A Scoutmaster's Blog

Josh decided to go to the top of Deer Lake Mesa. It is a side hike that we had talked about doing when we were planning things back in Melrose. No one shows any interest in going along with him so he tries to go off by himself. I put a stop to that idea very quickly. At least three people will have to go. I would prefer four. We need to practice the buddy system out here. There is no telling what could happen, although it should be a safe enough hike.

Even though I was not planning to go up to the mesa at first I decide to go along with Josh. I was looking forward to side hiking this mesa when I looked over our agenda back home. Tim also expresses interest but backs out for some reason. Pete and Corey finally decide to join us. We grab our rain gear, canteens, and a map and compass. It is cloudy and looks as if it may rain. If it does we will turn around and come right back. If not, we plan to be back at 6:00 p.m.

It is close to a two kilometer hike to the mesa. Two thirds of it is on a four wheel drive trail. This trail is in extremely poor condition and is very steep. I wander how often a vehicle even comes up this way. By the condition of the ‘road’ I would say not very. The storm clouds above us threaten to soak us the entire journey.

The mesa takes our breath away as we reach the top. It is a fantastic site, an elevation at over 8200 feet. Kinda reminds me of Shangrala. The mesa is actually slightly concave. The perimeter is lined with a hardy stand of trees that block out most of the view of the mountains that surround us. In the center is a small lake. Seventeen cattle graze in the grassland across the pond. For a while the four of us just stand there and try to absorb the scenery. It is the closest thing to Minnesota that I have seen since we arrived in Philmont.

Unfortunately, the storm clouds still threaten to drench us so we do not stay more then fifteen minutes. If we are lucky we can make it back to camp before it rains. We all agree that we should have come up sooner. It would have been great to lie back in the grass and take it easy, watching the cattle graze and the birds fly by. We are treated to a spectacular view of Cimarron on the way back.

We arrive back at camp at 5:45 p.m., fifteen minutes sooner then we thought we would. It still has not rained. The four of us play Frisbee as Ross, Jason, and Al prepare supper. Nathan is sleeping in his tent about twenty feet from us. The flap is partly open. We take turns trying to throw the Frisbee into the tent but are not very successful. Greg comes by as states that he can do it. We do not believe him but let him try. He does it on his first throw. That ends the game.

Supper is delicious. There is very little mash potatoes, gravy, beef, or lemon pie left over when the group finishes.

(This was an excerpt of my journal of Troop 68’s trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in 1992.)

The Cub Scouts of Pack 68 had a special field trip on Tuesday, April 26, 2011. Two members of the local volunteer fire department gave the boys a tour of the firehall and of the trucks used by the fireman. The Scouts were able to see some of the equipment used by the men.

After the tour, the boys received an awesome treat when they were allowed to sit in the firetrucks and see what it is like behind the steering wheel of these large trucks. They enjoyed themselves, and I am sure this is one day they will remember for a long time.

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The end of the 2011 “100 Days Of Scouting” has arrived. This is the second year of the blogging event, but the first year for me. Twenty four blogs participated this year, including Scoutsigns, the originator of 100 Days of Scouting.

Did I post 100 articles to A Scoutmaster’s Blog during this time period? No, but I did find myself writing more stories then I probably would have. I ended up posting 73 articles during the event. I always had the 100 Days in mind, but I forgot to add the tag to many of the posts. (I wonder if anyone was 100 for 100.)

I hope you enjoys reading my stories, and I hope you checked out some of the other bloggers who participated. For a list of everyone involved check Scoutsigns by clicking HERE. Take some time to read the blogs and I am sure you will get a good feeling of how Scouting is going across the country.

I had thought about starting one for awhile before I took the plunge. I had some thoughts and stories I thought others may enjoy reading. There were not that many about Scouting related topics. So, on May 18, 2006, I posted the first article to “A Scoutmaster’s Blog.”

Who knew five years ago that I would still be writing articles today? I have seen other Scouters begin blogs over the years. Some of them ended within a year, but others are still going strong.

When I started writing this blog, I just wanted to share my Scouting experiences, and maybe include interesting things I found around the internet. I had, and still have, no intention for this to be a blog about how to be a good Scout leader. The B.S.A. has already posted a lot of information for people looking for that type of stuff. I have tried to keep this blog fairly positive and (dare I say it?) entertaining.

There have been a few changes over the years. This has become the home for two podcasts: Melrose Scout Productions video podcast and Around The Scouting Campfire audio podcast. I have switched from Blogger to WordPress, but it is still hosted on our troop’s website.

This happens to be the 714th post to “A Scoutmaster’s Blog”. There have been over 500 comments left by readers over the years. So far this year, the blog has averaged over 4500 page loads and 3100 unique visitors per month. While that may not be good numbers for ABC or USA Today, I think they are pretty decent for a scoutmaster of a small town in central Minnesota.

One of the best parts of writing this blog is the friends I have made because of it. Through the magic of the world wide web I have been introduced to other Scout leaders across the country, and even a few from around the world.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog over these five years. I have enjoyed reading your comments. Keep them coming. They keep me charged to to keep writing more.

Here’s to the next five years!

The Troop 68 committee met tonight. The troop’s two newest Boy Scouts attended for their Tenderfoot board of reviews. They were very excited. In fact, they arrived before the committee did.

The committee holds board of reviews at the beginning of their meeting. I, as the scoutmaster, present each Boy Scout to the board and then leave the room. The committee conducts the review and then asks the boy to leave the room for a few minutes so they can discuss his progress. I go back with him when they call him back into the room for their decision and congratulations.

Both boys did very well during their board of review. After the boys left, the committee told me that both Scouts were well prepared. They also commented on the differences between the boys. One was very talkative and maintained good eye contact, while the other was more shy and quiet. They were impressed with each Scout.

Both boys were beaming as they left the meeting as the troop’s newest Tenderfoot Scouts. They are anxious to work on their Second Class Rank. These boys have enough enthusiasm to easily attain the First Class Rank by the end of the year.

I usually get a bit irritated when only three of the ten members of the troop show up for a troop meeting, but tonight it worked out very well. It was a true boy run meeting.

The boys in attendance were the assistant senior patrol leader and the two newest boys. After the opening, the ASPL discussed the points of the Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat. The new boys had a couple requirements left to finish their Tenderfoot Rank so he worked with them to complete the rank.

Eymard, the troop’s assistant scoutmaster, took the new boys to one side of the park shelter for their Tenderfoot scoutmaster conference. I sat down with the ASPL to review his upcoming Eagle service project. The boys then played a few holes of disc golf, did some planning for the menu for this month’s outing, and closed the meeting.

I was proud of the boys for what they were able to accomplish during the meeting. I look forward to Tuesday night when two Boy Scouts attend the committee meeting for their Tenderfoot board of reviews.

Two new boys joined us for their first Boy Scout camping trip at Camp Watchamagumee over the weekend of May 6-8, 2011. They had a great time on the outing but we did have an interesting and unexpected experience Friday night.

The four boys attending the outing had joined us at the adult’s campsite to sit around the campfire. Eymard, my assistant scoutmaster, had made popcorn. One of the boys had brought marshmallows. The boys wanted me to tell them a story but I kept changing the subject, pushing it off a little longer, letting it get good and dark.

Suddenly, we heard distant barking. I thought it was the dogs of a nearby home but the barking was coming from the wrong direction. When it turned to howling we realized it was coyotes, a pack of them from the sound of it. The mood around the campfire changed instantly. I could the younger boys become a bit anxious so we discussed the nature of coyotes and that those animals usually avoided human contact. They really did not need to be worried.

I waited several minutes before I began the story of the Purple Gorilla. The story begins with a salesman traveling on night through a terrible thunderstorm and finally ends up spending the night at a farmhouse far away from any cities. During the story, the salesman must go through ten doors to find a suspense filled discovery. I was having fun building up the scenario but I was also keeping an eye on the new boys. As I described the opening of the third door we all heard movement in the woods near the boy’s campsite. It sounded like something large.

Interest in the story evaporated as everyone’s thoughts turned to the coyotes we had heard earlier. The young boys were very nervous. I was a little nervous also, I have to admit. All four boys huddled close to me as we grabbed our flashlights and walked to their campsite to discover what had caused the noise. We walked around the site, shining our flashlights in all directions, but seeing nothing. The younger boys wanted me to check out the inside of their tent to be sure nothing had crawled into it. We found nothing in the tent or around the campsite. We heard nothing more. I told the boys it was probably a deer that was passing nearby.

The boys were relieved that we did not find anything, but decided that it was time to go to turn in for the night. The new boys asked me to stay near their tent as they prepared to go to bed. Then I checked on the other boys and walked back to my own campsite.

The story of the Purple Gorilla was all but forgotten. I will have to finish the story at a future outing. As I distinguished the fire I thought that it was a good thing I had not told the story of the Wolfen. If I had, the two new boys probably would not have gone back to their tents.

(By the way, the picture shown was not from this outing but from a weekend in the 1980’s. I do not remember what story they were listening to when I took the picture.)

100 Days Of Scouting: Day 96.

It has been a long time in the making, but it looks like it has finally happened. Cubmaster Chris of the An Hour A Week podcast and father of the PTC Media network of Scouting related podcasts has released this photo of Miss Liberty of the MISS Show and Buttons of the Around The Scouting Campfire podcast.

What do you think of this happy couple?

http://yfrog.com/h2ec8dij

100 Days of Scouting: Day 95.