A Scoutmaster's Blog

I just discovered tonight, as I was checking out some Scout forums, that the BSA national office appears to be looking for a new site to hold the National Jamborees. Don’t worry about the 2010 Jambo, that one will still be at Fort A.P. Hill. But future ones may not be. It is not about the military pulling their support of the Jamboree. They are not. In fact, it sounds like they will probably continue their support at the new Jambo site.

It appears that a letter has been sent to councils asking for their assistance in finding a new new site. This letter explains the reasons for moving the Jamboree away from Fort A.P. Hill, and what requirements must be met by a new site. You can read the letter for yourself by clicking HERE.

The next National Jamboree is only two and one half years away! It is time to start thinking about whether or not I intend to attend as an adult leader.

My decision will be based on the Boy Scouts of my troop. If several of them decide to attend then I will apply to be one of the troop leaders. If they don’t, then I won’t. But I think it would be great to attend another Jamboree.

I was the scoutmaster of Troop 1417 during the 2001 National Jamboree. I participated in a lot of meetings to prepare for that trip. But it was worth it. I was lucky to have a great team of assistant scoutmasters and junior leaders. I was also blessed to have a great group of Boy Scouts in my Jambo troop. Things went so well that during the reunion meeting held a few weeks after returning from the trip, I told the parents that I never want to attend another Jamboree again. The Scouts and leaders of Troop 1417 set the bar so high that I was sure I would never have another troop as good as this one.

Well, several years have now gone by and the itch to attend another Jamboree needs scratching. Of course, this being the Jamboree celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America is just one more reason to attend.

As far as I know, the Central Minnesota Council has not formed a Jamboree committee yet. I hope they do soon. I know it takes nearly two years to prepare for a trip of this magnitude. I would expect the transportation to be one of the biggest issues.

In 2001, the council sent two troops to the Jamboree. In 2005, the council was able to send three troops to Virginia, which was nearly ten percent of the Boy Scouts in our council. (We are not a large council.) It would be great to see our council send three troops in 2010. Or even four troops. Of course, the problem could be finding enough adults to accompany the troops. Just one more reason for the council to get started early.

The 2010 National Jamboree promises to be the biggest event in the BSA’s history. I think it would be great to be one small part of it. Now, I just have to convince my Boy Scouts.

I am always looking around the internet looking for new places to visit and bookmark about Scouting. Here are a few Scouting blogs I recently discovered. I invite you to check out:

http://KISMIF.org (A very good Cub Scouting blog)
http://thecubscoutleader.blogspot.com/ (another good Cub Scouting Blog) and
http://halfeagle.com (A collection of various Scouting blogs in one place.) The author of this blog has included the blogs of PTC Media, of which the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is a part of.

Okay, I just had to pass this along to you all. There is a story in the Saturday edition of the Washington Post about eleven Tigers Cubs who stayed together through Cub Scouting, into Boy Scouting, and all recently attained the rank of Eagle Scout. They were described as cry babies when they entered the troop, but through Scouting they grew into outstanding young men. Here is just a small piece of the article:

As Cub Scouts, they were so wild that the exasperated leaders insisted that their parents attend the meetings to keep things from getting out of hand. Their first hike as Boy Scouts became notable for the “strike” when the boys lay down side by side on an easy trail and refused to go on after having covered about the length of the Mall.

But something happened to these 11 whiny, quick-to-say-quit goofballs from Boy Scout Troop 681 in Falls Church. It happened somewhere along the way between pinewood derbies and knot-tying in the Scout House, the log cabin where the group met three times a month under the glassy eyes of a stuffed moose. And it happened on 50-mile hikes and canoe trips, under the watch of scoutmasters such as the retired lieutenant colonel who spun war stories and taught them how to set up an L-shaped ambush, Ranger-style.

I hope the Post leaves the article online for quite awhile, and that this gets picked up by national news organizations. Read about it HERE.

Did you know that the great American actor John Wayne was a Boy Scout in his youth? It seems that even in his adult life he never forgot his time in Scouting. In fact, even as Mr. Wayne was dying of cancer, he attended a benefit dinner to raise money for a new Scout camp. President Gerald Ford, who also attended the dinner, said of Mr. Wayne, “It occurs to me that John Wayne, like so many other great Americans, has never lost the sense that there is a higher good, something outside the individual, which each of us should seek to achieve.”

When the time came for Mr. Wayne to speak to the crowd he surprised everyone when he recited the Scout Law. Then he added, “”Trouble is, we learn them (the points of the Law) so young we sometimes don’t get all the understanding that goes with them. I take care of that in my family. As each boy reaches Scout age, I make sure he learns the Scout Law. Then I break it down for him, with a few things I have picked up in more than half a century since I learned it.” He then went on to break it down for the audience.

I am not going to print the whole thing Mr. Wayne said in this blog because you can read it at Boy Scout Trail or the USSP site. It is a great explanation about the meaning of the Scout Law so I do encourage you to check it out. I have wanted to use this a couple of times at a court of honor, but for some reason I always seem to forget to put it in my briefcase.

I am always amazed with the number of well known people who were involved with Boy Scouting in their youth, and how they fondly remember their days as a Boy Scout. I wish more people would come forward and tell the public about what Scouting has meant to them.

One thing about being the webmaster for the troop is trying to find the time to keep the web site up to date. It is not an easy task, and I have fallen behind a bit, but today I did get the chance to do some work on it.

I am happy to report that the 2007 photo gallery is now complete. The gallery contains over 100 pictures taken during the year. There are photos from the Laughs For Lunch Show, courts of honor, the Ripley Rendezvous, troop activities, and summer camp. It is quite a collection, but only a fraction of the 1200 photos I took during troop functions this year.

You know, before the digital photo era, when I used something know as 35mm film, I would be doing well to take a couple hundred of photographs each year. Now, thanks to memory cards, I take a few hundred photos just at summer camp. Isn’t technology wonderful?

Check out all the pictures of 2007 by clicking HERE. And then leave a comment about what you think of them.

There is less then two weeks left to prepare for this year’s Laughs For Lunch Show, a community show put on by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68. (I have discovered that Scouts in some other countries call this type of show a “gang show”.) As the scoutmaster of the troop, I find myself in the position of producer and director.

As the producer I work with other people to arrange the facilities, make sure we have the props and gear needed, and get the word out to community. I write the releases for the local newspapers and cable television stations. I also arrange to have the show videotaped to be broadcast over one of the local stations.

My job as the director begins a month before the show when I meet with several Scouts to plan the show’s format. The boys will discuss dozens of songs and skits. Then they begin to narrow them down to the ones they think should be in this year’s production. Finally, they decide the actual agenda. My job is to keep them moving forward and on track, to answer questions they have, to explain new songs or skits, and get in one or two things I would like to see included. We plan the show similar to the way we plan our yearly program.

As the director, things can get pretty interesting during practices. I have to try to keep the Scouts focused, which is always a challenge with teenagers. I also help the boys understand what needs to be done during the skit. That means I may be on stage acting out a skit or singing a song with the Scouts. I sometimes think the Scouts find me amusing when I am acting out the various roles.

During the show I am backstage making sure the Scouts are ready to go out on stage when they need to. I will also find myself on stage introducing a skit or even performing with the boys. This year I will find myself on stage without the Scouts as I lead the audience in a wild version of the song Vista.

I always enjoy working with the Boy Scouts as we prepare for the show. It is challenging. It can be a little stressful. But overall, it is always fun.

Two practices are done, and there are only two more to go as the Boy Scouts prepare for this year’s Laughs For Lunch Show. I can not help but think that there are only eight Scouts this year to perform in a show that used to take over thirty Scouts to do.

For those of you who may be new to this blog, the Laughs For Lunch Show is an annual campfire-style show done for the community by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68. The boys perform various songs and skits during the ninety minute production. Many of the videos seen on the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast feature performances from these shows.

The show is open to the public. Family, friends, and families from surrounding troops and packs who are looking for an evening of live entertainment attend the show. People have traveled over one hundred miles to attend the shows. The troop does not charge anything, but we do ask that people bring an item for the local food shelf. Thus we provide the laughs, and the audience provides the lunch for the needy in our area.

I affectionately call this year’s show our “gross out” show. The Scouts have included skits and songs as “My Dead Dog Rover”, “God Bless My Underwear”, and the Ice Fisherman skit. Of course, they will be doing a few troop favorites like The Movie Skit and the Mad Scientist Skit. Nearly thirty songs and skits are part of this year’s program.

The troop uses its three January meeting to practice. The meetings are two hours long instead of the usual ninety minutes. The fourth and final practice takes place during the afternoon before the evening performance. Many of the skits only get practiced twice, and a couple will only get one quick run-through. I have been amazed each year that we can put together a show of this scale with only four practices. It proves how dedicated the Scouts are to this show.

Do we make mistakes during the show? Of course! Does it matter? Not usually. The best thing about doing campfire songs and skits is that you can usually work a mistake right into the skit. Adlibbing is part of the process. We do not take ourselves so seriously that we forget to have fun with the show.

As the scoutmaster I also serve as the producer and director of the show, but do not let that fool you. After the Scouts get comfortable with a skit they begin to change it, add to it, and make it their own. They are always trying new things. During the last practice the boys were constantly making each other break out laughing as they tried various adlibs. It is surprising how many of them will be finding their way into the show. One thing I like about our shows is how we combine pieces of various skits within other skits. For example, the Scouts will be using characters from the Bell ringer skit, the Mad Scientist skit, and the Group Jump skit during the Trip To Hell skit. I think it adds a nice continuity to the show.

We still have a lot of work to do during our remaining practices, but I am confident that the Scouts will do their best to once again entertain the audience when the curtains open on Saturday, January 26th.