Confidence

Buffaloeagle, on the Lone Star Scouter blog, has posted an excellent poem about Confidence. I think it would make for a great scoutmaster minute at the end of a troop meeting. Check it out and see what you think about it. Click HERE to read it.

Leadership Styles

There is a post on another Scouting Blog, The Scoutmaster Minute, that has an excellent description on styles of leadership. He writes about the various styles as used in a football team, but they work well with a Boy Scout Troop also. Give the site a visit and check it out HERE.

Mixed Up Court of Honor

The previous blog post explained the agenda of a Troop 68 court of honor. This agenda works well for us. However, we sometimes need to be flexible. Our September court of honor was a good example who things can change quickly.

One of our youngest and newest Boy Scouts, we'll call him Duke, had worked hard to complete his Tenderfoot Rank requirements to receive the award at this court of honor. He was very excited about getting his first rank. During the course of working on his Tenderfoot he also almost completed his Second Class Rank.

When the day of the court of honor arrived Duke's parents happened to be in the Twin Cities, one hundred miles away from Melrose. They called Duke to let him know that they would be a little late getting to the court of honor. Duke informed me of this as soon as he arrived at the city hall. He wanted his parents to be there with him when he received the award. I told him there would be no problem. We could rearrange the agenda a bit to push back the rank presentations.

We began the night with announcements which we usually do at the end of the ceremonies. That gave his parents about ten extra minutes to get closer to town. Then we began the opening ceremony. The honor guard brought the flags forward and we recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Unfortunately, the Scouts did not have a Scouting-related opening ready so we lost a few minutes there.

The award presentations began with the year pins, the recruiter patch, and the merit badges. Duke's parents still had not arrived. No problem. It was time for some entertainment. Wait! The Scouts had forgotten to plan or practice a skit or song for this portion of the meeting. Now we have a problem. Wait! We could present the Progressive Scout Award and the Progressive Patrol Award.

Finally, all the awards had been given out except for Duke's Tenderfoot Rank. I knew that Duke had really looked forward to his parents being there for the presentation. And I knew his parents wanted to be there. There was only one thing left to do. Break out the refreshments!

Duke's parents arrived as we were drinking punch and eating the cookies. As we reconvened the court of honor they stood proudly next to their son as he received the first of his ranks on his way to attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Eagle Scout, you ask? Oh yes, I reply. Duke has two brothers who are Eagles. This eleven year old has already set his sites on soaring with the Eagles. I have no doubt that I will be attending his Eagle court of honor someday, with his parents standing proudly by his side again.

The Court of Honor Agenda

Ah, the troop court of honor. The quarterly award night. Time to recognize accomplishments. Time for the Scouts to shine before their family and friends.

The Boy Scouts and families of Troop 68 usually have a good time during our courts of honor. After twenty-five years the troop has an agenda and format set. We try to have a mixture of fun and seriousness as we go through the ceremony.

We begin the court of honor with the presentation of the colors, a patriotic ceremony, a Scouting-related ceremony, and an invocation by the troop chaplain. Then we begin the presentations with the recruitment patches, year pins, and other such awards. This is followed by the recognition of merit badges that have been earned since the last court of honor.

This brings us to the "half way" point of the evening. The Scouts provide entertainment by performing a skit or song, or we could play a brief game, like a trivia contest between the Boy Scouts and their parents.

It is time for the presentation of the ranks. The Scout is asked to escort his parents to the front of the room. We usually use the various rank ceremonies found in the Woods Wisdom book. I will then present the rank patch, card, and pin to the father so that he may then have the honor of presenting it to his son. The Scout will then take the pin and pin it to his mother's shirt or scarf. This way we involve both parents in the ceremony. By the way, if the mother is not able to attend the ceremony then the Scout pins the pin on his father's shirt.

The final awards presented are two troop recognitions. The Progressive Scout Award is given to the Boy Scout who has earned the most advancement since the last court of honor. The Progressive Patrol Award is given to the patrol with the most accumulated advancement, with a minimum of at least two boys showing progress. Both awards are certificates, but the Progressive Patrol Award also comes with a twenty dollar credit for the patrol to use for a patrol activity held before the next court of honor.

The court of honor ends with a closing ceremony and the retiring of the colors. After a few announcements we make our way to the table where the juice is waiting to be drank and the cookies are waiting to be eaten. Of course, parents and families members get to eat and drink first. Sometimes, the way the boys rush to the tables, I think the refreshments are the main reason we hold the court of honor.

Happy Scouting!

Monster Website

I am a webmaster! That does not mean that I am a cousin of Spiderman or some sort of superhero. It does mean that I have created a website. A website that has become a monster. A monster that is getting harder to control.

I began creating the Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 website after several talks with Dave. Dave was a member of Troop 68 for six years. He was always interested in computers, and after college he began his own business which included internet and server support. Dave agreed to set things up for a troop website if I agreed to take care of it and keep it updated.

I decided early on that I had no desire to learn html. If I was to create this website I needed a wysiwyg program that would write the html for me. Luckily, I found a free program to do this called Netscape Composer. A few years later I switched over to Nvu and still use that today. Both programs are very basic, but that is all I really wanted. I have no desire to put all those new annoying web doodads on the site.

The next step was to decide what should be included on the site. It began with photo galleries, newsletters, rosters, high adventure reports, and a bulletin board for troop members to keep in touch with each other. It has since expanded to include videos, games, this blog, and a podcast.

The site is now a monster that includes over 200 pages of information, dozens of videos, and thousands of photographs. It covers 30 years of Boy Scouting in Melrose. I would be willing to bet it is one of the largest Boy Scout troop website on the internet.

A website of this size demands a lot of attention. Spammers are constantly trying to enter the forums and must be cleared out on a regular basis. The photo galleries need to be updated after each event. I try to post at least a couple blog entries each week, and post at least one or two videos to the podcast each month.

It takes time to do this, and unfortunately, I am starting to fall behind. This year's photo gallery needs to be updated, and a few yearly galleries still need to be created. I need to update the advancement review pages and the roster pages. (Don't worry, I do not use the full names of the current Scouts, or place their phone numbers or addresses online.) I know there must be a few dead links within the site that need my attention.

Yes, it is a lot of work, but I think it has been worth it. Troop alumni are able to keep up with current troop events, and are able to take a trip down Memory Lane as they view the galleries. Other Scouts and leaders from around the country, and around the world, have visited the site and sent me emails to tell me they have enjoyed it and found a few useful ideas to use in their own troops.

Yes, it has become a monster. But it is my monster, one of my own creation, so I really have no one to blame for it. The site has changed a lot over the years. It is something I am proud of. I invite you to check it out at http://melrosetroop68.org. Write a note and let me know what you think about it.

(By the way, if you like the Webmaster patch shown with this article you can buy it HERE.)

Scouter Of The Year 1985

Joe Timmins had been the cubmaster of Pack 68 for five years as the year of 1985 began. Two of his boys were already in the Boy Scout troop after their tenure as Cub Scouts, one was currently in Cub Scouting, and one would soon be a member of the pack. Joe was an excellent cubmaster. He was enthusiastic. He was willing to put in the time needed to have a successful pack. He surrounded himself with a good committee. And the boys liked him.

It came as no surprise when I was told that Joe was to receive the district's Scouter of the Year Award at the annual recognition banquet in February. He deserved it. He and the other pack leaders had built up the pack to nearly 50 members in a town of only 3000 people. When asked if I would attend the banquet I did not even have to think about it. I was going to be there to support Joe.

About a dozen of us carpooled to the banquet, including Joe and his wife Carol. I do not think Joe suspected anything. They had told him that someone he knew would be receiving an honor so he was attending to support that other person. The plan was working well.

After the meal they began to present the various awards to leaders from around the district. Then it was time for the Scouter of the Year. The presenter of the award started by talking about the recipient's achievements and community service. It did not take me long to realize he was talking about our cubmaster. Joe was both surprised and honored as he accepted the award. Those of us sitting at the table were wearing ear to ear grins as he sat back down among us.

The presenter began reciting the achievements of a another person who would be receiving the Scouter of the Year. This time it would go to a scoutmaster. It did not take long to realize that the recipient was the 24 year old scoutmaster from my own troop. Me! I was shocked, and very honored, as I walked up to accept the certificate. I had no idea that this would be happening.

The pack and troop committee had told me that I should attend to support Joe. They had told Joe to attend to support me. It was a sneaky but great way to get the two of us to attend the banquet and keep it a secret from each of us.

A Special Eagle

I found this story through Digg.com tonight. It is a little old, from last May, but I think it is a great story about a Boy Scout overcoming the obstacles in his way and becoming an Eagle Scout. I do not want to spoil the surprise by saying anymore, so check out the article. Then go to Digg.com and "digg it". (I wish more Scouts and Scouters were a part of Digg and would use the network to promote Scouting more.)

Quarter Of A Million Views

I place my first video on the Youtube video website on January 8, 2006. It was a video made by one of my Boy Scouts as a project for a class project. He knew that video work was a hobby of mine and that I had the equipment needed to produce a simple film, so he asked me to help him with making it. Since it was a class project I told him he had to do the planning, directing, and editing. I would film it for him and provide the equipment to use after showing him how to use it.

Nathan did a great job producing and editing the video. We were both pleased how it turned out. So was his teacher. Nathan received an A as his grade. I had started watching videos on Youtube about that time so I asked Nathan if we should post it online for others to watch. He agreed, we posted it, and my channel on Youtube began.

There are now 67 videos found on my Youtube channel, which can be seen HERE. Most of the videos are Scouting related. The videos include videos produced by the BSA and videos made by the Scouts of Troop 68 and myself. I also started a Youtube group called Boy Scout Stuff which people have joined to share and watch Scouting videos from around the world.

My Youtube channel hit a milestone today sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 pm. The total "video views" of the videos I have posted has reached 250,000. Wow! The videos have been watched a quarter of a million times. I guess it goes to show that there are people out there who do want to watch videos and films about Scouting. (Are you reading this National?)

When I began posting videos on Youtube there were only a few hundred Scouting related films. Today, there seem to be thousands of them. Many packs and troops have been posting videos online for families members and friends to see. I think it is great, as long as we all follow the safety guidelines set by the National Office to keep our kids safe.

Earlier this year I took the online video thing to the next level by starting the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (MSPP). The podcast allows people to easily download the videos to their computers to watch at any time. It can even be subscribed to on the iTunes music store. The videos found on MSPP are videos produced within our troop. Videos by the National Office can not be found there, at least not yet. I have been hoping that the National Office would start their own podcast that would feature those videos.

I would like to thank all of you who have watched the videos and brought my Youtube channel to the 250,000 landmark. I have some ideas for more videos and hope you enjoy them as well. Happy Scouting!

C-3PO Actor was a Scout?

It is amazing what you can find on the internet where you are bored and have nothing to do. This morning I found an article that brings together two things I really like - Scouting and Star Wars. Anthony Daniels, the actor who brought the droid C-3PO to life in the Star Wars movies, was a Cub Scout for a brief time. Unfortunately, he did not stay a Cub Scout for very long. It looks like he really did not quite understand what Scouting was all about.

You can read about it at the Official Star Wars Blog.
http://starwarsblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/08/c-3po-was-a-cub-scout/

I always like it when I find out well known people were in Scouting.

Outside of Scouting

One thing that is exciting about being a blogger is when you write something that gets noticed and read by many. It seems that I have written a couple articles over the past year that have been popular reading for a several people. It is very exciting when a post is found noteworthy enough to be mentioned on other people's blogs. I am always amazed when I find links on other Scouting blogs that mention an article from "A Scoutmaster's Blog".

So you can imagine my surprise to find my blog listed on a non-Scouting related site. It has not happened very often, but it did happen this week. The newest video of Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, has been found worthy to be mentioned on a blog that covers puppetry. The PuppetVision Blog does a weekly post called "Weekly Puppet Web Series Round Up" in which the writer highlights puppet videos he has discovered and enjoyed. I guess he liked the video of Buttons asking the question "You know you are a Boy Scout when..." I would like to thank Andrew for adding Buttons and "A Scoutmaster's Blog" to his list of puppetry sites.

MMSPP #21: You Know You Are A Boy Scout When...

If you have been in Scouting for awhile then you probably have an answer to the question "You know you are a Boy Scout when..." (If you don't, then you have not been involved with Scouting long enough.) I belong to a Facebook group which does its best to answer that question in dozens of different ways.

I thought it would be fun to bring back Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, as he covers a few of the answers to this question. We (me and a volunteer crew) had fun filming him as he tries to answer the question at a cabin on King's Lake in central Minnesota. Unfortunately, it was pretty windy that day, as you will hear when you watch the video. Buttons presents five answers to the all important question, and things do not always go according to plan. My favorite part of this episode is when Buttons is sitting on the edge of the tent and the weather changes on him.

This is the first of two videos planned that will feature Buttons on this subject. I have seen many good answers to the question, but unfortunately they do not all lend themselves to being filmed with a character like Buttons. Especially when I do not have the budget that the Muppets have. (Um, there is no budget here.)

I hope you enjoy the video. Leave a comment and let me know what you think about it. If you have an answer to "You know you are a Boy Scout when..." then add it to the comments. If I receive enough good ones then maybe Buttons will appear in a third video on this subject.

Download Podcast
Watch Video on the troop's website.
Subscribe through iTunes.
Digg it!

Why Not Scouting?

Here are a few interesting facts about the Boy Scouts of America. As of December 31, 2005, the total membership of Boy Scouts and Varsity Scouts was at 943,426 young men, nearly one million strong. The were 50,996 Boy Scout troops and Varsity teams. There were 543,971 registered adult volunteers.

Think about that for a moment. Over one half of a million adults in this country believed in the ideals, spirit, and goals of Boy Scouting so much that they were willing to give their time to help the BSA accomplish its goals to our young men. That is quite a statement.

So, what are the goals of the Boy Scouts of America? The BSA was incorporated in 1910 to provide a program that offers effective character, citizenship, and personal fitness training to our boys and young men. To quote the official BSA website (www.scouting.org), "...the BSA endeavors to develop American citizens who are physically, mentally, and emotionally fit; have a high degree of self-reliance as evidenced in such qualities as initiative, courage, and resourcefulness; have personal values based on religious concepts; have the desire and skills to help others; understand the principles of the American social, economic, and governmental systems; are knowledgeable about and take pride in their American heritage and understand our nation's role in the world; have a keen respect for the basic rights of all people; and are prepared to participate in and give leadership to American society."

That is an ambitious set of goals for any organization to meet, especially one that has been designed for boys. The BSA has been accomplishing these ideals for over 97 years. The organization is able to meet these goals through eight methods: Ideals (the Scout Oath, Law, Slogan, and Motto), Patrols, Outdoor program, Advancement, Association with adults, Personal growth, Leadership development, and the Uniform.

Many of the half million adults are parents of Scouts who wish want their boys to get the best experience out of their local Scouting unit. There are many more adults who do not have sons involved in the program. They are college students, middle age workers, retirees, single and married. They come from all walks of life.

On Tuesday, September 25, Cub Scout Pack 68 and Boy Scout Troop 68 of Melrose will be holding their annual fall "School Night To Join Scouting". This meeting will begin at 7:00 pm at the Melrose High School Cafeteria. Boys in the first grade through fifth grade are invited to join the Cub Scout Pack. Boys in sixth grade or higher are invited to join the Boy Scout Troop. Boys must be accompanied by a parent.

So... Why not Scouting? Why not enroll your son in a program that has over 95 years of experience in helping our boys and young men develop into tomorrow's outstanding citizens? And have fun while they are doing it! We hope to see you and your son at School Night To Join Scouting on Tuesday, September 25th.

(This is an article that was sent to our local newspapers to promote School Night.)

Reasons To Be An Adult Leader Revisted

As the new program year begins once again for Cub Packs and Scout Troops, I thought it would be time to review a blog post from one year ago. It is called "Ten Reasons To Be An Adult Leader". The article lists ten reasons to become a leader of your pack or troop.

Everyone always seems to have plenty of reasons not to be a leader. I always thought there should be more reasons to become a Scout Leader then reasons to avoid being a leader. After all, these are our kids we are talking about. This is the next generation that (hopefully) will be taking care of us as we get older. If we (the parents and adults of today) do not take the time now to spend the time with our boys and train them to be physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight, then who is going to do it? We certainly cannot trust our school systems to do it.

Scouting gives us adults a perfect opportunity to help our youth become good leaders. Scouting teaches our boys many things that will help them throughout their lives. The question is, are we ready to take the challenge? Are you ready to to take on the responsibility? I think it is time that parents, and other concerned adults, take the time to invest into our youth, and quit trying to find reasons not to get involved.

Click HERE to read "Ten Reasons To Be An Adult Leader."

MSPP #20: The Echo System Skit

In 1996 the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 held their first Laughs For Lunch Show. There have been quite a few since then, eleven in all. The boys have a great time doing them, and the audience seems to have a lot of fun watching the shows.

This video is part of that very first show. It is the Echo System skit, which is one of the oldest skits in Scouting. At least I think it is an old skit. It has been one of the favorites of the troop's, and very easy for the younger Scouts to learn. In this version we used a "remote control" to turn the echo system on and off.

One thing that always scares me a little when the boys do this skit is that I never know what line they will come up with for the punchline. It often changes from performance to performance. But that is okay, as long as they keep it clean.

Enjoy it and let us know what you think of it by leaving a comment.
Download Podcast
Watch Video on the troop's website.
Subscribe through iTunes.
Digg it!

School Night To Join Scouting

Our troop and pack will be holding the annual fall "School Night To Join Scouting" just as many troops and packs around the country will be doing. It's like, you know, a tradition or something.

The cubmaster and I (the scoutmaster) have already spoke on the phone a few times coming up with ideas to get the word out to both the boys and their parents. Here are a few of the ideas that we came up with. If you have other ideas I would like to hear them also.

School Visits - Since the cubmaster and I have full time jobs that would make this hard to do we leave this up to the district executive. He goes to the elementary schools and talks to the boys about Scouting. (My gripe is that he concentrates on Cub Scouting, and not much about Boy Scouting.) Unfortunately, not every school in the area will allow him to talk to the boys. Would you believe the Catholic school will not let anyone in to talk about Scouting? The D.E. will hand out flyers for the boys to take home to their parents.

Posters - Another part of the plan is to get posters displayed in the school and around town. The posters in school are to remind the boys. The posters around town are to remind the parents. Banks, credit unions, grocery stores, and other popular places of business would be good places for posters.

Newspapers - There are three local weekly newspapers found in our area. All of them would be happy for us to place an ad, of course, but that would have a cost with it. Luckily, they all except stories about Scouting if we take the time to write them. They will print articles at no charge. Add a picture to the article and I think it would attract as much, if not more, attention then an ad would.

Yard Signs - I have collected several yard signs for School Night overs the years. They are sort of generic and do not have a date on them. The trick will be to place them in strategic places around town, high traffic areas.

Church Bulletins - By putting a short, simple note in local church bulletins we can reach hundreds of families... for free!

Mailings - Yes, we could mail a flyer to each family in the area with a Scout-age boy, that it is expensive and time consuming. The troop tried it several years ago. We were not pleased with the result of our efforts.

Community Access Television - We regularly make use of our local access television station. We video tape out courts of honor and other Scouting events to be played on the air. The station also has a bulletin board that plays between programs that lists local meetings and events. We will be sure to get School Night listed on that.

Bank and Business Marquees - The credit union and both banks have electronic marquees outside of their buildings. We hope that each will agree to place a notice for a few days before School Night.

Well, there you have it. A few low cost ways to get the word out about School Night to Join Scouting that we intend to employ. I will write an article in a few weeks to let you know how it turns out.

Fall Service Projects

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 are beginning their 2007-2008 program year with a few service projects that will be conducted during the next few weeks.

CLOTHING DRIVE
The Boy Scout Troop will be conducting a clothing drive in Melrose on Saturday, September 15. It is a great opportunity for you to clean out your closets of those clothes that are out of style, or that just do not fit well anymore. Please donate only gently used clothing. This drive is not meant to be used as a garbage or junk collection. All clothing should be bagged or boxed and placed on the street curb by 10:00 that Saturday morning. Clothing set out too late will not be collected. Proceeds from the clothing drive will be split between the Boy Scout Troop and a disabled veterans group.

SCOUTING FOR FOOD DRIVE
This year marks the twentieth year the Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs across the country will participate in the annual Scouting For Food Drive. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people locally, and hundreds of thousands of people nationally have benefitted from the Scouting for Food Drives. All food items collected will go to the local food shelf. This year's food drive will be held on Saturday, October 6.

ROAD CLEANUP
Another project the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have done for nearly twenty years is to clean up the ditches of a three mile stretch of County Road 13 south of Melrose as part of the Adopt A Highway Program. This project will also be done on Saturday, October 6.

The Boy Scouts are proud to be a part of their community. It makes them proud of their community when its citizens support their projects. Please help the Scouts have a successful clothing drive and food drive this fall.

SUMMER CAMP 2007

Here are a few pictures from summer camp at Many Point Scout Camp.

NEW CHIEF SCOUT EXECUTIVE

It happened on September first. Roy Williams, our national chief Scout executive for the past seven years, retired. I believe Mr. Williams had a rough seven years. At least I would call them rough. The BSA has had its share of problems lately. And, at least at the troop level of the organization, I really have not seen a lot of leadership from the national office lately, though I will give them credit for sticking to the principles and ideals of Scouting during all the media hub-bub and not backing down. I wish there would have been more done and said by national, but for some reason they decided to stay pretty quiet during these last few years.

We now have a new chief Scout executive. His name is Robert "Bob" Mazzuca, and according to his profile found at scouting.org he has held a lot of district, council, regional, and national positions during the last 36 years. While this may be a good thing for the BSA at the national level, I am afraid that those of us "in the trenches" may not see much of a change in the national organization. Here is a piece of the news release:

"Mazzuca's most recent position was with the National Council of the BSA as assistant Chief Scout Executive, a position he's held since 2006. He received a bachelor of arts in history from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He and his wife Nanette have two sons. Bob began his Scouting career in 1971 in Modesto, Calif., as a district executive and an Exploring executive. He became the Exploring director in Sacramento in 1975 and eventually served as a field director and the director of field service. In 1983, Mazzuca became the Scout executive in Stockton, Calif. In 1987, Bob became area director in the Western Region and he was promoted to Scout executive of the Golden Empire Council in Sacramento in 1988. In 1992, he was named assistant region director for the Southern Region and in 1995, the Scout executive in Pittsburgh."

Of course, this is just my opinion, but I think Mr. Mazzuca may have been out of touch with Cub packs, Scout troops, and Venture crews for too long. I fear that someone who has been on the regional and national level for as long as Mr. Mazzuca has been could be out of touch with the real reason for Scouting, namely, the boys. Has he gotten so involved with the politics on the national level that he will fail to help the program of Scouting? Has he become so entrenched with other national officers and pencils pushers that he will forget about the volunteers at the troop and pack level? Will he be a leader who's number one concern is financial, or will he concentrate on the Scouting program and lead us into a new resurgence of Scouting?

Mr. Mazzuca, I have a few suggestions for you. First, take the time to meet the volunteers on a local level from across the country. Get out and meet the scoutmasters, and Cubmasters, and crew advisers. Listen to their concerns. See how things are going from their perspective. There is no way to get this type of information by sitting behind a desk in Texas.

Second, I would like to see National begin to promote Scouting more on a national level. The BSA has been beat up a bit during the last several years. It is time to start promoting the good that Scouting does locally and nationally. The BSA has done well informing it's councils and regions about how well things are going, but I think it is time to start letting the common folk know about Scouting. Advertise! It is not a dirty word. Yes, it may cost some money, but I think this organization is worth it, don't you? Use the internet! I have posted Scouting videos on YouTube and our troop's website. And guess what? People do watch them. I think national has mostly overlooked this avenue of communication.

Third, how about making things less costly within the Scouting organization. Oh, I am not talking about our yearly fees. I think they are reasonable. I would like to see the cost of Scout uniforms and equipment come down in price to a more reasonable level. Requiring us to pay $35-$40 dollars for the uniform shirt is pretty high, especially for the quality of the shirt. I pay less for dress shirts. And don't even get me started on the pants and shorts. I can buy two or three pairs of great quality jeans for the cost of one Boy Scout trouser that will not wear near as long. If you want the boys to dress in the full Scout uniform then make it affordable for the boys and adult leaders.

Well, that is enough of my personal opinion for the moment. I know that Mr. Mazzuca will probably never see this blog, but it feels good to at least write about a few of my concerns. And if you do read this, Mr. Mazzuca, I invite to post a response and let us know what you have planned for the Boy Scouts of America.

A DRAWING IS HELD!

The month of August is over. The means the time of the drawing for the dvd-r of Scouting promotional videos has arrived. I went back through the month's comments, discovered who left a comment, and put each person's name into a hat (up to two times).

The winner of the dvd-r is... Tom! Tom left a comment to the Hour A Week post I made on August 22nd. Tom, you will need to contact me and give me your address so I can send you the dvd-r.

I appreciate all the comments I receive from the readers of this blog. I hope you will continue to write and let me know what you think about this blog and it's subjects. I wish all of you the best as your new Scouting program year begins. Happy Scouting!

DISLIKE SEWING?

I dislike sewing. It may be due to the fact that I am not a good at it. I remember the last time I tried sewing a patch to my uniform. After three attempts to get it right I quit trying, and have not gone back to it.

When I went to the 2001 National Jamboree one Scout's mother agreed to sew the patches on my shirt. She did a fantastic job. The uniform stills looks great. Unfortunately, she does not enjoy sewing either, although she is good at it.

The last time I needed a patch sewn on my shirt I took it to a lady in town who has a home business. She did a good job of sewing, charged very reasonably, but I did not feel she did a great job of patch placement before sewing the patches on the shirt.

Okay then, I now need a new patch put onto my shirt. I do not like sewing. The mother who did a great job of sewing is no longer doing it. The sewing lady in town I am not completely happy with. What is a scoutmaster to do? (And no, I have no plans to learn who to sew!)

Well, lucky for me, a found something online that sounds promising. It is called Patch Magic, an adhesive to apply patches to a Scout uniform. It even has how-to videos on the site. I watched a couple and it almost looks to good to be true. I am very tempted to purchase it and see how it works. You can check it out by clicking here.

My question to the readers of this blog is, "Have you tried this product? Does it work well? Is it easy to remove?" If the answer is yes to these questions I think I have discovered a better way for patches to be placed on my uniform.