Arrangement: Cubmaster dressed as a Sailor. Place a 2x10-foot plank on the floor. Cubmaster stands at one end of the plank and explains the meaning of “walking the plank”.

Cubmaster: Tonight, we have another meaning for the term walking the plank. Cub Scouts who have earned their rank will be asked to walk the plank to receive their award. Then they ‘Jump Off’ into working on their next rank or more electives with new and different activities, as well as exciting fun and adventure. Parents of these modern day sailors, please come forward with your son as I call his name. You will accompany him in walking the plank, just as you have assisted him in earning this rank.

Arrangement: Treasure chest filled with treasure and awards. Costumes for Captain and First Mate

CAPTAIN: Avast there, ye swabs - your attention or I’ll have ye all up before the mast. Tonight we have reached the time for the division of our hard gained loot during our last assault on Fort Achievement and the harbor town of Cub Electives. E’en tho’ stoutly defeated, these forts have been subdued by as fine a crew of hearties as had been aboard this deck in many a fine moon. Now, will the First mate call forth my brave lads and their partners that they may be richly rewarded for their valor.

FIRST MATE: (First Mate calls forth Cubs who are advancing and their parents. ) The crew stands ready, Captain!

CAPTAIN: Aye, and a fine group of fellows we have here. (Present awards to parents to give to their sons as First Mate calls out names and awards) Now then, me hearties -- Let’s give a fine swashbuckling cheer for our pals who have ventured forth and returned with bountiful treasure. (cheer) And the rest of ye - mark my words - I’ll have no slackards in my crew - on our next raid ye ALL better be coming forward for reward or the FISH will have bait in the harbor that night! (to those still up front) Get ye back to yer quarters now and prepare for another assault and more rich rewards from Cub Scouting!

Props:  Make a large compass to place in front of the advancement table.

CM: We look to the compass for out guide.  To the East we find Cubs ready for their Bobcat badges.  Will these boys and their parents come forward?  Their eagerness is like the dawn of the day. (Present awards.)

CM: To the South is the Wolf with his spirit of adventure.  Will the Cubs who have earned their Wolf badge come forward with their parents?  (Present awards.)

CM: To the West is the Bear hunting on the trail of Scouting.  Will the Cubs who have earned their Bear badge come forward with their parents?  (Present awards.)

CM: To the North is the Webelos, about to realize their boyhood dreams.  This area is alive with action.  Will these boys come forward with their parents? (Present awards.)

CM: Let the compass guide all of you on your trails and may you carry into your adult lives the ideals of Scouting.

This ceremony is set up so that if you do not have all ranks to present, you can tell a little about each rank then omit the paragraph after the name of the rank in parentheses (()) and go on to the next rank.  CD

Tonight we're going to take a trip—a trip across the country—from sea to shining sea. We'll begin in the east and move our way west, like our forbearers did as they settled this great land. When our country first began as a new country, the land on the east coast was settled. People moved from other countries to this land of opportunity.

The trip through Cub Scouting goes doing much the same way. When boys first join a Pack, they settle in this new world we call Cub Scouting. And like the first settlers of the new world, they learn new ideas and new ways to live. The new Cubs have learned about the Pack and about Cub Scouting.  They have discovered the Law and the Promise, the Cub Scout Sign, handshake, and salute, and other important things that make being a Cub Scout possible.

(BOBCAT)
Tonight we have several Cub Scouts, new to the Pack, who have just begun their trip. [List names of Bobcat recipients and call them with their parents to the front of the room.] [Hand parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them with the Cub Scout handshake. Offer a cheer or a special applause and ask them to take their seats.]

Once the settlers became comfortable with how to live in the new world, they became more adventurous. They set out from the east to cross the Appalachian Mountains. As they crossed the mountains, they found new adventures and new challenges. In Scouting, the Wolf Cub Scout moves forward too, crossing his own "mountains" to meet new challenges and adventures. He learns about the American flag and his state flag; he begins to work on being physically fit, and he spends time learning more about his family, his home, and his neighborhood.

(WOLF)
Tonight we have some Cubs who have crossed the mountains of the Wolf trail and have met the challenges and welcomed the adventures that have brought them. [List names and invite them with their parents to come forward.]  [Hand out badges to parents to give to the boys. Congratulate them and offer a suitable cheer or special applause.  Have them sit down.]

So our trip continues. From the Appalachian Mountains, the settlers moved further west, into the Great Plains. Here they were greeted with challenges they had never imagined. But they also found the room to grow. That's exactly what happens after a Cub Scout leaves the Wolf den and becomes a Bear. He faces more challenges, but he also learns and grows by facing those challenges.

(BEAR)
What does it take to face challenges and succeed in them? We can look to several of our Bear Scouts to find out. Tonight we have several Bear Scouts who have done just that. [List off Bear candidate names and invite them and their parents to the front of the room.]  [Hand parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them. Offer a suitable cheer or applause and ask them to take their seats.]

Across the Great Plains and into the Rockies our settlers traveled. The Rockies presented to them the greatest of challenges. But again, they rose to the challenges, because they knew that with the hard work and hardships came a freedom and a strength that made it worth the effort. What about the Cub Scout's path? The next phase of their trail is the Webelos. Here the Cub Scout begins to let go of the security he has known from working closely with his parents. He starts his climb into a freer, but more responsible and more challenging level. He no longer has his parents sign off his completed requirements, but reports them to the Den Leader himself. He is becoming more responsible—the challenge—but is also growing more independent, learning to handle his freedom well.

(WEBELOS)
Tonight there are several Webelos Scouts who have struggled up their own Rockies and have met the challenges offered. [List names and invite them with their parents to come forward.]  [Hand parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them. Offer a suitable cheer or special applause and ask them to take their seats.]

So the settlers finally crossed the Rockies. Can you imagine what it was like for those that found their way to Yosemite Valley? It was a struggle to cross the course terrain, but the sights that awaited them were beyond compare. The settlers who spent their lives crossing the country, one step at a time, received the reward they richly deserved. They saw the golden rays of the sunset along the Pacific Coast and knew that they had done it themselves.

And our Cub Scouts who grow into Webelos Scouts and advance the full trail of the Cub Scout program are also rewarded for their great accomplishments. They don't get riches of gold or silver; they don't get a life free of hard work, but they do get to know, deep down within them, that they have made it to the greatest reaches, for they have earned the Arrow of Light.

(ARROW OF LIGHT)
Tonight we celebrate the accomplishments of those Webelos Scouts in the Pack who have reached the summit, the top, the farthest reaches. We recognize and congratulate them for their efforts; efforts that took their greatest strength to complete. [List names and invite them with their parents to come forward.]

[Hand boys the parent's Arrow of Light pins to present to their parents. Then give parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them. Offer a suitable cheer or special applause and ask them to take their seat

This is a good one for doing the non-rank awards earned over the summer (Summertime Fun, Belt Loops, …) CD

Props:  A model ship or a cardboard cutout of a ship with paper anchors handing from it.

CUBMASTER:  (motion toward ship) the sailors were sailing along one afternoon when the clouds darkened and it began to thunder.  The lightening was so heavy it lit the entire sky and wind was blowing harder and harder.  The captain became a bit worried, so he spoke to the first-mate.  They decided the best thing that they could do, would be to throw out all the anchors and hope that would keep the ship from being wrecked in the storm.  As you can see, (point to anchors) that’s what they did, and it worked just fine.  The ship rode out the storm without any damage.  But the sailors were so ill from the rolling waves caused by the storm that they cat get the anchors in.  Let’s see if we can help them. 

Call each boy and parent and have each boy remove an anchor (awards may be attached to the anchors).  When all the awards are handed out, have someone pick up the ship and sail off.  Explain that it could sail once again now that it isn’t anchored down.