stevejb

Just wondering how many of you remember the twelve skill awards from the 1970's and 1980's. I remember earning them as a Boy Scout and teaching them as a scoutmaster. I have recently been writing about the skill awards on "A Scoutmaster's Blog" found at http://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/

Have you checked out the newest podcasts from PTC Media? http://www.ptcmedia.net'>http://www.ptcmedia.net Around The Scouting Campfire #11 (audio) Steve and Buttons talk about the past year, setting goals, learning the Cub Scout Promise, and listener feedback. Moms In Scouting Service #4 (audio) Topics include Scout Sunday, respect and courteous values, advancement paperwork and organization. The Scoutmaster Minute Show #48 (audio) Some good winter camping tips as well as lessons learned and a discussion on moving the Troop forward. Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast #80 (video) Buttons answers questions from Cub Scouts about Boy Scouting. An Hour A Week #210 and #211 (audio) Some Scouting news, a new Pinewood Derby website, balancing Scouting and other parts of life, some Webelos discussion, and more feedback. You can download and subscribe to all these podcasts at PTC Media. http://www.ptcmedia.net Do not forget to join us on the PTC Media forums.

We recently posted episode #11 to the "Around The Scouting Campfire" podcast. The episode has already received over 600 hits. I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who take the time to listen. I hope you find it entertaining and informative. http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingAudioPodcast

A new post to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast is the third of four videos featuring the open house held by the Central Minnesota Council on September 2, 2009, to celebrate the "A Century Of Values" tour. This video features some of the other activities that were taking place on the grounds of the council office. The video begins with a visit with two of the district executives having a little fun and racing cars at one of the activities. Then we spend a moment with the council executive as we watch the Cub Scouts ride a hot air balloon. One of the gentlemen touring the country with the "A Century Of Values" RV takes a moment to speak with us. The video ends with a magician performing a card trick for us. Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes. or at the RSS feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions Check out other great Scouting podcasts at PTC Media ( http://www.ptcmedia.net ).

The Central Minnesota Council, BSA, held an open house on Wednesday, September 2, 2009, to kick off a year of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. Hundreds of people attended. There were plenty of games for the kids, a dinner provided by the Jamboree troops, and several displays showcasing the history of Scouting. There was a lot to do and see. I was there with my cameras, of course. The Century Of Values road team was on hand to display the specially designed recreation vehicle (see the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast #75) and to present the council will a reproduction of the mural featured on the back of the vehicle. The mural does a great job of showing the history of 100 years of the Boy Scouts of America. The latest episode of the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast (#76) is the second of four videos highlighting the events of the council's open house. This video features the presentation of the Century Of Values mural from the road team to the council president, along with an explanation of the mural and its design. Be sure to take the time to view it when it comes to your council. More information about the "A Century Of Values" tour can be found on their website at http://www.acenturyofvalues.org/ Also check out their blog and the post about their visit to the Central Minnesota Council. The road crew mentions that this was the largest crowd they had seen at a council event up to this point. Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes. or at the RSS feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions Check out other great Scouting podcasts at PTC Media. A Scoutmaster's Blog - http://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog.html

Have you ever been traveling in your car listening to the radio when you suddenly reach an area in which stations begin overlapping each other's signals? The is the premise of this skit performed by the Boy Scouts of Troop 68 during their 2006 Laughs For Lunch Show. Each of the five Scouts represent a radio station that keeps getting interrupted by another station's programming. The five radio stations include Fantasy Land, a Twins baseball game, a cooking show, a gangster show, and an advertisement for the Boy Scouts of America. http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions This is one of my favorite skits, but does take a little practice to get the timing done well. The script for the show can be found on Troop 68's website: http://melrosetroop68.org/campfavskits.html#RADIO

Only a week left to register for the drawing to win dvd's or posters for Scout Camp: The Movie. Details at http://tinyurl.com/kksp3z

In the latest episode of the Leaders Campfire podcast, co-hosts Chris and Steve interview Garrett Batty, the director and writer of Scout Camp: The Movie, which will be released on dvd at the end of the month. Learn some interesting facts about making the movie. Check out the podcast at http://ow.ly/dfjb and learn how you could win a dvd or poster of the movie. The podcast can also be found on iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=204547473 The website of Scout Camp: The Movie is http://www.scoutcampthemovie.com/ Thanks for listening.

I am veering away from the usual song or skit video found on the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast to bring you something created by Eagle Scout Doug G. A couple years ago Dougs father, Fred, asked me for some assistance in finding some Scouting videos that his council could not find for him. Fred recently wrote me to share a few videos created by his son. I watched both videos and was very impressed with Scout Law video. After a quick email of my own, I received permission to share Dougs video through this podcast. Fred wrote that Doug made the videos to share, so if you have an opportunity to use this within your troop, council, or district than do so. Subscribe to Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast through iTunes. or at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions Check out other Scouting podcasts at http://www.ptcmedia.net

MSPP Episode #65: Scout Vespers The Boy Scouts of Melrose Troop 68 are very familiar with Scout Vespers. They have used it many times to close their own campfire programs. They have also used it to end each of their thirteen Laughs For Lunch Shows. And that brings us to today's video for the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. This video was taken from the troop's 1996 Laughs For Lunch Show. I could have taken it from a newer show, one that was filmed with a digital camera, but I wanted to present a video in which all the boys shown have grown up, moved on with their lives, gone to college, began full time careers, and even started their own families. This video is dedicated all the former members of Troop 68. Be careful where you watch this video. You may find yourself humming or singing along with the troop. http://feeds2.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions

"Our troop has many young adults with no children leading as SM and ASM" And this is a problem? Let's see, I became an assistant scoutmaster at 19. I was appointed the scoutmaster at 21. I do not have any kids. I am still with the troop as scoutmaster 28 years later. Do the "young adults" have the training needed and the support of the troop and committee? As for the card issue, I probably would have let it slide if it fell out of his pocket, but like stated earlier, I don't know both sides of the story here.

Around The Scouting Campfire #4 It is time for the fourth episode of Around The Scouting Campfire, a podcast about Boy Scouting with a bit of fun thrown in for good measure. Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, have put together a full show for you. Show #4 begins with Steve and Buttons talking about the troop's latest fundraiser, a pancake and sausage breakfast. Steve then tells a story about a campfire skit that did not go as well as the patrol was hoping it would. Next, the Buckskin staff of Many Point Scout Camp sings the Many Point Ballad. During Buttons' Corner, the radical Scout reads a couple letters he has received before trying to learn the Cub Scout Promise from Michael, the Bear Scout. As the show comes to an end we hear the Scout Leader's Minute, How To Catch A Monkey. http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingAudioPodcast

Episode 3 has been posted. Check it out.

For those of you who are interested in listening to Scouting podcasts... There is a new podcast about Scouting that has posted two new episodes this month. It is an audio show called "Around The Scouting Campfire". The shows are about 15-20 minutes long. It starts with a discussion between the hosts, then move on to a campfire song or story, some thoughts on Scouting by Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, and wraps up with a scout leader's minute. The podcast can be found at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingAudioPodcast or through iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=307979159 or at PTC Media at http://www.ptcmedia.net/

Lawrence, thanks for the reply. It is great you took the time to join this forum and give us the background information about the event. I still think it was great what you and your pack did. Keep up the good work... and Happy Scouting!

"The Sauk Centre Herald is a weekly newspaper published in the city of Sauk Centre, which is the first town to the west of Melrose, the city I call home. The Herald is one of three local newspapers that does a good job of supporting the local Scout troops and packs. A few years ago I recieved a phone call from one of the Herald staff asking for a picture of the troop. They were planning on doing a full page spread in the issue coming out during Scout week to recognize the area Scout units, and wanted to include pictures of the Scouts and leaders. I was quite impressed when I saw the issue a few weeks later..." Read the rest of this article at A Scoutmaster's Blog: http://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog.html

You know, I was not going to reply to all this bickering but: For your information: From an article in a local newspaper, the Scouts, families, and leaders did this on their own time. It was NOT a Pack or Scouting event. It was a local community event. The Scouts were trying to do a Good Turn (for their leader who has cancer), which is something we as leaders try to teach our Scouts to do. There was no reason to file a tour permit or follow any Scouting rules. The only thing that had anything to do with any Scouting rules is that maybe they should not have been wearing their uniforms. But you know, the boys were proud to be a Scout, and proud to be doing a good turn for their leader, and they wanted people to know it. To tell the truth, I am ashamed of the way some of you have taken an event like this, which has gone on for decades in Minnesota and other areas, across all age groups, and turned it into something to bicker about, even though you did not know all the background information. The people who stage this event know what they are doing, and if they felt these boys should not have been doing it I am sure they would have put a stop to it. Now get a life and do something constructive for Scouting, will you? By the way, write what you will, but I will not respond to anything else. These kids and leaders did a good thing and I, for one, am not going to take anything away from that.

As the new year begins I cannot help but think of A Scoutmaster's Blog and the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. I have been writing posts to the blog for over two and one half years already. (Wow, time flies fast.) If I would have know in high school how much time I would be spending on a thing called a computer, I think I would have taken a typing class. The MSPP podcast currently has 58 videos, with another to be posted later today if I find the time. I have enjoyed putting the videos together. I hope you have enjoyed watching them. I also hope I can keep finding new material to post to the podcast. It is getting harder finding material for videos designed to entertain Scouts, leaders, and parents. I guess Buttons may have to start making more videos each year. It has been over six months since the new feed was created, and from the looks of the stats, nearly everyone has switched over to the new feed, so today I have taken the old feed offline. If you have not switched yet, the new/current feed is found at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions If you prefer to follow the podcast through iTunes you can find it at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=251187870 The old feeds that will no longer work or be updated are the following: http:// melrosetroop68.org/podcast/podcast.xml and http:// feeds.feedburner.com/MelroseScoutingProductionsPodcast If you are still linked to one of these feeds please switch to one of the current ones. By the way, you can also find the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast as a part of the PTC Media family of Scouting podcasts. The link for that site is http://www.ptcmedia.net/ Once again, I would like to thank you for reading the blog and watching the podcast. I invite you to leave comments and let me know what you think about them. I also challange you to invite two or three more people to check out the blog and podcast. The higher the numbers of viewers become, the more excited I get about keeping things going. And to tell the truth, I could use more viewers.

I do not consider myself crazy (although their are some who think you need to be crazy to be a scoutmaster). For example, they are a number of people each year who decide they need to take a quick dip in a hole cut through the ice of a frozen lake in Minnesota. Would I do that? No way! I am not crazy. But this year in Lake Minnetonka near Minneapolis, Minnesota, hundreds of people decided to bring in the new year by getting nice and cold in the icy water. Crazy, huh? Well, what caught my attention this year is that a group of Cub Scouts decided to join in the festivities. Here is part of the the article from the KARE 11 website: "They came from all over the globe, just to say they did it. Hundreds of thrill seekers leaped into Lake Minnetonka New Year's morning, for the 19th annual Polar Plunge. Organizers say 388 people registered to take the plunge this year, far above last year's record of 298. Hundreds more showed up and registered Thursday morning. In all, 908 people jumped into frigid Lake Minnetonka to welcome 2009. "Among them, Cub Scout Pack 116 from Princeton, Minnesota. The boys recently learned their assistant cub master, Dar Durant, had been diagnosed with cancer, so they took pledges, collected money, and jumped into the lake. The money raised will go to help the family. "Plunge organizers say people from Canada, England, Iran, and Jamaica registered to take the annual dip this year." I have to give those Cub Scouts and their leaders the credit that is due them. They did a great job of putting others first and helping someone in need. I am sure this is one plunge they will never forget. By the way, the link to the KARE 11 website also has a couple videos showing the Cub Scouts taking their Polar Plunge. I am not sure how long the video will be available so check it out quickly. http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=534346&catid=2

Late last night, on Christmas Eve, several of us from around the country joined Chris for his live "An Hour A Week" Christmas show. The chat room was very lively as we listened to Chris and the various Christmas music he was playing. He invited us to join him on the show, so I thought I would try reading the story "A Christmas Scout". It is one of my favorite Scouting Christmas stories (not that there are that many too choose from). I recorded it while Chris was playing some music and sent him the mp3 file to use during his show. After thinking about it this morning, I thought I would make it available through my blog also. If you would like to hear my reading of the story of the Christmas Scout which was written by Sam Bogan, all you have to do is check out the blog at http://melrosetroop68.org/2008/12/reading-of-christmas-scout.html

I remember seeing this movie for the first time when I attended Philmont Training Center in 1984 (on a reel to reel projector), during my third year as scoutmaster. I remember thinking that it was quite an accomplishment for Lem to celebrate 20 years as a scoutmaster, and thinking to myself would I be able to do that? Well, it is now 27 years as the scoutmaster of the same troop I started with. I beat Lem's tenure! :-)

Three more videos of Boy Scouts performing skits and songs have been posted to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast: #52 - Summer Camp Campfire: Two troops at the Many Point closing campfire. One troop does the Supersize skit in which everything put into one side of the "machine" comes out bigger on the other side. The second skit features another troop doing a superhero variation of the Invisible Bench Skit. #53 - The Boy Scouts perform the Submarine Skit during a community show. The skit is about a dysfunctional crew on a submarine trying to torpedo enemy ships. #54 - This skit is a sequel to the Star Trekking skit seen on an earlier post. It features the characters of the Star Trekking: The Next Generation television show. The Scouts get pretty wild at the end. I hope you enjoy the shows. They can be seen at http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions or at http://www.ptcmedia.net

I can tell you what I would do. I would resign and tell them why, just like GW suggested. There is no reason for the DC to take away someone you recruited to help you. He should go out and find his own recruits. I could not work for a group that would undermine my work like that. (This message has been edited by stevejb)

The Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast has added two new videos recently. Both feature Buttons, the radical Boy Scout (a puppet). The first video has Buttons and his puppet friends telling each other bad (and I mean terrible) jokes, like those you would find in Boy Life magazine. In the second video Buttons reads Baden-Powell's final message to the Scouts, and announces a contest to celebrate the podcast's fiftieth video. The podcast can be found at http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions or on iTunes at http://tinyurl.com/4abmmk You can also see the videos on Youtube if that is your site of choice: http://www.youtube.com/user/stevejb68

Two new videos have been added to the Melrose Scouting Productions Podcast. The first video features the Buckskin Staff of Many Point Scout Camp in Minnesota performing the song Star Trekking at the Friday night closing campfire. It gets a little wild. The second video features a troop performing the Hole In The Ground song during their yearly community show. The song gets longer and faster as it continues. These videos can be seen in Itunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=251187870 or by checking out PTC Media at http://www.ptcmedia.net/?q=panels/shows/10 or by going to the blog at http://melrosetroop68.org/blog.html You may subscribe to the podcast at http://feeds.feedburner.com/melrosescoutingproductions