WEBELOS

Webelos Ceremony

At USSSP we had a question about the Arrow of Light ceremony and when is the best time to do an AOL ceremony. Mike Bowman at USSSP suggested the following.

In general I highly recommend two separate ceremonies for the Arrow of Light presentation and crossing-over from Webelos to Boy Scouts. This is not hard to do and something that has worked well for me in similar situations. What I would do runs like this:

Conduct your advancement ceremony near the middle of the Pack Meeting and top it off with a very special Arrow of Light Ceremony. When you are done

Close the advancement ceremony. At this point break the action with a few items to finish your Pack Meeting. By now you should be nearing the end of the meeting. At this point you might announce that the Pack's business for the night is nearly closed except for a very special event that commemorates x number of Webelos Scouts that are this night graduating from the Cub Scouting program and becoming Boy Scouts at Troop(s) xxx and yyy. Introduce the Scout leaders (adult and youth) from the Troop. Call the graduating Webelos forward as a group to stand on one side of the front of the room.

Have the Scout leaders on the other side. Call out each name. As the boy crosses to the other side he is welcomed by a Boy Scout leader and perhaps presented with a Troop Neckerchief and red tabs for his shirt or a Boy Scout handbook. If you have time, you could rig up a bridge for the boys to walk across to signify bridging over to Webelos.

A popular ceremony using a very simple bridge follows:

Try this simple cross-over idea with some great symbology.

Needed: four 4"x4"x5' posts and five 12"x2"x5' planks.

Paint one plank blue, one gold, one red, and one BSA green. Leave one unpainted. Paint the posts brown.

Ask the Webelos Den Leaders to place one of the posts on the ground in a N-S direction. Then ask the Scoutmaster to place a second post on the ground about four feet away and parallel in a N-S direction. Announce that this is symbolic of the foundations of Scouting that these leaders have laid through outings represented by the natural brown color.

Then ask each set of leaders to place an E-W post over the N-S posts about three to four feet apart, pointing out that by building on Scouting's foundations these leaders have set the stage for bridging the boys from Cub Scouting to Boy Scouting.

Have Webelos #1 and his parents bring the unpainted plank forward and place it across the E-W posts. State that this represents the boys as the arrived in Cub Scouting full of potential but unfinished.

(If they were in Tigers use a plank painted orange and make a statement about how they were on fire to learn about Scouting).

Ask Webelos #2 and parents to bring the blue plank forward and place it snuggly against the unfinished plank. State that this represents the Wolf and Bear years where with the help of their parents the Scouts became true blue and loyal friends.

Next Webelos #3 comes forward with his parents and places the gold plank next to the blue to represent their golden years in Cubbing as Webelos learning important skills through activity badges culminating in the Arrow of Light.

Webelos # 4 comes forward with his parents and the green plank. Announce that this represents their new beginning as Boy Scouts who will soon be green Tenderfoot Scouts, anxious to begin the Boy Scout trail to Eagle.

Finally, Webelos #5 and parents put down the red plank.

Comment that this plank is red like the predominant color in the Eagle badge and represents the beginning of their journey to become Eagles.

Webelos are assembled at the unfinished board side of the now completed bridge and presented graduation certificates and a patch board of their Cub Scout badges and awards (many use a large piece of plywood cut in the shape of a Scout emblem and covered with blue felt on which are mounted the badges earned by the Scout).

When these presentations are over, the Scoutmaster invites each boy in turn to cross the bridge. Once over, he is welcomed into the Troop. His Webelos neckerchief is replaced by the Troop neckerchief in a presentation. Same thing for each boy.

Say some personal words about how proud you are of their accomplishments and how you know they will work hard and succeed in whatever they try in Boy Scouting (Positive expectations = positive results).

End of ceremony. Go home and cry tears of pride and joy at seeing them grow up so fast and well.

Mike

AFTER CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN,
YOU CAN NOW ENJOY THE VIEW.