iTunes Reviews of MSPP

The Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (MSPP) which features videos of Boy Scouts performing skits and singing songs, and videos of Buttons the radical Boy Scout, has been found on the iTunes music store since the beginning. Once nice feature about the iTunes store is that viewers can rate the podcasts and leave comments. I enjoy reading the comments. They keep me fired up about producing new videos. The comments and videos also help to increase the podcast's ranking in iTunes which then gives the podcast more visibility. I like it when I can help Scouting receive more visibility. Here are a few of the comments posted on iTunes.

Scouterbill writes, "Buttons is definitely the most 'Radical Boy Scout'. My Den loves Buttons. Keep up the good work."

saxman104 wrote, "My Scouts enjoy watching Buttons. He is also very helpful in teaching young Scouts about Scouting. Steve does a wonderful job in his acting and writing of material. Highly recommend watching them."

ake... writes, "How can you have anymore fun than watching videos with Scouts? Better then TV."

and the comment made by GCostigan made me giggle, and then got me thinking about merchandising when he wrote, "Something that I can have my Scouts watch and enjoy. Now they want Buttons patrol patches."

I would like to thank you all who have taken the time to leave a comment at iTunes, Youtube, and PTC Media. I also want to thank those of you who dropped me an email to comment about the videos. I do read them all and appreciate them. Keep them coming!

MSPP #31: Buttons and the Outdoor Code

Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, talks about the Outdoor Code in this post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. Not only does he recite it but he also covers the four "C's" of the code: clean in the outdoors, careful with fire, considerate in the outdoors, and conservation-minded. It is a code that all Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts should follow whenever you are in the great outdoors, like when you are camping or hiking or just having fun.

Buttons would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment to this post, or at the PTC Media forums, which is holding a drawing through the month of February. It would also be great if you left a comment and rate the podcast at the iTunes music store which helps Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast get a higher rating and thus, make it more visible to people who search for Scouting podcasts. You can also leave a comment at Digg.com. Thanks for watching.

Download Podcast
Watch Video on the troop's website.
Subscribe through iTunes.
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Laughs For Lunch Show: Part 3

The 2008 Laughs For Lunch Show is now part of history. Once again the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 did a great job of performing skits and songs before a live audience. Approximately 70 people attended the show, including family members, friends, and even Scouts and adult leaders from neighboring communities.

After our final practice Saturday afternoon, the troop gathered at my house for a supper of pizza and sodas before heading back to the school auditorium for the actual show. We even had enough free time to watch about fifteen minutes of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

While we were in my basement family room eating pizza, I told the boys that I had heard that a Hollywood talent agent, who happened to be in St. Cloud, had heard about our show and was planning to come to Melrose and watch it. Of course, most of the older boys did not believe me, but the younger ones were not sure if I was telling the truth or not. After a few minutes, I confessed that I was kidding.

As people arrived for the show, I noticed that the chairperson for this year's Ripley Rendezvous, a council event held at the Camp Ripley National Guard Base in central Minnesota, had arrived to see the Scouts perform. She had emailed me earlier in the week to ask if the troop would be interested in doing a few skits and songs during the evening program at Ripley. I invited het to attend the show and see if this type of thing was what she was looking for.

So, in a way, a talent scout was sitting in our audience, just not from Hollywood. I did inform the Boy Scouts about our special guest before we started the show, but once the curtains opened I do not think they gave it another thought.

The Ripley chairperson came down to the stage after the show to chat with me. She was very pleased with the Scouts' performance and would like them to be part of the Ripley program. I steered her to our senior patrol leader to discuss the matter with him. I am sure this will be a topic during our next patrol leader council meeting.

It has been a few years since Troop 68 has performed at a council or district event. We do participate in the closing campfire program at summer camp, but the Ripley Rendezvous will have a much larger audience, two to three times that of summer camp, and ten times the size of the Laughs For Lunch crowd.

Will the Boy Scouts be able to handle that? I know they can. A little more practice, along with a little more encouragement, and they will be able to perform for anyone. Even the president of the United States.

Active in the Order of the Arrow

That time of year has arrived when the Naguonabe Lodge of the Order of the Arrow is holding elections around the council. Even though Troop 68 has only one Boy Scout eligible we need to contact the lodge and set up an election date.

The troop currently only has three members of the O.A., two Scouts and myself. Neither of the Scouts has been very active. In fact, neither Scout has done anything with the lodge since they completed their Ordeal weekend, so you could say they are inactive at this point. Yes, I am a member of the lodge. I try to keep my dues paid, but if I do not attend a lodge function during the year then, I admit, my dues do not get paid.

Why are the boys inactive? I am sure there are several reasons. I do not think they are aware of when lodge activities are held. The lodge attempts to print a quarterly newsletter, but it does not always happen. I understand the challenges of printing a regular newsletter. When you are dealing with several people from across the council things sometimes just do not get accomplished.

Communications about lodge functions must start with the lodge, of course. Yes, a scoutmaster can do his part to try to keep O.A. members informed, but he can only do that when he is informed. As a scoutmaster, I would not mind receiving a letter a couple weeks before each activity to remind me to talk the the troop's members. But mailings take time and money, so I have a feeling this is not something that will happen very often. Maybe they could start an email mailing group. That would not cost much to do. I did find a website that was started for our lodge, but nothing has been posted to it since April of 2007.

Am I active in the lodge? I am as active as the boys in my troop. I have had years when I have been quite active, and I have had years when I did not attend a single lodge activity. The Order of the Arrow is a youth organization, not an adult club, so I do not attend unless members from my troop do. I usually end up being the driver because most of the time the Scouts are too young to have a license.

Am I proud to be a member of the Order of the Arrow? Yes I am. I think it is a great organization. Unfortunately, I was never a youth member so I was never able to participate at that level. I do encourage current troop members to be active, and to complete the Brotherhood membership, but it is their decision, not mine.

In an ideal lodge all members would participate in most events. Unfortunately, in the real world there are family functions, jobs, sporting events, and troop activities that get in the way. Forgetting about those funtions does not help either.

I would not mind being a more active member of the O.A. I wish my Scouts were more active. As a scoutmaster, I can only do so much. I do have a life outside of Scouting, after all. I think the lodge leadership could be more active in promoting the lodge to its members. With a little help and encouragement from the council I think that could happen.

Move the Jamboree?

I just discovered tonight, as I was checking out some Scout forums, that the BSA national office appears to be looking for a new site to hold the National Jamborees. Don't worry about the 2010 Jambo, that one will still be at Fort A.P. Hill. But future ones may not be. It is not about the military pulling their support of the Jamboree. They are not. In fact, it sounds like they will probably continue their support at the new Jambo site.

It appears that a letter has been sent to councils asking for their assistance in finding a new new site. This letter explains the reasons for moving the Jamboree away from Fort A.P. Hill, and what requirements must be met by a new site. You can read the letter for yourself by clicking HERE.

Coming Soon! The National Jamboree.

The next National Jamboree is only two and one half years away! It is time to start thinking about whether or not I intend to attend as an adult leader.

My decision will be based on the Boy Scouts of my troop. If several of them decide to attend then I will apply to be one of the troop leaders. If they don't, then I won't. But I think it would be great to attend another Jamboree.

I was the scoutmaster of Troop 1417 during the 2001 National Jamboree. I participated in a lot of meetings to prepare for that trip. But it was worth it. I was lucky to have a great team of assistant scoutmasters and junior leaders. I was also blessed to have a great group of Boy Scouts in my Jambo troop. Things went so well that during the reunion meeting held a few weeks after returning from the trip, I told the parents that I never want to attend another Jamboree again. The Scouts and leaders of Troop 1417 set the bar so high that I was sure I would never have another troop as good as this one.

Well, several years have now gone by and the itch to attend another Jamboree needs scratching. Of course, this being the Jamboree celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America is just one more reason to attend.

As far as I know, the Central Minnesota Council has not formed a Jamboree committee yet. I hope they do soon. I know it takes nearly two years to prepare for a trip of this magnitude. I would expect the transportation to be one of the biggest issues.

In 2001, the council sent two troops to the Jamboree. In 2005, the council was able to send three troops to Virginia, which was nearly ten percent of the Boy Scouts in our council. (We are not a large council.) It would be great to see our council send three troops in 2010. Or even four troops. Of course, the problem could be finding enough adults to accompany the troops. Just one more reason for the council to get started early.

The 2010 National Jamboree promises to be the biggest event in the BSA's history. I think it would be great to be one small part of it. Now, I just have to convince my Boy Scouts.

More Scouting Blogs

I am always looking around the internet looking for new places to visit and bookmark about Scouting. Here are a few Scouting blogs I recently discovered. I invite you to check out:

http://KISMIF.org (A very good Cub Scouting blog)
http://thecubscoutleader.blogspot.com/ (another good Cub Scouting Blog)
and
http://halfeagle.com (A collection of various Scouting blogs in one place.) The author of this blog has included the blogs of PTC Media, of which the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is a part of.

From Misfits to Eagles

Okay, I just had to pass this along to you all. There is a story in the Saturday edition of the Washington Post about eleven Tigers Cubs who stayed together through Cub Scouting, into Boy Scouting, and all recently attained the rank of Eagle Scout. They were described as cry babies when they entered the troop, but through Scouting they grew into outstanding young men. Here is just a small piece of the article:

As Cub Scouts, they were so wild that the exasperated leaders insisted that their parents attend the meetings to keep things from getting out of hand. Their first hike as Boy Scouts became notable for the "strike" when the boys lay down side by side on an easy trail and refused to go on after having covered about the length of the Mall.

But something happened to these 11 whiny, quick-to-say-quit goofballs from Boy Scout Troop 681 in Falls Church. It happened somewhere along the way between pinewood derbies and knot-tying in the Scout House, the log cabin where the group met three times a month under the glassy eyes of a stuffed moose. And it happened on 50-mile hikes and canoe trips, under the watch of scoutmasters such as the retired lieutenant colonel who spun war stories and taught them how to set up an L-shaped ambush, Ranger-style.

I hope the Post leaves the article online for quite awhile, and that this gets picked up by national news organizations. Read about it HERE.

John Wayne, the Boy Scout

Did you know that the great American actor John Wayne was a Boy Scout in his youth? It seems that even in his adult life he never forgot his time in Scouting. In fact, even as Mr. Wayne was dying of cancer, he attended a benefit dinner to raise money for a new Scout camp. President Gerald Ford, who also attended the dinner, said of Mr. Wayne, "It occurs to me that John Wayne, like so many other great Americans, has never lost the sense that there is a higher good, something outside the individual, which each of us should seek to achieve."

When the time came for Mr. Wayne to speak to the crowd he surprised everyone when he recited the Scout Law. Then he added, ""Trouble is, we learn them (the points of the Law) so young we sometimes don't get all the understanding that goes with them. I take care of that in my family. As each boy reaches Scout age, I make sure he learns the Scout Law. Then I break it down for him, with a few things I have picked up in more than half a century since I learned it." He then went on to break it down for the audience.

I am not going to print the whole thing Mr. Wayne said in this blog because you can read it at Boy Scout Trail or the USSP site. It is a great explanation about the meaning of the Scout Law so I do encourage you to check it out. I have wanted to use this a couple of times at a court of honor, but for some reason I always seem to forget to put it in my briefcase.

I am always amazed with the number of well known people who were involved with Boy Scouting in their youth, and how they fondly remember their days as a Boy Scout. I wish more people would come forward and tell the public about what Scouting has meant to them.

2007 Photographs

One thing about being the webmaster for the troop is trying to find the time to keep the web site up to date. It is not an easy task, and I have fallen behind a bit, but today I did get the chance to do some work on it.

I am happy to report that the 2007 photo gallery is now complete. The gallery contains over 100 pictures taken during the year. There are photos from the Laughs For Lunch Show, courts of honor, the Ripley Rendezvous, troop activities, and summer camp. It is quite a collection, but only a fraction of the 1200 photos I took during troop functions this year.

You know, before the digital photo era, when I used something know as 35mm film, I would be doing well to take a couple hundred of photographs each year. Now, thanks to memory cards, I take a few hundred photos just at summer camp. Isn't technology wonderful?

Check out all the pictures of 2007 by clicking HERE. And then leave a comment about what you think of them.

Laughs For Lunch Show 2008: Part 2

There is less then two weeks left to prepare for this year's Laughs For Lunch Show, a community show put on by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68. (I have discovered that Scouts in some other countries call this type of show a "gang show".) As the scoutmaster of the troop, I find myself in the position of producer and director.

As the producer I work with other people to arrange the facilities, make sure we have the props and gear needed, and get the word out to community. I write the releases for the local newspapers and cable television stations. I also arrange to have the show videotaped to be broadcast over one of the local stations.

My job as the director begins a month before the show when I meet with several Scouts to plan the show's format. The boys will discuss dozens of songs and skits. Then they begin to narrow them down to the ones they think should be in this year's production. Finally, they decide the actual agenda. My job is to keep them moving forward and on track, to answer questions they have, to explain new songs or skits, and get in one or two things I would like to see included. We plan the show similar to the way we plan our yearly program.

As the director, things can get pretty interesting during practices. I have to try to keep the Scouts focused, which is always a challenge with teenagers. I also help the boys understand what needs to be done during the skit. That means I may be on stage acting out a skit or singing a song with the Scouts. I sometimes think the Scouts find me amusing when I am acting out the various roles.

During the show I am backstage making sure the Scouts are ready to go out on stage when they need to. I will also find myself on stage introducing a skit or even performing with the boys. This year I will find myself on stage without the Scouts as I lead the audience in a wild version of the song Vista.

I always enjoy working with the Boy Scouts as we prepare for the show. It is challenging. It can be a little stressful. But overall, it is always fun.

Laughs For Lunch Show 2008: Part 1

Two practices are done, and there are only two more to go as the Boy Scouts prepare for this year's Laughs For Lunch Show. I can not help but think that there are only eight Scouts this year to perform in a show that used to take over thirty Scouts to do.

For those of you who may be new to this blog, the Laughs For Lunch Show is an annual campfire-style show done for the community by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68. The boys perform various songs and skits during the ninety minute production. Many of the videos seen on the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast feature performances from these shows.

The show is open to the public. Family, friends, and families from surrounding troops and packs who are looking for an evening of live entertainment attend the show. People have traveled over one hundred miles to attend the shows. The troop does not charge anything, but we do ask that people bring an item for the local food shelf. Thus we provide the laughs, and the audience provides the lunch for the needy in our area.

I affectionately call this year's show our "gross out" show. The Scouts have included skits and songs as "My Dead Dog Rover", "God Bless My Underwear", and the Ice Fisherman skit. Of course, they will be doing a few troop favorites like The Movie Skit and the Mad Scientist Skit. Nearly thirty songs and skits are part of this year's program.

The troop uses its three January meeting to practice. The meetings are two hours long instead of the usual ninety minutes. The fourth and final practice takes place during the afternoon before the evening performance. Many of the skits only get practiced twice, and a couple will only get one quick run-through. I have been amazed each year that we can put together a show of this scale with only four practices. It proves how dedicated the Scouts are to this show.

Do we make mistakes during the show? Of course! Does it matter? Not usually. The best thing about doing campfire songs and skits is that you can usually work a mistake right into the skit. Adlibbing is part of the process. We do not take ourselves so seriously that we forget to have fun with the show.

As the scoutmaster I also serve as the producer and director of the show, but do not let that fool you. After the Scouts get comfortable with a skit they begin to change it, add to it, and make it their own. They are always trying new things. During the last practice the boys were constantly making each other break out laughing as they tried various adlibs. It is surprising how many of them will be finding their way into the show. One thing I like about our shows is how we combine pieces of various skits within other skits. For example, the Scouts will be using characters from the Bellringer skit, the Mad Scientist skit, and the Group Jump skit during the Trip To Hell skit. I think it adds a nice continuity to the show.

We still have a lot of work to do during our remaining practices, but I am confident that the Scouts will do their best to once again entertain the audience when the curtains open on Saturday, January 26th.

Humorous Camping Tips

You need to check out Buffalo Eagle's latest post to the Lone Star Scout Blog. It lists over eighteen great humorous tips for camping. One of my favorites from this list is, "Lint from your navel makes a handy fire starter. Warning: Remove lint from navel before applying the match." You can find the posting here:
http://buffaloeagle.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/some-camping-tips/

MSPP #30: Singing In The Rain

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 in Melrose have been doing an annual show called Laughs For Lunch for over ten years. The show follows a campfire program format and features songs and skits you may see while you enjoy a program at summer camp or a camporee. The Laughs for Lunch Shows usually last for ninety minutes or so. Both the Boy Scouts and the audience have a good time.

This entry to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast features five Scouts from the 1998 show performing an old favorite, "Singing In The Rain". I am sure you are very familiar with the song, but are you familiar with the actions that go with it during a Boy Scout campfire program? It is great fun to have the audience stand up and perform this song with the leaders. Try it yourself. It could be quite interesting to do this song at your next pack meeting or troop weekend camping trip.

Just for your information, it has been ten years since this skit was filmed with a vhs camera. These boys are now close to finishing college. One has even served his country over in Iraq. Gosh, where does the time go?

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or Watch the Video on the troop's website.
Subscribe through iTunes.
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My Pack Just Disappeared!

It had been a good day at Many Point Scout Camp, but it was time for a good night's sleep. My last check of the campsite was complete. The Scouts were all in their tents, crawled into their sleeping bags, laying on their cots. I walked into my canvas A-framed tent and began changing my clothes. I noticed a small field mouse exploring the far corner of the floorless tent, looking for something to eat. "You are looking in the wrong tent," I thought to myself as I pulled off my socks.

I had just crawled into my sleeping bag when the yelling began in the tent that was next to mine. It was the tent that housed the senior patrol leader (SPL) and his assistant. "There is something in our tent," the SPL shouted. "Steve, there is something in our tent!"

My first thought was of the little field mouse I had just seen in my tent, so I called back to him, "It's probably just a field mouse. Don't worry about it."

"It's not a field mouse," he yelled back. "There is something in our tent." Then, his voice became louder and higher pitched as he screamed, "My backpack just disappeared!" Okay, so it is not a field mouse, I thought to myself as I crawled out of my sleeping bag, grabbed a flashlight, and put on my shoes. I poked my head out of the tent, shined the flashlight around, and almost immediately spotted a couple beady pair of raccoon eyes reflecting back to me. I was startled to see how big they were. Obviously, they had been eating well this summer. I also saw two young raccoons on the edge of the woods. Isn't that nice, I thought. The whole family is here.

The raccoons were checking out the SPL's backpack for any tasty snacks. After scaring them off and returning the pack, the SPL admitted to having food hidden in his pack. He removed the food and returned the pack to his tent. Unfortunately, the damage had been done. The raccoon family now knew of a tent that may have food in it. That family of critters returned every night about 10:30 for the next three nights, hoping to find something to nibble on.

It turned out to be a good lesson for the troop, although it was a hard lesson for the senior patrol leader. It has turned into a good story for around the campfire. To me, it will always be known as "The Night The Backpack Disappeared!"

Boy Scout saves President of the Maldives

Every once in a while we hear a great story about a Boy Scout who saves someone's life. But how often do we hear about a Boy Scout saving the life of a president of a country? That happened today in a small country in the Indian Ocean. The scout stopped an assassin from stabbing the President of the Republic of Maldives as the President was greeting a group of people. You can read about the story on Yahoo by clicking HERE.

Scouting Journalism

I was a pretty good student in high school. Mathematics was my best class. I did well in English classes, but not so well in phy ed class. (I was the 98 pound weakling of my class, literally.) I did like to read, but I never considered myself a writer. If someone had told me back then that I would someday be writing articles for the local newspaper, or penning scripts for the local cable access television station, or posting entries to internet blogs, why, I probably would have laughed in their face. And then go back to reading whatever book I was into at the moment.

I may have had no desire to be a writer when I was in high school, but when I was nineteen years old my first article about the local Scouting troop and pack was published in the local weekly paper. I was the new assistant scoutmaster of Troop 68 in June, 1980, totally unaware of what I was about to get myself into.

Those first few articles were only a few paragraphs long, co-written by one of the committee members. They covered what happened during troop and den meetings. Short articles, and straight to the point. As the years passed, my writing style began to change and develop. I focused more on the monthly activities, and less on the humdrum meetings. The articles became less frequent, but they became longer. Pictures accompanied the articles so the reader could see what the Scouts were doing in addition to reading about them.

In 1986, five Troop 68 Boy Scouts and myself spend two weeks at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. I kept a journal while hiking through the mountains. Using those notes from my journal, and the pictures taken during the trip, I wrote a long article for the local newspaper. I think I got a little long winded. The article ended up being a two parter, with each part taking up nearly half a page of the paper with the photos.

I have written many articles about Scouting during my twenty seven years with Boy Scout Troop 68. I have saved these articles and keep them in four scrapbooks. I now have three local newspapers that agree to print my articles when I write them. You might think I am making a little money with all that writing. Not a cent. I write the articles to promote Scouting, not to make money.

I still get a warm feeling when someone mentions that they enjoyed reading one of my articles. I will not lie, I am rather proud of myself for being able to write something that some people enjoy reading. But I am also humbled that people enjoy reading things that I write. After all, I am not a professional writer. Stephen King has nothing to worry from me.

Hmmm... That gets me thinking. Maybe I should write a book about my Scouting experiences. Maybe title it, "The Scoutmaster Thinks, and Unfortunately Wrote It Down."

Scouting Commercials

Here are a couple Scouting commercials you may, or may not, have seen.