As the activities of the Troop increase, as it enlarges its numbers, as the Patrols become more and more effective, the Troop will find that it needs a means of reaching each boy without having to resort to frequent announcements which often are forgotten too soon after they are made.

To meet this need many Troops make use of the Troop bulletin board, while the more ambitious ones produce monthly Troop papers.

The Troop Bulletin Board

A simple bulletin board is easily made by some "handy man" in the Troop. The wooden frame may be constructed with miter joints at the corners. The board itself may be veneer, wood from old packing boxes, or some other material that will take thumb tacks readily. Another type of "bulletin board" is made from a hide strung taut on a frame in a prominent place and decorated with Indian signs and symbols.

On the Troop Bulletin Board will be placed special announcements concerning Troop hikes, camps and other activities, the Troop roster, snapshots that should be brought to the attention of the whole Troop and other items of general interest.

The Troop Bulletin Board should have new notices placed upon it before every meeting. If the boys find the same old notices week after week, they will get out of the habit of looking at the board. Keep it fresh. Make it important. Insist that a notice on the board is equal to a public announcement, that no Scout has any excuse for not knowing what has been announced on it.

The Outside Bulletin Board

The value of the bulletin board may be enhanced if it is located outside the Troop meeting place. You will be surprised to see how many men and women (and boys who are prospective Scouts) will stop to look at its contents. Of course, it will be necessary to have a more elaborate, glass-covered frame for an outdoor bulletin board, but the effort and expense will be well repaid in increased usefulness.

A multitude of Troops male use of a Troop Advancement board. The more ambitious ones produce their monthly papers also.

If the meeting room is not located where people pass it frequently, get permission to place the bulletin board in a more central location, such as on the wall of the Sponsoring Institution, or outside a prominent store, which all the Scouts pass frequently on their way to school or work.

Here again, it is important that the contents be changed regularly-preferably weekly-and that plenty of photos and art work be used to catch the eye of the passer-by.

If a public bulletin board is used, it may be advisable to have a simpler one also in the meeting room with the more important notices.

The Troop Paper

More valuable than a bulletin board (but not a substitute for it) is the monthly Troop paper. It is also more elaborate to produce, but the Troop Scribe of the average Troop with the aid of a staff composed of Scouts with literary and artistic ability, and with access to a typewriter, can readily edit and publish a creditable two- or four-page monthly edition.

Many schools own typewriters and mimeograph machines, that they will make available for this purpose. On these it will be fairly simple to produce a couple of letter-head size sheets (8 1/2 x 11 inches), mimeographed on one or both sides. Many Troops make use of a simple hectograph procedure, such as the "Ditto" process. Still others produce typewritten and suitably decorated copy from which the paper is photo-offset or photo-lithographed by a local establishment. A few Troops with printers in their "Scout family" have their papers printed, the boys doing much of the mechanical work-sometimes even setting the type and running the presses themselves.

Enhance the value of the Bulletin Board. Place it outside of the Troop Meeting Room. Then it becomes a community affair.

In most instances the expense is covered by the Troop treasury. But occasionally advertisements may be secured from local dealers at a small monthly rate.

In this latter case a Troop paper must, of course, maintain the standards prescribed in the advertising policy of the Boy Scouts of America, as follows:

"Advertisements to be acceptable for Scout Publications in addition to meeting the standards in general use by publishers of high grade periodicals and other advertising media must:

"1. Justify the belief that the advertiser will actually receive a fair business return on his investment, the advertisement not serving merely as an indirect expression of interest, or as a contribution to the cause of Scouting.

"2. Deal with a service or product which it is believed will render some service to the readers of the publication or the purposes of the Boy Scouts of America."

The Troop paper-as most other things in the Troop -should be boy-produced, although the Scoutmaster or an Assistant Scoutmaster should give final approval to the material, since boys do not always recognize the proper balance between what can be safely included and what might hurt someone by being too personal or sarcastic.

As far as contents are concerned, each issue ought to include a short statement of an inspirational nature from the Scoutmaster, the complete Troop program of activities for the month, short resume of the activities of the previous month, and lists of advancements and new boys. If space permits, each Patrol may include a short item about its activities, and a "personals" column may be used for serious or humorous highlights. But don't-please-reprint in your paper more or less unrelated jokes clipped from newspapers or magazines. They take up space-and the boys will know them by heart anyway before they see them in the Troop paper.

Even in camp, keep advancement records posted and up-to-date. This is the self-check that keeps the boys stepping ahead.

Now just get a good name for your paper-possibly by a Troop contest-and go to it!

Troop Publicity

Be sure to send a copy of the Troop paper to every local newspaper. They will welcome it, especially if it contains plenty of names and announcements from which news items may be written.

Regular write-ups of Scout doings in the local newspaper not only help to tell the public what Scouting means and what Scouts do, but also serve to stimulate the Scouts themselves to greater efficiency.

Have the Troop Scribe provide the Local Council

Office with news of the Troop's doings for its publicity releases; and if the Local Council approves, send news directly to the newspaper.

You should remember at all times that a Scout Troop's best press agents are its boys, living the lives of Scouts. The basis of successful publicity for a Troop is the continual doing of good Scout work-and the good Troop does this for the fun of it and not for any inherent publicity values.