I Am Full of Sugar!

The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 continued their theme of cooking during the June troop meetings. The first meeting we worked on breakfasts (see previous post). The second meeting's topic was easy desserts.

Cooking has never been a strong point with the Scouts of Troop 68 for some reason. At times, I get the feeling they would rather be doing anything then cooking or cleaning up. (I do not know if your troop is like ours, but some of the loudest patrol arguments happen when it is time for meal clean-up.) That is one reason we decided to work on our cooking skills this month.

The seven Scouts who attended the month's second meeting divided into three teams. Each team was in charge of making one dessert. Everyone would get a chance to try each dessert at the end of the meeting. The three desserts for the meeting were chosen to show the boys how quick and easy it was to prepare some desserts. The first was a cheesecake. The second was a chocolate pudding pie. The third was a cake with frosting.

The cheesecake and pie were very easy to prepare. Both were made using a pre-made graham cracker pie crust. Once the ingredients were mixed they were spread evenly in the pie crusts and then placed into the refridgerator for thirty minutes. Of course, on a camping trip they would have been placed in a cooler. The cake took a little more work since a dutch oven was needed. I had started the coals about 15 minutes before the troop meeting began. By the time the cake mixture was poured into the pan the dutch oven was heated and ready to use.

As the cake baked and the other desserts cooled the Scouts played a game of football. I took the time to mix the frosting for the cake and prepare the plates and silverware for the taste testing. By the time the boys finished their game the desserts were ready to be eaten. They began with the pie, then the cheesecake, and finally the frosted cake. There was not much left after the boys, two adult leaders, and two parents had eaten their fill.

Then came the magical moment. A fourteen year old Scout who is known within the troop as being very "energetic" made the comment that, "I am full of sugar." His stomach was full and he could not eat another bite. Luckily, we did not have sodas for the boys to wash it all down with. They were already on enough of a sugar high when they left the meeting.

Hopefully, we will start seeing some desserts made with supper on upcoming camping trips.
.

MSPP #41: Troop 68, The Early Years

It has been a long time (April 1980) since I asked the scoutmaster if he could could some help with the Boy Scout troop. Little did I know that I would be an adult leader with that troop for the next 27 years. It has been quite a ride, with both highs and lows.

I have been taking photographs of the Boy Scouts during the outings, meetings, and courts of honor since I began attending troop functions. In the late 1980's, I took a number of photographs from the years of 1980-1985, had slides made from them, wrote a script, and recorded a few Scouts as they read it. This became a slideshow Troop 68: The Early Years that was shown at a court of honor. It was the first Scout show I produced, and soon lead me into videotape and editing.

When a public access television station began operating in Melrose I saw the opportunity to produce Scouting shows for a wider audience. This slideshow was soon videotaped and slightly edited for television viewing. Unfortunately, it looked liked a slideshow that was videotaped off a movie screen. It got the point across, but the quality was not very good.

Fast forward several years. I now have a computer at home that can do digital editing. It was time to give this early show a face lift. The original photographs were scanned into the computer and more photographs were added to the show. Unfortunately, I only had the original soundtrack. The boys had all grown up by this time and had moved away from town. I really did not want to redo the soundtrack anyway. It had a quaint charm all its own.

Now, thanks to the magic of the internet, you can take a trip back in time to Scouting during the first half of the decade we call the 1980's. Yes, the uniforms have changed. Yes, the shorts are not as short these days. But you will see that boys back then had just as much fun as do the Boy Scout of today's program. So sit back, relax, and enjoy watching this entry to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, Troop 68: The Early Years.

Watch this video post of Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast, and then leave a comment if your troop has done anything similar to this. You can leave a note below by clicking on the COMMENTS link, or at the PTC media forums.

If you leave a comment at the iTunes Music Store you will help the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast climb higher in the ratings.

Click here to DOWNLOAD this Podcast
Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes.
Digg it! and show your support.
Check out the other Scouting podcasts at PTC Media.

Evening Breakfast in the Garage

Boy Scout Troop 68's theme for the month of June is Cooking. Each troop meeting will cover a different area of cooking and give the Scouts a chance to sharpen their cooking skills a little. During the first meeting we will do breakfasts, the next will be desserts, and the last will be suppers. Of course, everyone is looking forward to desserts.

The troop usually meets at one of the city parks during the summer months, but this month we will meet in my backyard. The troop's storage shed sits next to my garage so it is easier holding the meeting here instead of loading up all the gear needed and bringing it to the park. Much easier to put everything away also.

It was thirty minutes before the first meeting of the month during which the Scouts would be making pancakes and omelettes. As I began to take the gear from the shed it began to lightly rain. "Oh well," I though, "I guess I will have to set up the stoves in the garage."

The light rain continued throughout the meeting but the Boy Scouts did not seem to mind. After opening the meeting with the Pledge of Alligience and the Scout Oath, and a brief intro about cooking today's items, they began having fun cooking an evening breakfast, and then eating their creations. They could have cared less that they were in a garage.

They tried various ingredients in their omelettes. They tried making pancake batter at different consistencies. They discovered thick pancake batter is as challenging to fry as batter that is too thin.

As the last scrambled pancake was scraped out of the frying pan, the dishes and stoves were cleaned and stored away in the shed, and the floor was swept. Then it was into the basement of the house for game time which included card games, darts, and ping pong.

As the meeting came to a close we discussed the June calendar, this month's camping trip to Duluth, and the upcoming court of honor. The Scouts ended the meeting with the America Yell, and then the parents arrived to take them home.

It was great watching the boys as they had fun cooking breakfast at 7:00 in the evening. They had a good time trying new foods and working on their skills. I hope on the next camping trip they put those skills to use.

Next week is desserts. I have a feeling the meeting will be even more fun as the boys try making a cake in a dutch oven, and a pie, and a cheese cake. My mouth is already starting to water.

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.

An Hour A Week?

If you have been involved with Scouting for any length of time you have probably heard someone say, "It only takes an hour a week." What a joke that is! Just a bit of a misleading line there, huh? Let us take a look at a typical month of Scouting during this scoutmaster's life.

We have three troop meetings a month. At ninety minutes per meeting, plus drive time, plus waiting for parents to pick their boys after the meeting, I can estimate two hours per meeting. Monthly total here is 6 hours.

One committee meeting per month, average of 1.5 hours. One patrol leader council meeting per month, average two hours. One district roundtable meeting each month with drive time to council office, average of three hours. Total of monthly meetings is 6.5 hours each month.

One weekend camping trip per month. The Scouts arrive at 6:00 Friday evening. Parents pick up the last boy at 11:00 Sunday morning. Total hours of camping trip is 41 hours. (Yes, I counted the sleeping hours. I am still in charge of the Scouts, am I not?)

Now, let's add this up. It comes to 53.5 hours during the month. (Keep in mind that this does not include any prep time, fund raising, training, or special activity time yet.) Divide this figure by four weeks per month. Gosh! That comes to an average of 13.75 hours per week.

An hour a week? Not even close! But this demonstration does show that those of us who are scoutmasters can be quite dedicated to the program and the boys. The amazing thing is that I sometimes feel that I am spending more "quality time" with the boys then some of their parents do. What does this say about our society?

Scouting can be a great organization for boys and their parents. It gives them a chance to do some things together. Come on parents! Get involved with that Cub Pack or Boy Scout Troop. Become a committee member, a pack leader, or an assistant scoutmaster.

After all, it only takes an hour a week.
.

Letter to a Scoutmaster

I recently received an email from a troop Scout leader asking for help in a few areas in which they are having some difficulties in their troop. Two of the questions were about troop meetings and having a boy planned program. As I wrote my reply, it occurred to me that this might be a good blog entry for other leaders, especially newer adult leaders. So here it is, the letter I wrote in reply to this Scout leaders questions.

"Hi Rick,
Okay, first of all, I am no expert, but I do have quite a few years of experience (over 25 years as scoutmaster.) I can tell you what works or not in our troop, but that may not be the case in yours. That being said....

Melrose is a community of 3300 people. Troop membership has varied over the
years. We peaked at 41 boys a decade ago but membership has been in a decline
since then. We are currently down to ten boys, nine active. Part of this is due to
the Cub Pack having a rough 5-6 years, barely surviving at times. Of course, most
of the boys graduated from the Cub Pack. During the last 5 years I think only 3-4
have graduated from Cubbing.

I blame parents for a good portion of this because it appears that many parents
do not want to get involved in Scouting anymore. I think many parents are blind
to what Scouting can offer their sons. Of course, and I hate to say it, there are many
lazy parents also. But I also think some of them do not understand what Scouting is
all about.

Our troop meets year round. Many of our boys have been involved in sports over
the years. I encourage them to attend the meetings as often as they can. It works
pretty well until the parents pull them from Scouting to concentrate on sports
instead of Scouting. (I could right a whole column on how I feel about high school
sports. Maybe a subject for a future blog entry.) The troop meets the first three
Mondays each month except July (summer camp month) and December (only two
troop meetings), from 6:30 to 8:00. Once in awhile we make take a month off, but
that does not happen too often. There are too many activities the boys want to do
during the year.

We begin the meeting with an opening ceremony involving something Scouting and
something patriotic. Then we have skill development taught by older Scouts,
adult leaders, or special guests, depending on the subject. This is followed by
15 minutes of game time or patrol competition, which is the highlight of the
meeting for the boys. After patrol meeting time we end with announcements and a
quick closing ceremony. Just try to keep meetings fun.

We try to keep the skill development portion of the meeting hands-on if possible so
the boys are actually doing something, instead of just sitting there. Boys like to do
something, not sit around like in school. You just need to be sure to bring enough
"props" for everyone to work with.

The patrol leader council plans the meetings during their once a month meeting held
on the last Monday of the month. They plan the opening, closings, games, and the skill
development sessions. They decide who does what and if guests need to be brought in.
The PLC also plans the details for the outing each month, and the agenda for courts of
honor. Of course, there is always a bit of training involved after each election, but the
boys ARE capable of doing the planning, so LET THEM. Just be there to help them out
when they run into problems. Also, the boys are more willing to participate if they
planned the program instead of being adult planned.

Once a year the troop has a weekend "yearly planning session" in which the boys
brainstorm and plan a program schedule for the next twelve months. In is interesting
to watch the boys in action, but can be a bit frustrating at times. It would be quicker
for the adults to do it, yes, but then it would be the adult's program and not the boy's
program. It is important for the boys to plan their own program. The adult's job (troop
leaders and committee) is to help the boys carry out that program.

You can see some of my troop's yearly programs at
http://melrosetroop68.org/yearlyprogram.html
Okay, this email has gotten long enough. I will write back about more later.

YIS
Steve B  Scoutmaster, Troop 68, CMC "