Spelunking Injury

The first time the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 went spelunking at Eagle Cave in Wisconsin they had a great time. So it was not a surprise that we scheduled another trip to the cave a few years later. (Pictures of the trip can be seen on our troop website HERE.)

This time the troop "camped" toward the back of the cave. It was a nice area, with very little traffic that went by us. The cave ceiling was a little low, causing some of the boys to crawl to their sleeping bags. At least our area was dry. unlike the troop a little further down the cave which had plastic over their gear and bags to protect it from the moisture dripping from the ceiling.

As noon on Saturday approached, I was outside near the dining hall. The boys would soon be arriving for lunch. In fact, dozens of boys from other troops were already gathering. I spotted a couple Scouts from my troop running toward me with a look of concern on their faces. "Mike's hurt!" they told me between gulps of air. "His head is all bloody." Of course, as a scoutmaster all sorts of possibilities went through my mind. I understood that a head injury could be pretty serious, and hoped that the boys were exaggerating.

As I made my way to the cave I caught site of a few boys leading Mike toward me. His hair was a bloody mess. Several lines of blood had trickled down his face. My first thought was, "Wow, that is a lot of blood." But then I noticed that he was not bleeding anymore, and that the blood on his face was already drying. After a quick look at the top of his head I could see the injury was very minor and had already clotted. He seemed to be fine, just shaken up a little.

Since we were near the dining hall I walked in and asked for a first aid kit. To my surprise, they did not have one. I asked for something to clean the blood off Mike and they handed me several white dish towels. I could not help but think that for a place that sees hundreds of campers each weekend they were totally unprepared for accidents.

As I walked with Mike up to the shower house I noticed that many of the campers had lined up in front of the dining hall. I could guess what would be the topic of conversation at many of the tables during this meal.

It took a few of those towels to get Mike cleaned up.The wound was the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. Mike said that he had stood up to fast in a low ceiling portion of the cave and hit his head on the ceiling. One of the little pointy bumps on the ceiling had caused the injury. Knowing how slimy the cave ceiling was, I decided we should take him into town and have a doctor look it over to prevent any infection. One of the fathers joined us. The doctor cleaned it, sealed it with a drop of a crazy-glue like substance, and sent us on our way.

By this time we had missed lunch in the dining hall so we stopped at Pizza Hut for something to eat. Mike later declared this as one of the best parts of the weekend. I was happy that everything and everyone turned out fine.

Being Green

There is a lot of talk today in the media about "being green". Isn't it funny that Scouting has been teaching some of these principles for decades already? Like conservation and recycling. But just in case you need a few more things to keep in mind, here are a few more green statistics.

If just 25 percent of U.S. families used 10 fewer plastic bags a month, we would save more then 2.5 billion bags a year. (Yes, that is billion.) -www.thinkquest.org

The average person comsumes twice as much as fifty years ago. (No wonder we have an obesity problem in this country.) - www.bikeroute.com

Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil. (Not to mention how much trash it keeps out of our landfills.) -www.thinkquest.org

And here is one fact that I found to be pretty interesting: There are more roads in our national forests than in the entire U.S. Interstate Highway system. (I am not quite sure what to think about this one.)

Spelunking: Cave Ticks

The second time that Melrose Troop 68 spent a weekend at Eagle Caves in southern Wisconsin, we had a crew of seventeen Boy Scouts and six adults. This time we "camped" at one of the higher levels toward the back of the cave, instead of near the entrance like we did four years earlier.

The Boy Scouts were off exploring the cave Saturday morning, leaving the adults in their "site" with nothing to do for a moment. Someone made a comment that we should pull a prank on the Scouts. A few ideas were tossed around and we finally decided that we would tell the boys to be careful and check themselves and each other for "cave ticks". Wood ticks are a natural part of Minnesota camping so we thought we could easily get the boys to believe in cave ticks.

When the boys gathered for lunch we warned them about the cave ticks. It was a little hard to keep a straight face but we did it. I could tell the older boys were skeptical right away, but the younger boys seemed to accept it. The adults waited to see how this would play out.

During the course of the day most of the boys figured out we were joking or just plain forgot about the ticks. A few of the younger boys were a little worried at first and asked a few questions. We explained that they were similar to wood ticks and about the same size. There was nothing to worry about. Just pick them off if you find any.

The best part of the prank came Sunday morning as we sat down at the breakfast table in the dining hall. By then, nearly everyone had figured out the joke, except for two younger Scouts who were checking each other's heads, looking for those ticks. After snapping a quick picture I started giggling, as did the rest of the adults. We then told them the truth about the cave ticks. After everyone got a laugh, including the two boys, we finished breakfast and moved on to pack up our gear for the long ride home.

If you would like to see a few pictures from the trip go to
http://www.melrosetroop68.org/Web%20site%20yearly%20highlights/yh01.html
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Urban Base Camp

Here is some big news for the Scouts in and around the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The Northern Star Council has plans to open an "urban base camp" near Fort Snelling. Here is a portion of the article found in the Star Tribune:

The regional Boy Scout council's plan to create an "urban base camp" at Fort Snelling promises to bring life to an empty century-old building that has cost taxpayers at least $3 million. The current owner of Fort Snelling's old Drill Hall, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, acquired it in 2000, but its plans for a skateboard park and other uses never materialized, and the cavalry building has sat vacant and unused.

Now the Boy Scouts of America Northern Star Council hopes to close on the building in November and to open its $7.25 million complex in October 2010, the centennial of the chapter's founding.

The urban location of the "Northern Star Base Camp" is unprecedented nationally. The council aims to reach out to city kids who haven't grown up going to the woods, said John Andrews, the council's scout executive. What's more, Scouts could take the Hiawatha light-rail line there.

I hope things work out well for this project. The full article can be found at http://tinyurl.com/3fsaop
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Spelunking 1997

The first time the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 scheduled a trip to southern Wisconsin to spend a weekend at Eagle Caves we had one young Scout who was very excited about going spelunking. In fact, after a month about hearing him talk about nothing except spelunking we finally had to turn down his excitement a bit because it was getting on everyone's nerves.

Eagle Caves is a large privately owned cave. Scouts and youth groups can make arrangements to spend the weekend camping in and exploring the cave. Campgrounds, a shower house, and a dining hall are all located on the site. We visited the cave during the winter months so we chose to stay inside the cave, along with a couple dozen other troops.

Due to the seven hour trip from Melrose to Eagle caves we did not arrive until after 11:00 Friday evening. The staff placed us just inside the entrance to the cave. The entrance had a door to keep the cave at a constant year round temperature.

After breakfast in the dining hall Saturday morning, the boys began their spelunking experience. The cave was quite large and they were many nooks, crannies, and tunnels to explore. The main areas of the cave were large and easy to walk through. Other areas, especially the tunnels, could be so small that you would crawl on your belly to get into them. It did not take long for the boys' clothes to be covered in cave dirt and slim.

Jeff, the father of one of the boys, and I were relaxing in the cave when his son and another Scout ran up to us. They were excited about a tunnel they found and they wanted us to follow them and explore it. Okay, we were game.

The tunnel entrance was small, like crawling on your hands and knees small. The boys charged into the tunnel, leaving Jeff and me to follow. We were starting to have second thoughts but we got down to the floor and followed them. Soon, we were flat on our bellies creeping through the shrinking tunnel. We could hear the squeals of delight ahead of us. The tunnel finally opened into a small area in with Jeff and I could stand at an angle, but the tunnel continued through another small opening.

As we stood there in that tight little area, I had a completely random thought. "What if an earthquake would happen?" I asked Jeff. That was the last straw. We were done. We could back on our bellies and shimmied our way back out of the tunnel.

Jeff and I did not explore anymore tight tunnels that weekend, but the boys had a great time.
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A Scouting Video Opening

I have collected dozens of videos over the years that were produced by the Boy Scouts of America. Some od them were commercials, some were training films, and some were inspirational films. A few were a bit corny, but that only added to the charm.

One little piece of video that seems to have caught a few people's attention is the animated BSA logo that I use at the start of the Eagle Scout slide shows that I make. A few months ago I posted one of these slideshows to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast as an example of an Eagle Scout video. A few of you have wondered where they could pick up a copy of that animation to use in their own slideshows.

I found the video on a VHS tape produced by the BSA nearly twenty years ago. I have a VHS tape deck near my computer so I copied the animation onto my hard drive. The full size video, 640 x 480 pixels, is a Quicktime movie that is 32.4 MB in size.

I couple of you have contacted me if I would be able to email the video. Well as you can see, it is a bit large to email. So, I have now posted it online for you to download. If you have access to a way to download Quicktime movies (like Quicktime Pro) you can find this animation at
http://melrosetroop68.org/QTmov/BSALogo.mov
Of course, if the BSA sends me a letter telling me to remove it from this site then I will have to take it offline, so I hope they do not mind if other troops use it for their Eagle court of honors and other Scouting films.

50,000 and Counting

I forgot to post last Friday that "A Scoutmaster's Blog" has received 50,000 visits since I began using Blog Patrol to gather statistics about the blog. It took over a year and a half to reach the 25,000 mark, but only only six months to add another 25,000 to that.

Once again, I would like to THANK ALL OF YOU who continue to read my blog, and watch the videos of the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. If you wouldn't be reading, then I probably wouldn't be writing. Drop me a note sometime and let me know how you like the blog, or if you have a suggestion on how to improve it.

MSPP #49: The Buttons and Randall Show #2

They are back! Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, and his friends Randall and Bones return in another video with more terrible jokes, more one liners, and more "Yo, dude"s. A fourth puppet joins the group and gives a quick little take on the thoughts of a wise man.

I want to thank Josh for helping me out this this one (and the next one). We spent over three hours filming the puppets last Saturday to end up with about 90 minutes of video. That footage will then be editing down to two shows, each taking about two to three hours per show to edit. Each show will end up being about 5-6 minutes long.

We had fun filming with the puppets and trying to come up with ways for Randall to be interrupted for each show. I was afraid that I might not find my voice back that I used for Randall, but I think I got pretty close. We spent more time filming scenes with Randall because my voice kept trying to slip back into doing Buttons, which I find much easier to do.

I hope you enjoy watching these shows. (We have one more planned. In fact, it has already been filmed. It just needs to be edited.) If you do enjoy them I ask that you go to iTunes, if you have an account, and leave a review for Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. Or, go to PTC Media and leave a comment on the forums.

Or drop me an email at webmaster@ melrosetroop68.org
Thanks for watching.

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Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
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Can You Read Me Now?

Yes, I am still here. Unfortunately, I have been so busy over the last several days I have not had the time to post to this blog very often. Between filming video for a couple new "Buttons, the radical Boy Scout" videos, editing the videos, going to troop meetings and parent meetings, and recording The Leader's Campfire podcast, there has not been much time left over for the blog. Hopefully, after this weekend's troop camping trip, things will slow down a bit and I will get back to writing.

Scouting Nostalgia

If you have been a Scouter for any length of time you probably enjoy looking through old Scouting magazines and books, or checking out old Scouting memorabilia. I know I do. In fact, I have a nice collection of old handbooks and fictional novels about Scouting. I even own several old rank patches and small toys.

If you share my love of old Scouting things you may enjoy a website called BoyScoutStuff.com. The site features pictures of Boy Scouts of America memorabilia from 1910 through 1919. Galleries include pictures of old handbooks, Boy's Life magazines, awards, patches, games, equipment and more.

My favorite gallery features advertising for various products. It seems that back then some companies used the Boy Scouts to promote their products, something almost unheard of in today's organization. Advertised products included toothpaste, breakfast cereals, shoes, cameras, and soap. I was surprised to see Boy Scouts used in advertising promoting ammunition and cigars. I guess things were a little different back then, huh?

Magic Eskimo Counting Sticks

One afternoon, many years ago at Many Point Scout Camp, the Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 had some free time. Raymond, a Scout from Alaska who was a cousin of one of our troop members, was staying with us for the week. Raymond asked if they would like to play a game his home troop played called Magic Eskimo Counting Sticks. The Scouts thought it sounded interesting so they gathered around the picnic table.

Raymond quickly gathered five sticks of various length and thickness. He then would lay them in different patterns. The rest of the boys tried to guess what number from zero to ten the "magic sticks" represented. Of course, it was not as easy as it sounds.

I was sitting across the camp's clearing from the picnic table were the game was being played. My lawn chair was comfortable and the book was good, but soon the commotion at the table caught my interest so I had to check it out. As I joined the boys, Raymond explained the game to me. I tried it several times but did not have any success in figuring out the patterns so I returned to my lawn chair. I sat down, picked up my book, but did not start reading. The game was still on my mind. I sat back and looked into the treetops above the table where they boys were playing.

After a minute or two an idea came to me. I walked back to the group to test it out. After a few times of being correct I realized I had discovered the secret to the Magic Eskimo Counting Sticks.

Of course, the boys started pestering me on how it was done. They had not figured it out yet, and Raymond was not telling anyone. I told the Scouts that the answer had come to me when I had been looking in the treetops. There was a sudden rush of Scouts to my lawn chair to look at the same trees that I had been looking at to see if they could find the answer. Of course, they did not find anything, but they had to check it out anyway.

I suspect that to the Scouts that day their scoutmaster seemed to be really smart. I promised Raymond that I would never reveal the secret to the Magic Eskimo Counting Sticks, that the Scouts would have to solve it on their own. However, I would give one clue to the boys. That clue was, "Think outside of the box." Yeah, I know, it is a pretty vague clue, but it does make a lot of sense if you know the trick.

Over the years we have played the game many times. Some Scouts were able to solve the puzzle, but many more never did. And even after all these years I have never told any Scouts how to solve the game. After all, I made a promise, and a good Scout always keeps in promises.

MSPP #48: The Hole In The Ground

When I was a Boy Scout I attended summer camp at Parker Scout Reservation in Central Minnesota. We ate our evening meals in a dining hall. Once the troops were seated, one of the staff members would get up in front of the troops and lead us in a song. The Hole In The Ground song was one of the songs I learned during those meals.

The Hole In The Ground song is an audience participation song. The song leader sings a portion and the audience repeats it. Everyone joins in on the refrain. As the song continues it gets a lot longer and a whole lot faster. By the end of the song there are only a few people who will usually be able to keep up. It is a song that does require some practice if you plan to lead it.

Here are the words to the refrain of the song:

Refrain:
Well, in the ground, there was a hole, The prettiest little hole, that you ever did see. Well, the hole's in the ground and the green grass grew all around and around. And the green grass grew all around. (The refrain will get longer with each verse.)

I invite you and your son(s) to watch this video posting to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast and let me know if you were able to keep up with the singers. Learn it and use it during your next campfire program.

Please leave a comment here using the link below, at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Or drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It is great to hear what you think about the podcast videos.

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

Ten Reasons To Be A Leader

Two years ago I wrote a blog post that became one of the most read posts I have ever written. It was during the time when many packs and troops were conducting recruitment drives and school nights. The article listed some reasons on why a parent should get involved as a leader in Scouting.

Well, it is that time of year again, so here is that article again for all the new readers to this blog, and to refresh the memories of those of you who have been with me for awhile.

Boys around the country will be joining Boy Scouting for the first time this month. And new parents will be asked to help their troop or pack by becoming an adult leader. There are many reasons not to be a leader, but let me give you ten reasons why you should become a Scouter. (These are not in any sort of order.)

1) Be a positive influence in a boy's life. I think we can agree that there are many youth out there who can benefit from more of this in today's world.
2) Learn new skills. You are never too old to learn a new skill. And to tell the truth, I don't think a person can ever learn too many skills.
3) Teach boys new skills. There are few things in life that will make you feel more proud then when you watch a boy or young man using a skill that you have helped them to master.
4) Make new friends. Not only will you form friendships with the boys, but you will also form new friendships with other Scouters.
5) Help your community. You provide this service through your unit's service projects and by helping boys grow up to be better adults.
6) Spend time in the Great Outdoors. You really do need to get out of that recycled-air, stressed-filled office environment at least once a month.
7) Have a good laugh. Working with Scout age boys can be fun and funny in many ways. Just remember to laugh with the boys, not at the boys.
8) Go traveling. There are thousands of places to go that provide a great Scout Outing. And do not forget the opportunities to go to a National Jamboree, Philmont, or the other high adventure bases.
9) Get some exercise. We could all use more exercise. Just try keeping up with a group of Boy Scouts.
10) Be a kid again! Scouting gives adults the chance to have just as much fun as the Scouts themselves. Make sure that you do!

Well, those are ten of my reasons for being an adult Scout Leader. I am sure that some of you reading this could add some more to the list. I invite you to leave a comment and add those reasons.

The Knight's Code

In addition to reciting the Scout Oath, Scout Law, or the Outdoor code as an opening for their troop meetings, the patrol leader council of Troop 68 has looked toward other ways to start their meetings. One code that seemed to make its way into a meeting every month or two is a little thing found in the ninth edition of the Boy Scout Handbook. If you have a copy of the book turn to page 42 and you will find something called the Knight's Code.

To quote the handbook - "Baden-Powell got the Scout Motto and developed the Scout Law from the code of the knights of old." This code is:

Be always ready with your armor on, except when you are taking your rest at night.
Defend the poor, and help them that cannot defend themselves.
Do nothing to hurt or offend anyone else.
Be prepared to fight in the defense of your country.
At whatever you are working, try to win honor and a name for honesty.
Never break your promise.
Maintain the honor of your country with your life.
Rather die honest than live shamelessly.
Chivalry require that youth should be trained to perform the most laborious and humble offices with cheerfulness and grace; and to do good onto others.

I think this is a pretty good code to even live by in today's world. Other then wearing that heavy armor, that is.