A Scoutmaster's Blog

There has been a lot written about the Kindle vs. the iPad debate. My question is this, is either one useful for the wonderful world of Scouting? I do not own either one, but I do see possible uses for both gadgets.

Amazon’s Kindle, an e-book reader, would seem like a natural place for a Boy Scout leader to gather a lot of Scouting information in one place. Like a Boy Scout Handbook. Like a scoutmaster handbook. Like program helps and the Guide To Safe Scouting. I hear the Kindle is easy to read outdoors. Imagine having all this information on one devise at summer camp. And I could download novels to read while I relax in the campsite. No more paperback books to pack.

Unfortunately, the Kindle is a grayscale devise so there would not be any color photos. I have read that the Kindle is not very friendly with pdf files so that eliminates much of what is found on scouting.org. Worse of all though is that there is not much Scouting related material available on Amazon.com, other than the first Boy Scout handbook and a few books written by people about the program.

The iPad sounds more promising since it is closer to a netbook. There are already several Scouting themed programs available for the iPod Touch which I think would be easy to reformat to an iPad. The Boy Scout Handbook is available in the app store. I understand pdf files will work well on the iPad so the Guide To Safe Scouting and other files could be used on the gadget.

However, I am hearing about a few drawbacks. I could easily see myself using the device on camping trips, like summer camp, which means I would be using it outside. I have been reading that the iPad screen is hard to see in sunlight and reflections can be pretty bad. The ten hour battery life is not very long when you are away from a power source for three days or more. Game apps and movies could be very distracting, especially when the Scouts start wanting to play with it.

As it stand right now, I do not see a reason to get either device to assist me as a Boy Scout leader. I will admit the iPad has more potential than the Kindle, but there is not enough there yet to justify the purchase.

What you think about using either devise to help you with the Scouting program in mind? Leave your comment below.

Have you read it yet? If not, you should. The plot is riveting. The characters are interesting. The story’s climax will leave you waiting for the sequel. Okay, okay. The Guide To Safe Scouting (G2SS) is not quite that exciting, but it is a good book that every Cub Pack and Boy Scout Troop leader should read and have a copy kept nearby. There is a lot of useful information in it, and it can help you through some troubled events. For example, do you have a problem with a boy that continually misbehaves or hurts other boys, and nothing you try seems to help?  The G2SS has an app guideline for that. It states:

All members of the Boy Scouts of America are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the principles set forth in the Scout Oath and Law. Physical violence, hazing, bullying, theft, verbal insults, and drugs and alcohol have no place in the Scouting program and may result in the revocation of a Scout’s membership in the unit.

If you do not have a copy of the Guide To Safe Scouting you should get one today. Stop by your Scout office or go to scouting.org to download a pdf version.

Last week I wrote about a new fundraiser the Boy scout troop was going to try, a Dad’s Belgian Waffle supper. (Read the article HERE.) Since we currently have a small troop we needed to try something different from our usual breakfast fundraiser which requires more people to work then we currently have available.

Well, the results are in. While we did not make as big a profit with the Friday night supper that we do with the Sunday morning breakfast, we did do pretty well. The troop cleared over $850 after the bills were paid. That will help to pay program and equipment costs through the year.

The troop has already reserved another Dad’s Belgian Waffle supper for next year which will be held the Friday before Palm Sunday. Once again, we will have the Boy Scouts presell tickets. The committee has already discussed a few ideas to increase the sales, including placing signs at a couple of the busy intersections in town to inform people of the supper that day.

Everyone who came to the supper really enjoyed the waffles and the variety of fruit. Some people even went back for seconds and thirds. It was an “all you can eat” meal after all. If next year’s supper is more successful than this year’s I could see this becoming an annual fundraiser for the troop.

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 were a little nervous when they arrived at the Melrose City Council meeting. They really did not know what to expect, and neither did I as their scoutmaster. The troop was at the meeting because the city council was going to pass a proclamation recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America and the 30th anniversary of Boy Scout Troop 68.

When the time came for the city council to pass the proclamation, the city’s mayor, Eric Seanger, spoke a few words about how the city appreciates the hard work of the Boy Scout troop. He then invited a member of the troop to come forward to accept the proclamation. Our senior patrol leader received that honor. I took a couple of pictures, one which ended up in the local paper.

Unfortunately, because the council had to attend another meeting with the local township boards, they did not have time to read the proclamation. Since we had an outing the following weekend I recruited a few Boy Scouts to read it in front of the video camera. I received a copy of the city council meeting from Mel-TV, our community access television station, and went to work editing everything together to make this video for the Melrose Scouting Production Podcast.

The proclamation can be read at https://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/?p=667

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Boy Scout Troop 68 has done pretty well with pancake and sausage breakfast fundraisers over the last two decades. On average, they have netted the troop over a thousand dollars per meal. We use this money for the Scout’s camp funds and for equipment and program expenses.

It takes a decent sized crew to do a breakfast. Parents do the cooking of the pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs. The Boy Scouts set the tables, clean them off, and do the dishes. It usually takes a couple dozen parents and Boy Scouts to work for a breakfast.

Unfortunately, our troop membership has dwindled during the last few years and we now struggle to find enough people to work for a breakfast fundraiser. This year, the troop committee has decided to do something a little different.  Instead of a pancake and sausage breakfast we will be hosting a Dad’s Belgian Waffle supper on Friday, March 26.

One big advantage of hosting a Dad’s Belgian Waffle meal is that Dad’s provides the crew and gear to make the waffles. They provide the paper plates and plastic silverware, and the waffle fixings. That means the troop will not need many people in the kitchen or doing dishes. Parents will prepare fruit cups while the Boy Scouts set and clean the tables.

Dad’s Belgian Waffles will charge the troop a fee for each plate served. The troop set the price of the tickets which the Scouts have been preselling. If we serve at least 400 people we should make a nice profit.

Why did the troop committee decide to do a supper this spring instead of a breakfast? Our troop is located in a predominately Catholic community. We thought this would present a good Lenten option for the area’s families. We will find out Friday if we thought correctly.

Boy Scout Troop 68 recently honored another of its members who has earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Alex K. is the troop’s eighteenth Eagle Scout. That means it was time for me to create another slideshow for an Eagle court of honor. Alex and his mother picked out several pictures from before when he joined Scouting, and I had plenty of pictures of his years in Scouting. Alex picked out the two songs used, both of which caught me by surprise, but they seem to work out very well.

To honor Alex K., our newest Eagle Scout, I add his slideshow to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. I hope you enjoy it as well as the audience did at his court of honor.

More information and videos about the Eagle Scouts of Troop 68 can be found at the troop’s Eagle Hall Of Fame: http://melrosetroop68.org/EagleHall.html

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions
Check out other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

The Patrol Leader Council (PLC) is one of the key elements of youth leadership within a Boy Scout troop. The senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, and patrol leaders use this monthly meeting to plan troop meetings, courts of honor, and the monthly outing. This is one way they practice the leadership skills of communication, planning, and compromising.

Our troop’s PLC meets the fourth Monday of the month, from 6:30 to 8:00 in the evening. They have an agenda which starts with a roll call and agenda approval. Old business is followed by new business which then moves into planning. The planning portion of the meeting, during which plans are made for troop meetings and activities, is usually when things get bogged down. The boys do not seem to enjoy planning things. Of course, as an adult leader, this is when I have to bite my tongue and stay quiet. I could plan the troop meetings in ten minutes instead of the 45 minutes it takes the boys. But if I did that, the boys would not be planning THEIR program. I do not want this to become the scoutmaster’s program.

There are a few guidelines I have put into place though. Troop meeting openings must contain something patriotic and something Scouting. An opening may only be used once per month. The boys must come up with three separate patriotic and three different Scout openings. The same “once per month” also applied to the game and meeting closing. This gives us a fair amount of variety and keeps us from doing the “same ol’ thing” each meeting.

I also encourage the youth leadership to only use one opening, closing, and game from the previous month. This allows us to have five or six different things in each area over a two month period. It makes it a bit more difficult for the PLC, but it works out well in the long term.

The youth leadership takes even longer to plan a troop outing. I encourage them to brainstorm a list of possible activities, then pick the ones they like the best, and finally post them into an agenda. Sometimes this goes smoothly, but other times it is like working with first graders.

Do we always get the work done during the ninety minute patrol leader council meeting? No, not always. If the boys would stay on track they could easily accomplish their goals. They have a tendency to stray from the agenda. Sometimes a look from the scoutmaster to the senior patrol leader is enough to get things back on track. (Sometimes it is the scoutmaster who got them off track in the first place.)

Even though the patrol leader council meeting can appear to be an inefficient way to get things planned, it is a great way to develop youth leadership skills and keep Boy Scouting a program for the boys, planned by the boys. I should know. I have been participating in them for nearly thirty years.

I heard about the new social media site called Facebook shortly after it started becoming popular, but I did not join it right away. I could not. Facebook started out as a site for high school and college students. I did not meet the requirements until they opened it up to the general public.

I joined Facebook for a few reasons. First, I was not very happy with Myspace (see a previous article). Second, my nieces and nephews were migrating to this new site. Third, some of my former Boy Scouts had joined Facebook. Fourth, I liked the format better than some of the other social sites.

I soon discovered that quite a few Boy Scout Troop 68 alumni had Facebook profiles. I had lost touch with many of them once they graduated from high school. My Facebook friend list began growing. It became not only a great way to stay in touch, but also a great stay to keep up with their lives, and yes, families. I would guess that nearly half of the alumni of Troop 68 of the last thirty years can now be found on my friend list.

Another benefit of Facebook is that the fans of my podcasts, the Melrose Scouting Productions video podcast and the Around The Scouting Campfire audio podcast, have another way to get in touch with me. There is a Facebook fan page for the podcasts. Even Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, has a Facebook profile.

There are Scouting based groups found on the site, even one for our troop’s favorite summer camp, Many Point Scout Camp. The Central Minnesota Council has a profile page. Just a few of the groups of which I am a member include:

1st Facebook Scout Group – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2450689742

Many Point Scout Camp – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2231826715

You Know You Are A Boy Scout When… – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2258927974

Do I spend a lot of time on Facebook? I would say not really, unless I get involved with a chat. I check out the site a few times a day for a few minutes, post something once in a while, and add pictures to my photo albums. It usually is only a several minutes per visit. I try not to get too caught up in the site, but I also try to stay in touch and up to date with friends.