BSA & Dale Coyne Racing Team Up

on January 11, 2010 in Promotion | No Comments »

I do not know about you, but I thought this was cool. Soon after the Boy Scouts of America was in the national spotlight with their awesome float in the Rose Bowl parade, I hear of a special partnership with an Indy racing team. The following is a portion of the press release:

IRVING, Texas (January 11, 2010) – The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) today announced that the two legendary organizations are teaming up to promote family fun and education through a new BSA IndyCar. Scouts can experience the BSA’s No. 19 IndyCar throughout the 17 race IndyCar® Series 2010 schedule of events including the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500.

The No. 19 car will help commemorate the 100th anniversary of the BSA – the nation’s largest youth service organization. The BSA and DCR plan to utilize the high-tech nature of Indy cars as a platform to promote science, technology and math to those involved in Scouting.

“Racing is a modern day way to connect with youth and to further Scouting’s dedication to expanding tomorrow’s leaders through education, math, science and engineering,” stated Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca. “We are grateful to Dale and Gail Coyne and their entire racing team for making this incredible opportunity possible.”

For the full press release check out the Dale Coyne Racing website at: http://www.dalecoyneracing.com/release011110.html

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150,000 Visits and Counting

on January 11, 2010 in Blog | No Comments »

This note is more for myself then anyone, but “A Scoutmaster’s Blog” reached a total of 150,000 visits yesterday (since the counter began in June 2007). It has only been a little over seven months since it reached 100,000 visits. The daily visits have been increasing nicely. The blog averages 200-300 hits per day. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to hit 175,000 views.

I would like to thank you all for coming to this site and reading the blog.

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MSPP #79: Ben Lindbom, The Snowmobiling Eagle Scout

on January 8, 2010 in podcast | No Comments »

Let’s face it. Earning the rank of Eagle Scout is a very big deal. Only 4% or so of all boys in Boy Scouting earn the highest rank offered in the program. So what do you do for an encore? Well, if you are from Minnesota, and your name is Ben Lindbom, you get on your snowmobile and set your sights on winning races.

Ben Lindbom has been racing snowmobiles since he was 13 years old. He took second place in his first race, and has been going strong ever since. Been is currently competing in the International Series Of Champions Tour which will take him to several locations in the upper midwest. He is currently positioned top ten in the standings. Not bad for a young man from Staples.
A few months ago I was contacted by Ben’s family and asked if I would feature Ben in one of my blog articles. His father, David, sent me some information about Ben, including a video they had made in which Ben talks about racing and Scouting. After viewing the video I thought it would make for an excellent post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. The Lindbom’s liked the idea and gave me permission to use it. Ben does an excellent job of talking about Scouting and his love of racing, so there is really not much for me to write. Watch the video!
Check out this month’s Boy’s Life magazine. Ben is featured in the January issue.
Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast throughiTunes.
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Check out other great Scouting podcasts at PTC Media, including The Leader’s Campfire and Around The Scouting Campfire.
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Get Involved In Scouting?

on January 6, 2010 in Leadership | No Comments »

During the my last year of tech college my classmates and I would discuss what we wanted to do with our lives once we were out on our own. What kind of job did we hope to get? What kind of community would we like to settle down in? What organizations would we get involved with, if any?

I was a Boy Scout for three years so I made the comment that it might be fun to find a troop and get involved again. When I think about that comment now I have to stop and ask myself, why did I say that? I really did not accomplish much as a Boy Scout. Yes, I went to the meetings, and the occasional weekend camping trip, and three week long summer camps, but I do not remember much about them. I only earned four merit badges. I only got as far as Second Class Rank. I do not remember a single court of honor. Unfortunately, and I hate to say it, my time as a Boy Scout was pretty uneventful.
I must have had enough fun in Scouting though to make a comment like that in college. I may have realized that the Scout program was a great program to help young boys grow into men of strong character. I guess I wanted a chance to be a part of that process. But there was one more reason to reconnect with Scouting. A personal one. I always felt bad that I did not remember much about my time as a Scout, and that I did not accomplish much in the program. I thought that maybe I could help some other boys have a great time in Scouting and do the things I never had the chance to do.
As luck would have it, I found a job and settled back in my hometown. Within two months I discovered they had restarted the troop which had been disbanded about five years earlier. I walked up to the scoutmaster one night and asked him if he could use some help. That was nearly thirty years ago. I think I can honestly say that I have helped to make a positive impact on the Scout program in this community.
How long will I continue to be with the program? I do not know. I had never planned to be with it for three decades. Unfortunately, this community may make the decision for me. Membership in the troop has dropped to only seven Boy Scouts, down from nearly forty Scouts ten years ago. I discovered today that the Cub Pack currently has only three boys. One of the Pack’s problems is that parents do not want to take on any of the leadership roles. This has been going on for the last five years or longer. Thus, the Pack’s program has suffered, and the boys are not joining like they once did.
Let’s face it, parents need to get involved, at least at the Cub Scout level, for the program to succeed. Do today’s parents not understand the great benefits of the Scouting program, both to them and their sons?
Get involved with Scouting? Too tell the truth, I can think of few programs that are better worth your time and effort.
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Coleman Gift Card Giveaway!

on December 28, 2009 in Promotion | 10 Comments »

If you are a camper like I am you have some Coleman equipment that you use regularly. If your Boy Scout troop is like mine, they also have some Coleman equipment in their trailer or shed. Coleman has been making camping gear used by Scouts for decades, and I do not see that changing anytime soon.

If you have a Twitter account you may have noticed that Coleman has been holding a $25.00 gift-card-a-day giveaway this month. I was recently contacted by a Coleman representative and asked if I would like to offer the readers of A Scoutmaster’s Blog a chance to win one gift card. It did not take long for me to to take them up on their offer.
To participate in this giveaway you will need to do two things:
1) You must have a Twitter account and follow @colemancampfire on Twitter.
2) You must leave a comment to this blog post that includes what you would get with the gift card if you won. Check out http://www.coleman.com/coleman/home.asp for ideas. Be sure to include your Twitter name in the post so that it can be verified that you follow @colemancampfire.
Your post must be left on this blog by January 8th. Limit one entry per person. A random drawing for one $25.00 Coleman gift card will be held on January 9th.
Good luck. And thanks for reading A Scoutmaster’s Blog.
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MSPP #78: A Century Of Values Open House P2

on December 28, 2009 in Anniversary, podcast | No Comments »

This 78th post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is the final of four videos featuring the open house held by the Central Minnesota Council on September 2, 2009, to celebrate the “A Century Of Values” tour. This video features other activities that were taking place on the grounds of the council office (displays, bottle rockets, fishing, rope making, bouldering wall, etc). You will see that the Cub Scout age boys had a fantastic time participating in all the fun.

More information about the “A Century Of Values” tour can be found on their website athttp://www.acenturyofvalues.org/ Also check out their blog and the post about their visit to the Central Minnesota Council.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
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Philmont 25 Years Ago

on December 27, 2009 in High Adventure | No Comments »

As the year 2009 comes to an end, it suddenly dawned on me that this year was the 25th anniversary of my first trip to Philmont Scout Ranch. It was not a trip to partake in a twelve day trek, but to spend a week at the Philmont Training Center (PTC).

I was a 23 year old scoutmaster when I received a letter from PTC inviting me to attend a Scoutmaster Fundamentals Course during the 1984 season. Needless to say, I was quite excited. I had never been to Philmont but it had always been a dream of mine to get there someday. Unfortunately, I was a young adult who was pretty much living from paycheck to paycheck at the time. The money to pay the course registration and the airfare was not in my budget or savings account.
The troop committee must have seen this as a great opportunity to invest in the local Scouting program. So did the business community, it turns out. One of the committee members went to several local businesses to explain the committee’s plan. A short time later, the committee surprised me with the news that I would be going to Philmont Scout Ranch for the training. Enough businesses had donated funds to pay the airfare and registration. I was shocked! I was surprised. And I was going to make a commitment to stay the scoutmaster of Troop 68 for at least a few more years.
There were a few firsts for me involved with this trip. It would be my first time to Philmont. It would be the first time I would travel by airplane. It would be the first time I had ever traveled on my own. I was a little nervous, but a lot excited.
The trip went well. I proved to myself that I could handle a trip on my own. The course had great instructors. I learned a lot about being a scoutmaster. I met many dedicated Scouters from around the country. I saw the movie Follow Me Boys for the first time. And I climbed to the top of the Tooth of Time (for the first time).
Of course, me being the type of guy who likes taking a lot of photographs, I did use up several rolls of film. I have posted those pictures on my Flickr account. Here is a slideshow of those photos:
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Boy Scouts Of Harlem

on December 27, 2009 in Promotion | No Comments »

Earlier this year I heard about a new documentary about a Boy Scout troop from Harlem. The film followed four Boy Scouts from Troop 759 as they went to summer camp. The film centers on Keith, the newest Scout as he attends his first long week of camp out in the woods.

I looked forward to seeing this film coming out in theaters, but soon discovered that it was only being shown in special screening around the country. There were rumors that the film would be shown on PBS stations in 2010 so I though I may have to wait until then to see it, or buy the dvd which became available this fall.

I thought is was great that two films about Boy Scouting had been released on dvd this year. The first, Scout Camp: The Movie, had come out on dvd in June. This new film, 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem, came out later this summer. (I guess if you want to include Russell from UP, the new Pixar movie, you could say there were three movies about Scouting released in 2009.)
In September, Cubmaster Chris (of the An Hour A Week and The Leaders Campfire podcasts) and I received an email from our friend Scott at the InsaneScouter website. He wanted to know if we would like to interview one of the directors of 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem, Justin Szlasa, for an episode of The Leaders Campfire. Chris and I had interviewed Garret Batty, the director and writer of Scout Camp: The Movie earlier this summer, and the show had been quite popular. We thought it would be a great idea to interview Mr. Szlasa.
After several weeks of emailing back and forth we were about to set a date to record a show. Mr. Szlasa was a great person to interview. He and his brothers are Eagle Scouts so he knew a lot about the Scouting program. We talked about the special challenges of filming a documentary, the Boy Scouts of Troop 759, and the camp featured in the film. He even had a couple stories to share with us. Chris and I had fun interviewing him, and I think that comes through on the podcast.
The podcast episode ended up being #73 of the Leaders Campfire podcast. It can be found at PTC Media (click here). The podcast can be subscribed through PTC Media or through the iTunes music store (link here). The dvd of 759: Boy Scouts Of Harlem can be ordered through the website at http://www.harlemscouts.com/store.html . I suggest you get a copy. It is an enjoyable film.
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