Create Scouting Certificates

I recently received an email from Greg Jameson asking me to review a new "widget" on his website that allows Scout leaders to create certificates for all kinds of functions, activities, and awards. I took a quick look at it, and to tell the truth. I was a bit impressed. The site includes a lot of options.

You begin with choosing a template, either vertical or horizontal. There is 48 horizontal options, and 40 vertical options. All of them look sharp. Next, you choose from 68 "gold seals" for your certificate, and then one of six colors of ribbons for the seal. In the fourth step you choose what will be printed on the final certificate. I did some quick math and discovered there are over 107,000 variations of the backgrounds, seal, ribbons, and ribbon locations. (88 x 68 x 6 x 3) Wow!

Now you just need some nice parchment on which to print the certificates, and wallah, you have a great looking presentation for your pack or troop. Give it a try and see what you think of it. I think Greg did a great job. You will find this resource at:
http://www.cyberbasetradingpost.com/docs/create-a-certificate1.cfm
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Anniversary Contest Almost Over

On October 2, 2008, the fiftieth video was posted to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. As a part of the video, Buttons, the radical Scout, gave instructions on how to enter a contest for a dvd to be given away this month. I just wanted you to know that you only have a few days left to enter the contest. Instructions can be found in the video posted HERE.

Buttons For President

It is time to announce the Buttons '08 campaign! After all, isn't it time we put someone in the White House who is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent? Isn't it time for real change? Isn't it time for someone to lead this country that has a sense of morals and can tell really bad jokes?

Join the campaign and order your buttons for Buttons '08! You can order them at http://www.cafepress.com/ptcmedia. Hurry! The chance to order these buttons of support will disappear after the election.

I can't guarantee that you will get the buttons before the election, but I hope we can count on you to help support the campaign. Yeah, I know, we should have started the campaign earlier, but we just did not have the funds to buy the newspaper ads and television spots. All we have is this blog and the buttons.

Show your support and get out and vote on November 4th!

MSPP #53: The Submarine Skit

Here is a skit you do not see very often anymore. At least I have not seen it performed by a troop outside of Troop 68 for a number of years. This post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast features the Submarine Skit.

The Submarine Skit is about a group of misfits on a submarine. It is war time and they are looking for an enemy ship to sink. Once the captain spots a ship through the periscope, he sends the order down the chain of command to fire the torpedo. Unfortunately, his crew is not very good at hitting ships.

Troop 68 added this skit to their repertoire after seeing the skit done at a summer camp during the 1980's. Some "politically correct" people may not think it is very funny, but the Scouts and the people in the audience get a good chuckle out of it.

I invite you to leave a comment using the link below, or at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It really 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 other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Scout Trivia - Outdoor Skills

Twenty years ago I bought a game called Scouting Mania, which is a trivia game based on Boy Scouting and camping knowledge. We used the game as an interpatrol activity for many a troop meeting. Now the trivia book is somewhat out of date, but much of it could still be used. I thought I would use it to present trivia questions for you to test your Scouting knowledge, both old and new.

(Question answers will be written at the bottom of this post, and are from the Scout Mania book. No cheating is allowed, after all, you are a Scout or Scout leader, correct?)

1) Name two of the three methods for measuring height in the field.

2) What is the "Scout's Pace"?

3) To conserve water in your canteen, what can you do on a hike to keep from getting thirsty?

4) What is the most important piece of equipment for a hike?

5) What constellation is used to find the North Star?

6) What is the most effective heat to boil on?

7) Name two methods of measuring width in the field.

8) When packing a backpack, where do the heaviest items go?

9) What is another way to refer to a Scout backpack?

10) When packing a pack for overnight camping how haevy should it be?

Okay, do you have you answers chosen? Are you ready for the correct answers according to the Scout Mania Trivia book? Here they are....

1) Pencil, tree felling, muddy water
2) Jog 25 paces, then walk 25 paces.
3) Place a small clean pebble in your mouth.
4) Good hiking shoes or boots to take care of your feet.
5) Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper
6) Flame, not coals.
7) Napoleon, stick, compass
8) High, and close to the back.
9) A bag of bags.
10) No heavier than one-fourth of your own body weight.

Did you do well? Stay tuned for more trivia in future postings.

That First Committee Meeting

The year 1980 will always be a special year for me. It was the year I began life on my own, and began life as an adult. I was nineteen when I graduated from vocational college in April. I moved into a apartment. I began working at my first full time job. And I became an assistant scoutmaster to the newly formed Boy Scout Troop 68. (For more information about how that happened, click HERE.)

I did not join Troop 68 until later in April, so I missed going to Camp Ripley with the troop, which I believe may have been the new Scouts first outing. There was not a yearly program yet because troop leadership was still in the process of going through training.

I was one of three assistant scoutmasters. Each of us were single men. One was a little older then me, the other a little younger. I was the only one to stay with the program for more then a year. The other assistants left town to pursue a career or college.

The committee was made up of several parents who were dedicated to get the troop up and running well. Our charter representative was the commander of the local VFW Post. I will never forget my first committee meeting. The charter rep and I got into a heated "discussion" about troop finances. He began by talking about how much money the Post had already pumped into the troop. I already knew from talking to committee members and parents that the Post had not given the troop much of anything yet. (In fact, one of the parents had loaned the troop some money to get things started.) I guess I got a bit vocal about correcting him. Our discussion began to get a little heated.

After the meeting, and after the charter rep had left, a couple of the committee members told me I had stated what they had been thinking. I could not help but think to myself why did the nineteen year old new assistant scoutmaster have to stand up to the sixty year old charter rep? After all, there were at least five other committee members at the meeting.

Oh well, if nothing else, I guess I demonstrated my passion and dedication to the Scout troop. By the way, the charter rep and I worked well together for the next few years, until he retired from the committee.

American Scouting Digest

I do not subscribe to very many magazines. I receive Boy's Life and Scouting magazines, of course. I own a Macintosh computer so I receive Mac/Life and MacWorld magazines. I also get Entertainment Weekly just for the fun of it. Once in a while I may subscribe to Consumer reports or Popular Science. A magazine I once subscribed to and enjoyed was American Scouting Digest (ASD).

I liked receiving American Scouting Digest. It was a magazine published and written by people who cared about Scouting. The articles were well written. The photographs were outstanding. There was even an "Ask Andy" section of the magazine.

The magazine was a high class printing. Each page was thick stock paper and in color. The photographs were great to look at. The articles were well written. Each issue was only about 44 pages long, but they were worth looking at. The magazine was a fine addition to the official magazines I receive that are published by the Boy Scouts of America.

Tonight, I was sorting through a pile of magazines that had accumulated in my rack (about a two foot tall pile) and I came across my last issues of ASD. The last one I recieved was the Fall 2007 issue. I do not recall getting a subcription notice in the mail so I went online and checked out their site, and noticed it was very out of date. My first thought was, "I guess they quit printing the magazine."

I did a little more digging on the site and found a phone number to call about subscribing, so I called it. To tell the truth, I did not expect to get on answer, or if I did that it would be the operator telling me this number has been disconected. I was surprised when, after a few rings, Ron Miller ( I think) answered the phone. Mr. Miller is the publisher of ASD.

After a short conversation with Mr. Miller, I discovered that the magazine is printed only after they have enough advertising to cover the printing costs. They do not accept paid subscriptions anymore, but send out issues free to those who ask for one, when they get around to printing one. I asked that he add my name to his mailing list.

I look forward to once again receiving American Scouting Digest, but I realize there may only be two or three issues per year. I hope they find more advertisers to get things running again to printing four to six issues per year. That would be great.

MSPP #52: Closing Campfire Skits

Ah, the closing campfire program at summer camp. The final bit of fun and laughs. The place were awards are presented from a week of adventure. The last gathering of the campers and troops. And, if your troop is doing a skit or song, it could be the last time at camp for the Scouts to experience excitement or anxiety. Luckily, the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 have enough experience to fall more into the excitement group instead of the anxiety group.

The four young Scouts of Troop 68 (the older ones were at Philmont this summer) threw around a few ideas during the week for a skit to do for the closing campfire. The Buckskin Staff of Many Point Scout Camp had encouraged each troop to come up with a song or skit for the program. My four Scouts finally decided on the Invisible Bench skit.

Everything was fine, until Friday morning when the senior patrol leaders met with the camp's program director and were told that skits should have a "Superheroes" theme to them. My Scouts went into a near panic mode. They did not know any Superhero skits. What could they do now?

During the morning program and afternoon activities we threw around several ideas and finally decided on the Invisible Bench skit. Only it would now be the Invisible Plane skit. The boys would portray various Superheroes gathering to join Wonder Women on an adventure. They would wait in the invisible plane until she arrived. Various superheroes were chosen to be in the skit, along with a quick intro for each one. After a few practices we Scouts were ready to perform.

The Scouts from Troop 68 were called down to do their skit during the middle of the program. I thought the boys did a good job, as did all the troops who did a skit. There was some impressive talent during this year's program. And of course, I had my video camera there to record it so I could share some of it to you.

This post to the Melrose Scouting Production Podcast features the Invisible Plane skit, and the Supersize skit done by another troop from the Central Minnesota Council. I have to apoligize about the lighting. It was getting pretty dark by the time the troops performed their skits. And for some reason my camera decided to "hiccup" a couple times at the start of the Invisible Plane skit. Recording Boy Scout functions can be frustrating at times.

I invite you to leave a comment using the link below, or at the iTunes Music Store, or at the PTC Media forums. Drop me an email at webmaster@melrosetroop68.org. It really 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 other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

The Leader's Campfire

I received an invitation by email in August, 2007, to participate in a Scouting-related podcast called The Leader's Campfire. The subject of the podcast would be Webelos Transition, and would include five pack and troop leaders from around the country. It was fun to be a part of, and it was informative. It was great to meet other leaders from around the country. (You can listen to this episode by clicking HERE.)

Little did I realize what was to happen a few months later...

Cubmaster Chris and Mr. Bob, the hosts of The Leaders Campfire, did an excellent job of producing a nearly weekly podcast about Scouting subjects. Even though most of their topics were Cub Scout related, I enjoyed listening to the shows. I found it to be a way to keep track of what was going on in the world of Cub Scouting.

Toward the end of the year 2007, Mr. Bob decided to take some time off doing podcasting. Cubmaster Chris asked me if I would be willing to step into Bob's place for awhile. Chris thought it would be good to have the perspective of a scoutmaster (me) and a cubmaster (Chris) on the show, so I agreed to be a "guest" host.

Ten months later, I have found myself to be the regular co-host of The Leader's Campfire with Chris. It appears that Mr. Bob has retired from doing podcasts. Chris and I usually record two or three podcast episodes each month, usually on Wednesday evenings. Then Chris will take the recorded material, do some editing, add the opening and closing spots, and put in a message from one of the great sponsors of the show. The show is posted Tuesday evenings, and can be downloaded free through the PTC Media website or through the iTunes music store (under podcasts/Kids and Family).

It has been an interesting and fun year being a part of The Leader's Campfire. I have met many great Cub and Boy Scout leaders from around the country through the chatrooms, forums, and Skype. (My Skype nickname is stevejb68.) It has been a great way to share ideas and get a feel of how Scouting is doing throughout the country.

The best thing about being part of the podcast is working with Cubmaster Chris. Though I have never met him face to face, I feel like I have know him for years. He is very dedicated to his boys and to Scouting. He has the drive and energy that I had fifteen years ago, and I find that he helps to recharge my Scouting batteries. He has become a good friend.

Check out The Leader's Campfire yourself (http://www.leaderscampfire.com/), and listen to a few episodes. Let us know what you think about them. Is there a topic you think we should cover? You can write us and leave comments at the PTC Media forums (HERE). I hope to hear from you.
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Mini-Camporee (Part 2)

The weekend had arrived for the mini-camporee. The Boy Scout troops from Albany, Avon, and Sauk Centre had arrived at the site Friday night. The Scouts from Melrose arrived early Saturday morning due to the high school homecoming football game held Friday night.

When the four Scouts from Troop 68 arrived at my house at 7:00 that morning, it did not take me long to notice that something was missing. No one had taken time to get the food for the outing. I was not happy, but to tell the truth, I was not surprised. During the troop meeting four nights earlier the boys had been arguing about who would get the food. "I don't have time." "I got it the last time." No one wanted to do it. As I watched the boys load the truck I thought to myself, "This is a great way to begin the outing." We ended up leaving town thirty minutes late, after the boys went to the store to do some shopping.

The rest of the weekend went very well. Once we had camp set up we went to work to prepare the blowgun target range. The four activity sessions began at 9:30, with each troop doing their own sponsored activity first to make sure the kinks were worked out before the other troops came through. The Troop 68 Scouts did all four stations before lunch, but I discovered later they had only completed half of the first aid activity.

Most of the afternoon was open time so each troop could plan its own activities. My Scouts did some exploration of the woodland in which we were camped. Then we played disc golf for nine holes, or maybe I should say tree trunks. A church service, hosted by our troop, finished off the afternoon.

Supper was quite interesting. It was a pot luck, and boy, was there a lot to eat. There were brats, baked beans, chili, and beef stew. My troop made fried potatoes and spaghetti with meat sauce, which quickly vanished from the table. Desert was pudding served in ice cream cones, topped with cool whip. It was a little messy, but no one complained. No one left the meal hungry.

The evening program began with a camp-wide Capture the Flag game, which was played in the dark. A few of us adults were a little concerned about playing in the dark, but the boys had a great time. In fact, many of the boys were so tired after the game that they turned in for the night instead of going to the planned campfire program. The Scouts from Troop 68 were the only boys to show up at the campfire so they did not stick around long.

The outing was a complete success and we are already talking about doing another camporee next fall, and maybe even doing some training sessions together.

Mini-Camporee (Part 1)

Earlier this year, a few adult troop leaders from neighboring communities got together after a roundtable and began talking about having a mini-camporee. The goal was to get the local troops together for a weekend, line up a few activities, and let the Scouts get to know each other. I missed the first and only organizational meeting due to a family matter, so it was emails and phone calls from there on.

Each of the four troops was responsible for an activity. The activities would be conducted in a round robin fashion from Saturday morning to the early afternoon. The Sauk Centre troop prepared a blind soccer activity. The troop from Albany planned theirs around orienteering. Avon put together a first aid demonstration.

I wanted Troop 68 to do something unique, something that most of the Scouts had not done before. My troop owns two blowguns so I brought up the idea to the membership about setting up a blowgun target range. They liked the idea and thought it would be fun.

A little over a week before the camporee I visited the land where the camporee would be held with one of the adult leaders from the Albany troop which was hosting the event. It was privately owned land about 3 or 4 miles southeast of Albany. There was a great wooded area for camping, and a large grassland for activities. It would work very well for our outing. The owner of the land was very supportive and told us that two of his sons had earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

The date of the camporee was chosen by the Albany and Avon troops so it would not take place during their school's homecoming weekend. Unfortunately, the weekend they chose happened to be the weekend of Melrose's homecoming weekend. It did not present any problem though. The Scouts from Troop 68 went to the camporee early Saturday morning instead of Friday evening. There was not any program planned for the outing on Friday night so it worked out well.

As the weekend approached I bought some targets and a large blue tarp to act as a backdrop for the range. After all, I did not want to lose any of the small darts in the brush if I did not have to. I also began watching the weather forecast. It looked like it could be a cool and wet weekend. I do not like camping on cool and wet weekends anymore after twenty eight years of Scouting. Oh well, too late to back out now.

(To be continued...)
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MSPP #51: The Leaders of Scouting (Joe)

Twenty years ago the volunteers at Mel-TV, our local cable access television station, filmed a program in which five men who were Scout leaders were interviewed about their Scouting experiences. I recently took that old vhs tape and transferred it to a dvd. I thought to myself as I was transferring the program that many of the things being said by those gentlemen still apply to Scouting today. I thought I would break this show down into parts for the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, each part being one of the interviews.

This podcast post features the second interview from The Leaders of Scouting. Joe was the Pack 68 Cubmaster for many years in the 1980's. All four of his boys were members of the Pack, and graduated to Troop 68 when they became old enough. Joe also helped out with several troop functions, although he never actually registered as a troop leader. During the interview he talks about how he became the cubmaster, some of his memorable experiences as a cubmaster, his experiences of helping the Boy Scout troop, and his feeling about Scouting in general.

I invite you to 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 really 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 other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

A Busy Weekend

The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 recently have a pretty busy weekend. It began on Saturday morning when the Scouts and parents met for the annual Scouting For Food Drive and the bi-monthly paper drive. Both began at 9:oo am. Part of the troop worked at the paper drive which was held at a local grocery store parking lot. The rest rode around town looking for the bags of food left outside by the front doors of homes. Both were a great success for our small community of 3100 people. This was the third time holding the paper drive and we have seen an increase in paper products collected each time. The troop also collected over 530 pounds of food during the food drive, for which the food shelf was very thankful.

The work was not done though. The third project that morning was our semi-annual road clean-up project. The troop cleans the road ditches of a three mile section of County Road 13 south of Melrose. This is not the boys favorite project, but they do it well. It can be quite interesting with what is sometimes found. There was nothing very special this time. In fact, there was a smaller amount of trash collected this fall. Maybe drivers are becoming more responsible and not throwing so much trash out their windows.

The troop held it's annual fall pancake and sausage breakfast fundraiser Sunday morning. The boys and families pre-sell adult tickets for $6.00 each. The tickets cost fifty cents more if bought the morning of the breakfast. A few of the boys did an excellent job of selling advance tickets. The boys and parents worked hard that morning and served 349 people, up from last spring. It looks like the troop will make a nice profit (over $1500.00) that will be applied to program costs and individual accounts. Good job Scouts!

The Eager Cub Scout

I received an email a couple days ago about a blog post written by a mother who has recently enrolled her young boy in Cub Scouting. I checked it out and it brought a smile to my face as I read it. I wish all parents would read it. It is a great example of how Scouting can influence a young mind, and a mother's mind. Here is a short excerpt from the post:

This past weekend we went out and bought the uniform for my little guy. It took a couple of days to get all of the patches on in the right place and when I was done I hung up the shirt in his room. Two nights ago I came home later in the evening because of a business function I was attending and found a small American flag taped up on my closet door. I asked him about it and he smiled proudly and told me he put on his uniform and put the flag up there so he could say the pledge of allegiance.

I invite you to check out this blog post by clicking HERE.

MSPP #50: Buttons Reads the Farewell Message

It is hard to believe, but this video is the 50th posting to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast! When I started doing this I never even considered making it this far, and I would not have if people would not watch the videos. I also would like to thank Bob, Chris, Jerry, and Dave for their help and support.

I wanted to do something special for this one. I knew it would have to include Buttons, the radical Boy Scout and mascot of the podcast. I also wanted it to be about Scouting, not just some jokes or skits. I have to thank the my troop for giving me the idea I used for this video. A couple weeks ago one of the Scouts read Lord Baden-Powell's farewell message. I wondered if Buttons could read that for the internet audience. I tried it, and I think it worked pretty well, but you will have to be the judge.

Lord Baden-Powell's message can also be read at my friend Jerry's blog, The Scoutmaster Minute.

I also wanted to do something extra for this 50th posting, so I made a second part to the video. Follow the directions found in the podcast to possibly win a DVD of Buttons' videos. (Yes, you will have to watch the video to find out what the directions are.) If a lot of people enter the contest I may even give out two DVD's. Good luck!

If you enjoy the videos, I would love hearing from you. Go to iTunes 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.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.