CLOSING CEREMONIES

NEW JERSEY IS DIFFERENT

Southern NJ Council

This one should be pretty easy for you to modify to your own state. You could change the song at the end to a song about your state – California Here I Come, The Yellow Rose of Texas, On Wisconsin, …  CD

Cub # 1.        New Jersey is different in climate, different in the food produced, and offers different ways of life.

Cub # 2.        The beauty of New Jersey captured in our meadows, beaches, rivers, hills and the glorious sunrises and sunsets.

Cub # 3.        New Jersey is a part of the fifty United States of America, pledging their allegiance to our flag.

Cub # 4.        Just like the state of New Jersey. There are differences in a Cub Scout den. Each boy has different abilities, different interests and different needs.

Cub # 5.        But we are united in Cub Scouting to develop ourselves mentally, physically and morally.

Cub # 6.        Just as Cub Scouting keeps us together and our packs & dens are parts of the whole Scouting program. Our country, the United States of America, all 50 states united and working together.

Cub # 7.        We become better citizens as we learn and achieve together in Cub Scouting.  Just as our country gets stronger by working together.

Cub # 8.        Let us close by singing  "America” in remembering our differences and our unity.  (Or another patriotic song)

MY STATE

Circle Ten Council

Have a Cub Scout read the narrative or pass out cards so the entire audience can read this pledge in unison or have 5 or 6 Cub Scouts repeat the lines from cards.

Cub # 1.        This is my state I will use my eyes to see the beauty of this land.

Cub # 2.        I will use my ears to hear it's sounds.

Cub # 3.        I will use my mind to think what I can do to make it more beautiful.

Cub # 4.        I will use my hands to serve it and care for it.

Cub # 5.        And with my heart, I will honor it.

TEXAS (or any state with Cowboys) COWBOY'S PHILOSOPHY

Circle Ten Council

PERSONNEL: 5 Cub Scouts

SETTING: Boys up front

Cub # 1.        We, the cowboys of the western plains are bound by our desire to live free.

Cub # 2.        We must, therefore, show respect for our fellow man,

Cub # 3.        Respect for his beliefs, Respect for his belongings, Respect for his privacy.  Respect for the ground he walks on and the air he breathes.

Cub # 4.        In doing so, we show respect for ourselves.

Cub # 5.        And secure freedom for all.

CUBMASTER’S MINUTE

STATE PRIDE

Circle Ten Council

(Your State Name) needs men with a concern for the common good -- men who have the understanding and insight to help solve her problems and those of the changing world around us. She needs citizens of integrity who value their great heritage and who are determined to pass on to others an enduring faith in the ideals and methods of our free society.

How does a boy come to know and to appreciate his heritage as a citizen of this state? How does his sense of responsibility and his concern for others unfold?

Begin with him when he is a Cub Scout as he promises with all the solemnity of an 8-year old "to do my duty to God and my country..." Watch the pride and loving care with which he handles the flag as he is taught to fold it. He may not fully understand all that it stands for, but someday he will... with help.

Observe him later as he stands tall, alert and proud in his khaki uniform as the flag is lowered at Scout camp. He is living everyday experiences as a good citizen and showing concern for the needs of others. He is growing and practicing the fundamentals of citizenship. All of this time he is under the friendly guidance and companionship of men and women who care about him.

Now he is grown tall and in high school. An Explorer. He ponders the words of the Explorer Code. There is conviction in his voice as he says: "I will treasure my American heritage and will do all I can to preserve and enrich it."

And so this young American comes to manhood. He has grown through his Scouting experiences and though the influences of many men and women who have helped him. He has a job and a family and is making himself count in his community. He is a citizen of a great nation and state. He understands his heritage and cheerfully accepts his future obligations to all men. He has been a Scout. He is America's answer! He is (Your State Name) Pride!

THREE IMPORTANT THINGS

Great Sauk Trail Council, 2001

Via Circle Ten Council

Personnel: Cubmaster, if done as a Cubmaster’s minute.  Or 4 Cubs each reading one part.

Equipment: Cub Scout badge, handbook and a candle.

To the sailor, three things were essential - a compass, a sextant, and a flag to tell which way the wind blew.

To Cub Scouts, these three things are important - (show items) a badge, a handbook, and a candle.

The badge tells who you are and where you are going, the handbook tells how to get where you are going, and the candle is a symbol of the light of Scouting.

It is a light that must be kept burning in the heart of every Scout.

BROKEN WATER JUG

Great Salt Lake Council

100 years ago a family lived in the St. George area. Water had to be carried from the creek everyday for the family's use. Two large pots were suspended across the carriers back on a stout stick. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

All summer this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, but the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to

do.

Finally it could bear it no longer and said to the bearer, "I am ashamed of

myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts."

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path? That's because I have known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. I have been able to have these beautiful flowers to enjoy. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty for us all to look at"

It's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. Take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them.