A Scoutmaster's Blog

When I began this blog I was the scoutmaster of Scout Troop 68. I spent over 30 years in that position. At the end of 2001 I retired from that position but stayed on as a committee member. I have enjoyed working with the Scouts for over 40 years.

Since I stepped down as the troop’s scoutmaster the troop has has four men fulfill that role. As 2021 came to a close our current scoutmaster decided to step down. Unfortunately, no one stepped up to take on the challenge. We currently have a small troop so there is not a large pool of parents to ask.

The year was coming to an end, and without a scoutmaster Troop 68 may come to an end after 41 years of continuous existence. Was it time for the Scout program to come to an end in Melrose?

A part of me thought it may be time to let the program come to an end. After all, if no one wanted to step up to the role then we could not have a troop.

But part of me did not want the troop to end. I have invested over 40 years into the local program. It would be a shame to see it end.

In December 2021 we held a parents meeting. We needed someone to fill the role of scoutmaster. Would someone step up to take the position? Or would Troop 68 come to an end? A name was needed on the recharter at the end of the month.

You have probably guessed that my name went into that slot. During the December parents meeting, after no one offered to take it over, I offered to take on the role for one year, but there were going to be a few changes that I felt would be needed.

I held a short meeting with the Scouts after the meeting with the parents. After all, I did not want to take the position if the Scouts had any issues or concerns. They all seemed to be on board with me taking on the role.

After a decade away from the role I find myself back as a scoutmaster once again. While the program is still the same there has been a few changes to the policies that adults need to follow. I have taken some of the online training to make sure I am ready for the role once again.

In a way I am looking forward to taking on the role for a year, but I also realize I am not as young as I used to be. While I am still dedicated to the program I am not interested in participating in 100 percent of the activities anymore. Parents are going to have to step up to help.

I am looking forward to the year of 2022. I hope we have enough help to make it a great year for the Scouts of Troop 68.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose area Troop 68 enjoy attending the campfire programs at the beginning of the week and at the end of the week while at summer camp. In fact, they have taking many of these skits and added them to their own troop activities. One of the earliest ones they learned, and continue to use to this day, is the I Want To Marry The Princess skit they saw performed at Crow Wing Scout Camp in the early 1980s.

I recently discovered a video of a couple of our Boy Scouts performing this skit during a court of honor held in December 1989. Considering this was recorded on VHS tape I was pleasantly surprised at how good it still looks. The Scouts did an excellent job performing this skit. Even an error does not slow them down, adding even more humor to the skit.

This is a fairly easy skit to learn but does take a few particles to perform it well. Does your troop ever perform this skit at a campfire program or court of honor? How well do they do it?

This video can be watched on the Melrose Scouting Productions channel on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/mnzP1Q7nYzg

I have been collecting the Hallmark Keepsake ornaments featuring Scout Leader Snoopy for quite a few years. Hallmark has been creating one for each Christmas holiday season for nearly two decades. I think I missed the first one or two but I have collected each one since 2007. In fact, once I discover a new one is for sale I usually post the news in this blog. In this video of My Scouting Collection I show all the Beagle Scout Snoopy ornaments in my collection along with a special Walt Disney ornament I found featuring Donald Duck and his nephews.

Do you collect these ornaments? Have you seen them in the stores? Which ones do you own?

This is the fifth video in the series and can be watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXQwSVrU23k

If you enjoy watching these videos please hit the LIKE button on the YouTube page and subscribe to the channel. Thank you for watching.

Sometimes plush animal toys are so cute you just have to buy it. At least that is what a Cub Scout aged child may think when one catches his eye in a store. As an adult I have collected several for myself, but they have a Scouting theme to them. Sometimes when I walk into the trading post at summer camp one of these toys may catch my eye and suddenly become the newest member of my stuffed animal collection.

In this video I show the plush animals I have collected. Many of them are from Many Point Scout Camp or the Scout Stuff online store. A couple have some from high adventure bases. Would do you think of them?

This video can be watched on the My Scouting Collection channel on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESqPKTNeeQg

Do you have many plush animals in your collection? If you enjoy the videos you are invited to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below the videos. Thank you for watching.

The sport of disc golf has been a part of the Scouting program at many Boy Scout camps for decades. Many Scout camps have disc golf courses. I was introduced to the sport back in 1981 at Crow Wing Scout Camp. They did not have baskets to throw discs into at the time so we had to hits the posts to finish each hole. It was very challenging but also very fun, and it was a great troop activity.

During the last couple decades disc golf became more popular with the Scouts of Melrose area Troop 68. We would schedule a time to play when we were at a camp that had a course. For several years we held a disc golf marathon day in which we would play at two of three different courses in central Minnesota. We would keep scores and award prizes to the Scouts who had the best scores.

As new Scouts joined our troop and played disc golf for the first time, I would encourage them to learn how to throw and work on their skills, not try to be the best and take the top place. That takes practice and lots of playing. Even though we handed out prizes during our outings I always stressed we were doing this for the fun of being together and beings outdoors. Of course, talking a little smack during the game was allowed as long as it did not get mean spirited, and the Scouts understood this.

Being a player of disc golf myself I have a nice disc collection I take with me on the course. I may not know what each disc one is for but it makes me feel like I know something. I have also collected several Scouting themed discs that have become part of my Scouting collection and are not used on the course. Some of these discs were bought at camp while other were bought through the Scout Shop. In this video I display the discs I have purchased and added to my collection.

This video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAfhA9L0CO8

Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoy it.

In July 2021 I began making a series of videos in which I display parts of the Scouting themed collection I have accumulated over the last 40 years. I did not have a good place to upload them to so I decided to add those first videos to the Melrose Scouting Productions channel. After a couple months of thinking about this, along with creating a few more videos, I decided to create a new channel to be the home for these videos.

Welcome to “My Scouting Collection”, which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Yq0KsCmgREJqCfS6pKv5Q

As I write this post I have several videos for this new channel. While I do not have time to post a new video every week I do hope to get one or two posted each month. The video subjects will include handbooks and other books, uniform parts, patches, jamboree items, Snoopy ornaments, and much more. I hope you enjoy the new videos.

The Melrose Scouting Productions channel will continue to be used for videos of Troop 68 activities and meetings, skills and songs, and other general Scouting related videos.

He has been hiking, and climbing, and canoeing, and many other things. Scoutmaster Snoopy and his Scout Troop of Woodstock and his friends have been depicted in many Scouting activities in the annual Hallmark ornaments over the years. In 2021 they have decided to relax.

This year’s ornament depicts the famous Beagle Scout and his friends relaxing in a pool of water at the end of a great day at camp. When I first saw this I did not really care for it but the more I look at it and think about it the more I like it. This also represents a great part of the Scouting program, kicking back and enjoying life.

I picked up two of these ornaments today, one to keep in the box and one to hang on the tree during the holiday season. They are a great addition to the collection.

My collection of Scouting themed items is already large enough after 40 years of collecting. Very seldom will I buy a collection of items online to add to my collection, so you could say I was surprised when I broke down and bought a boxful of stuff from an online sale. There were a few items I wanted that were in that lot and the price was very reasonable so I thought “why not?” and hit the BUY button. I was quite pleased when it arrived.

This box contained all kinds of Scouting memorabilia. It contained Cub Scout and Boy Scout items. There were plenty of pins and patches. It included some uniforms parts and even a cap. There were also a couple handbooks which are always nice to add to my collection.

The video can be found on the Melrose Scouting Productions channel on Youtube. It can also be watched here.