Ceremonies, Do You Use Them?

[Eagle94-A1]

So does your troop use ceremonies?

 

My current troop only does one thing ceremony wise, and that is at Cross Overs.  The Court of Honor I attended was just handing out awards, and was over and done with in under 15 minutes.

 

My troop growing up used ceremonies extensively.

 

When we got new Scouts, once we got a commitment from them and they earned the Scout badge, we had a candlelit ceremony inducting them into the troop. Their PL was involved and had a few lines. But depending upon the SPL or ASPL, either he or the SM did the bulk of talking in the ceremony. . However SPL or ASPL ALWAYS led the Scout Oath and Law during the ceremony, with the PL holding the troop flag, and the SM lighting candles. SM always ended with SM Benediction.

 

For Court of Honors, SPL or ASPL ran the show. We did a variation of of the induction ceremony to start off the court of honor. Prior to presenting ranks, one of the current at rank Scouts would say or read from a script. Exception was Scout, as we sometimes had a current Tenderfoot do that part. Once the ranks were presented, the adults presented the MBs and special awards. Then SM ended with SM Benediction.

 

When we had changes in leadership, we did a ceremony in conjunction with the COH.  If the current SPL was there, he would either say or read from a script an intro of what the SPL does. Then he would use a modified Scout Oath to install the new SPL. If the SPL wasn't there, the SM would do it.  The new SPL would then say a few things about the duties of the PL, call them forward, lead them in a modified Scout Oath, and install them as PLs.

 

Eagle COHs were a little different. SM or CC would run it, depending upon who the Eagle wanted. At one point we had a CC who camped and attended meetings, so he also had relationships with some of the Scouts. The Eagle got to pick who did what parts. Mostly it was Scouts from the troop. But certain parts required Eagles. So leaders, former Scouts, and  family members were used.  I had my old SPL who mentored me "roast" me, and when my cousin and uncle didn't show up, he also did the " Eagle challenge" and Eagle Charge. Glad he was back from Desert Storm for the ECOH.

 

I always though the ceremonies inspired and reminded folks of Scouting is all about.

 

Your thoughts.

 

 

[blw2]

My son and me attended our first troop meeting as troop members this week, and it was a COH

They did it as a ceremony, led by the SPL and I think the other boy was ASPL

they called up all the boys that made each rank, one at a time....

called up say 4 boys taht had earned 2nd class.

called their parents up to stand behind

did a little script

handed the pin to the boy, who pinned it on their parent (i'm pretty sure the patch had been presented at the time of completion)

then one of the boys lit a candle

then they moved on to the 1st class group

and so on

 

short enough to not be too bad in my opinion....

 

In cubs, the B&G was full of ceremony, too much ceremony (since we lumped in AOL and crossover too)..... to the point that everyone was bored.....

but rank and other awards were just handed out with applause at regular meetings

[Eagledad]

Ceremonies are great opportunities to practice planning, leading,organizing and presenting. 

 

We always have scouts looking to get recognized for extra responsibilties so they can get considered a POR, taking on task like ceremonies, camp fires, service projects, and other similar responsibilities are a great way of getting recognized and learning skills.

 

And I think ceremonies are great for getting the scouts closer as well. I hear a lot of troops don't do Camp Fires anymore, but campfires add so much to a troop program. 

 

Barry

[Krampus]

We do use ceremonies. We do them at COH's mostly but also at flag retirement and our troop-based OA tap out ceremony. We have our own ceremony team that does those. We also do crossovers for Cub Scouts.

[KenD500]

We use ceremonies at CoH, flag retirements & PL investiture.

[Sentinel947]

We do ceremonies for PL's starting a new term.

COH: Ranks.

Opening and closing of meetings! =P (Sorry, low hanging, obvious...)
Flag Retirements

Crossovers

ECOH- We recognize them at a Troop COH. They can have their own separate one if they'd like to plan it. Most do.

[Stosh]

In the troops I have served as SM, all ceremonies are done by the scouts themselves. 

 

In my former troop where I had enough boys, the PL's rotated opening/closing flags by patrols.

 

COH's were rotated by a PL emceeing over all, but the PL's were called up to hand out and recognize their patrol members' accomplishments. PL recognition was given out by the emceeing PL.  Any opening or closing benediction was done by the Chaplain's Aide.

 

ECOH's were presided over by the Eagle candidate's PL.

 

All campfire involvement at a camporee, for instance, is handled by the PL's and their patrol.  If the campfire organizer comes and says our troop needs to provide a skit/song for the campfire, and we have 3 patrols, each patrol comes up with a skit/song and they are introduced at the campfire by patrol name, not troop number.

 

Cross-overs are traditionally done by the Packs in our area, but we always show up in force to be on the receiving end of the bridge greeting the new boys.  The PL's take turns putting on neckers and presenting books to the new boys.  The adults greet the new boys after the ceremony.

 

The only time I as SM participated in a ceremony was to come up from the audience to receive a mentor pin from a Eagle scout. 

 

If an ASM's son is being honored in a ECOH, the ASM is there as a parent, not an adult leader in the troop.

 

My boys know better than to invite the SM to "offer a few words."   

[Krampus]

I like the PL Ceremony thing. What do you do @@KenD500 and @@Sentinel947?

[KenD500]

I like the PL Ceremony thing. What do you do @@KenD500 and @@Sentinel947?

We use a modified version of the PL Ceremony from the Troop Program Resources manual:

 

"The new patrol leader is called forward. He places

his left hand on the pole of the troop flag, above that of

the Scoutmaster, salutes, and gives the patrol leader’s

promise: “I promise to do my best to be worthy of my

office as patrol leader, for the sake of my fellow Scouts,

my patrol, my troop, and the world brotherhood

of Scouting.â€"

[Sentinel947]

We use a modified version of the PL Ceremony from the Troop Program Resources manual:

 

"The new patrol leader is called forward. He places

his left hand on the pole of the troop flag, above that of

the Scoutmaster, salutes, and gives the patrol leader’s

promise: “I promise to do my best to be worthy of my

office as patrol leader, for the sake of my fellow Scouts,

my patrol, my troop, and the world brotherhood

of Scouting.â€"

 

What Ken said. Sometimes it's the full one from the TPR manual. Sometimes its abbreviated.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Sentinel947

[MattR]

We do COHs and flag retirements.We do flag ceremonies for anyone that asks. The scouts take a lot of pride in them. A couple of scouts are going to get free hockey tickets for doing one in a month.

 

I hear a lot of troops don't do Camp Fires anymore, but campfires add so much to a troop program. 

 

I was frustrated because my scouts weren't doing them, and then one day they started and now they really enjoy them.

[vumbi]

This old thread seemed good enough. I just finished a great evening of music and other activities, capped by the usual fireworks. The symphony played a great mix of patriotic music, ended with the 1812 Overture with canons startling people and making them spill their beer, lol.

At the intermission a local BSA troop gave a flag retirement on stage. The usual intermission is 15 minutes and they were supposed to do it in that time frame. But the retirement ceremonies I've observed at these things just keep getting longer and longer. It's as if people feel the need to make it more and more elaborate, maybe try to outdo the previous ones. Anyway, we sat and watched them cut the flag into pieces, with a slowly and reverently-spoken explanation for each step. There were just enough pieces for each member of the ENTIRE troop to have a piece. And THEN, the SPL and ASPL took turns explaining and quoting passages from various documents as each piece was slowly added to a small fire in one of those metal 'fire pit' things. It dragged on to the better part of 40 minutes and lots of people were giving up and leaving without finishing the concert. There were probably 6 or 7 thousand in the audience and they had come, in some cases, from other states for this. Anyway, it turns out that the flag that they used was some kind of synthetic fabric so instead of burning the way cotton would have, it produced huge amounts of black smelly smoke as it melted and burned in a molten puddle at the bottom of the 'pit'.

I know the 'code' for this and I know that while they didn't break the code, they sure took their sweet time in completing the process...capped by the SM waddling across the stage with the 'union', displaying a rather (ahem) unflattering profile.

Can we do better than this? Do we have to make this kind of thing into a spectacle rather than a simple respectful retirement?

 

I stayed to the end and the remainder of the concert was great.

Edited July 4, 2016 by vumbi

[Stosh]

Cutting the flag into pieces makes it no flag, just rags to burn.  Every flag I have ever retired was burned folded into it's traditional triangular form.  They were retired as a flag, not rags.

[TAHAWK]

The ceremony needs to be dignified and respectful.  If you regard cutting the Flag into pieces as disrespectful, you should not do it.

 

Many years have passed since I watched the First Marine Division retire a U.S. flag.  They separated the "Field of Valor" from the strips before burning.  I was told by a Sgt Major that they flag was cut so it was no longer the U.S. Ensign.

 

[Zaphod]

I think people just have no idea how long things actually take and don't plan or practice them in advance to know any better.

 

A couple days ago my son was invited along with 17 other kids to talk to an astronaut on the International Space Station at our public library. We were told that we would have a 20 minute window in which the space station would be in range so timing was crucial. They had the kids practice ahead of time walking up to the mic, handing it off to the next person, and then exiting the platform quickly. All good. The day of the event, the person invited to open and introduce the astronaut rambled on for like 4 whole minutes with the astronaut just floating up there on screen listening and watching. Five kids did not get to ask their questions because time ran out. She had note cards and obviously planned her remarks ahead of time... but could not possibly have practiced them out loud and timed herself or she never would have gone on that long.  

 

I noticed that all the time in my grad school classes. People think a 5 minute presentation is soooo long, but once you get going it flies by. Almost no one ever gave "5 min" presentations in less than 10 minutes and some took 20 or more!

Edited July 4, 2016 by Zaphod