OPENING CEREMONIES

Freedom Train

Heart of America Council

Personnel: 6 Cubs and Den Leader or Cubmaster.

Equipment: Large pieces of cardboard from office furniture stores, refrigerator cartons, etc., opened flat with the plain side painted with or decorated with markers to represent the appropriate train car.  Cubs could simply march across stage with appropriate signs hung around necks describing cars.

(The engine could have a small American flag posted in a proper place and the caboose could bear the Scout emblem. The other cars can be decorated appropriately.)

Setting: Cub Scouts come on stage each holding a large cardboard picture of appropriate train car.

Cub # 1:       (Dressed as an Engine): This is the engine that represents our Government that keeps us on the right track.

Cub # 2:       (Dressed as a Coal Car): This is the coal car that represents the people who supply the energy to run our Government.

Cub # 3:       (Dressed as a Gondola Car): This is the gondola car that represents the open minds of the people who supply the energy to run our Government.

Cub # 4:       (Dressed as a Tank Car): This is the tank car that represents the energy to produce the ideas in the open minds of the people who supply the energy to run our Government.

Cub # 5:       (Dressed as a Box Car): This is the box car that carries the food from our farmers, that helps produce the energy to supply the ideas in the open minds of the people that run our Government.

Cub # 6:       (Dressed as a Caboose): Last but not least, this is the caboose that represents Scouting, which trains the boys with fantastic energy, who eat the food from our farmers and grow to men who produce the energy to supply the ideas in the open minds of the people that run our Government.

CM:            This train is unique, in that it runs on Freedom, the freedom that has made this country the strong nation that It is today.

                    Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Railroads of Our Country Opening

Utah National Parks

Narrator   Railroads have played an important part in the history of our country.

Cub # 1:       Passenger trains have carried people across  the plains and prairies.

Cub # 2:       People were searching for new lives, or visiting friends and family.

Cub # 3:       Freight trains have helped to transport goods throughout this great land.

Cub # 4:       They have helped to build great cities and small towns.

Narrator   As we learn about trains tonight, let’s remember all the things that have helped to make our country great. 

CM             Please stand and join me as we salute the flag of the United States of America.

Train Opening Ceremony

Heart of America Council

This is similar but would be good at a recruiting night to let new parents know what happens in a pack.  CD

Equipment needed: Make a cardboard train with an engine, coal car, passenger car (s), and a caboose.

Ceremony: Each person comes out in his/her car and says the appropriate words

Cubmaster and Den Leaders           Come out carrying the engine: Just as the engine on a train, leads the train and pulls it down the track, the Cubmaster and den leaders lead the pack and pulls it towards success.

Committee member(s)      Come out with the coal car: As the coal car gives our train the fuel to go, the pack committee gives the fuel or helping hand to make our pack go.

Several Cubs       Come out with the passenger car and in unison say:  We are here as passengers on this pack train, we appreciate all the work the pack leadership does for us.

A group of parents             Comes out with the caboose and says in unison: Although we represent the caboose, we are very important in the pack in supporting our sons and the leadership of the pack just as the caboose does for the train.

All Aboard

Heart of America Council

Needed: 9 scouts with picture boards of trains of various types (mine carts, steam engines, locomotives, passenger trains, electric trains etc.) (Can be modified for small dens.)

CM(DL)    Stands on the side, blows a train whistle, and then yells “Allll Abbboooarrrddd!”

Cub # 1:       The first trains were mine carts that were pulled by men or animals filled with ore from mines.

Cub # 2:       In 1825, George Stephenson, a former engine mechanic, made the first locomotive called the Active, it pulled railroad cars carrying a total of 450 people at a speed of 15 miles per hour.

Cub # 3:       By 1829, George Stephenson had improved his steam engine and the Rocket, traveled at 36 miles per hour.

Cub # 4:       Railroad lines sprang quickly across the world and goods and people could travel further and faster than ever before.

Cub # 5:       In 1830, The Best Friend of Charleston hauled a train of cars beginning railroad transportation in the United States.

Cub # 6:       In 1888, Frank J. Sprague introduced the first electric trains, Many large cities such as New York and Chicago have electric train systems called Els.

Cub # 7:       In 1934, The diesel engine was invented and put into use for trains.

Cub # 8:       In 1971, Amtrak became a fast and reliable passenger service.

Cub # 9:       Tonight we welcome our new and returning scouts for a new year of fun in scouting! Please stand with me and be welcomed aboard with the Pledge of Allegiance.

All Aboard Opening

Heart of America Council

Props: Cards with letters (one per card) on the front with the Cubs arts on the back in LARGE print; Engineer’s hat for Cubmaster; Train cut-outs (optional)

Arrangement:

Cubmaster wearing an engineer’s hat and the Cub Scouts assigned to do the opening form a train in the back of the room (out of sight).  Form a train either by lining up and holding onto the shoulders of the person in front, or by carrying train car cutouts. Boys are carrying their cue cards.

Announcer       (off stage, in the back): “7 o’clock (or time for the pack meeting to start) Cub Scout express Number (pack number), going to Cub Scout fun stations arriving in lane 1. Please stand back.”

The “train” comes into the room going through the aisles saying, “Chuga, chuga, chuga, chuga.”

When the Cubmaster goes “Toot toot,” the train stops.

Cub Scouts face the audience and turn the cards so the audience can see the letters.

Cubmaster:      Are you ready for

Cub # 1:       Activities

Cub # 2:       Laughter

Cub # 3:       Love

Cub # 4:       Advancement

Cub # 5:       Brotherhood

Cub # 6:       Originality

Cub # 7:       Adventures

Cub # 8:       Recognition

Cub # 9:       Delight

Cubmaster:      All Aboard the Cub Fun Train! (Re-form the train)

Announcer:      ALL ABOOOOOOOARD! (The train chugs off the stage)

All Aboard Opening

Heart of America Council

Here is another set of meanings for the letters in All Aboard

Have a card for each letter with a train picture on the front.  Have the boys' parts on the back in LARGE print

Cub # 1:       A - America is my home,

Cub # 2:       L - Lovely to see.

Cub # 3:       L - Let’s take a trip on a train, just you and me.

Cub # 4:       A - “All aboard!” the conductor shouts.

Cub # 5:       B - “Be prepared to see the sights.”

Cub # 6:       O - ”Oceans, deserts, mountains so high,”

Cub # 7:       A - America’s beauties go sailing by

Cub # 8:       R - Right down the tracks our train practically flies,

Cub # 9:       D - Discovering America on rails and ties.

Cub Scout Train Opening

Heart of America Council

Props: Train Engine and cars are drawn and cut out of poster board.  Engine has the Cub Scout emblem.  Each rank has a car with the appropriate emblem - Tiger, Wolf, Bear, and Webelos Scout.  Put the Arrow of Light is on the caboose.

Arrangement: The Engine comes out first, then train cars come out one by one.  Each car has all the boys in the pack of that rank carrying it.

The Engine (CM)                All aboard for Cub Scouting.

Tiger Car (Tigers):            The first car to hook up is the Tiger car!

Wolf Car (Wolves):           The next car to hook up is the Wolf car!

Bear Car (Bears):              After that it’s the Bears!

Webelos Car (1st yr Webelos):       Then comes Webelos!

Caboose (2nd yr Webelos):              And the Arrow of Light completes the Cub Scout Train!

Building the Transcontinental Railway

Alice, Golden Empire Council

Set up:  Use costumes to represent each type of worker, or even just a sign around their neck.  You could also download pictures representing each work group, and have the boys hold the picture (with the text written on the back in large letters).  Lots of photos are available, especially at the museum or history sites listed in this packet.

Narrator: The men who built our railroads came from many lands – but they were all hardworking.  They endured harsh weather, long hours, backbreaking work, and long months away from family and friends.

Cub #1 and #2 (Dressed like a Union Soldier, in blue, or with a blue hat- #2 could also be dressed like a farmer) Some of the men who started building the railroad in Omaha had been Union soldiers, both black and white. They needed jobs and were excited to be earning $2-$3 a day, or even more if they were carpenters or skilled craftsmen. Other workers were freed slaves, anxious to build a life for themselves.

Cub #3:  (Wearing work clothes with suspenders and a fake beard- and with a large tool) Some of the Union Pacific workers were Irish immigrants – if they were especially strong (flex muscles) they became “Iron Men” doing the heavy work of laying the steel.  Others were hired to hunt deer, buffalo and other game to feed all the workers.

Cub #4:  (Dressed in work clothes with a feather band on his head) And even though some of the Native Americans destroyed rails and harassed the Union Pacific workers, some of the workers were actually Native Americans themselves. Like the other workers, they worked from sun up to sun down.

Cub #5:  (Dressed like a gold miner, with a pickax or gold pan (aluminum pie pan )The Central Pacific, which started in Sacramento, hired miners – but they usually quit as soon as they got near the silver or gold mines, still hoping to “strike it rich.”

Cub #6:  (Wearing a “coolie” type hat, holding a stick of “dynamite”) About 9 of every 10 workers on the Central Pacific were Chinese, coming from as far away as Canton.  They were only paid $35 a month, but blasted and dug out the tunnels in the Sierra Nevada Mountains – a Chinese crew was chosen to lay the last section of track to honor all their hard work.

Narrator:  The Transcontinental Railroad brought together the Eastern United States with California and the West, and made it possible for people to settle the prairies and the valleys across the country.  The work was done by people with different backgrounds and cultures. Today, we celebrate the diversity of our people and the unity of our country as we salute our flag.  Please stand and join me in the Pledge to Allegiance.