Blue & Gold - What is it

[ScoutNut]

Lisabob says of her Pack -

 

"Their B&G is typically in late Feb. but there are several who want to move it to late March or late April. There are some parents at the extremes (one demands the pack delay B&G until her boy earns all 20 webelos pins...argh!)."

 

 

I see this concept all the time & it really drives me crazy! Where exactly does it say that B&G, AOL, & Crossover are all tied together with chains? These folks have been in Scouts for a while, why don't they even have a clue what the policies of the BSA are & what the purpose of the B&G is.

 

The B&G celebration is NOT a celebration of the Webelos achievements. The Webelos (& Tigers, Wolves, & Bears) achievements are celebrated EVERY month, WHENEVER they have completed them. The Cub Scout B&G celebration is a BIRTHDAY PARTY!! It is celebrating the birthday of Scouting, February 8, 1910. That is why it is held in February (NOT March, April or May), along with Scout Sunday/Sabbath & Scout Anniversary Week.

 

Would you tell your son that you were not celebrating his birthday in November, but instead had decided to combine all birthdays, anniversaries, & holidays (Easter, Christmas, etc) into one big, fancy, celebration in January instead?

 

Tell these people that the boys achievements should be celebrated AS THEY OCCUR. If they happen to occur in February, then fine, but otherwise please remember what it is we are REALLY celebrating at our B&G's.

 

 

[baden]

Scoutnut-

 

I am in total agreement with you. I attended a Pack Committee meeting last week to talk about Webelos transitioning to our Troop. The agenda for the meeting included discussion about the Blue & Gold they are having in March. I asked why it was March and was told the 2nd yr. Webelos wanted to be in the Pinewood Derby so they moved that to Feb. and scheduled B&G for Mar. When I was Cubmaster (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) we always had the B&G on Scout Sunday. The Pack went to church together and then had a potluck dinner at noon with a big Birthday cake.

 

We used to transition Webelos in April. I think that was the recommendation by National then, but I could be wrong.

[Oak Tree]

We also don't tie crossover to the B&G. We do the banquet in February, and do crossover in March. We try to use the Blue and Gold to celebrate all of Scouting, including whatever we've done that year, and we usually have a fair number of rank advancements to hand out at all ranks.

 

We do normally present Arrows of Light on Crossover night, but I agree that there's nothing that would need to officially tie these together.

 

And I can't imagine altering our schedule to allow for one Scout's awards. If they aren't ready to get it at the Blue and Gold, they can just get it the next month when they are ready.

 

Oak Tree

[Lisabob]

Scoutnut, I agree with you actually. But I think it is a bit harsh to say, as you did, that "These folks have been in Scouts for a while, why don't they even have a clue what the policies of the BSA are & what the purpose of the B&G is." You seem to have made some assumptions here that are unwarranted, at least, with regard to the pack that I was part of. I don't doubt there are some packs that have entirely lost sight of the "birthday party" aspect of B&G; ours was not one of them.

 

Reality in this area is that practically all packs have both their B&G and cross over (as well as AOL ceremonies) in February. When I was a pack leader we talked about changing this but ran into several obstacles. The biggest were a) parents and b) troop leaders. Most parents wanted their boys' AOL and cross over to be recognized at the B&G because "everybody would be there" for the ceremonies. (In my opinion, aside from your other objections, it makes the B&G too long when you do this). Most troop leaders want all the packs to do cross over around the same time because it is easier on the troop to incorporate the new boys all at once. Faced with these obstacles, those of us who wanted to de-link AoL, cross over, and B&G were unable to win the day.

 

Of course the pack could decide to change policy but I doubt they will. And as I'm no longer a pack leader I'm afraid my days of influence (such as it was, ha!) are over.

 

Lisa'bob

A good old bobwhite too!

[MyBest19]

I think that I am confused. I am looking at my Program Helps and it talks about 3 things at this "Pack Meeting". First is celebrating the birthday of Cub Scouts, second is the advancement of the boys and third is the fun of the theme of the meeting.

 

I am new to Cub Scouts and I have been appointed as the B&G committee chair (at my request). But since I am new to this, I follow the Program Helps as a sort of planning "bible" so to speak. I have also seen in other publications from other packs that advance the Webelos at this time as well.

 

So do we not advance the boys at this meeting/party or is it just a party? Help the B&G Newbie!

[John-in-KC]

Welcome to the forums!

 

Blue and Gold is the Cub Scout program celebration of the birthday of the Boy Scouts of America. That's exactly what ScoutNut said, and it's true.

 

It's supposed to be a REALLY BIG SHOW in the program year. Cubs make placemats, centerpieces, and other arty (read fine motor skills) objects. Dens put together their very best songs and skits. If there is ever a night where outside the Pack entertainment comes in, B&G is usually it.

 

Advancement SHOULD happen, even on the night of a B&G. Leaders, particularly the CM and the B/G coordinator, though, have to BALANCE the evening. I've seen more than one B&G go on until 10 at night ... ON A SCHOOL NIGHT. That is certainly not serving the youth!

 

So... sit down and figure out what should be awarded in the Pack meeting (Bobcat, Wolf, Bear), and what might be awardable in the Den meetings in February (belt loops, arrow points). Remember that, in spite of all the venting here, probably the Webelos II scouts are going to have their bridging ceremonies. It might be that you and the CM tell the SM/SPL how much time they get for presentations on their side of the bridge.

 

BTW, go attend the Cub Scout program at your District Roundtable. There are lots of folks who've got great experience of supporting a B/G banquet, and most are more than generous at sharing.

 

YIS John

[MyBest19]

Thanks John, that's what I thought I was reading in my BSA literature. I am the Tiger DL as well, but I have experience in event planning as well as a Bachelor's of Fine Arts so I thought I would be able to lend some other talents for this event in particular.

 

I've been to Pow Wow already this year too and it was a very good help for this as well. I was told that last year's event turned out to be just like any other pack meeting except food was served. Not my idea of a stellar, grandiose, pomp and circumstance event I envisioned for a gift to the Webelos advancing as his last experience as a Cub Scout.

 

I am hoping to plan this with a lot of parent/volunteer support. I want to make sure that I have the information that I need in advance of asking for help, which I will be soliciting at the end of next week. I came looking to see if anyone had posted any good ideas for this year's B&G and I found this and panicked a bit.

 

I am doing a lot of networking with other packs and with some at council, I think that I may be okay with what I've researched in BSA materials and on the web.

 

Thanks again.

[jens3sons]

In our pack, B&G has always been in February, and it has always been the focus of the birthday of Cub Scouting. This is the first year we will be handing out advancements, and doing the AOL and crossover at B&G. Our boys always crossed over at the November pack meeting prior to this, but our District and the "powers that be" are now requiring the boys to wait longer to cross over. I think we have come up with a reasonable plan to still keep the focus of B&G and yet have a special time for the boys who have earned their AOL and are crossing over. We are still going to follow the theme "invent a reason to celebrate" and the boys will create a table centerpiece centered around an invention. We will hire a balloon guy (birthday part) to create balloon sculptures while we are eating and taking care of things in the main room. We will then move to the auditorium for the AOL and crossover (changing the theme by changing rooms) and then moving back to the cafeteriea for dessert. Well that's the plan, and I hope it is executed as ideally as it sounds on paper, but I am a little nervous about it just the same as we have never done this before. I don't know about anyone else, but I would be interested in hearing from everyone else what they are planning, and how it ends up working out for them.

 

jens3sons

 

[FScouter]

The Blue & Gold dinner, Arrow of Light ceremony, Webelos to Scout crossover ceremony, and a regular pack meeting are completely separate events.

 

Why do some packs combine events? They don't have the ambition and resources to properly plan and execute individual events. The result is one event which contains a few elements of each but which never really achieves the purpose which is intended for each separate event.

 

Consider combining a Halloween party, Superbowl party, and a boy's birthday party into one event. Wear a Frankenstein mask, eat chips and dip, watch football, play pin-the-tail-on the donkey, and serve cake. How cool is that?

 

Better might be to pick one event, do it right, and skip the others.

[msnowman]

Traditionally we have help Pinewood in January, B&G in February and AoL/Bridging Over in March. The boys have all be comfortable with this schedule. The Web II's generally like being the main focus of the March meeting, as they invite extra people who are special to them. It also helps make our long Maine winters a bit more bright with something special going on during the coldest/darkest parts of our winter. Also, by having the AoL/Bridging at our March Pack meeting, the oooh factor doesn't get lost in the bright lights and fun/games of the B&G. Last year the Tigers all made rank by March, so they received their ranks and had their faces painted with their Tiger stripes as their first step on the Path that "Nephew and Friend" are now completing. It made a nice bookend to the Bridging over actually.

 

YiS

Michelle

[MarkS]

There are no rules that say what you can and can't do as your Blue & Gold banquet but as a celebration of the anniversary of Cub Scouts, it's also a celebration of the accomplishments of the Cub Scout program--whether historical or for the current year. I disagree with FScouter that the banquet, AOL, and crossover are necessarily separate events that are dilluted if you combine them.

 

They are all a celebraion of the accomplishments of the Cub Scout program. I think it is perfectly reasonable to include AOL and crossover as part of the banquet. In fact, they can reinforce each other if you properly plan them. A unit just needs to decide if they can bear the banquet being a longer affair than a typical pack meeting.

 

However... I see some other benefits for our unit if we were to separate them.

 

Our pack is not a summertime pack. We participate in council sponsored day camps, summer camps, and occasionally have a pack activity such as going to a ballgame or BBQ, but we don't have pack and den meetings per se. We're chartered thru the PTA of our public school and our tradition is to scale back activities during the summer. I think what we do keeps the program going without burnout.

 

As such, while we do try to recruit during the entire school year, our big recruiting event is in September. If you study the Program Helps! and the recommended Webelos activity badge schedules (4th graders starting in September), the earliest the boys will likely be able to advance in rank is in the January/February time frame. We have our derby in January to accommodate our district derby and that leaves no time for ceremonies that month.

 

Bobcat on the other hand is a trivial badge to complete.

 

Therefore we've always traditionally had Bobcat ceremonies as early as our October pack meeting and made rank advancement a goal for the February banquet to ensure all the boys will be done by the end of the school year and be able devote some time to work on electives too.

 

The problem we have is a big dropoff in attendance at pack meetings in March and April. May picks up again because that's when we have a "graduation" ceremony where we give the boys their new handbooks for the next year.

 

Maybe we should change our goals and have AOL/crossover in March and rank advancement in April, but that would likely go against the goal of presenting boys with their awards as soon as they earn them.

 

Being a second year Webelos leader with a den where all the boys will have completed their AOL requirements in January, I'd be hard pressed to continue a quality and value added program another month in to March. We're crossing over at our earliest opportunity in February, banquet or not.

 

Besides, it's also important that as many of the younger scouts see the crossover ceremony as possible and given that the banquet is usually one of the more highly attended events during the year (for most packs, not just our own), this is another reason to have crossover during the banquet.

 

As I started off saying... there are no rules. You have to determine what is best for your unit.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

[Oakville Tim]

Mark, I too am in St. Louis...

 

Our Pack also traditionally holds the AOL and bridging at the Blue & Gold, for a couple of reasons. Being the CM as well as the Web2 DL, I can see why this has been effect.

 

Our 'Feeder Troop' is always eager to get the current Web2s moved up, and historically they plan a big campout for the very weekend after the B&G with the express goal of getting the new Scouts 'out there.' IMHO the Troop is not eager to come back a month later for a big bridging ceremony such as what they perform at B&G.

 

Further, in our Pack we really strive to get Pack meetings completed in 60-70 minutes, because they take place on a school night. Conversely, the B&G is our only event in which we have two hours of program time available, before the entertainer takes the stage. It FEELS as though this is the right event at which to give our Web2s the 'grand sendoff' they deserve.

[MarkS]

Hey Tim... Greetings from the North Star District... North Star the best by far. What's this 60 to 70 minutes stuff? Can't you plan any better than that? Just kidding. ;-)

 

Our regular pack meetings are 75 minutes plus snack time.

 

Our Pinewood Derby is about 2 hours from the first race to the last trophy (two and a half hours for those who don't take advange of our pre-race check-in the night before and have get there early to check-in their cars).

 

Our B&G is about two hours and 45 minutes. Two hours of ceremonies and entertainment, 45 minutes for dinner (not necessarily in that order). We usually, have the each den do a B&G related song or skit before dinner, then have dinner, then have our advancement ceremonies. This year we're eating first and having a magic show before the advancement ceremonies.

 

Mark

A good old owl too!(This message has been edited by MarkS)

[fotoscout]

What better celebration of Scouting than to have a special event, AND to have most (all) of the boys go home with something really special like there new rank badges. If that isnt enough, how about recognizing and acknowledging the most senior boys in the pack by presenting them with the highest award in Cub Scouting,. If that still isnt enough, why not, bid farewell to the newest Boy Scouts in the BSA with a grand sendoff.

 

Sure the ceremonies all suffer in this format, but what could be more special. The event itself makes it special.

 

This thread, and the thread that this one spun off from, have all the reasons why many of us do this. There is no reason that this should drive anyone crazy.

 

On the other hand, delaying the B&G so that the Webelos can complete all 20 activity pins is a bit ridiculous. The larger issue here is that the Webelos Program is simply too ambitious. National really needs to do something with it!

 

[Lisabob]

Foto, I agree that there are some things national could do to improve the webelos program. Among other things I'd like to see a clearer distinction between 1st and 2nd year, making the 2nd yr. function more explicitly like a boy-led patrol instead of glorified cub scouting. Some WDLs do this on their own but many don't.

 

However, I don't agree that the webelos program is too ambitious. I think it was designed to allow flexibility, especially for those who use the 18 month format (which is probably most of us). Some boys will be highly active and motivated to earn most or all of the 20 pins over an 18 month period. Some won't. Both are fine. It gives the boys choices about what activities they want to pursue and it provides a structure for those over-achiever types. It makes it unlikely that a boy will "finish" the webelos program within just a few months and then be "bored" for the next 10-12 months while waiting to join a troop.

 

I think a good comparison would be the merit badges that boy scouts can earn. There's a zillion of them (well 100+ - I've never counted them. Someone else who has???) and nobody I've ever met expects the boys to earn them all. The whole point is to offer a wide variety of choices, while making a few (Eagle required) core subjects mandatory.

 

What I think the problem is with the webelos pins, is that some parents and leaders fail to understand that earning all 20 is neither necessary nor even remotely a goal of the program. This one parent who wants to hold up B&G until her son "gets them all" (sort of like the pokemon theme song - ugh!) has missed the purpose of the program.

 

By the way - update on that situation - the pack is *not* rescheduling their b&g to accomodate this person's unreasonable demand. I don't think they ever intended to but I admit I'm really glad they didn't cave in to her pressure. As a former pack leader, it has been almost as hard to sit back and watch the pack without being involved as it has for me to make the transition from cub parent to boy scout parent!

 

Lisa'bob

A good old bobwhite too!