OPENING CEREMONIES
Professor Plop Opening
Circle Ten Council
Setting Cubmaster with Professor Plop (adult dressed appropriately) and his special invention
Cubmaster We have called in a ceremony specialist to help us tonight. I would like for you to meet Professor Plop from M.I.T. (Mighty Ingenious Tech)
Professor I’m still working on my special invention. It’s not quite perfected yet, but I’m close.
Cubmaster That looks like quite a gadget.
Professor It is, it is!
Cubmaster Well, we’ll get on with our pack meeting and let you continue your work. Den _____ has our opening flag ceremony this evening.
Periodically during the pack meeting, the Cubmaster calls attention to the Professor Plop and checks to see how he is coming along. The invention is part of the closing!!
Light Up Your Life
Circle Ten Council
Setting: A single light bulb is illuminated in the front of a darkened room.
Cubmaster: This light bulb is a pretty commonplace thing to people these days. But it’s a fitting symbol for our Pack’s Invention Convention night because of what it represents. Its inventor, Thomas Edison, was recognized as a genius – one of the great inventors of all time. But even more, he represents what you can accomplish if you remember to live up to that part of the Cub Scout promise that says you will “Do Your Best”. Even if you don’t invent a better light bulb, I hope each one of you will do your best, and not stumble around in the darkness, complaining about what everyone else is doing.
Turn up the house lights.
Color guard posts the colors
Cubmaster leads the Pledge of Allegiance.
This could also be a good Cubmaster’s minute CD
INVENTORS
Great Salt Lake Council
Make a card with the letter and a picture of the item. Have the information on the back in LARGE print
Cub # 1: I—IODINE-- Iodine has many uses. It is a disinfectant and a nutrient added to salt to prevent diseases. It was discovered by accident. In 1811 Bernard Courtois was extracting sodium and potassium compounds from seaweed ash. Once the compounds were gone, he added sulfuric acid. A violet cloud erupted from the mass. The gas condensed on metal objects in the room.
Cub # 2: N—NYLON-- Wallace Carothers is considered to be the father of man-made polymers. In 1928 Dupont opened a research lab to try to make a fabric that would replace silk. Japan was the source for silk for this country and trade relations were breaking apart. World War II was about to break out. They were able to create nylon by 1934 and nylon stockings were pretty, durable and very desirable.
Cub # 3: V—VACUUM CLEANER-- James Murray Spangler, a janitor in a Canton, Ohio department store, deduced that the carpet sweeper he used was the source of his cough. He tinkered with an old fan motor and attached it to a soapbox stapled to a broom handle. Using a pillowcase as a dust collector on the contraption. He formed the Electric Suction Sweeper Company. William Hoover, a cousin in-law, went into business with him and they renamed it. Sluggish sales were given a kick by Hoover’s 10 day, free home trial, and eventually there was a Hoover® vacuum cleaner in nearly every home.
Cub # 4: E—ELASTIC-- Thomas Hancock invented a machine called a masticator, which shredded rubber scraps. In 1820 he patented elastic fastenings for gloves, shoes, and stockings. In 1821 he joined forces with Charles Macintosh and they produced rubber imbedded raincoats. The raincoats improved when vulcanized rubber was invented by Charles Goodyear.
Cub # 5: N—NEON-- When electricity was discovered scientists moved towards various types of lighting. George Claude applied an electrical discharge to a sealed tube of neon gas in 1902. He formed a company called Claude Neon and introduced neon gas signs to the United States in 1923 when he sold a sign to a Packard car dealership in Los Angeles. They paid $24,000 for two signs. Neon quickly became a popular feature in outdoor advertising.
Cub # 6: T—TELEVISION-- Philo Farnsworth was born in Beaver City, Utah. They moved to Rigby, Idaho and at 14 years old, while plowing a potato field back and forth he got the idea that electron beams could scan images the same way. At 15, with only 2 years of High School, he gained admission to BYU. He credited his High School teacher for helping him succeed.
Cub # 7: O—OXYGEN TENT-- John Emerson, born in New York, disappointed his father when he did not want to attend an Ivy League college but instead wanted to buy a machine shop and tinker with his ideas. His mother financed the purchase and he came up with a device for tissue respiration. In 1931 he came up with the oxygen tent. He is best known for the iron lung, which during the polio epidemic in the 1930s saved many lives.
Cub # 8: R— RUBBER-- Explorers found the South American natives using a sticky substance that bounced. They brought it to Europe but it had a big problem, the instant its temperature changed it deteriorated and became rotten and smelly. Charles Goodyear became obsessed with trying to solve the rubber dilemma. He tried everything until in 1839 he accidentally spilled rubber mixed with sulphur on a hot stove. He was awarded the patent for Vulcanization and happily spent the rest of his life obsessed with inventing practical uses for rubber. When he died he was $200,000 in debt.
Cub # 9: S—STAMPS-- The first official mail office was opened in England in 1516. Nearly 300 years later [1835] Sir Rowland Hill suggested that letters under an ounce should be carried for a uniform fee of 1 Penny and used a stamp. Until this time the receiver paid the fee on receiving the letter. The United States started using stamps in 1845.
Genius Night
Longhorn Council
Personnel - 5 boys with graduation hats on and numbers 1-5 on their shirts, 2 judges and MC.
MC: To begin the pack meeting tonight, a panel of judges will decide who the real genius is among these boys. Tell us why you feel that you should be called a genius.
Cub # 1: I’m the genius because I discovered the hamburger.
Cub # 2: No! I’m the genius because I invented the television.
Cub # 3: No! I’m the genius because I got all A’s on my report card.
Cub # 4: No! I’m the genius because I can play the guitar, juggle oranges and tap dance all at the same time.
Cub # 5: I’m the genius because I joined Cub Scouts!
MC: Thank you boys. Judges, may I have your decision please?
Judges: By an overwhelming vote, Contestant #5. He is the greatest genius because he was smart enough to join Scouting.
Experimenting in the Kitchen
Longhorn Council
Cub # 1: We’ve been experimenting in the kitchen.
Cub # 2: We’ve experimented with food. Besides learning we got to eat our experiments.
Cub # 3: But we didn’t eat everything though. Sometimes stuff in the kitchen is poisonous.
Cub # 4: We saw chemical reactions like bubbles and foam.
Cub # 5: We learned that chemistry is a part of everyday life, like a loaf of bread.
Cub # 6: We had fun. We had food. We had fellowship.
Cub # 7: Now it’s time to share all this with our families.
Cub # 8: Welcome to our pack meeting!
The Cub Scout Machine
Baltimore Area Council
Setting: After presenting flags and Pledge of Allegiance, Den remains at the front with a large appliance box wrapped in blue and gold.
Narrator: Good evening ladies and gentlemen. This evening our Den would like to show you its newest invention, the Cub Scout Machine. We will attempt to make an ordinary boy into a Cub Scout.
(Boy comes in wearing tee shirt. He steps into the box and it is closed around him with his head sticking out a hole in the top. The boy changes into his uniform shirt and scarf in the box unseen by the audience.)
Before we begin, I think maybe we need to administer some laughing gas to get him through this serious business. (Produces large bottle with hose and funnel, administers laughing gas)
First we ‘take the Hate out (Removes rock from flap in front of box)
Next we add Caring (Insert heart in box)
Let’s take out the Selfishness (Remove large “ME” sign)
Put in Cooperation (Inserts “WE” sign)
Get rid of the idleness (Remove limp glove)
Put in lots of activity (Insert stuffed glove)
Get rid of the Laziness (Remove old rag)
Install some Reverence (Insert Bible)
Bring in some Local Support (Parents come forward)
Find some Expert Help (Den Leader comes forward)
Push the button and instantly, we have a brand new Cub Scout. (Cub Scout comes Out of Box.)
Genius Night
Baltimore Area Council
Personnel: 7 Cubs - 6 Holding cards with pictures of the inventions.
Cubmaster: This month’s theme is “Invention Convention”. And we’ve something to tell you about some genius inventors.
Cub # 1: G is for Gutenberg invented the moveable type for printing, so that now we can have books, papers and magazines to read.
Cub # 2: E is for Edison gave us many electrical ideas, but perhaps his greatest was the light bulb to help light up our world.
Cub # 3: N is for Newton discovered gravity and worked with electricity.
Cub # 4: I is for Irving was a genius with his pen. He wrote many stories, which young and old have enjoyed for ages.
Cub # 5: U is for Urey made his discoveries in chemistry and nuclear power, which will be used for many generations.
Cub # 6: The “S” stands for “Scouting,” which helps every boy develop genius in his very own way.
Cubmaster: Now let us salute the genius that is in every boy by standing and saying our pledge to the flag of our country.
Space Derby Opening
Kommissioner Karl
Each boy has a letter on a sign, with their part written on the back in LARGE print.
Cub # 1: Derby races are a lot of fun.
Cub # 2: Everyone working to make the Space Derby Run.
Cub # 3: Races will be held right here today.
Cub # 4: Boys and parents hoping they built theirs O.K.
Cub # 5: Yearning to win a race or two.
Cub # 6: Thinking about the competitions we must go through.
Cub # 7: In just a short while the races will begin.
Cub # 8: May all the very best entries win.
Cub # 9: Everybody now please rise as the Pledge to our Flag we say.
Cub # 10: (After the Pledge) I declare Pack _______’s Space Derby underway.
