Have to do Arrow of Light at Pack Meeting?

[trendyfarmgal]

So, we have run into timing issues with trying to do Arrow of Light and Bridging at our next two monthly Pack Meetings...Blue and Gold in Feb. and Pinewood Derby in March. Too many boys and awards, and we just did them both in the last few months. We are an LDS pack and on the 1 year schedule.

 

I have a boy getting ready to do both and turn 11 begining of March and wondered, has anyone ever held the ceremonies seperately? Ya know, out side of pack meeting? I can't find anything that says don't but wondered if anyone had tried it before.

[Eagle92]

This actually comes up a bit on these boards.

 

Arrow of Light and Crossover are 2 separate ceremonies. 90% of the time, once a youth gets AOL, they want to be in a Troop ASAP, and they want both ceremonies done the same nite. But it is not necessary.

 

Good luck.

[Stosh]

The bridging crossover is not necessary to join Scouts.

 

Like the Eagle rank, there's a lot of hoopla abut AOL to the point where it is now a graduation ceremony from Cub Scouts. In my book, getting Eagle/AOL is not the graduation of anything other than getting accolades that you can put on your resume and college applications.

 

If this doesn't seem reasonable, just ask yourself, how many AOL patches get sewn on Cub Scout shirts and how many Eagle patches get sewn on Boy Scout shirts? When I was a WDL, my boys wore their AOL patch on their Cub Scout shirts for almost a year before they crossed over into Boy Scouts. I also have a Boy Scout right now that's active in my troop that has worn his Eagle patch on his shirt for over a year now.

 

I would sit down with the boys and let them tell the adults what they want for an AOL bridging ceremony.

 

And of course with any activity that sits on the gap between the two programs, who's responsible for the ceremony? The Cub pack that is anxious to exit the boys or the Boy Scout troop that is anxious to welcome the boys?

 

Here's your patch, here's your arrow, here's the door. Have a nice life.

 

 

Stosh

[Scouting4Ever]

I would argue that the AOL ceremony serves a purpose for all Scouts in the Pack, and should be done as part of a Pack meeting (meeting, campout, etc).

 

Yes, it is for those that earned the award and I feel that it should be set as to provide a lasting positive memory from their last time as a Cub Scout. A celebration of a milestone in the life of a young person.

 

If properly done, it can be used with the Cub Scouts to provide motivation and a visual that they can be successful in Cub Scouts and reach its highest honor. They also get to "see" the Boy Scouts and realize that there is more after Cub Scouts.

 

We take responsibility for the ceremony and setting it up, OA provides the youth to do the ceremony, and the Troops are waiting on the other side of the bridge to welcome them in.

 

 

[Eagledad]

There are no rules, so you can try something new. Maybe a Friday night AOL indoor campfire with s'mores for everyone after the ceremony.

 

Our pack started doing the AOL ceremony in the January pack meetings so the Blue and Golds didn't run so long. It was really more of a arrow presentation from the den leader because we presented the AOL as soon as the scout earned it. Some scouts had earned the AOL several months before.

 

Barry

[Gary_Miller]

trendyfarmgal, "So, we have run into timing issues with trying to do Arrow of Light and Bridging at our next two monthly Pack Meetings...Blue and Gold in Feb. and Pinewood Derby in March. Too many boys and awards, and we just did them both in the last few months. We are an LDS pack and on the 1 year schedule."

 

In an LDS pack the AOL Ceremony would be given out when its earned, and the Bridging Ceremony would be given the month the boy turns 11yrs. The biggest mistake packs make is holding award until B&G if awards are given out at each monthly pack meeting then there should not be a large amount at B&G..

 

On pine wood derby month I would not hold any ceremonies I would just hand out the awards. There is no hard and fast rule to have ceremonies at all. If a ceremony is desired then do it the month before or the month after even if the boy has already went to the 11 yr scout program. He can return to the pack meeting for the ceremony.

 

trendyfarmgal, "I have a boy getting ready to do both and turn 11 begining of March and wondered, has anyone ever held the ceremonies seperately? Ya know, out side of pack meeting? I can't find anything that says don't but wondered if anyone had tried it before."

 

You could do a ceremony separately if I did I would do it during a Webelos Den meeting instead of trying to have a separate pack meeting.

[Oak Tree]

Our pack typically does two ceremonies, one right after the other. That way, we can seamlessly work in boys who have one or the other or both.

 

But you can do them any place and any time you like.

[perdidochas]

IMHO, it would be best to have AOL and Crossover at two separate occasions. Have the AOL on a Pack night (either a campout or a pack meeting) and the Crossover on a Troop night (either a campout or a troop meeting). That said, when I was a Webelos leader last year, we did them on the same night, but I don't think that's ideal. As a Webelos leader with another den, this year, we will do them separately.