OPENING CEREMONY

A Picture of Our Past - Opening

Circle Ten Council

Setting:  Flag is staffed on a stage behind a closed curtain.  If this arrangement is not possible, the opening may be done in a darkened room with the spotlight on the flag coming on at the appropriate time.

CUBMASTER:  It is a picture of our past, and there is something of Davy Crockett, Kit Carson, Daniel Boone, Horace Greeley, the famous forty-niners, and even Lewis and Clark.  It is a picture of all those brave frontiersmen that headed west.

It is a picture of our people…200 million of them.  They are part of the picture we are helping to paint.

To this picture we would add the portraits of boys, growing into men, who will live useful lives, and who will add to that history of noble action which is our American heritage.

Cub Scouts and parents, the picture of our country! 

Curtains open showing the American flag; or a spotlight on the American flag.

The flag of the United States of America!  Will you stand and join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance to this great flag and to the people who make it so great?

What's It All About? - Opening

Circle Ten Council

You asked, What's it all about?
Why, to turn a boy into a Scout.

To take a boy so young and frail,
And start him up the Cub Scout trail.

From Bobcat and Wolf and Bear
With all the awards and arrows share.

Through Webelos and then into Scouts,
Giving guidance through problems, fears, and doubts.

And on through school and into life he'll trod,
With respect and love for man and God.

To watch him grow so tall and free,
Till one day a leader of our country be.

And then he too, like you and me,
Will take a boy so small and wee.,

And will teach that boy,
With pride and joy,

To be helpful, and to be a good Scout.
Yes, that's what it's all about!

Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance

My Flag Opening Ceremony

Viking Council

Props – Flag, 2 flashlights lights out, Cub Scout in Cowboy Outfit or leader with boys in half circle around flag in cowboy outfits.

Setting - Turn lights out.  Flashlights on flag,  either one person says poem or boys take turns saying verses.

The flag is so beautiful to see,
It really means a lot to me.

It's like a banner in the sky,
It brings great tears to my eyes.

In my cowboy mind,
These thoughts I find.

The white stripes remind me,
Of Sunday and the Glory of Light.

The red stripes remind me,
Of sweat, of a workday in sight.

The White stars on a blue field,
Remind me of peace at night.

She stands for freedom, I stand by her side,
She is to me my faithful guide. 

 What Makes America Great Opening Ceremony

Viking Council

Den Leader: The Cub Scout promises "to do his duty to his country." Our country is different in many ways from other countries. We would like to review for you some of the things that are different but still make this the greatest country in the world.

Cub 1        We call it the United States, and we're bound together by our Constitution and our language. Yet in many ways we're a group of separate kingdoms.

Cub 2        We practice more than 250 different religions and observe thousands of different hunting laws, tax laws, and labor laws.

Cub 3        Our lands grow palm trees and pine, redwood and beech, vanishing Keg deer, and whooping cranes.

Cub 4        Our people say "y'all" and "youse".

Cub 5        We catch shrimp and sell stocks --- live in lean-tos, skyscrapers, and stucco bungalows.

Cub 6        We are a very diverse land, but these are some of the things that make the United States great.

Cub 7        Let us rise and sing "America the Beautiful".

I Am An American

Heart of America Council

Arrangement: Flags are advanced in regular manner.

12 uniformed Cub Scouts have speaking parts.              (or use 6 Cubs, each giving two parts.)

Cubmaster – Leads posting of flags and Pledge of Allegiance in standard manner, then says something like “Den 3 will now tell us what it means to be an American.”

Cub 1        My country gives each one of us the opportunity to advance according to his ambition. Education is for all. I am an American.

Cub 2        My country means love of freedom, faith in democracy, justice and equality. I am an American.

Cub 3        My country believes in the moral worth of the common man. I am an American.

Cub 4        My country gives us the privilege of expressing beliefs or opinions without fear of persecution. I am an American.

Cub 5        My country has the best form of government. It is our duty to keep it that way. I am an American.

Cub 6        My country promises life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I am an American.

Cub 7        My country gives us a privilege that we shall protect and defend even with our lies. I am an American.

Cub 8        My country is and always shall remain the land of the free.        I am an American.

Cub 9        My country is the home of the brave. I am an American.

Cub 10     My country meets any needs or suffering with its abiding love and loyalty. I am an American.

Cub 11     My country is the servant ...not the master.   I am an American.

Cub 12     My country possesses a Statue of Liberty whose torch shall burn as long as we keep it lit with our devotion to the freedom of the individual.     I am an American.

I am your Flag

Heart of America Council

Position someone behind flag (out of sight). As ceremony begins, the flag talks. 

The flag asks, “What is happening?”

Someone explains about the meeting.

Then some one asks, “Who are you?”

The flag replies -

I am your flag

I was born June 14, 1776.

I am more than just cloth shaped into a design. I am the refuge of the world's oppressed people. I am the silent sentinel of freedom.

I am the emblem of the greatest sovereign nation on earth.

I am the inspiration for which American patriots gave their lives and fortunes.

I have led your sons into battle from Valley Forge to the dense jungles of Vietnam.

I walk in silence with each of your Honored Dead to their final resting place beneath the silent white crosses, row upon row.

I have flown through peace and war, strife and prosperity, and amidst it all I have been respected.

I am your flag.

My red stripes symbolize the blood spilled in defense of this glorious Nation.

My white stripes signify the burning tears shed by Americans who lost their sons.

Buckskin Pioneers

Heart of America Council

Narrator:      American pioneers have been men and women with curious minds, strong purpose, courage, determination, and a proud, fierce loyalty. Through every hardship they refused to give up.

Cub 1        In 1607, some 100 men and some venturesome boys stepped ashore at Jamestown and founded the first English settlement on this continent. Soon other men and women came seeking new homes and religious freedom.

Cub 2        During the Revolutionary War, the minutemen and other great patriots fought for our independence and founded our nation. There were people like Patrick Henry, Nathan Hale, Dolly Madison, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Cub 3        Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, and others opened the way westward. Then came the pioneers, trappers and settlers. This was the great westward movement over the famous trails with scouts like Buffalo Bill Cody, Kit Carson, and Davy Crockett.

Cub 4        Robert Fulton produced the first steamboat for river travel and Peter Cooper built the first steam locomotive which brought forth our railroads. Man and woman brought their families and possessions into a new land and built towns and cities.

Narrator:      For us, the United States is still a land of expanding opportunities. The doors of education are open to every American. You can be trained for any one of thousands of skilled jobs in industry, business, science or social fields. You can look forward to a life of opportunity because of our nation's pioneers. Now, let us salute the flag in honor of these great people who have gone before us and have had visions of today's America.