CLOSING CEREMONY

Year's End Closing Ceremony

Viking Council

Staging:    House lights are dimmed.

                    Ceremony board or log contains seven small candles and one tall candle representing the spirit of Cub Scouting.

Cubmaster:  (lights candles) This last ceremony for (year) is one of rededication. Tonight four candles represent the Cub Scout ranks... Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, and Webelos.

Will all Bobcat Cub Scouts and their parents please stand. Bobcats, do you promise in (new year) to do your best to help other people and obey the Law of the Pack, and to advance one rank?

Bobcats: We'll do our best. (Extinguish Bobcat candle)

(Follow same procedure for Wolf and Bear Cub Scouts)

Cubmaster:  Will all Webelos Scouts and their parents please stand?  Webelos Scouts, do you promise in (new year) to do your best to help other people and obey the Law of the Pack, and to earn the Arrow of Light award, if you have not already earned it?

Webelos: We'll do our best. (Extinguish Webelos candle)

Cubmaster:  Three candles and the Spirit of Cub Scouting candle remain burning. The three candles stand for Follows, Helps and Gives, which means, "We'll be loyal". Will you be loyal Cub Scouts in (new year)?

All: We'll do our best. (Three candles are extinguished)

Cubmaster:  The spirit of Cub Scouting still burns as it does in the hearts of Cub Scouts everywhere. May it continue to burn brightly in your heart during the new year as we go upward and forward in Pack (number). Good night, Cub Scouts.

Goodwill Closing Ceremony

Viking Council

Set Up:  8 Cub Scouts each with a sign with one of the letters on front.  The words are written on the back in large print.  Boys say their parts in turn.

G - Good Cub Scouts are friends to all.

O - On their honor to obey the pack law

O - Once they spread goodwill all around.

D - Doubled friendships will surely be found.

W - Working together to make the world a better place.

I - Including as friends -- boys from each faith and race.

L - Leaving behind them a path of good cheer.

L - Let's all practice it now and all through the year.

Good Turn Closing Thought

Viking Council

Most of us are happiest when we are doing something for others. Think, for a moment of a time when you were helpful to someone. Chances are it made you feel pretty good. Of course, we feel best when we do something for others without being found out. When we help others regularly, it soon becomes a habit and gets to be a natural thing. Once a Cub Scout establishes this habit, he learns the real meaning of a good turn.

Cubmaster's Closing Minute

Chief Seattle Council

"I will do my best!" Do these words sound like there is a job that has to be done? Yes, it does. What do they mean? These words explain what every Cub Scout, Webelos, and adult leader has promised to do.

What do they mean for the young 7 year old Cub Scout? For him they mean that he will try to do his best in all things that are taught to him by his Den Leader at den meetings and by his Cubmaster at pack meetings. He has to do his best in helping around the house, school, and community.

What do they mean for the Webelos? He now turns his thought to going on Scout trips, hiking, and camping out under the stars with just the sounds of the night all around him. He learns the first part of the Scout Oath that says, 'On my honor, I will do my best.  Yes, like the knights of old, he has to be gallant, brave, and strong. He has to do his best to be kind, courteous, thrifty, and prepared at all times, especially when called upon in times of need.

What do they mean for the adult Scouter? This is the person who lives up the street and has volunteered to see that activities for the boys get carried out. The adult leaders have to do their best in showing and teaching the boys how to do their best. They give up their time to go to training, committee meetings, and den and pack meetings.

But what is the true meaning of 'To do your best'? It means doing the best work and service that you are a of at all times. Service to your family, to God, and to your community. As we leave tonight, let us all remember that doing his best is one way a Cub Scout Gives Goodwill during the holiday season and throughout the year. 

Family Traditions

Southern NJ Council

Cubmaster: Each of us has some traditions that are only practiced by our own families. Let’s remember to enjoy those traditions and our families at this time of year. Remember it is better to give than to get. See if you can find the joy in giving this year!

A Cub Scout Gives Goodwill

In a recent issue of Scouting magazine, there is a story about a Webelos Scout named Daniel Simon of Pack 381, Buffalo Grove, Illinois.  Daniel earned a $750 gift certificate, and instead of spending the money on himself, he filled seven shopping carts with toys for other children who might not get anything that holiday season.  It was a fine act of kindness and generosity.  For Daniel, the Cub Scout Promise and the Law of the Pack aren’t just words; they represent a way of life.  Especially the phrase, “A Cub Scout Gives Goodwill.”  Wouldn’t it be a great holiday tradition if we all followed Daniel’s example and performed some special good turn for someone in need, giving a little goodwill in the process?  That would bring a lot of joy to the people we served.  It would also bring a lot of joy to us, knowing that we had done something to make someone’s life a little better.  Think about what you can do to give good will and serve others at holiday time.  What better way to build good memories that will last forever?

Starry Night

Commissioner Dave’s scouting Classics

Set Up: - Dim or turn off room lights except for an electric candle or flashlight

This is the season of lights and stars, when days are short and nights are long with beautiful stars.

Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, once said this to his scouts, "I often think when the sun goes down, the world is hidden by a big blanket from the light of heaven.  But the stars are little holes pierced in that blanket by those who have done good deeds in this world.  The stars are not all the same size; some are big, and some are little.  So some men have done great deeds, and some men have done small deeds, but they have all made their hole in the blanket by doing good before they went to heaven."

Let's remember when we look at the starry sky, to make our own hole in the blanket, by giving goodwill through doing good deeds and helping other people.

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