The Christmas Party.

Since the beginning of time, or at least since the early eighties, Boy Scout Troop 68 has held a Christmas party. It has become such a tradition that the Patrol Leader's Council would never think of planning a year's program without the party. Everyone enjoys it too much to drop it.

During those first years the party was held at someone's house, usually a house with a basement recreation room. One family had one of those new fancy things called a video cassette player/recorder (vcr). It was a big odd looking box that played tapes of movies. That began the tradition of playing movies and watching them on the television, because soon almost every house had a vcr tape machine. These days we use dvd players.

The party would be held at one family's house for a couple years and then move on to another family's. When the troop's membership grew to over thirty Boy Scouts we had a hard time finding a home to host the party. We finally moved to the city hall meeting rooms which gave us plenty of room. Our membership is down again so now the party is held at my home which makes it a lot easier for me. I do not have to haul stuff, like presents, to the party site anymore.

The party begins at 6:30 in the evening and ends about 11:00. We begin by watching one of the two movies. (Have you ever tried to find a movie that appeals to both 11 year olds and sixteen year olds? It is a challenge.) Then comes the pizza, snacks, and soda. A gift exchange is held for those who wish to participate, and wish to risk the roll of the dice. The evening raps up with the second movie, although some of the Scouts decide to play games instead of watching the film.

The party is a great "no pressure" troop activity. There is no knot tying, no advancement requirements, and no skill learning. Uniforms are not worn. It is just a time to have fun and be with friends. Everyone goes home with at least one present.

And sometime during the course of the evening we pause to remember the real reason for the season.
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MSPP #27: Buttons in "Rec Room Tour"

Buttons, that radical Boy Scout, has taken on a life of his own during the past year. He sure knows his Boy Scout stuff, although he has a thing or two to learn about Cub Scouting yet. He has shown us how to stay in shape, and how to know if we are a real Boy Scout. He has even got a bit opinionated at times.

Take this video, for example. He takes a tour of the scoutmaster's basement recreation room, pointing out things of interest along the way. He talks about the book collection, the patch collection, and the mug collection. But then, he starts to make fun of the scoutmaster, even going so far as to call him a "white and nerdy" dude! Now I ask you, "Is this fair? Is this alright with those of you who watch these videos?" After all, what is wrong with playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons now and then? Who can deny that Star Wars is a great movie?

Watch it, meditate about it, and then leave a message as to what you think of it.

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Twas the Month Before Christmas

Here is a little Christmas poem for you. I saw this on a Scout forum of which I am a member. I thought this was too good not to pass on to you all. Some of you may have seen this already since it was going around last year already. Enjoy.

*Twas the month before Christmas
*When all through our land,
*Not a Christian was praying
*Nor taking a stand.
*See the PC Police had taken away,
*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
*The children were told by their schools not to sing,
*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say.
* December 25th is just a "Holiday ".

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
*Something was changing, something quite odd!
*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
*Are words that were used to intimidate me.
*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith;
*Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
*So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"
*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!

PTC Media Contest

The folks at PTC Media (http://ptcmedia.net), the home of four Scouting-related podcasts, are conducting a contest that you can enter to win prizes. And it costs you nothing other then a few minutes of your time.

To enter the drawing you need to find the five sites of the PTC Media shows in the iTunes music store, and then leave a comment about the show(s). The shows are Akela's Adventure, An Hour A Week, The Leader's Campfire, and Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (your favorite, I know.) The PTC Media also has its own site (click HERE) from which all four podcasts can be found. You will need an iTunes account to participate.

You may also enter the contest by leaving a comment on one of the feeds located at Digg.com.

PTC Media will take the names of people who leave a comment during the next few weeks, throw them into a hat, and draw out a name for the prizes. You can enter the contest up to five times by leaving a comment at each of the five sites on iTunes. There will be four drawings, each corresponding to the "feedback" show of The Leader's Campfire.

I have donated two dvd-r's to each of the contest prize packages. The first contains nearly twenty Scouting commercials and promotional videos about Scouting. The second is a dvd-r of several of the early Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, videos. The other podcasters will also be donating prizes to the winner's package.

Do not wait too long to comment about the shows and register for the drawing. Time is running out! Do it today!

Collections: The Mugs

Since I was a youngster I have liked collecting things. I probably started with collecting rocks and bugs. As I entered my teen years I collected stamps and baseball cards. When a movie called Star Wars hit the theaters in 1977 I began collecting Star Wars toys. I no longer have the rocks and bugs. I still have the stamps and cards, although I have not done anything with them for years. I finally stopped collecting Star Wars toys this year when I finally ran out of room in the house.

It did not take long after becoming an adult leader in Boy Scouting that the various Scout-related collections began. I have already told you about the patch collection. This time I would like to tell you about a collection I really never intended to start - the coffee mugs.

First of all, let me state that I do not drink coffee. I do not care for the taste of it. I know that puts me in a minority among Scout leaders. I do not need that cup of java in the morning to get me going. So why do I collect coffee mugs when I have no intention of ever using them?

I do not remember how the first mugs arrived in my hands. Many of the early mugs were given to me as gifts. These gifts began to accumulate. And then, every once in a while when I was attending a Scout function, I saw a mug that grabbed my attention. Soon, I had a collection of the things.

Today, that collection includes over sixty coffee mugs. Some are from council events. Some are from fundraising projects. A few are from high adventure bases. A couple are general Scouting themed. Sixty mugs may be smaller then some leader's collections, but I know it is larger then most people's.

I still do not go out of my way to collect the mugs, but if I come across one that catches my attention it may find itself sitting on the shelf with the rest of them. The mugs take up a lot more room in the house then the patches do so I have to limit myself with what I buy. I have discovered that mugs do not flatten very well when you try to place them into notebooks.

The mugs are on display in my recreation room, which is also the "Scout" room. Every time I dust them (which is not as often as I should), I think to myself that I really should donate these to the local historical society. But after they are cleaned and repositioned I decide I will keep them a little longer.

The shelves are almost full now, which means the collection will have to come to an end. Unfortunately, knowing me as I do, once I start collecting the mugs I will find something else to begin collecting. (When I quit collecting the Star Wars toys I began collecting medieval weapons.)

Thankful for Scouting (2007)

I sit here after a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family. My belly is full, I am getting tired, and it is time to think about what I am thankful for. (Other then a full belly, which is a very good reason to be thankful.)

I am thankful for the boys who are a part of the Scout troop, and Scouting everywhere. They constantly remind me that we all need to keep a little of the youngster in us at all times, no matter how old we get. We need to remember how to have fun and live carefree, and how to use our imaginations to make this world a little better place.

I am thankful for my eighty year old assistant scoutmaster who still plans to go to summer camp next year. He may have gotten a little slower as the years go by, but he has no plans to stop Scouting anytime soon. He is great with the boys and the boys respect him, as do I. I am also thankful for my troop committee and the work they do each month to keep the troop going forward.

I am thankful for those few parents who can be counted on to help out when the help is needed. Without them I would have stepped down from being a scoutmaster a long time ago.

I am thankful for local newspapers who support Scouting and are willing to print the articles I give them about troop functions. I am thankful for two local television stations that look forward to airing the video shows produced by the troop. Through the newspapers and the stations we are able to keep Scouting in the public eye.

I am thankful for a district executive that is dedicated to the program and goes the extra mile to help a troop and pack. He puts in some long hours and many miles traveling around the council. Although we may not always see eye to eye, I know he always strives to do his best.

I am thankful for a new national executive who seems to be willing to look at making changes to the program while maintaining the traditions of Scouting. It is good to see some new work being done through the internet to reach Scouting age boys.

I am thankful for the friends I have made through Scouting over the years. Many of the Scouts have stayed in touch after they have entered college and started there own families. Those continuing friendships mean a lot to me.

I am thankful for my family who have understood the reasoning when I miss the occasionally family gathering in order to attend a Boy Scout function. They have seldom complained about it, although I think they sometimes wonder about my sanity.

As the Thanksgiving holiday comes to a close and another holiday season begins, what do you find yourself thank for?

BSA Podcasts

The BSA has started a couple podcasts that may be of interest to you. One is called Cubcast and features audio podcasts with Cub Scouting interests. The second is called National Commissioner's Podcast and is done by Don Belcher. The commissioner's podcast can also be found on iTunes, but I cannot find the Cubcast listed in the music store's podcast listings. I hope that they will start a Boy Scout and a Venture Scout podcast soon.

It looks like the national office is beginning to take the internet a little more seriously and starting to make use of it. I wonder if the BSA's new leadership has anything to do with it?

Do not forget to check out the Scouting podcasts at PTC Media. There are three audio podcasts and one video podcast on this network. PTC Media can be found at http://www.ptcmedia.net/ and at the iTunes music store.

By the way, if anyone at the national office reads this blog, would you contact me? I have a few questions for you regarding your videos. Thanks.

Steps To Earning A Merit Badge

The National BSA Website has a (new?) web page explaining the process of earning merit badges. It also includes a short video for Scouts to watch, pictures of all the merit badges, the requirements for each one, and a link to a guide for merit badge councilors. I know merit badge requirements have been listed on non-BSA websites for awhile already, but I think this is great that the national office has finally done this on their own site. I really like that they took the time to make a video about the process. The page can be found at http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/resources/32215/mb/index.html

Here is an excerpt from the page:

Pick a Subject. Talk to your Scoutmaster about your interests. Read the requirements of the merit badges you think might interest you. Pick one to earn. Your Scoutmaster will give you the name of a person from a list of counselors. These counselors have special knowledge in their merit badge subjects and are interested in helping you.

Scout Buddy System. You must have another person with you at each meeting with the merit badge counselor. This person can be another Scout, your parents or guardian, a brother or sister, a relative, or a friend.

Call the Counselor. Get a signed merit badge application from your Scoutmaster. Get in touch with the merit badge counselor and tell him or her that you want to earn the merit badge. The counselor may ask to meet you to explain what is expected of you and to start helping you meet the requirements.

When you know what is expected, start to learn and do the things required. Ask your counselor to help you learn the things you need to know or do. You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject. Many troops and school or public libraries have them. (See the list here.)

Show Your Stuff. When you are ready, call the counselor again to make an appointment to meet the requirements. When you go take along the things you have made to meet the requirements. If they are too big to move, take pictures or have an adult tell in writing what you have done. The counselor will ask you to do each requirement to make sure that you know your stuff and have done or can do the things required.

Get the Badge. When the counselor is satisfied that you have met each requirement, he or she will sign your application. Give the signed application to your Scoutmaster so that your merit badge emblem can be secured for you.

Requirements. You are expected to meet the requirements as they are stated—no more and no less. You are expected to do exactly what is stated in the requirements. If it says "show or demonstrate," that is what you must do. Just telling about it isn't enough. The same thing holds true for such words as "make," "list," "in the field," and "collect," "identify," and "label."

Boy Scouts in Seattle Special Program

I have not had the opportunity to steer you to many Scouting related video podcasts, but I found one today I think you should take a look at. It is about a special Boy Scout troop in Seattle that ... Well, I think I will quote what is on the site.

'Rev. James / Women’s Prison Purdy Women’s Correctional Facility Seattle, Washington December 2006 Scouting Serves Sons of Incarcerated Mothers “If not for the Scouting program, most of these mothers might not see their sons at all during their incarceration.” '

It looks like an awesome program that really helps the boys and their mothers. It is a great example of how Scouting can benefit a community. You can see the video HERE. While you are on the site be sure to leave a comment and DIGG it.

Eagle Scout Commitment

When I received an email from the council last month to inform me that Boy Scout Troop 68 has new Eagle Scout, it did not take me long to pick up the phone and call Mike to congratulate him. He is the seventeenth Scout of Troop 68 to attain the rank of Eagle Scout since I have taken over as scoutmaster. He is the eighteenth Scout to earn it in Troop 68's history. (By the way, that is not Mike in the picture.)

During the last 25 years, the troop's percentage of Scouts who attain the rank of Eagle is a little higher then the national average, about seven or eight percent. These boys earned the Eagle Rank because they wanted to earn it, not because they were told they had to earn it. I do encourage the boys to set Eagle as a goal, but when it comes down to it it is really their decision and no one else's.

I have seen a lot more Scouts earn the Life Rank then I have seen earn the Eagle Rank. Sometimes the Scout waits too long to finish his Eagle Scout requirements and suddenly their eighteenth birthday has arrived. (Oops, too late!) Sometimes the Scout gets too busy with a part time job, or sports, or activities, or even (gasp) a girlfriend. All these things take time out of a young man's schedule. And sometimes the Scout simply does not have the desire to earn the Eagle Rank.

I know of two times during the last two decades in which parents offered their son a car if they earned the Eagle Rank. For these boys it was like hitting the kill switch. They quit earning advancement and soon quit Scouting. It seems to prove my point when I say that a Boy Scout has to want to attain the award himself, or it will not be earned. Parents and troop leaders should encourage their Scouts and assist them when needed, but do not bribe them. I think a bribe cheapens the award and takes away some of the meaning of earning it.

Of the seventeen Boy Scouts of Troop 68 who have attained the Eagle Rank, I think only two were "strongly pushed" by their parents. The parents of the other fifteen were there to support their son but they left the decision, and the work, up to the Scout, which is the way it should be. After all, it is an award for the Scout to attain, not the parent.

I have heard of some troops who are considered "Eagle factories". I am sure many of these troop's have an excellent program that helps the boys to attain this rank. I also know there are some troops who kind of "push" the Scouts along to make as many Eagle as possible. I decided a long time ago that my troop would not be an Eagle factory. While I think it is great when any Scout becomes an Eagle, I do not think it is the troop's responsibility to make it easy every step of the way.

For example, a Scout needs to reach out on his own to earn some of the merit badges. He needs to plan out, pick up the phone, and make his own appointment with councilors. By doing this he learns important communication and planning skills. He learns how to be resourseful and do things on his own. Now, I am not saying that our troop never brings in any merit badge councilors to our troop meetings. We do sometimes. But we do not go out of our way to bring in every councilor needed to earn the merit badges required for the ranks. Besides, we have other things we like to do besides working on advancement every meeting.

I guess what I have been trying to say is that a Boy Scout who wishes to earn the rank of Eagle Scout must be committed to the goal. He needs to demonstrate that he is resourceful, that he will not shy away from work, and that he is ready to prove himself worthy of wearing Scouting's highest award on his uniform. No one else can, or should, do that for him.

MSPP #26: You Know You Are A Boy Scout When... Part 2

When do you know you are a Boy Scout? Is it when you attain the Tenderfoot rank? Is it when you have spent your first night in a tent, away from home, in the middle of the forest? Is it when you lash your first 80' high signal tower?

Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, returns with a second video for the Melrose Scouting Production Podcast to explain "You Know You Are A Boy Scout When..." In this video he talks about internet chat rooms, packing for the camping trip, setting up your tent, and poison ivy.

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.

Do not forget to go to the iTunes music store and leave a comment for this podcast and the other podcasts of PTC Media. When you leave a comment for each of the shows you will be entered in a drawing for some great Scouting stuff. PTC media plans to hold four drawings during the next couple months and the only way to register is to post comments on iTunes. Good luck!

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Scouting Videos

Yeah. It is true. I like to collect videos about Scouting. I like to make videos about Scouting. I like putting these videos online for the whole world to see.

There are three sites that I regularly post videos online: Youtube, the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, and our troop's website. Youtube presents the videos easily to the world viewing audience. The podcast allows anyone with a computer to download the videos. I consider the troop's site to be the archive of the videos. The troop site contains more of my videos then the other two sites.

The videos on the Troop 68 site have been divided into six headings. The first is "Songs, skits, and other stuff". This heading features the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 performing campfire songs and skits during their annual Laughs For Lunch Show. Videos from summer camp programs can also be found here.

The next heading is the "Activity Videos". This is where I have placed the videos of trips to Philmont, the 2001 National Jamboree, and other troop events.

The "Yearly Reviews" futures slide shows of several years of the troop's activities. So far there are only six of the twenty-seven years represented, but the goal is to get one made for each year.

The "Eagle Scout Videos" features slide shows of each troop member who has attained Scouting's highest rank since the 1980's. The videos include pictures from their years as a Scout in Melrose.

The "Promotional Videos and Commercials" is where you will find the videos produced by the national office and a couple councils. These are not videos that I made, they are videos I have collected over the last twenty years. So far, know one from the national office has asked me to remove them. I hope they don't. I think it is great for people to still see these videos, most of which can no longer be found easily.

The final heading is where the videos of Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, can be found. These videos have been fun to make, although they do have there own special challenges to film. I have been very pleased to see a small fan base develop for Buttons. It seems that fans include anyone from Cub Scouts to adult Scouters. As Buttons would say, "Awesome, dude!"

The troop's site currently contains sixty-nine videos. More videos will be posted as they become available. In fact, a new video starring Buttons should be posted this weekend. Watch for it.

I would like to take a moment to thank David H., a former member of the troop. Dave has provided the troop with its website, along with plenty of space to put all these videos which eat up a lot of bandwidth. The troop's website would not be possible without David's generosity. Thanks David!

World Scouting Jamboree Official Song 2007

10,000 Visitors

This note is more for myself then anyone else - The visitor counter hit 10,000 this afternoon! It took less then five months. Cool!

Making Films

Remember sitting in a class room during high school and thinking to yourself, "When am I ever going to need to know this?" I was in a high school film class in the mid-seventies. I really did not take the class to learn anything useful. I took it to have fun. In addition to learning film history and how films were made, we had to break into groups and make our own short film. Each group had to write a script, decide who would star in what roles, who would be the cameraman, director, and editor, and so forth. I enjoyed the class.

There was no such thing as a camcorder in those years. We used a super 8mm film camera. Film, not tape. We has to send the film out to be developed. When it came time to edit we literally had to cut and paste (tape) the film. It was fun to make the film, and even more fun to watch the class reaction when we all watched it.

Let us jump ahead ten years. Melrose has a new community access television station, Mel-TV3. Camcorders (vhs) are becoming popular in households. In fact, one of the Scouting families owns a camcorder. I decide it is time to start filming troop functions to play "on the air". It will be a great way to show the community what we do in Boy Scouting, so I join the station's board of directors. We begin with taping court of honors and soon are creating "original" productions.

Let us jump ahead twenty years more, to today's digital world. I am still making videos with the Scouts. I now own a digital camcorder and a Macintosh computer so I can do all my editing at my home instead of at the television studio. I still produce Scouting shows for Mel-TV, and now am being asked to provide shows for a second local television station. I can hit a wider audience through placing videos on the internet. Some of my videos are found on our troop's website, my podcast, Youtube, and some other video sites. People from around the world can see these videos.

Sometimes I think back to those days in that high school film class, and then think about how much the technology of film making has come. I am doing things now I never would have dreamed of doing then. I just wish I would have taken a typing class.
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Too Much Philmont Sasaparilla

The following is an excerpt from the journal I wrote after attending Philmont Scout Ranch with the Boy Scouts from Troop 68 in 1986. The full journal can be found HERE.

"Ever get sick on sasaparilla? It is not a pleasant experience. I know. I speak from experience. After supper and clean up we hiked the short distance from our camp to the Abreu Cantina. Our first bit of business when we arrived was to order a pitcher of sasaparilla and have a few chug-a-lug contests. Pitchers were emptied and new ones were ordered.

Chug-a-lugging gave way to a game called quarters. Quarters is played by each person attempting to bounce a quarter off the counter into a glass of sasaparilla. If successful he could then pick someone to drink the glass. I found it to be any interesting game. It is also hard on the stomach if you lose to often. Or, if the winner likes you too well. I watched the Scouts play it and they were not having any luck getting the quarter into the glass. So, being the suave leader that I am, I entered the game. It was not one of my most brilliant decisions. The Scouts started to dunk the quarters. And guess who was chosen to drink a lot of the brew?

We drank six pitchers of sasaparilla within thirty minutes. Gerry, Robert, and I seemed to have drank the most of that. Our stomachs were not ready to handle this type of abuse. We went outside to get some fresh air and try to settle the rumblings and pains that were beginning to occur within our bellies.

Robert and Jeff walked off toward the stream. Robert was grumbling about a stomach ache. Jeff told Robert that he had a way to make him feel better. Jeff stuck his finger down his throat to demonstrate how well it could work. Robert did not need to use his fingers. As Jeff was laughing, Gerry, who happened to be close by, walked up to them to see what was going on. When Gerry saw that Robert was ridding himself of his drinks he also bent over and joined him in the activity. Though not by choice.

Gerry and Robert had their backs to me when I saw them. Jeff was standing next to the two bent over figures, laughing and having a good old time. I like a good joke so I started walking toward them. I turned back as soon as I realized the nature of what was going on. If I had continued to them any further, I would have joined them, and thus made it a threesome. Robert asked the staff of Abreu for a shovel to clean up the mess. They told him not to worry about it. It was an occupational hazard that came along with the cantina."
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Patch Trading and Collecting

Whenever Boy Scouts and adult leaders gather at a camporee, jamboree, or training session there is probably going to be some patch trading going on at a table or on a blanket on the ground, especially if the event includes Scouts from around the country or from around the world.

My introduction to patch trading was when I attended a Scoutmaster Fundamentals training course at Philmont Scout Ranch in 1984. I had heard stories about how seriously some people take this hobby, but it was only when I saw grown men sitting around a table with open three ring binders full of clear plastic pages of patches that I truly realized how big this hobby was. So many designs. So many colors. So many patches! I decided then that I needed to start a collection of my own.

I put Scouting patches into three main groupings: the council shoulder patch (csp), the Order of the Arrow Lodge flaps and patches, and the activity patches that you receive for attending a camporee or maybe selling popcorn. I like collecting the csp's and the Order of the Arrow flaps. The only activity patches I am interesting in collecting are the ones given for an activity in which I participated.

When I attended the 2001 National Jamboree as scoutmaster of Troop 1417, I got the chance to see how popular this hobby has become for both the youth and the adults, and how much fun it can be to collect. The Scouts of my troop were excited after an evening of trading, and would often show me the patches they added to their collection that day. It did not take them long to discover which patches were very popular and which patches were not very popular. It was fun to see all the trading blankets laid out along the roadways of the jamboree and the hundreds of people making deals for the patches they wanted. The trade would always end with a handshake which signified that both participants accepted the trade.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the Boy Scouts of America has a policy that restricts trading. Boys must trade with boys, and adults must trade with adults. The boys and the adults are not to trade with each other. There must have been some problems with adults trading unfairly with boys, or visa versa. By the way, there is a blog about patch trading called Boy Scout Memorabilia Collecting. Check it out.

I am not a die-hard patch trader. I am more of a collector. I do have a couple hundred csp's and lodge flaps in my collection which fit into three large three ring notebooks. My favorite patches are the ones I collected from the 2001 National Jamboree.

During the last two years I have done most of my collecting from the internet. I have bought a few patches on eBay, but most of the new additions have been received from trading a dvd-r for patches. The dvd-r is a compilation of Scouting commercials and promotional films that I have collected over the last two decades. I trade the dvd-r for two patches, a council shoulder patch and an OA lodge flap. The trades have worked well. I have received some very nice patches, and the other person has received a dvd-r that they have put to use a variety of ways, including entertainment at district and council dinners.

I would expect that soon I will be starting my fourth notebook. After all, there are a lots of patches out there that I do not have yet!
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A Scoutmaster's Leadership

I came across an old blog about Scouting today. It looks like the blog has not been updated for quite awhile, almost two years now. There is one post I thought you might find interesting though. It is a story about the leadership a scoutmaster provided to the Scouts of his troop, and how that leadership affected the life of one of those Boy Scouts. I suggest you check it out. It can be found at the Genealogy Merit Badge blog.

A Fantastic Good Turn

This Boy Scout Troop really knows the meaning of doing a Good Turn. They are giving up a trip to Disney to help rebuild a church. Here is a portion of the article:

Boy Scouts Give Up Disney World to Help Rebuild Church

Posted: Nov. 2 6:26 p.m.

Henderson — Time at Disney World could not compete with helping others for three Boy Scout troops in Vance County.

Every year, Boy Scout Troop 691 in Henderson joins with two other troops for a chicken cook-out fundraiser. The proceeds go to pay for a trip to Disney World for the boys.

This year, however, the scouts volunteered to donate money they will raise Saturday to help Union Chapel United Methodist Church rebuild its sanctuary.

Lightning likely sparked a fierce fire on Aug. 10 that burned most of the 178-year-old church to the ground. Among many other items, the church lost its stained glass windows, which were brought from Europe and dated to the early 1800s.

Larry Medlin, described how his 11-year-old son, James, who so far has earned his second-class scout rank, came up with the idea on his own after hearing about the fire. "James said, 'Daddy, let's raise money to help them build their church instead of going to Disney,'" Larry Medlin said.

To read the rest of the article click HERE.

MSPP #25: Frisbee Follies, A Summer Camp Adventure

Here is a bit of a treat for you. I dug into the video vaults of Troop 68 and pulled out this little gem. Frisbee Follies, A Summer Camp Adventure was one of the first videos made by the Scouts of Troop 68. The Scouts made it during their week-long stay at Many Point Scout Camp in 1988. It was filmed with a vhs video camera almost twenty years ago, thus it is grainier then new digital footage would be.

The footage was filmed during two afternoons. The Scouts and I made up a rough outline of the plot (of which I admit there is not much of one), grabbed the camera and started shooting. It was pretty much filmed in order, and many scenes were sort-of made up as we filmed them. I was the director, cameraman, and editor. I learned a few things while putting this video together, like music in the background of a couple shots would have been nice.

The basic plot was to see how we could eliminate the frisbee players one by one through various mishaps as they chased a frisbee across the camp. I will admit that a couple eliminations where a bit on the weak side, some of the chase scenes are a bit dull, but a few shots turned out better then we could have ever hoped for. My favorites are the monkey bridge and the tether ball mishaps. Just to let you know, no Scouts were harmed during the filming of this project. It just looks that way. If fact, when we saw the footage ourselves the first time, we were amazed that no one was hurt.

I hope you enjoy this first attempt at producing a short film. We did it for ourselves, but we also played it on our local television cable access channel. Let me know what you think about it. Have my videos gotten worse, or better? You be the judge.

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A Long Day of Scouting

Last week the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 held their monthly activity which happened to be the LPMRB. What is that, you ask? Long day of Pizza, Movie, Rollerskating, and Bowling. It is basically a twelve hour activity that has been a popular troop activity for many years. (The L of the LPMRB was originally for Laser tag, but the BSA does not want Scouts playing that game any more.)

The activity begins at 12:30, Saturday afternoon, when the Scouts gather at my place. We then drive to the Skatin' Place in St. Cloud, about 35 miles from Melrose. The troop rollerskates, or inline skates, for about three and one half hours, also playing the occasional arcade game. There were not many people at the rink this year. There were times when the Scouts were the only people skating, which in a way was nice since we did not have to skate around other skaters.

Godfather's Pizza was the next stop on the list of places to go. This year we only needed to buy three large pizzas to fill the bellies of the nine boys and two adults. We had a little time to kill after eating so we did a little shopping at a dollar store and browsing through a skateboard and snowboard store.

When we arrived at the movie theater complex it did not take long to decide on a movie. Over half of the eighteen movies showing were R rated. Most of the PG-13 movies were not suitable for the age group of our Scouts. We ended up watching Dan In Real Life which was a pretty good movie. Even the younger Scouts enjoyed it.

We arrived back in Melrose with over an hour to to kill before our session of bowling would begin at 11:30 pm. I thought the boys would play table tennis, darts, or boards in my basement but we all ended up in my living room watching a dvd of Weird Al music videos.

I was getting tired by the time we arrived at the bowling alley. I quickly discovered that my bowling skills had deteriorated since last year's event. Either I have to spend less time playing Wii bowling, or more time actually throwing a bowling ball. By 1:30 in the morning the last parent had arrived to pick up their son. The boys had gone home. I was ready for a good night's sleep.

Yes, the LPMRB makes for one long day but the Scouts really enjoy it. Maybe this event does not fit the usually outdoorsy type of Scouting activity, but the boys have a great time with each other and enjoy the camaraderie. Once in awhile you just have to leave the tents and knots behind and do something different.