little help please

[leonus]

Hi, I'm looking for some ideas regarding Webelos cross over into boy scouting. This is my second year as a webelos den leader and i now have year 2 boys to cross over. I have a scout troop that they are going to be crossing over into but i can't find any good ideas for the cross over ceremony. if anybody has some good ideas, i'd greatly appreciate your input. Thank you.

[ScoutNut]

One year we did the "Cub-o-matic" for the boys graduating to new Cub levels. For our Webelos crossing over to Boy Scouts we added a "Scout-o-matic" to it. The 5th grade Webelos went into the "Cub-o-matic", were "processed" (received their red shoulder loops, BS handbooks, and nifty scarf slide) and came out of the "Scout-o-matic" side a brand new BS (as the Pack chanted "Be Prepared"). They were welcomed by a rep from the troop they were joining. The boys had a BLAST!

 

We have also had a local OA ceremony team do Indian crossover programs for us. The boys like those a lot also!

 

The ones that I (& the boys) liked the least were the boring, talky, ones where you walk accross a bridge or the stage, shake hands and that's it!

[Sparkie]

Welcome leonus, you've come to the right place for ideas!

 

At our B&G in Feb. i crossed over 11 scouts. I was very lucky to have a Webelos leader who offered to make a bridge for the boys to cross over. At one end of the bridge stood the Webelos II and their leaders, on the other end stood representatives from the troop (including boys). The den leaders removed the boys blue loops, and neckerchief, the boys would then cross the bridge when i called their name, and then the troop welcomed them (with the Boy Scout handshake that they hopefully remembered from AoL) and put on red loops with a new troop neckerchief. It sounds simple, but is very impressive. We did a little ceremony before the boys actually crossed over, i'll try to find the site where i found it and post it later.

 

I hope that helps!

 

Sparkie

[m.albano]

Contact your Boy Scout counsil and ask if the O.A. Scouts can perform a cross over ceremony. I've been doing this for the last two cross overs' and it was a big hit and they do all the work!!

[Sparkie]

Hi Leonus! sorry this took me awhile to post, i'm sure this site will give you some good ideas:

 

http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/ceremonies.html

 

Sparkie

[Stan Riddle]

When my den crossed over in 99, I ordered hand made arrows, from a company I found in the back over Scouter, I think. It was a great token, not too expensive, and I suspect they all still have that arrow hanging in their room. I know my son does.

[Bob White]

When I was a Cubmaster I got photos from the families of the boys as they grew up. these were combined with photos of them in scout activities through the early years. we scanned the photos and made a PowerPoint Presentation to the music of Rod Steward's "Forever Young". (not a dry eye in the house.)

 

We then take off the blue loops, Webelos Neckerchief and slide, Webelos Handbook and Webelos shoulder ribbon. Those are all put into his uniform hat and presented to the parents as keepsakes of his youth. The parents are asked to wish their scout well as he crosses into being a young adult, with that he crosses the bridge to meet scouts on the other side who give him his Scout hat, Red loops, Neckerchief, slide, Troop numerals and Handbook. He then walks away with the scouts.

 

The Troop Committee Chairman the then greets the parents as they leave cub scouting and and cross over the bridge into troop service.

 

The Cub Scout resource 'Pack and Den Ceremonies' also has some nice Crossover ideas in it.

 

Bob White

 

[mk9750]

I second the arrow idea Stan mentioned. One year when I was Cubmaster, the Den Leader of the Den crossing to Boy Scouts did the same thing. She was kind enough to make one for me as the Master of Ceremonies for the crossing, and to this day, 10 years later, it still hangs as the focal point of my Scout memorabilia in my office. And it had nothing to do with me! I'll bet that the boys really treasure theirs!

 

When I was the Den Leader with boys crossing, we did three things for their crossing. First, I asked each family to fund me purchasing duplicate badges to match what each boy had on his uniform. I bought frames and some material, sewed fake shirts (including fake pockets and placate, eupelets, and a sleeve!) and glued all of their badges, belt loops, cords, etc., on the "shirt", and presented it to each boy. There is an item in the Scout Catalogue like this, but the frame and shirt alone is like $45.00 or so, so I made it myself. I have also done this for one of the two boys who made Eagle for all his Boy Scout stuff. The other boy, my son, has his C of H next month, and I'll be doing one for him, too.

 

During one of our last Webelos meetings, I asked the boys to take 20 minutes or so and try to remember all of the things we had done as a Den. They called them off... Natural History Museum, snowball fights, hike, etc. There ended being 164 different things they listed. I wrote them all down, and using the simple WORDART program I had at the time, made a collage of all of the things they had done. Different colors, fonts, direction, and styles made for an interesting picture. I framed a copy for each boy and gave this to them also.

 

The last thing we did was the closing cermemony. We did the bridge crossing thing, but when they crossed, the Boy Scouts who recieved us led the boys out of the meeting as Taps was played, first in the room, then in the hall, then from way down the hall, then from outside, then from the edge of the property, so that it sounding like it was receding while the boys left. I still have boys and adults talk about that being one of the most memorable things they ever saw at a Cub Scout meeting.

 

Good luck with yours!

 

Mark

[ozemu]

I know thiese ideas are for the exiting the Scout Troop but the ideas may be helpful.

 

I write a reference for my exiting Scouts which I hand to them as I shake their hand for the last time. Good for that age re:work but everyone likes to be able to read positive things written about them. Might help when life gets confusing in teenagerhood.

 

All of the Scouts file past and shake the exiting Scouts hand. I encourage the younger ones to thank the exiting Scout for any help they have recieved from them. More positive reinforcement.

 

I intend to colour copy pages from our Troop journal that feature photo's of the exiting Scout. Another keepsake. Will help them remember thier old mates and the good times.

 

Any ceremony done with flaming torches is better than one done with the lights on.(This message has been edited by ozemu)

[FScouter]

The boys in our troop build a bridge using poles and lashings. The single trestle bridge in the pioneering merit badge book works well. They like building it, the Webelos like crossing over it and it gives them a peek at what they can do as a Boy Scout.

 

The ceremony begins with some opening music. Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathrusta (aka theme to 2001 A Space Odyssey) at full volume really gets the attention of the audience, and sets a ceremonial tone to the event. Works a whole lot better than "signs up!".

[leonus]

I want to thank everyone for submitting their ideas. I brought each of them up to the attention of our cub master and other leaders and we decided to do a combination graduation using the different ideas depending on the age groups of the boys. We used the arrow idea for the Webelos crossing over and the cub-o-matic for the tigers. We ended the ceremony with a slideshow presentation of the past year with the song 'Here I Am' by Bryan Adams (i think that who sings it) from the movie Spirit. It was an excellent ceremony and I want to thank everyone once more for their contribution of ideas.