A Scoutmaster's Blog

I have finally completed a major part of a goal I have which is to scan all the Scouting pictures I have taken over the years. On Friday, I finally scanned the last of the pictures from the 1980’s. That is over 2050 photographs that use over 1.5 GB on the hard drive. I have already backed them up onto two other hard drives, and plan to copy them all to a data-dvd. I also plan to post many of them to my Flickr account as another way to back them up, and to allow other Scouts and leaders to visit our troop of the past.

It has been a lot of work, but also fun reliving memories that come from looking at those photos again. Many of the Scouts from that time have families of their own. I know of a couple who have boys in the Cub Scout program. Some of them are now friends of mine on Facebook. Unfortunately, I have lost touch with many of them. I know of three of them who have died since they left Scouting.

Now it is time to start working on the photos from the 1990’s, and I know there will be even more photos to scan than I had from the 1980’s. As the years went by I began taking more photos during troop activities. I would be willing to bet that the number of pictures will be between 3500 and 4000. The pictures from the 2000’s will not take as long to scan because in 2004 I switched from film to a digital camera. Of course, with the digital camera I began to take 3 to 4 times as many pictures.

If you would like to see the pictures from the 1980’s that I have posted to Flickr go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevejb68/sets/

100 Days of Scouting: Day #68.

There was a fairly decent turnout for this spring’s Boy Scout Troop 68 sponsored Dad’s Belgium Waffle Supper fundraiser that was held Friday night, April 15th. We served 296 people in all, not counting the Boy Scouts who worked at the supper. We served Dad’s Belgium waffles (which are the size of a plate) along with strawberries, fruit cups, a variety of syrups, and refreshments. Since it was a Friday during Lent, and this is a mostly Catholic community, we did not serve any meat with the meal.

We really tried to promote the fundraiser better this year. We also took one meeting night and set the boys out into town to sell tickets, sort of our ticket sales kick-off. We sold over $400.00 in tickets that first night with six Scouts being taken to different parts of town by their parents. After that, the boys (and parents) were on their own to sell tickets before the meal.

One of our new Scouts, Alex, really did an outstanding job pre-selling tickets on his own. In fact, he sold over $900.00 in tickets, more then all the other Scouts combined (not counting that first night). I understand he had a little help from his parents and grandfather, but Alex did most of the selling. Only two other Scouts in the troop sold over $100 worth of tickets on their own.

Each of the boys receives credit toward camp based on the number of tickets they pre-sell. Even if a Scout only sells tickets during the first sales kick-off event, he receives some credit. The credit from the first night sales is evenly divided among all the boys, no matter how many tickets they sold in their area of town. That first night of sales earned each Scout a credit of $9.30, which is not really bad for a little over an hour’s worth of work.

We still have one bill to pay, but it looks like the troop did well. It appears we will made a profit of around $1200.00. Of this, nearly $400.00 will be going into the boys’ individual accounts to be used for camp costs. The balance will go into the troop’s general fund.

100 Days of Scouting: Day #67.

Around The Scouting Campfire #23 is ready for your enjoyment. In this episode Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, talk about getting outside to play. The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 sing a song about an experience they had with some cattle. Buttons shares some “Scouting Truths” with us, thanks to Nick at the Nick’s Ramblings blog. And of course, it is time for the hosts to announce their winner of the PTC Media photo contest, who will receive a $20.00 coupon toward a purchase at Trailstop.com.

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 and twitter.com/buttonst68 .

Hey Dad! Get out and play! – https://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/?p=67
The Killer Cattle Song – https://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/?p=929
Nick’s Ramblings – http://blog.nawbus.co.uk/ .

Yeah, I know. This is supposed to be YouTube Tuesday. Well, excuse me (as Steve Martin used to say). I found a great little video on a website called Vimeo that I thought would make an excellent suggestion for today. According to the video information:

A young man fights a battle within himself over whether or not to smoke. Ultimately, he learns something about himself and, with the principles of the scout oath and law as his guide, makes the choice to be “bigger” than he ever thought he could.

This video is my entry into the “Smoking Stinks” video contest hosted by the Boy Scouts of America. If you liked it, then feel free to vote at the following link.

Big Things… from Bryson Rushing on Vimeo.

What did you think about it?

100 Days of Scouting: Day 60.

Tuesday night, at the Scenic District Roundtable, a short discussion of iPads, iPods, and cell phones came up. Most of the troops represented stated they have a no-electronics policy on camping trips, similar to my troop. We also agreed, somewhat reluctantly, that these policies may need to be changed in the not-too-distant future. The boys are growing up with these gadgets and are becoming  an important part of their lives. Add to that the growing number of apps available that are Scouting related and I can see Boy Scouts and adult leaders wanting to bring these things along.

I have been wanting to buy an iPad since version 2 became available. Before the roundtable, I stopped at Best Buy to play with one and look at the accessories. I think I am going to hold off with that purchase for awhile. Here is what the budget looked like:

iPad 2, 64 GB – $700.00 (Wi-fi only)
Smart Cover – 40.00
Digital AV Adapter – 40.00
Charger        – 40.00
Misc Apps   – 50.00
Subtotal  – $870.00
Tax                 – 60.00
Grand Total – $930.00

Wow! The sticker shock got to me a little. Yes, I can use it for apps and games. Yes, I can use it as an e-reader. Yes, I can watch movies and Podcasts (like Melrose Scout Productions Podcast). This gadget would nicely compliment my Mac Pro computer. However, I do not think I would get $900.00 of use out of it. It would be a very expensive toy, one with a very cruddy camera system.

I still want one though.

I am beginning to panic. Just a little. Boy Scout Troop 68, along with Cub Scout Pack 68 of Melrose, are planning to hold a Scouting Open House on Monday, April 18th. That is only a little over a week away! And hardly anything has been done yet. We are running out of time to promote this event.

The council has printed flyers to hand out to the public elementary school students and those at St. Mary’s elementary school. Our committee chairperson picked those up today and I have already delivered them to our committee member who teaches at St. Mary’s School. She will also get the flyers to the public school.

We have ten 16″ x 20″ posters from the council to place around town. (See the picture.) One will be going to each elementary school. Our chairperson has taken a few to bring to Burger King, Dairy Queen, and the two convenience stores in town. That leaves four posters to try to place in windows of Main Street businesses. Hopefully, we will find good spots for them.

The banks and credit union will allow us to place table displays in their lobbies. The problem is finding time and people to set them up. I do not know if anyone has asked them yet to post a notice on their electronic marquees. We did not plan very well at the last committee committee meeting to decide who would be in charge of doing the things that need to be done.

Our local newspaper, the Melrose Beacon, is being very supportive. In next week’s edition they will be printing an article about the 100th anniversary of the first Boy Scout Troops formed in Melrose. I have proofread a rough draft of the article and I like it. They have contacted some of the former committee members and a couple troop alumni about their Scouting experiences. The writer, Herman, asked a few of us to meet him at the local historical museum for some pictures next to the Scouting display. He also asked for current pictures of the Cub Scout Pack and the Boy Scout Troop. He was at Dakota’s Eagle court of honor last Saturday so I wonder if that article will also be in this next edition.

We want to get yard signs set up around town. I have kept the signs from several years ago. There are two kinds from two different years. It would be great to find ten good yards in town, preferably on Main Street and a couple other well traveling streets.

On the day of the event, the troop and pack will each have a table of information. The pack will have one activity for Cub Scout age boys. The troop is planning four activities for possible new Boy Scouts, but the activities will also be Cub Scout friendly. Those activities will be knot tying (square knot, two half hitches, taut line hitch), frisbee golf, flag and Pledge knowledge, and the human knot untying. We are hoping to be able to tell any Boy Scout age boys that they will already have a few requirements done for awards if they complete these stations.

What have you done for your open house? What was successful, or not successful? This is new to us so we could use your ideas.

100 Days of Scouting: Day 59.

Dakota received his Eagle Scout Rank on Saturday, April 2, 2011. That means it was time to make another Eagle Scout slideshow. This is the twelfth time I have created a video for an Eagle court of honor. Ten of those were for Boy Scouts from Troop 68. Two were for Scouts of other troops. I have also been working on creating slideshows for the earlier Eagle Scouts of Melrose Troop 68.

Dakota and I sat down for the first time to plan the slideshow nearly a month ago. He is the first Scout who joined the troop after I switched to digital photography, so I have a lot of photos of him through the seven years he has been a member of the troop. Usually, I only had 200-300 photos of a Scout to sort through. I had over 900 pictures of Dakota. The two of us looked through them and began eliminating pictures. Dakota finally got it down to about 90 pictures. He choose three songs to play within the show, and surprised me with his choices. The finished video came to around ten minutes.

The guests of the court of honor enjoyed the show. It included some serious pictures along with a few comical ones. The slideshow opened with a picture of a rabbit which has special meaning for Dakota. He explained the rabbit during his speech at the court of honor.

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

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Today, for Youtube Tuesday, we are leaving the USA and the BSA. The UK Scout Association has produced a great video that does a great job of promoting Scouting and asking adults to volunteer in their local units. What I find fascinating is most of the information in the video could apply to the Boy Scouts of America. This video was uploaded in October 2010. Check it out and let me know what you think about it.

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100 Days of Scouting: Day 57.