The Bloggers
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The Cub Scouts of Pack 68 and the Boy Scout of Troop 68 held an Open House on Monday, April 18, 2011. The fire department even brought their ladder truck to the event. What do you do for your open houses?
It was a nice warm Saturday morning at the state-wide Ripley Rendezvous last weekend. The sun was shining, There was a nice breeze. It was turning out to be a great day for this Scouting event. Little did we realize that nature had a little surprise in store for us.
Hundreds of Boy Scouts, troop leaders, and staff meet at a special location during this weekend's Ripley Rendezvous to form a huge human outlined fleur-de-lis, the universal Scouting symbol. The Camp Ripley Public Affairs Office had their staff take this photo from a helicopter.
Five Boy Scouts and two adult leaders of Melrose Troop 68 joined nearly 3200 other Scouts and leaders for the 2011 Ripley Rendezvous. The event was held at the Camp Ripley National Guard Base in central Minnesota. Boy Scouts from all over Minnesota attended, along with some Boy Scouts from neighboring States and even Canada.
I was probably a 13 year old Boy Scout when I attended my first Ripley Rendezvous. This annual event was sponsored by the Central Minnesota Council, BSA, and the Camp Ripley National Guard Base, located north of Little Falls, Minnesota.
So, you are new to the Boy Scout program. Maybe you crossed over this spring with your son who was a Webelos Scout, or maybe you joined with your son as he joined the program. Either way, you may be hearing terms you are unfamiliar with and abbreviations that confuse you.
Josh decided to go to the top of Deer Lake Mesa. It is a side hike that we had talked about doing when we were planning things back in Melrose. No one shows any interest in going along with him so he tries to go off by himself.
Yes, I realize that if your tent leaks during a rainstorm your fun and enjoyable weekend could turn somewhat lousy. I understand that because it has happened to me a couple times. That is why when I saw the picture shown at http://www.scoutmastercg.com/2011/05/caption-contest/ I just had to break out laughing.
The Cub Scouts of Pack 68 had a special field trip on Tuesday, April 26, 2011. Two members of the local volunteer fire department gave the boys a tour of the firehall and of the trucks used by the fireman.
The end of the 2011 "100 Days Of Scouting" has arrived. This is the second year of the blogging event, but the first year for me. Twenty four blogs participated this year, including Scoutsigns , the originator of 100 Days of Scouting.
I had thought about starting one for awhile before I took the plunge. I had some thoughts and stories I thought others may enjoy reading. There were not that many about Scouting related topics. So, on May 18, 2006, I posted the first article to " A Scoutmaster's Blog ."
The Troop 68 committee met tonight. The troop's two newest Boy Scouts attended for their Tenderfoot board of reviews. They were very excited. In fact, they arrived before the committee did. The committee holds board of reviews at the beginning of their meeting.
I usually get a bit irritated when only three of the ten members of the troop show up for a troop meeting, but tonight it worked out very well. It was a true boy run meeting. The boys in attendance were the assistant senior patrol leader and the two newest boys.
Two new boys joined us for their first Boy Scout camping trip at Camp Watchamagumee over the weekend of May 6-8, 2011. They had a great time on the outing but we did have an interesting and unexpected experience Friday night.
It has been a long time in the making, but it looks like it has finally happened. Cubmaster Chris of the An Hour A Week podcast and father of the PTC Media network of Scouting related podcasts has released this photo of Miss Liberty of the MISS Show and Buttons of the Around The Scouting…
I have to thank Scoutmaster Jerry from the SSM Blog for this video suggestion. He posted this video on his blog and I agree that it is a great one. To quote the description on the video's page: "Inspiring video on persevering no matter how many times you have failed in life."
It has been said that Boy Scout leaders will do nearly anything for a patch. I guess I may fall into that grouping. I have been to many camporees and Scouting activities over the last three decades, and yes, I attended a few of them just to get the patch, but I have to add…
Three years ago the troop began building a treehouse at our Camp Watchamagumee. It was to be an eight foot square house with three foot sidewalls, built eight feet off the ground. It was to be built between a few trees along the main path of the camp.
I know there have been quite a few books written about that magical place we Scouters know as Philmont Scout Ranch. I own a few of them. Four to be precise. Here is a quick description of each of them.
I sometimes think I do not fit the typical requirements for holding the position of scoutmaster. For example, I do not drink coffee. I do not need to have a cup or three of java to get going in the morning.
The Lion's Volunteer Dinner Eymard, my assistant scoutmaster, and I attended the Lions Club's annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner held Wednesday night at the American Legion. The dinner of roast beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, cookies, and milk was much better then what I would have made myself.
The Eagle in The Newspaper I was looking forward to receiving this week's Melrose Beacon, our local weekly newspaper. An article about Dakota, our newest Eagle Scout, was included in it. I was curious as to were it would appear in the paper.
The Cub Scout Meeting . I went to Cub Scout Pack 68′s pack meeting tonight. At least, I thought it was a pack meeting night. You could say it was more of a den meeting involving the whole pack. The pack meets at the meeting room at the city firehall.
The PLC Meeting . The patrol leader council held their monthly meeting today to review April and plan for May's meetings and activities. Although they did get sidetracked a few times, they were able to plan next month's meetings and service project.
Boy Scout Troop 68 and Cub Scout Pack 68 held an open house on Monday, April 18, at St. Mary's School gym. Flyers were sent to the schools. Posters were hung around town. An article was printed in the newspaper.
Our local weekly newspaper, the Melrose Beacon, has been working for a few weeks on an article about the 100th anniversary of the first Boy Scout troops formed in Melrose. Herman, the writer of the article, has sent me a few emails requesting information and the chance to proofread the story which was printed in…
And now, it is time for a little musical number from a place known as Philmont Scout Ranch in a land called New Mexico. Let us watch and listen to a group of minstrels that go by the name of the Rayado Ruffians as they play the little tune, "Cindy".
The first thing you notice when you see the Boy Scout handbooks from the 1950′s is ghost of the American Indian as he rises above the campfire. This is the fifth edition of the Handbook for Boys. By the time the January 1957 version came out they had been a total of 15, 500,000 handbooks…
I have finally completed a major part of a goal I have which is to scan all the Scouting pictures I have taken over the years. On Friday, I finally scanned the last of the pictures from the 1980′s. That is over 2050 photographs that use over 1.5 GB on the hard drive.
There was a fairly decent turnout for this spring's Boy Scout Troop 68 sponsored Dad's Belgium Waffle Supper fundraiser that was held Friday night, April 15th. We served 296 people in all, not counting the Boy Scouts who worked at the supper.
Around The Scouting Campfire #23 is ready for your enjoyment. In this episode Scoutmaster Steve and Buttons, the radical Boy Scout, talk about getting outside to play. The Boy Scouts of Troop 68 sing a song about an experience they had with some cattle.
Yeah, I know. This is supposed to be YouTube Tuesday. Well, excuse me (as Steve Martin used to say). I found a great little video on a website called Vimeo that I thought would make an excellent suggestion for today.
100 Days of Scouting: Day 60. Tuesday night, at the Scenic District Roundtable, a short discussion of iPads, iPods, and cell phones came up. Most of the troops represented stated they have a no-electronics policy on camping trips, similar to my troop.
I am beginning to panic. Just a little. Boy Scout Troop 68, along with Cub Scout Pack 68 of Melrose, are planning to hold a Scouting Open House on Monday, April 18th. That is only a little over a week away!
Dakota received his Eagle Scout Rank on Saturday, April 2, 2011. That means it was time to make another Eagle Scout slideshow. This is the twelfth time I have created a video for an Eagle court of honor. Ten of those were for Boy Scouts from Troop 68.
Today, for Youtube Tuesday, we are leaving the USA and the BSA. The UK Scout Association has produced a great video that does a great job of promoting Scouting and asking adults to volunteer in their local units. What I find fascinating is most of the information in the video could apply to the Boy…
Patches, patches, and more patches. I have quite a few patches. I have already written about my collection of 2001 National Jamboree council shoulder patches, and the collection of Order of the Arrow lodge patches. Add these two together and you may get close to how many patches are in my regular Council Shoulder Patch…
The Eagle Scout court of honor for Dakota was held this weekend. It went great. We had a good crowd. On the inside of the program was a little thing called, "One Hundred Scouts." I have seen this before and I like seeing it as a part of an Eagle court of honor in some…
This week has been a very busy week. I have had something going on every night, usually Scouting related. I seem to be tired all the time. I never get caught up with my work at home. I am not as patient as I used to be.
Everyone knows the song by Louis Armstrong, "What a Wonderful World." It is a classic. Even young Boy Scouts are familiar with the tune. I have a feeling that the song will still be around during the next hundred years.
This week will be a busy week for this scoutmaster in central Minnesota. It begins with this year's first court of honor which takes place tonight at the city hall meeting rooms. There are not many awards to present, but we do have two new Boy Scouts to recognize and one Scout will receive his…
In 1997, Melrose Boy Scout Troop 68 spent a weekend at Eagle Cave in Wisconsin. The boys had a great time exploring every nook and cranny within the cave, as you saw in the first video. Saturday evening, the staff invited everyone to the dining hall.
The weather forecast did not give the impression that this month's troop activity would be much of a winter outing. The temperature had been above freezing for most of the week. A lot of the snow cover had already melted before we left for camp on the evening of Friday, March 18.
New to Scouting? Not really sure what the Order of the Arrow is all about? Listen to the latest episode of The Leaders Campfire podcast (#84). Chris and Steve interview Kevin, a Life Scout who is very active in the Order of the Arrow.
Tonight is Cub Scout Pack 68′s Blue and Gold Banquet. It will be the first one I have attended in five years. Not because I did not want to attend any, but because there have not been any Webelos Scouts to crossover.
This week's YouTube Tuesday video comes from the Circle Ten Council of the B.S.A. It features Boy Scout Denzel Long. He talks about how the Boy Scouts have helped him raise his life to a whole new level. I liked the video, and I think you will also.
The Reading Merit Badge was introduced to the Boy Scouts of America advancement program in 1925. Boys already had plenty of reading material at that time, including books about fictional Boy Scouts named Tom Slade, Roy Bakely, and Pee-Wee Harris.
Every once in awhile it becomes a busy week of Scout stuff in this scoutmaster's schedule. This happens to be one of those weeks. Take a look… Monday, the 14th – The troop meeting. Most of the members of the Mel-TV board of directors stopped by for a photo with the Boy Scouts.
It is the sixth week of 100 Days of Scouting. Time for another Scout Trivia quiz. Today's theme is outdoor skills. These ten questions come from the Scout Mania trivia book, and are based on the 1984 Boy Scout Handbook.
I enjoy a good campfire program. You can easily tell when a camp staff has rehearsed the skits and songs, and when they themselves are having a good time. That good time spreads to the campers and makes for a great evening.
