A Scoutmaster's Blog

Here are a few Boy Scouts that grew up and became well known polititians, Senators, governors, and even presidents. (Unfortunately, a couple of these seemed to have forgotten the twelve points of the Scout Oath after they grew up.)

William Bennett – Former Secretary of Education (Eagle Scout)
James Brady – Former Press Secretary to President Reagan (Eagle Scout)
Willaim Sessions – Former FBI Director (Eagle Scout)
Murphy J. “Mike” Foster – Governor of Louisiana (Eagle Scout)
Gary Locke – Governor of Washington State (Eagle Scout)
Rick Perry – Governor, State of Texas (pictured above)

Gary Anderson – U.S. Representative from New York (Eagle Scout)
Bill Alexander – U.S. Representative from Arkansas (Eagle Scout)
Charles Bennett – U.S. Representative from Florida (Eagle Scout)
William Dannemeyer – U.S. Representative from California (Eagle Scout)
Daniel J. Evans – Former US Senator and Governor from the state of Washington (Eagle Scout)
Richard Lugar – U.S. Senator from Indiana (Eagle Scout)
Sam Nunn – U.S. Senator from Georgia (Eagle Scout)
J.J. Pickle – U.S. Representative from Texas (Eagle Scout)

Bill Clinton – President of the United States
George W. Bush – President of the United States
John F. Kennedy – President of the United States
Gerald R. Ford – President of the United States (the first Eagle Scout to become President!)

Do you know of any more to add to this list?

Here are just a few Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts that grew up and became well known actors, television personalities, and directors:
Harrison Ford – Actor
Richard Gere – Actor
John Ritter – Actor
David Hartman – Actor (Life Scout)
Paul Winfield – Academy award winning actor
Richard Roundtree – Actor (Boy Scout)
John Schneider – Actor/Singer (Cub Scout)
James Stewart – B-17 Pilot, Actor (Boy Scout)
John Tesh – TV Celebrity (Eagle Scout)
Walter Cronkite – Journalist, T.V. Commentator
Steven Spielberg – Film Director/Producer (Eagle Scout)

Do you of any others that can be added to the list?

The year was 1997. The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 were nearing the end of their second Laughs For Lunch Show. They were about to do something they had never done before. The piano was brought onto the stage, along with the electric guitar. The scoutmaster explained it was time for something a little more serious, something different from the rest of the show. One Scout began playing the guitar. Then the piano joined in. During the song the Scouts walked out onto the stage in groups of three or four. Before the song was finished every Boy Scout of Troop 68 was on the stage. Parents were crying in the audience. Emotions were running high.

Somehow, the troop had pulled it off. And with only one practice.

I will never forget that performance. It was the last year Tom and Nathan would be with the troop. Both would be graduating from high school in the spring and moving away to college. I wanted to do something special with them during the show. Tom was a excellent pianist, one of the best in the state of Minnesota. Nathan was great on the electric guitar. I wanted to do something in the Laughs For Lunch Show that would bring these talents to the stage. A regular campfire song would not be good enough. We needed something better.

The rock band Ugly Kid Joe had recently released their version of the Harry Chapin classic song Cats In The Cradle. I love the song and thought this could be the right one to bring Tom and Nathan’s talents to the stage with the rest of the troop. The two young men agreed, and so did the troop. We threw around a few ideas about how to perform it and came up with something we thought would work well.

Unfortunately, we only had time to practice it once, the afternoon before we held the show.

The show was coming to a close. Some of the skits and songs had gone very well, some could have used a little more practice. I was getting nervous as the time for Cats In The Cradle drew near. Usually performing during a campfire program does not bother me much, but then, most campfire songs and skits are designed to be a bit silly. This song needed to be done seriously. This was not a time for mistakes. And worse of all, I would be the lead singer.

Let me state at this time that I will never be chosen to be on American Idol.

The grand piano was on the stage. The electric guitar was plugged in. The music began. The youngest Scouts began walking onto stage. As the song progressed the older Scouts joined the younger ones on the floor in front of the piano. Before I knew it, it was over. The whole troop was smiling on stage as the crowd was clapping and cheering. The audience loved it. Parents, especially mothers, were crying. The song had hit a nerve and they realized their boys were growing up and would soon move away.

Until then, I had not experienced the power that could be reached while on stage. Never before had I or the Scouts received such an emotional response from an audience. Usually, we did the skit or song and hoped we did it well enough to receive some laughter or clapping as the response. The Cats In The Cradle performance showed us we could accomplished even more.

I have wanted to post this video online for a couple years but did not have a digital version of it. This weekend I finally found some time to copy it to my computer. Now I can share it with all of you. I do not think the video has quite the impact that the live version of it did, but it still turned out well. It does show another side of the Scouts that usually is not seen at a campfire program. I hope you enjoy it. (I apologize ahead of time for the quality of the vhs video, and for my average vocal talent.)

Please leave a comment. I appreciate hearing from you. You can leave one here. If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

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Would you like to listen to something a little different about Scouting. In particular, the Scout Law? A little song that just might stick with you for awhile?

A group called the Croutons, a duo from Arizona, has recorded a song called The Scout Law, and it actually is about the Scout Law. The song uses the Scout Law as its refrain. The three verses cover the meaning of each of the twelve points. From bit and pieces that I have found on the internet, it appears the the Croutons have been performing this song as part of their act for at least five years. (I have not listened to their other music yet, so I am not sure if their other songs are family appropriate.)

I like the The Scout Law. Oh, it is not going to win a Grammy, and it is not going to earn a million dollars for the two guys, especially since the song is a free download online. But it has a good beat, and it is just silly enough to be fun.

You can download the song (for free) at music.download.com by clicking HERE. After you listen to it leave a comment on how you liked it, or did not like it.

I have been thinking about applying with the council to be a scoutmaster for one of the troops that our council will be sending to the 2010 National Jamboree. In my last post I wrote about what the costs would be, and that I am now rethinking about being a Jamboree scoutmaster. Well, there is one more item to throw into that equation.

I have a copy of the “Council Jamboree Guide” that was sent to all councils by the National Office. I was looking over the unit leader qualifications for the Jamboree scoutmaster and noticed that it states, “Completion of Wood Badge for the 21st Century”. I zoned in on the words “21st Century” very quickly.

I completed the Wood Badge course and received my beads in the early-nineties, before the revision of the course made it “prepare us” for the 21st Century. I am right in feeling that the National Office is now telling me that my training is no longing adequate for today’s Scouting program? I did not think Scouting has changed that much.

I asked my council’s Jamboree chairman if all leaders going to the 2010 event would need to retake the course if we were part of the “20th century” course. He did not have an answer for me but said he would look into it.

Well, if the national office wants all adult leaders to have taken the “21st Century” Wood Badge training, then I think I can make my decision about being a Jamboree scoutmaster. And that decision will be “NO”. I do not intend to spend another $200 on a Wood Badge training fee, buy or prepare another uniform just for Wood Badge, and spend two weekends going through the course.

I am not going to spend a total of $3500 or more to attend the Jamboree. It is not worth it to me. I am sorry, but it is not. That $3500 can be spend on 2-3 Philmont trips, or dozens of big troop weekends. And to tell the truth, I think I would enjoy those more, and would be able to spend more quality time with my Boy Scouts.

I know the last two blog entries seem to be a downer, but hey, can I help it if things are going to cost so much. I am not Bill Gates after all.

Our council recently held it first 2010 National Jamboree committee meeting. (Yeah, I know, some councils have a lot of work done for the Jamboree already and ours is just getting started.) I attended the meeting because I have five Boy Scouts in my troop that would like to attend the event, so I was thinking about being a scoutmaster for one of the three council troops.

When I arrived home from that meeting, 35 miles later, I was beginning to have second thoughts about going on the trip. The 2010 Jamboree is going to cost a lot more then the 2001 Jamboree did.

First, there is the fee for the Jamboree itself which will be $795.oo. That is a $200 increase over the 2005 fee, and $300 more then the 2001 Jamboree fee of $495.00. That is quite an increase in eight years. And yes, I do realize the cost of things have increased, but I do not think they have increased sixty percent since 2000. Have they? My salary surely has not increased that much.

Second, there is the cost of touring. What sites will the troop see on the way to the Jamboree? We will probably spend a couple of days in Washington D.C. How about a tour of Mount Vernon, or some of the other nearby sites?

Third, there is that nasty thing called transportation. This one is the biggest unknown at the moment. Fuel prices are so unstable that bus companies and airlines are not able to predict what the cost will be in 2010. It is too early to make any sort of reservations, not that any company would be taking them anyway. With record fuel prices being made almost daily I am fearful of what the transportation costs will become.

Fourth are the miscellaneous costs that include uniforms, t-shirts, patches, pictures, and equipment.

Our council’s Jamboree chairman played around with estimating the cost of all these items and came up with a total of somewhere between $2000 and $2500 per participant. That is nearly double the cost of the 2001 Jamboree for the Boy Scouts and leaders of my council.

Ouch!

I drove by a few filling stations on my way home from that meeting and starting thinking about the price of gasoline. Then I began thinking about the 2, 3, or 4 meetings each month that I would have to attend if I was chosen to be one of the scoutmasters. I did a little quick math and realized it could easily cost me over $750 in gas (at today’s prices) to attend all those meetings!

I enjoyed attending the 2001 National Jamboree, but I am beginning to think I did not enjoy it enough to pay over $3250 to attend another one. I am going to have to give this some serious thought during the next two months.

By the way, if any of you who read this blog has one, two, or three thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket, and you do not know what to do with it, drop me an email. I might be able to help you find a great way to spend it.

Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts seem to really enjoy a good campfire program. But so do adult Scout leaders. Sometimes, the adults even enjoy performing for the campfire audience. Really. I am not kidding.

This entry to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast demonstrates that adults can have fun during a campfire program too. This video clip was taken from Troop 68’s annual Laughs For Lunch Show of 2002. It features the troop’s scoutmaster bringing some of his adult Scouting friends on stage to perform the song Vista! One of the friends does very well. One cheats. And a couple have a hard time keeping up when things get going fast.

I challenge you to try this song at your next campfire program. It may take a little practice but the audience will love it. By the way, you can find the words (at least the way I learned it) on our troop’s website by clicking HERE. ” Yip bap biddildee bang!”

I like to read your comments about this podcast. You can leave one here, or at the PTC media forums. If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

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Yep, that is right. After only two weeks we have canceled the Grumpy Old Leaders podcast. There are a few reasons for this but it basically comes down to that it turned into something we really did not want listed on the PTC Media network. It did not fit well with the other shows.

Here is what Chris, the creator of PTC Media wrote on the website’s forum:

“After recording another GOL last night, we did some looking around to see what others thought of the show. Turns out that a lot of Packs and Troops use the PTC Media feed on their unit websites and by doing that, GOL was ending up on their website.

This is bad.

Boys and parents who have no idea what they are in for MIGHT unknowingly click on the link and “BANG!”, the Guide to Safe Scouting and Youth Protection get busted. We love all our Scouts and would never intentionally do any harm toward them. Because of that, Grumpy Old Leaders is being pulled as a recorded show.”

Oh well, it was a good experiment. This will now give Chris and me more time to concentrate on the regular PTC podcasts and hopefully get the PTC Media store up and running soon.