And now, for you, Scoutmaster.

Double pun coming up. Double pun. That's right. Two campaign huts go out on a hike. One gets worn out, and the other went on ahead. Worn out. Go on. Alrighty, this is podcast number 40. Hey!

Welcome back. It's Clark Green, and this is podcast number 40. You know what that means, right? The podcast and I are now officially over the hill. So, a little special music is in order. Thank you, Aaron Copeland. But really, no, in all seriousness, I wanted to take a moment and thank everybody for their gestures of support and encouragement about the podcast and the blog. These things are always appreciated. And reaching podcast number 40, that's a big deal. And so, it's going to be a big podcast. I recorded an interview this week with a couple of the authors of a new book called Working the Patrol Method. And it is a longish interview, but I think it's going to be worth your time. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Here it comes.

And now, for you, Scoutmaster.

So by now you've heard the... You've heard the one about the lumberjack who just couldn't cut it. Yeah, they gave him the axe. Oh. Okay, this is podcast number 41.

Hey!

Welcome back to the Scoutmaster Podcast. This is Clark Green. You know, some time ago on the blog, I put a copy of the letter that Mike Rowe sent to an Eagle Scout. Mike Rowe is the host of that TV show, Dirty Jobs. I'm sure many of you have either seen the show, and probably most of you have read that letter, because it got circulated pretty widely in the scouting community. If you haven't, I'll have a link to it on the blog. But I got a comment about that letter this past week from Colin, who says, I'm on the home stretch to becoming an Eagle Scout. And Mike Rowe's words define the attitude that all Scouts should have. There is no reward or satisfaction in life for almost completing something. The gratification comes from knowing that you have worked your hardest, and for no other reason than to become a better person and to better those around you, and became an Eagle Scout. Achieving Eagle takes all the perseverance and commitment a boy can give, but nothing gives as great a reward. You go, Colin. Glad you're in the home stretch. And I know that you will finish the race there, become an Eagle Scout. Here's another comment from our last podcast from, I hope I get this name right, Jalus, J-U-L-U-S, left me a comment. He said, I thank you, sir. I am transitioning from Cub Master to Scout Master this year, and have been somewhat nervous. I am working with the current Scout Master in this boy-led troop, so hopefully my transition will be easier, and Cub Scouts is quite different than Boy Scouts. I found your last three podcasts very helpful, and applaud your great work here. I especially like the simplicity of the Court of Honor you suggest, as the SPL will have no problem presenting this type of program. I also like the idea of starting with the parent meeting, too. By chance, would you share your list of tried and true items that you tend to order from Campmore? Well, I did manage, I talked about this a little bit last time, but I did manage to post our list of things that we order from Campmore, and a little bit more about how to set up a Scout account with them, and you can find that right there on the blog. I think I posted that, I think, maybe last Tuesday or Wednesday. So do look that up. And thank you for the kind words. Do appreciate it. Soon-to-be Scout Master Doug had this to say. He says, thanks, Clark. The resources you're providing get better every week. Very much appreciate the blog and podcast. Very much appreciate having you comment, Doug. Do appreciate that. Last week we had an interview with the fellows who have written the book Working the Patrol Method. Once that hit Facebook, I had a couple of comments there. Rick says, this is a great book, and I used it when I taught troop leader training this week. Chad says, just bought it. Any help to help the boys realize their calling and scouting will be a help. Well, that's helpful. Thanks, guys. Yeah, it is a great book. There was a comment on the blog. I most definitely need to get a few copies of this book for me and my fellow assistant Scout Masters, and that was from Jason. Alan said, great show. I, too, went to Wood Badge and caught the vision of how patrols were to operate within a troop. I do not hear a whole lot about the patrol method, other than people saying, oh, yes, we have patrols. I bought a copy of the 1942 Scout Masters Handbook and read it from cover to cover. Bill Hillcourt really knew his stuff. I expect to keep working the patrol method close with my 1942 Scout Masters Handbook. Yeah, that's high praise for that book. And, Alan, that was from Alan, and I think you're going to find that that's a good idea. Larry Geiger has this to say about our interview last week with the authors of Working the Patrol Method. At one point we were kind of talking about that it's sometimes easier for adults to run a troop themselves. Larry says, Larry's differing with us. He says, no, it's not easier to do it yourself. It may seem that way at first, but it's not true. If it seems that way, then you don't know what your scouts are capable of. Right there with you, Larry. If you're having trouble with leadership, challenges cure things. Take them out and challenge them. Talk them into climbing, canoeing, rafting, backpacking, etc. Usually they're eager for that kind of stuff. And the natural challenges of these types of events will cause real leadership to rise to the top. Cool stuff, Clark, and the patrol guys. Keep it coming. Well, thank you, Larry, for another good comment there. Will said, what a fun show. I really enjoyed the interview and the format. It always is good to know we aren't alone in our mission to hear how others are meeting the promise. That's right, Will. And thank you for your kind words. Another post that went on the blog this week is a YouTube video of an old film strip. And I think that most of you remember film strips. Yeah, they had them when I was in elementary school and on. And boy, take a look at that. Make sure you see that film strip because it's an old training film strip about the patrol method. Irv had this to say. It was definitely a part of the seven-phase scout leader development course I took back in 1980. Everything was on film strips back then. Some were still on vinyl records. But they were progressing through to cassette tapes. How far? We've gone in 30 years. But the message doesn't change. The patrol method is still it. And I've got to agree with you, Irv. Got to agree. Well, we've got a lot of things lined up for you on the podcast today. In just a moment, it will be Scout Mastership in seven minutes or less. In Scout Mastership in seven minutes or less, we're going to be talking about the place of our duty to God and our pledge to be reverent. And a couple of ideas for working that into the program and some definitions for it. And then I have a couple of emails to answer. So let's get started, shall we? Scout Mastership in seven minutes or less. There are many ways to build into our scouting program. That part of the Scout Oath in which we pledge our duty to God and the 12th point of the Scout Law, a scout is reverent. Perhaps it's best to know that there are some policy statements that kind of help us shape and identify what those things are. Let me run through them with you. The activities of the members of the Boy Scouts of America shall be carried on in conditions which show respect to the convictions of others in matter of custom and religion, as required by the 12th point of the Scout Law, reading reverent. A Scout's reverent towards God, he is faithful in his religious duties and he respects the beliefs of others. In no case where a unit is connected with a church or other distinctively religious organizations shall members of other denominations or faith be required, because of their membership in the unit, to take part in or observe a religious ceremony distinctly unique to that organization or church. The Boy Scouts of America recognizes the religious element in the training of the member, but is absolutely non-sectarian in its attitudes towards that religious training. Its policy is that the home and the organization or group with which the member is connected shall give definite attention to religious life. So, what do we take away from these things? Well, most of the places that I've experienced scouting, the scouts and leaders, as is the general demographic in the United States, identify themselves as Christians. It's more common for us to see a non-denominational Christian observance in our troops and our camps than it is to see a non-sectarian or inter-faith observance. What's the difference? A non-denominational Christian observance is based on the assumption that all present identify themselves as Christians, although they may be Catholic, they may be Protestant, and they may be one of the many flavors of Protestantism. They might be Methodists or Presbyterians or Baptists or whatever. Yet, all of the members of those different denominations share a few common touch points in Christianity. A non-sectarian inter-faith service understands that not all the members present identify themselves as Christian. There may be Buddhists, there may be Muslims, Hindus, there may be members of many different faiths present. So, the service needs to be conducted with a sensitivity to that fact. For example, in our troop right now, while the vast majority of the scouts and leaders would identify themselves as being Christian, we also have ones that would identify themselves as Muslim and as Buddhist. And I have had Jewish families participate in the troop in the past, so we go to great lengths to make sure that our observations of our religious duty are designed so that all who are members of our troop can participate. What we generally do is, every weekend that we're camping, is we have a brief Vespers service. Vespers is Latin for evening, and it's a very familiar term, I think, to many Christian denominations who have evening services. And we use the word Vespers very advisedly because it indicates that this is something special that is set aside for the observation of our duty to God and the twelfth point of the Scout Law, that is reverence. Vespers opens, once the troop assembles, with a short reflection. It might be something very simple like, you know, today on our hike I watched as you followed the trailblazes along the way. These blazes help us follow the trail, alert us to changes ahead like turns and road crossings. And I couldn't help but think that while they might not be painted on trees like trailblazes, there are signs and blazes that we follow as we live our lives. The Scout Oath and Law is kind of like a set of blazes that guide us, as are your families, your friends, and your beliefs. Can any of you tell me a trailblaze that you follow? Now that's an example of a very open-ended brief reflection that encourages the Scouts to participate. And then what follows is, is any of the Scouts and leaders can add to that reflection as they see fit, focusing on the exchange of ideas. And then once everyone who desires to has spoken, we'll go ahead and close with a moment of silence. The moment of silence is a pretty familiar thing to most of us. And it consciences all faiths because some faiths don't pray in the same way that Christians pray. For instance, Buddhists don't say prayers. So that gives us a moment. And then the Vespers' observance is concluded. It's very brief, usually about 15 or 20 minutes. And it doesn't task everyone's powers of concentration. It's held, like I said, usually of a Saturday evening. And so it is a brief, succinct observance that serves as a reminder of our duty to God and our pledge to be ready. Thank you. Email, that is, folks. And here's an answer to one of your emails.

And now, to you, Scoutmaster.

Hey, you ever hear of Ken Hubbard? Ken? K-I-N? Hubbard? I'll bet you haven't. Ken was once a household name. Yeah, he was a cartoonist. He had cartoon in newspapers. But this is like in the 1920s, 1930s. No, no, I really, I don't go back that far. But I learned a little bit about Ken because I saw something that he said, and I thought it was great. This is what he said. Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men. Now, all the women who are listening, they just said amen because they understand this. They know this. They've known it for a long time. But some of the men who are listening, Hey, guys, just come over here for a moment. If you didn't get that, if you didn't understand that, go talk to your wife, and she will explain it to you. Okay?

And now, to you, Scoutmaster.

Alright, there's some things that we say as Scout leaders that are taken in exactly the opposite meaning. I'll give you an example. If on a camping trip, I say, lights out, all quiet. It is heard as, it's time to test your flashlight and to talk in a very loud voice. I mean, am I right or am I right? Hey, this is podcast number 43.

And now, for you, Scoutmaster.

Maybe you heard the name before. Ruhl Amundsen, polar explorer. He led the first Arctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912. He was also the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. So this guy spent a fair amount of time outdoors, camping. In pretty tough conditions, you would have to admit. This is what he had to say about adventure. He said, an adventure is merely a bit of bad planning brought to light by the test of trial. An adventure is merely a bit of bad planning. Camping when the weather is clear and sunny, that's great camping. It could be adventurous, but it's just great camping. Camping when the weather is... interesting. Now that's an adventure. Hey, this is podcast number 44.

And now for you, Scoutmaster.

So, there's a group of economists. Yeah, I said economists. You know, the guys study the economy, tell us things about it. Everybody knows an economist, right? Well, they're climbing in the Alps, and they get lost. And they're hopelessly lost. They can't figure out where they are. So, they get out the map, and they start studying it. And they've got compasses and GPS units. And, you know, they're taking bearings and looking at the sun and studying the sky and the landscape. And finally, one says, I think I know where we are. I think I've got it. And the others look at him and say, okay. And so, he says, you see that mountain over there? Yeah. That mountain over there in the distance? Yeah, that one. Well, according to the map, we're standing on top of it. All right. This is podcast 45. Hey! Hey! Hey! Welcome back to the Scoutmaster Podcast. This is Clark Green. In our last podcast, we talked about the concept of fun and that fun is challenge. And I got this comment from Alan who said this. Regarding fun, I don't think we adults are always a good gauge of this. For instance, during our camp out this past weekend, I got the Scouts together for a night hike up a nearby short peak. The other adults thought it would be a disaster in the dark, so they didn't go. The full moon was shedding a surreal light over everything and the warm air was pleasant. And the boys had to make their way through some thickets over a ridge and then up to the summit. I heard some discouraging words along the way and thought to myself, was this a mistake? But once we reached the top, it really paid off. We looked out over beautiful natural vista and I could see that the boys were having fun. And that's fun. It wasn't easy. And the adults thought it was going to be a disaster. But I think that's a great illustration, Alan. I think that's a good illustration, Alan, of exactly what we were talking about. And we need to continually challenge ourselves as adults to try and put ourselves in the mindset of the Scouts that we're working with. We also talked about Roland Amundson's quote last week. Roland Amundson, the polar explorer, who said that adventure is just a bit of bad planning. A new Scoutmaster said this to me, I never knew I was in such great company. My personal life slogan is it's not an adventure until something goes wrong. Well, in this podcast, we're going to be talking about boards of review. And I want to talk a little bit about how boards of review are conducted and give you some resources for training people who are going to sit on a board of review. Before we move on, though, I want to talk about blogging and podcasting. And I want to talk about that specifically in the context of Scout blogs and podcasts. There's a handful of us out there. And it takes a lot of time to put these things together. And this is a little self-serving, what I'm saying. And I don't like to pay a whole lot of attention to it. So you'll just forgive me for a moment. But I thought it would be a good thing to explain exactly what this takes and how you can support it. Besides myself, I'll give you, for instance, my buddy Jerry with the Scoutmaster Minute podcast. He's got a great podcast, great blog. He's out there doing good work and certainly somebody who you should be listening to. He is on something called PTC Media. P-T-C Media. Definitely worth going to the PTC Media website, listening to Jerry and the other podcasters there. This blog and podcast, well, the blog started five years ago this month. And it's had its ups and downs, but it's been very gratifying personally because, you know, I've been able to sit and write and work out my own thinking about scouting. And then I've been able to meet people virtually, you know, and have conversations with them about different subjects. And the response I receive indicates that other people are finding this helpful. I started the podcast in February of this year and we're still rolling along. We're at podcast number 45. Here's what it takes to do this. It takes a good number of hours to put together a blog and a podcast on a weekly basis. And the practical reality kind of boils down to two things. It takes time and it takes a little tiny bit of money. Not a lot. Just a little bit. Now, I'll spend somewhere between 10 and 15 hours a week working on the blog and the podcast. And I'm very happy to do that. I would probably end up doing it if nobody listened to it. And did I mention I have a patient wife? And the expenses, it's very de minimis. It's like maybe 30 bucks a month or something like that to maintain the web services and things need for that. So I'm not going broke. And I'm not starved for attention. But, you know, there's a tiny little bit of income that I get off of some affiliate links and things like that on the blog. And let me tell you how you can support the Scoutmaster blog, the Scoutmaster podcast, and all the other ones that are out there. And it's really quite simple to do. I'm not going to ask you for money. I don't really need it, to tell you the truth. Don't tell my wife I said that, please. She's patient, but to a point. You know, number one is to respond to what you see and hear. You know, respond to what you read. Comments and questions and reviews and ratings and things like that, these mean a tremendous amount to anybody who's doing this. Because, honestly, you know, there's no voices out there to respond to you. There's no faces that you're looking at while you're doing this. And it's very easy to get into the mindset of you're kind of doing this in a vacuum. So response, in any form, is tremendously important to anybody with a blog or a podcast. And it's pretty easy to do. You can email. You can comment on the blog. You can leave ratings and reviews on iTunes. And I mention this on every podcast just kind of as a general reminder. But if you see a blog or a podcast that does have a specific business sponsor, well, do a little shopping with that sponsor. And tell them where you found out about them. And that certainly helps. It helps a great deal. As I said before, I'm not going broke. I'm not getting rich. It's just kind of maintaining. It's all right. And I'm not really starved for attention because people are very kind and they do respond. If you are one of the people who respond regularly, well, I really appreciate it. And I'll thank you again. If you aren't, I'd love you to get in touch soon. You know, send me an email or something like that. We'll talk about that at the end of the podcast. Now, we're going to talk about boards of review. And it's a great subject. And it's something that we've got a lot of information for you on. So let's get started, shall we? Scout Mastership in seven minutes. Or less.

And now, for you, Scoutmaster.

Here's a little rule of thumb for you as a Scoutmaster. If you think it goes without saying, it almost certainly does not. If you think it goes without saying, it almost certainly does not. Yeah, like, here's what I mean. Bring your rain gear. That doesn't go without saying. If you put that in the fire, it will explode. Do not put it in the fire. That does not go without saying. Needs to be said. If you do that, you will hurt yourself. Do not do that. Sometimes, really needs to be said, right? Okay. So if you think it goes without saying, it probably doesn't. This is podcast number 46. Hey! Well, welcome back to the Scoutmaster Podcast. This is Clark Green. Hey, I really appreciate those of you who've been in touch over the past week. Will, who is an Assistant Scoutmaster in Sharples, Florida, wrote this. He says, Great show, Clark. I'm a big fan of your jokes, but two accountant jokes in the last podcast might be pushing it. Yeah. Well, I got to tell you, Will, they weren't actually accountant jokes because that would be that would just be beyond the pale. Well, they were economist jokes, you know, not to put too fine a point on it, but yeah. Keep up the great work. I continue to enjoy and learn from you and your email contributors. Also, I am listening to all the archive shows. Thanks for making those available. If you want to see the podcast archive, it's available through scoutmaster.typepad.com. That's the home of the blog and the podcast. And if you look in the upper left-hand corner, you will see a link to the archive of Scoutmaster Podcast. Last time we talked about boards of review, and one of my thoughts was that these should not be a retest of scout skills. Larry Geiger sent in this comment. Larry keeps me honest. Thanks, Larry. It's an absolutely essential thing that scouts be tested on specific scout skills in their scoutmaster conferences and boards of review. The adult leaders in the troop cannot know whether the scout leaders are performing their leadership duties and preparing their scouts if they don't ask specific questions. Can you tie a bow in? What's the difference between hypo and hypothermia? That, you know, that type of thing. How are the scout leaders doing teaching skills? I mean, are the scouts learning? And there's really only one way to know. And I agree with you, Larry. Specific questions, those are good. But they can be done in the context of asking questions without being a retest of things. Larry goes on to say, if we're going to take scouts backpacking and canoeing and climbing, we had better be working to prepare them for those experiences. We and the boy leaders are responsible to ensure that they have the requisite skills. In a lot of ways, this is a simple issue of quality control. The scoutmaster conference and board of review are learning situations. In my experience, most scouts have great answers to almost every skill question that gets asked. I realize this is somewhat of a fine line for some people because some adults feel called to be the ones that administer the scouting SAT at boards of review. And I realize we need to prevent that. Well, Larry, those are excellent thoughts. And what we really need to do, I think, is define the difference between review and retest. And we also need to consider exactly what would constitute reasons for a scout failing a board of review. And Larry went on to say, we do get hung up on the review and test words sometimes. The only scoutmaster conferences I can remember where I have had to ask a scout to wait a week or two is when they don't know the oath and law. In every case, I remember they have come back and have memorized it exactly. I fully agree that not passing a board of review should be very rare. Well, I think there's still some talking to do about this and some things to define. And I'd be interested in knowing what you have to say on the subject and maybe questions or concerns or comments. And we'll have the email address that you can send those to at the end of the podcast here. Bob from Murfreesboro, Tennessee got in touch. He says, I've been actively following your podcast over the last several months. And let me tell you, I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I've been a scoutmaster for 13 years. And your podcast has been both inspirational and entertaining. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to put together your podcast and look forward to each new chapter. Well, thank you, Bob. I really appreciate your listening. Jeff from Georgia chimed in and he said, I'm entering my second year as a scoutmaster. We're planning a court of honor. I have read your blog and listened to your podcasts on this. I was just wondering if you have an outline of how your scouts approach this. I really have nothing specific to go by other than just some general statements. I know that there is no one set way, but I would like to see just some kind of way. And Jeff, I went ahead and sent you a copy of our court of honor script that we've used for ages and ages. And if you're interested in looking at that, drop me an email and we'll make sure that you get a copy. This week on the blog, it's holiday season and there are a couple of posts about gifts for your favorite scoutmaster. What I did is I put a post up about books and most of the books I've referred to on the podcast. And if you haven't taken the opportunity to get those yet, there's some links on the blog of the book reviews and the podcasts they're associated with and the way that how you can get them. And I also put up a link with five or six pieces of essential scoutmaster gear. So if you're doing shopping or somebody's shopping for you, you know, go to the blog and take a look and maybe that'll help you with your holiday shopping. You can find that at scoutmaster.typepad.com. If you listen to the podcast using iTunes, iTunes has a deal where you can leave a review or rate the quality of the podcast. And some of you have been doing that in the past couple of weeks and I really do appreciate it. And I wanted to make sure to say thank you to Phil Trost and to Tony and to Adam for leaving some very nice compliments. I really do appreciate it. In this podcast and Scout Mastership in seven minutes or less, we're going to talk about the scouting process. And then I've got a little Scout Masters minute for a piece that I found that describes scouting to people who may not be familiar with the program. It's a unique way of doing it and it might be helpful to you. So that's plenty to do. So let's get started. Scout Mastership in seven minutes or less.

And now, for you, Scoutmaster.

So listen, I've been doing a little research, and I think Santa Claus might be a Scoutmaster. He has a beard. A lot of Scoutmasters have beards. He always wears the same thing. I mean, when do you not see him in the same clothes? He drives this old, beat-up vehicle that's been around for years. I mean, he's had it for ages. And finally, his clothes are all tarnished with ashes and soot. You know, I think I might be on the side. Hey, this is podcast number 47.

And now for you, Scoutmaster.

So a Scoutmaster goes to his final reward and he's surprised to find himself standing in front of the devil. And he looks around and he sees another Scoutmaster that he knew in life. He's kind of walking around down there in the company of this beautiful woman. And he notices this and he points it out to the devil and he says, Hey, why don't I get the same treatment? I was a Scoutmaster too. And the devil turns to him and says, Just, you know, don't bother me. That woman's punishment is my concern. Oh my. Hey, this is podcast number 48. Hey.

And now, to you, Scoutmaster.

You know why they didn't make two Yogi Bears? Well, they tried, but somebody made a boo-boo. Oh, man. Hey, remember what Yogi said. It ain't over till it's over. Oh, wait a minute. That phone hasn't run in a while. That's the clue phone. Let me get that. What? Oh. Hey, okay, thanks. That was Yogi Bear, not Yogi Bear, who said, it ain't over till it's over.