just a list of the Scouting related items on the agenda. I need to find time to get work done around the house, and eat the Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies that have arrived.

In 1997, Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 spent a weekend at Eagle Cave in Wisconsin. The boys had a great time exploring every nook and cranny within the cave, as you saw in the first video. Saturday evening, the staff invited everyone to the dining hall.  Several adults were asked to come forward and assist with a few musical numbers as seen in the second video.

In this, the third and final video from the trip, the Boy Scouts take center stage as they have fun being silly. Then it is time to choose the “King Snorer” among the adult leaders.

Click here to DOWNLOAD and watch this Podcast
or watch it at MSPP channel at PTC Media.

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The weather forecast did not give the impression that this month’s troop activity would be much of a winter outing. The temperature had been above freezing for most of the week. A lot of the snow cover had already melted before we left for camp on the evening of Friday, March 18. The forecast for Saturday had temps in the mid 40’s, with rain Saturday night into Sunday morning. It was looking like the Boy Scouts would have to change a few of their planned activities.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 arrived at Camp Stearns about 7:30 Friday night. Five deer greeted us as we rode through the camp. The campmaster surprised us when he told us that the sledding hill was still open, but that is was very icy. The boys were happy to hear they could use the hill because that was one of the highlights of the weekend.

We did not have much daylight left when we arrived at camp so we quickly unpacked the vehicles and walked to the sledding hill to check out the snow conditions. They hill was still snow covered but it was extremely icy. The Scouts were able to slide down the hill on their belly, without the use of any sleds. They looked like a group of penguins. They returned later in the evening, after organizing their gear, with sleds for a proper sledding activity. The evening ended with the boys watching the movie “Dragonheart” in the lodge.

The older Boy Scouts worked with the younger Scouts on their advancement requirements Saturday morning. After lunch, the boys picked up snowshoes and frisbees from the camp staff, and walked to the disc golf course. A couple of deer greeted the Scouts on the fourth hole. The troop usually plays nine holes while at Camp Stearns, but since the broomball field was a mud pit, they decided to play the entire eighteen holes. This was the first time that many of the Scouts had worn snowshoes so that added a new experience to the game.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with rest, relaxation, and board games. Following a supper of steak, potatoes, and corn, the Scouts went back to the softened sledding hill for another hour of fun. The evening finished with the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”.

The troop awoke before 7:00 Sunday morning. By 8:30 am they had finished breakfast, had packed their gear, and had loaded the vehicles. It was time to go home and relax from a fun filled weekend.

100 Days of Scouting: Days 39-41.

New to Scouting? Not really sure what the Order of the Arrow is all about? Listen to the latest episode of The Leaders Campfire podcast (#84). Chris and Steve interview Kevin, a Life Scout who is very active in the Order of the Arrow. A great podcast show to inform you about the basics of the Order of the Arrow.

Listen to it on the PTC Media site:
http://www.ptcmedia.net/category/shows/show-lc/

or download it from iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leaders-campfire-podcast/id204547473 .

100 Days of Scouting: Day 44

Tonight is Cub Scout Pack 68’s Blue and Gold Banquet. It will be the first one I have attended in five years. Not because I did not want to attend any, but because there have not been any Webelos Scouts to crossover. That, and I was not invited to the last few of them.

I will be attending this year’s event. There still are not any Webelos Scouts to crossover, but the Boy Scouts and I have some things to do. The Boy Scouts will be assisting with the opening and closing ceremonies since the Cub Scouts have not had any time to practice.

I have three reasons to attend the banquet. First, of course, is to present a troop presence along with the Boy Scouts. The second is to present a slideshow I made featuring the pictures I took during the den meetings and Pinewood Derby. I think the boys and parents will get a chuckle out of it. The third reason is to talk about Friends of Scouting. I volunteered to give this presentation to save our district executive a trip to town. He will be coming next week to talk at the troop’s court of honor.

I hope things go well during the Blue and Gold banquet. I also hope the pack holds together and continues to grow. It would be nice to see some Webelos Scouts crossover in a few years.

100 Days of Scouting: Day 43.

This week’s YouTube Tuesday video comes from the Circle Ten Council of the B.S.A. It features Boy Scout Denzel Long. He talks about how the Boy Scouts have helped him raise his life to a whole new level. I liked the video, and I think you will also.

The Reading Merit Badge was introduced to the Boy Scouts of America advancement program in 1925. Boys already had plenty of reading material at that time, including books about fictional Boy Scouts named Tom Slade, Roy Bakely, and Pee-Wee Harris.

I own five of the original Pee-Wee Harris novels, and they are the feature of this week’s Memorabilia Monday. A few were found in used book stores. The rest were picked up through online sites like eBay.

I am happy to be able to include these books as part of my Scouting memorabilia collection. Even though they are books about fictional characters, they give us a glimpse into what life was like in the early 1900’s, nearly one hundred years ago. It was a world without video games, cell phones, the internet, and television. Boys made their own adventures instead of buying a pre-made one in a store.

The Pee-Wee Harris books are now in the public domain. Many of them are available as free electronic versions through sites like Amazon, Google Books, and Project Gutenburg. Download them for your iPad, Kindle, or Nook. I have already downloaded them even though I still need a device on which to read them. Until then, I will read them the “old school” way, through the printed hardback versions.

100 Days of Scouting: Day 42.