PACK ADMIN HELPS

ADULT LEADER RECOGNITIONS
Heart of America Council

Wooly Mitten Award: Cut a mitten shape from fake fur.  Attach a cord and hand around the neck.  Give to those who participated in a winter event.

Old Fossil Award: This award should go to the person in the pack that has been in the Scouting program the longest.  This could be an old rock or arrowhead.

Genuine Diamond Stick Pin: Mount a dime on a stickpin on a base.

Gold Spoon: Spray paint a plastic spoon gold for the person who really digs in to help.

PURPOSE OF THE BLUE AND GOLD
Great Salt Lake Council

The purpose of the Blue and Gold Banquet is to commemorate the organization of the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 and to celebrate the birthday of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts organization.  The banquet is traditionally held as the February pack meeting because Baden-Powell was born February 22, 1857. 

The term “Blue and Gold” is the name of the banquet because those are the official colors of the Cub Scout organization.  Blue represents truth and loyalty, and gold represents good cheer, happiness, and helping others.

Include the Cub Scouts in the preparation of the decorations and program by using time in weekly den meetings to make various items.  The boys will have fun doing this and will have a greater interest in attending the banquet with their families.   

PLANNING THE BLUE AND GOLD--
“START THINKING HAWAIIAN”

“ALOHA is the unconditional desire to promote the true good of other people in a friendly spirit out of a sense of kinship.” --- Abraham Akaka

The Cubmaster, Pack Committee, and Den Leaders should meet two or three months in advance (November–December 2006) to begin planning the February 2007 Blue and Gold.  The following items should be discussed and specific assignments made at the initial planning meeting:

• Selection of a Blue and Gold Chair person
• How to use the February 2007 Cub Scout monthly theme, “Aloha Cub Scouts,” as your Blue and Gold theme.
• Determine the estimated number of persons who will attend the banquet.  Remember that the Cub Scouts and all family members are invited. 
• Plan to use a meeting place that is compatible with the size of your group. 
• Determine the available budget.
• Prepare a menu.
• Plan a program, which could include a special flag ceremony, guest speaker, skits, songs, games, run-ons, and awards.
• Plan room and table decorations.
• Plan a pre-activity photo opportunity for Cubs and families.
• Plan written invitations and publicity.

Blue and Gold Chair, Cubmaster or Pack Committee Chairperson should follow-up periodically on each assignment.

DECORATION IDEAS

In weekly Den meetings, Cub Scouts could make Hawaiian leis for each family member to wear at the banquet. String cut-out paper flowers and macaroni or straws cut into one and one-half inch lengths on yarn to make leis.

Make several palm trees.
Tubes available from carpet stores can be used for the tree trunk. 
Paper palm fronds attached on top of an opened umbrella can be placed in the tube.

For table decorations, consider using tissue flowers, coconuts cut in half with pieces of candy inside, burlap table runners, baskets of seashells, small colorful buckets filled with sand and seashells, lanterns made from empty juice cans covered with decorative paper or cloth, or clay volcanoes.

Have Cub Scouts make place mats for family members using Hawaiian themes,
e.g., flip-flops, volcanoes, surfboards, etc.

Posters showing the Hawaiian Islands and the Hawaiian state flag could be made for wall decorations.

Netting could be hung from the walls or ceilings.

Boys could create their own “Tiki” masks as wall decorations.

Use raffia fringe as a garland, with paper shells and starfish, throughout the room.

PROGRAM IDEAS

In Den meetings, Cub Scouts could make simple Hawaiian musical instruments,
such as drums made with empty oatmeal cartons or metal garbage can lids and
rainsticks made from empty wrapping paper tubes filled with uncooked rice.
For information on making a rainstick, google the word “rainstick.” The instruments can be used to perform songs and music at the banquet.

Game activity:
While holding the corners of a large beach towel, each family competes to see how long they can keep a beach ball bouncing from the towel into the air without hitting the ground. 
To find other games, google the words “Hawaiian games.”

If you know an Hawaiian family, invite them to perform a dance or song and tell a little bit about their culture.

Pre-opener could be a family group photo next to one of your decorations, such as a palm tree or a cardboard volcano. This can be done as the families arrive and is a fun way to remember the banquet.

The ukulele is an important part of the Hawaiian culture.
Invite someone who plays the ukulele to perform.
It is said that the ukulele arrived in Honolulu from Portugal, and that the Hawaiians quickly fell in love with it.  Queen Liliuokalani translated “uku” to mean “gift” and “lele” to mean “come,” which she thought of as a poetic “gift that came here from Portugal.” (As reported in www.dailycelebrations.com)

Sing The Hukilau Song by Jack Owens ©  (1948).  Words and music available at:

http://www.squareone.org/Hapa/h1.html

http://www.salemukes.com/music/TheHukilauSong.pdf

http://www.laiebeachretreat.com/hukilau_song.htm

Listen to  recording here  -
http://www.hawaiian-music.com/real2/hukilau.html or
http://sd54.org/schools/armstrong/hays/usregions/HukilauSong.htm

Song is not in the Public Domain so I did not copy it here

FOOD IDEAS

There are many wonderful Hawaiian luau ideas available on the internet.

We googled “Hawaiian food” and found a website called www.cooks.com from which we have taken some of the ideas listed below: 

Recipes for the following available at www.cooks.com

• Mix equal parts of pineapple, orange, and guava juices with ginger ale to make a tropical drink.
• Banana bread---this is a favorite at luaus
• Hawaiian Haystacks (cooked rice topped with pineapple tidbits, peas, chow mein noodles, coconut, chicken chunks, and a cream of chicken soup sauce)
• Barbecued or Teriyaki chicken
• Fried rice
• Macaroni salad
• Corn chowder
• Baked Beans
• Cole slaw
• Hawaiian Luau Cake

You could invite each Cub Scout and his dad to make their own cake with a Hawaiian theme as the dessert and give a recognition prize for each one. These cakes could also serve as part of the table decorations.

Want more Blue and Gold Ideas

Look ahead in your CS Program Helps Books; Check out your How-To Book; the October 2005 issue of Baloo’s Bugle has an article on Blue and Gold Dinners.  And most Pow Wow Books address Blue and Gold’s.  Bill Smith who writes the Training Topics section has a portion of his “Unofficial Roundtable” website dedicated to Blue and Gold Dinners/Banquets - www.wtsmith.com/rt/bluegold.html .  It was the #1 hit when I Googled “Cub Scout Blue and Gold.”