September Cub Scout Roundtable Issue

Volume 7, Issue 1

Pockets (Webelos Communicator & Citizen)

SKITS

This is one of my all time favorite, oft repeated skits. My den did this skit in our school lunchroom at a pack meeting. To make the mess a bit easier to clean, all the Cubs stood on newspaper; to have only one Scout stand on newspaper also gives hints that not all the Cubs are going to do the same thing.

The Disappearing Banana
Northwest Suburban Council

Equipment: 4 or more bandannas and 1 very ripe banana

Personnel: 5 (or more) deadpan assistants and an announcer

Setting: Tell the audience that a magic trick is going to be performed for their enjoyment. Before their eyes, the assistants will demonstrate the disappearing bandanna trick. The assistants have been carefully selected for their ability to follow instructions exactly for their ability to follow instructions exactly. (The assistants take their places behind the announcer. Bandannas are concealed in the hip pocket. The banana is carefully kept behind the "dolt's back.)

Announcer: (Straight face at all time) "Remove the bandannas from your pockets and show them to the audience." (Assistants hold the bandannas in front of them, showing both sides. The one with the banana shows the banana with confidence.)

Announcer. "Fold the bandanna in half. (Everyone folds their bandanna one time. The one with the banana begins to look concerned, rolls his eyes left and right and then looks skyward. With an 'oh, well', attitude, he breaks the fruit in half.)

Announcer: "Fold the bandanna in half again." (Everyone folds their bandanna again to a smaller square. The one with the banana expresses more concern, looks left and right, uses facial expressions to demonstrate an uncomfortable feeling---remember to keep a straight face. He breaks the banana again.)

Announcer: "Hold the bandanna in your left had and fold the four corners in." (Everyone complies. The one with the banana sort of scoops up the fruit and piles it in the center of the palm of the left hand. Facial expressions should be indicative of extreme concern that something he is doing is different from everyone else.)

Announcer: "Make a fist!" (By now, everyone in the audience is watching the banana. The hands with the folded bandannas are discreetly exchanged--left for right--and the bandannas are placed in hip pockets. By now, the banana is oozing from between the fingers, and the audience is usually in tears.)

Announcer: "Open your hand, and show that the bandanna has disappeared. (Of course, it has, and applause is appropriate.)

Cub Scout Dilemma
(or Den Leader Dragnet
York Adams Council

This skit is adopted from an apparently old skit that was specific to "Den Mothers," something the Cub Scout program got away from years ago. I've updated the setting to be more time appropriate, but it can still be modified to suit either a man or a lady in the skit, after you've changed the lines a little for the actors!

Characters: Narrator, Boy (not dressed as a Cub Scout), Lady or Man (another Cub dressed as a woman in business suit or man in "business casual" attire)

Narrator: The setting is a typical street in the neighborhood, just like [name one the Pack knows]. The story you are about to hear is too often true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. [Play Dragnet theme.]

Boy: This is the city-beautiful, sunny, smog-free [Your Town]-where jillions of boys between the ages of 6 and 11 comb the streets in search of Den Leaders. My name is Sunday. I'm one of these boys. I'm not a Cub Scout. The reason for this dilemma-no Den Leader!

It was Thursday, September 31^st, I was on day watch in my own neighborhood, same old story, looking for Den Leaders. I met many new faces, but always the same old story-NO ONE HAD TIME.

[Lady approaches boy.]

Boy: A nice looking, well dressed lady was coming down the street toward me. I judged her age to be about [puzzled look but no number]. She had her laptop computer and a purse that would hold the kitchen sink. Obviously she was coming from a business meeting. I approached her.

[Begin dialogue.]

Boy: Could I have your name, ma'am?

Lady: Why yes, little boy. My name is Mrs. Jane Smith.

Boy: And your age, lady? Could I have your age?

Lady: My age? My but you're a tall little boy. You must be at least four foot six.

Boy: That's about the size of me, ma'am. Now, could I have your age?

Lady: Well I'm in the neighborhood of 32, but what's this about?

Boy: I want the facts, ma'am, just the facts. Are you now or have you ever been a Den Leader?

Lady: Me? A Den Leader? Heavens, no!

Boy: Do you have any boys, lady?

Lady: Why yes. In fact I have one boy who's 8 and another who's 10.

Boy: Where were you on Monday, October 16^th, between 4 and 5 pm?

Lady: Let's see now. Oh, yes, on Monday I had a telecon with my two coworkers about the company golf tournament.

Boy: And Tuesday, October 17^th, at the same hour, where were you then?

Lady: On line! I had to be on line in the business-people chat room because I was expecting to catch up with my sister in Loredo. We sometimes use Instant Messenger, too.

Boy: And Wednesday, ma'am? What do you do between 4 and 5 on Wednesdays?

Lady: Well if it's the first or third Wednesday, I work out at Bally, but on the second and fourth I am taking classes. The \adult enrichment program is offering a course on Prehistoric Boys.

Boy: Prehistoric Boys? I'm sorry you find that more interesting that the live ones who need you so badly. What about Thursdays?

Lady: Well Thursday is the day I set aside to play golf.

Boy: Well what about Fridays?

Lady: Surely you don't expect me to be a Den Leader on Fridays! That's the only day I set aside for myself!

Boy: I'm sorry lady, you'll have to come with me down to Scout headquarters for further questioning.

Narrator: The case of Jane Smith was tried the next week. She was found guilty on all counts of evading Den Leadership, thus causing untold agony to many little boys. She was sentenced to 2 years and 20 months of hard labor as a Den Leader, or until such time as both of her boys have crossed over into Boy Scouts.

[Dragnet theme again.]

Making A Cub Scout
York Adams Council

This is an excellent opening for the induction/introduction of new Cub Scouts into a Pack.

Characters: Child, Two Leaders, Two Parents

Props: You will need a large table for the child to lie on during the "operation." The "doctor" can carry a large cardboard knife. Props to be "removed" are tacked to back of table, out of sight. Those to be "put in" can be placed nearby. (Props are listed where used.)

Narrator: We are about to instruct you in the method of making a Cub Scout. To complete this project, you will need one small eager boy, two interested parents, one patient Den Leader, and one courageous Cubmaster.

(Each character enters as his name is spoken. Boy wears uniform under a large loose-fitting shirt and climbs up on the table. Others don surgical masks. As the narrator continues, the operation proceeds, with Cubmaster acting as doctor. Den Leader and parents hand him the things to be put in and take the things removed. When the boy is hidden under a sheet, he removes his shirt.)

Narrator: Cover him with fun and good times (Hold up posters labeled "FUN" and "GOOD TIMES" and cover boy)

We use laughing gas for anesthetic. (Use a tire pump labeled "Laughing Gas.")

Take out hate and put in Love. (Hate - lump of paper, so labeled. Love - big paper heart, labeled).

Take out selfishness, put in cooperation. (Sign "I," sign "WE).

Take out idle hands, put in busy fingers. (Idle - empty rubber gloves. Busy - glove full of flour.)

Take out laziness, put in ambition. (Laziness - rag; Ambition - blown up balloon.)

After this pleasant operation, we have a "CUB SCOUT." (Remove the sheet. Boy, in uniform, stands up and gives the Cub Scout sign.)

Long Rivers Council

Pow Wow 1992

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