OPENING CEREMONIES

Cowboy Opening

San Gabriel, Long Beach Area, Verdugo Hills Councils

Preparation:

Print out each letter below on a sheet large enough for the audience to read. On the back of each sheet print the corresponding sentence.  For an added affect - have Scouts draw a picture on the front that goes with the words.

Narrator:    Tonight we step back in time to the Old West. We will visit a cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail. Let’s take a closer look at the brave men who worked with the cattle – the Cowboy.

• C – Cattle herder
• O – Open range
• W – Wears a bandana
• B – Brands the cattle
• O – On the trail to Abilene, Kansas
• Y – Yippee-yi-yea, yippee-yi-yoh!

Narrator:    Roundup the Scouts and let’s get started!
Yee-haw!!

My Flag

Baltimore Area Council

Equipment: Flag, 2 flashlights lights out

Cast: Leader Cub Scouts in Cowboy Outfits

Setting: Pack in half circle around flag.  House lights mostly out.  Flashlights aimed at flag.  

Poem may be read by one person or broken up into parts

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.

September Pack Meeting

Baltimore Area Council

Arrangement:  Six Cub Scouts in uniform. They enter stage one by one, saying their parts. Part may be written in LARGE print on back of construction paper with pictures of Cubs on front.  All remain on stage to sing with audience.

• Another year is starting,
  And we’d like to welcome you
  And tell you what our purpose is,
  And what we hope to do.
• The Cub Scouts is a group of boys;
  It helps us grow up strong,
  It teaches us to do what’s right,
  And fight against what’s wrong.
• It shows us how much we can do,
  If we work as a team,
  Then we’ll have fun and jobs won’t be
  As hard as they first seem.
• We’ll go on hikes and field trips,
  To learn of nature’s wonders;
  So we’ll respect her when we’re grown,
  And not make any blunders.
• And we’ll be shown in many ways
  That each man is our brother;
  And we will see the joy there is
  In helping one another.
• We’ll learn to be good citizens ‘
  And, hopefully, we’ll see
  That laws are made for all the men,
  So each man can be free. .

All:            To do this, the Cub Scouts need
Good leaders - that is true.
That means we need the help of all
Of you - and You - and YOU!

Leader        And now to start our year off right,
In a good and proper manner,
We’d like you all to rise and sing
Our own “Star Spangled Banner”.

(Audience rises. All sing.)

Rodeo Fans 

Baltimore Area Council

Set Up:  Cubmaster enters room and says the following while Dens of Cub Scouts dressed in western costume wait outside the room and recorded western music (e.g. the Flying W Wranglers) is played.

Good evening, rodeo fans. Welcome to the Cub Scout Round-Up. Like any rodeo, we have thrills and chills, feats of daring, and best of all, we have a grand entrance parade. The Dens of Cub Scouts dressed in western costume now enter the room. That’s one of the best parts of a rodeo, with all riders carrying their own flags. But greatest flag of all is our own “Old Glory”. Let’s show our respect now by rising to salute the flag of our United States. (Boys in uniform advance colors and lead the Pledge of Allegiance.)

The Law Of The Range

Baltimore Area Council

Leader:       Explain that the Code of the Cowboy is similar to the Code Cub Scouts know as the Law of the Pack.  Then invite the Pack to respond as you say the Cowboy Code.  You might want to make sure this ceremony is printed in your program for that Pack Meeting.

Leader:       The cowboy believes in fair play. He always returns stray cattle to its rightful owner.

Response:   The Cub Scout follows Akela.

Leader:       The cowboy’s word is his promise; a handshake is his contract.

Response:   The Cub Scout helps the Pack go.

Leader:       The cowboy never steals another cowboy’s equipment. He never mistreats a borrowed horse.

Response:   The Pack helps the Cub Scout grow.

Leader:       The cowboy always shows hospitality to strangers. He shares his meals with those who are without food.

Response:   The Cub Scout gives goodwill.

Pioneer Days Opening

Santa Clara County Council

This opening is completed by Pioneer Days Closing, if you choose one you really should choose both or combine them into one ceremony or a skit. CD

Props:  

• Pictures of covered wagons on cardboard;
• Cardboard signs reading: YIELD, CURVE, Eat At SAMS, etc.;
• Grocery bag with stuffed bear in it;
• Large sack labeled DIRT.

Cubmaster: (In front of the curtain)

Oh Pioneers! Oh Pioneers!

Your courage we admire – not for the reasons history gives

Do you our awe inspire!

It’s hard for us to understand and know what it was like

You didn’t have the things we have –

A car, a plane, a bike!

(on stage have carrying covered wagon pictures walk in a circle several times)

We read how then you had no roads,

no highways lined with pines;

One question we must ask you –

What’d you do without all those signs?

(People carrying roadside signs come on stage and walk around in a circle several times)

And then we read about your meals of wild bear –

there’s a stopper.

The one thing we can say is this – 

Your wife was quite a shopper!

(Woman strains to drag bag with bear  across stage)

Yes, we read of all your hardships.

But you beat us on one thing –

You had the true, original,

Indoor – outdoor carpeting.

(Pioneer standing next to sack of dirt appeasr on stage)

Picture of Our Nation Opening

Santa Clara County Council

Setting:Flag is already on stage behind curtain.  You can also do this in a darkened room with the spotlight on the flag coming on at the appropriate time.

This can be done with one leader reading the whole thing or dividing it up into parts so several Cub Scouts can take part in the ceremony.

Cubmaster:

I am about to show you a picture of our past – of Davy Crocket, Kit Carson, Daniel Boone, the famous forty-niners, and even Lewis and Clark. It is a picture of all those brave frontiersman who 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 will add the portraits of Cub Scouts, 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, may I present to you the picture of our country! (curtain opens to reveal the American flag)  The flag of the United States of America!

Please stand and join me in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to this great flag – the picture of our nation.