July Cub Scout Roundtable Issue

Volume 6, Issue 11

Sea To Shining Sea (Webelos Aquanaut & Geologist)

ADVANCEMENT CEREMONIES

"Tater"
Northwest Suburban Council

Props: Each of six "Taters" wear a sign hanging around their neck starting which "Tater" he/she is.

Chairman: Scouters, this is our problem. Every year hundreds of red-blooded American boys drop out of Scouting in our Council. We are meeting here tonight to do something about this deplorable situation. Have you any suggestions?

Dic-TATER: Yes, I certainly do have a suggestion! Just don't let them drop out! After all, the young whippersnappers don't know what is best. As long as we are bigger and stronger than they are we can simply forbid them to drop out. A firm hand will solve this drop out.

Imi-TATER: Well, Mr. Chairman that sounds a little rash. Why don't we look around and see what some other groups are doing about this same sort of problem. Seems to me, we could just adopt their plans. Those other organizations are doing quite well about this same sort of problem. Seems to me, we could just adopt their plans. Those other organizations are doing quite well, so it might behoove us to copy their tactics.

Spec-TATER: Mr. Chairman, perhaps we are trying to participate too much. Scouting is after all a boys' organization. Let's just leave it up to the boys and let them work out whatever solution they seem to think is best. We can sit back and watch and let them know that we are behind them 1000%.

Agi-TATER: NO! By gussie, we've got to get in there and fight! We've got to be on our toes with our shoulders to the wheel, pushing at all times. We'll get the Chamber of Commerce and the PTA and the local chapter of Sigma-Phi working on this. We'll have a membership rally and a big bonfire and really get things stirred up.

Hesi-TATER: Oh now, I don't know. Maybe we ought to wait till after the summer slump and the fall rush. Sometimes it's wise to use a little caution.

Demon-STRATER: Mr. Chairman, the best way to keep boys in Scouting is to show them what Scouting is and what Scouting does. As proof of what I say, we have here tonight several boys who have not paid much attention to our other 'taters' and their thoughts. (Each boy is called forward and presented with his awards.) We can show them what it's really like and the boys will want to go on in Scouting and not drop out. The problems will cease to be.

ALL: And how.

Red, White, and Blue
Heart of America

Personnel: Cubmaster, Cubs advancing and their parents

Equipment: U.S. flag on a stand. Cubmaster points to it as the ceremony is performed.

Cubmaster: White is a color found in our flag. It is new and pure, reminding us of the new Bobcats that we will honor tonight.

(Read names of boys and to come forward with their parents for their badges.)

Red is also found in our flag. It is a lively, active color. It reminds us of the new Wolves that we will honor tonight.

(Read names of boys and to come forward with their parents for their badges.)

Our flag also has a field of blue. It is an older, wiser color. It reminds us of the new Bears that we will honor tonight. (Read names of boys and to come forward with their parents for their badges.)

You have to have something to fly the flag from, too. The pole or staff reaches toward the sky. This reminds us of the activity badges that the Webelos have earned in their upward trail.

(Read names of boys and to come forward with their parents for their badges.)

Now, I really didn’t forget the stars on our flag. "Star" also means someone important and successful. These stars remind us of the new Webelos which we will honor tonight.

(Read names of boys and to come forward with their parents for their badges.)

Red, white, blue, stars, pole, what am I missing? We have all the parts of the flag, and a pole to fly it from. But we are never going to see our flag flying proudly in the breeze without a rope to tie it all together! To make the Cub Scouting program go we need Den Leaders and parents to help.

Would all the Den Leaders and parents please stand? Let’s give them a big hand for all the help they give us!

A Trip across the Country
York Adams Council

[Note that this and other ceremonies should be reviewed and modified to suit the specific awards being giving at the meeting. This ceremony is written so that any particular award can be used or omitted without impacting the whole of the ceremony.]

Tonight we're going to take a trip—a trip across the country—from sea to shining sea.

We'll begin in the east and move our way west, like our forbearers did as they settled this great land. When our country first began as a new country, the land on the east coast was settled. People moved from other countries to this land of opportunity.

The trip through Cub Scouting goes doing much the same way. When boys first join a Pack, they settle in this new world we call Cub Scouting. And like the first settlers of the new world, they learn new ideas and new ways to live. The new Cubs have learned about the Pack and about Cub Scouting. They have discovered the Law and the Promise, the Cub Scout Sign, handshake, and salute, and other important things that make being a Cub Scout possible.

Tonight we have several Cub Scouts, new to the Pack, who have just begun their trip. [List names of Bobcat recipients and call them with their parents to the front of the room.]

[Hand parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them with the Cub Scout handshake. Offer an applause and ask them to take their seats.]

Once the settlers became comfortable with how to live in the new world, they became more adventurous. They set out from the east to cross the Appalachian Mountains. As they crossed the mountains, they found new adventures and new challenges. In Scouting, the Wolf Cub Scout moves forward too, crossing his own "mountains" to meet new challenges and adventures. He learns about the American flag and his state flag; he begins to work on being physically fit, and he spends time learning more about his family, his home, and his neighborhood.

Tonight we have some Cubs who have crossed the mountains of the Wolf trail and have met the challenges and welcomed the adventures that have brought them. [List names and invite them with their parents to come forward.]

[Hand out badges to parents to give to the boys. Congratulate them and offer a suitable applause. Have them sit down.]

So our trip continues. From the Appalachian Mountains, the settlers moved further west, into the Great Plains. Here they were greeted with challenges they had never imagined. But they also found the room to grow. That's exactly what happens after a Cub Scout leaves the Wolf den and becomes a Bear. He faces more challenges, but he also learns and grows by facing those challenges.

What does it take to face challenges and succeed in them? We can look to several of our Bear Scouts to find out. Tonight we have several Bear Scouts who have done just that. [List off Bear candidate names and invite them and their parents to the front of the room.]

[Hand parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them. Offer an applause and ask them to take their seats.]

Across the Great Plains and into the Rockies our settlers traveled. The Rockies presented to them the greatest of challenges. But again, they rose to the challenges, because they knew that with the hard work and hardships came a freedom and a strength that made it worth the effort. What about the Cub Scout's path? The next phase of their trail is the Webelos. Here the Cub Scout begins to let go of the security he has known from working closely with his parents. He starts his climb into a freer, but more responsible and more challenging level. He no longer has his parents sign off his completed requirements, but reports them to the Den Leader himself. He is becoming more responsible—the challenge—but is also growing more independent, learning to handle his freedom well.

(Webelos)

Tonight there are several Webelos Scouts who have struggled up their own Rockies and have met the challenges offered. [List names and invite them with their parents to come forward.]

[Hand parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them. Offer an applause and ask them to take their seats.]

So the settlers finally crossed the Rockies. Can you imagine what it was like for those that found their way to Yosemite Valley. It was a struggle to cross the course terrain, but the sights that awaited them were beyond compare. The settlers who spent their lives crossing the country, one step at a time, received the reward they richly deserved. They saw the golden rays of the sunset along the Pacific Coast and knew that they had done it themselves.

And our Cub Scouts who grow into Webelos Scouts and advance the full trail of the Cub Scout program are also rewarded for their great accomplishments. They don't get riches of gold or silver; they don't get a life free of hard work, but they do get to know, deep down within themselves, that they have made it to the greatest reaches, for they have earned the Arrow of Light.

Tonight we celebrate the accomplishments of those Webelos Scouts in the Pack who have reached the summit, the top, the farthest reaches. We recognize and congratulate them for their efforts; efforts that took their greatest strength to complete. [List names and invite them with their parents to come forward.]

[Hand boys the parent's Arrow of Light pins to present to their parents. Then give parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them. Offer an applause and ask them to take their seats.]

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