What to do with old flag ribbons

[Cubmaster Mike]

You know what I'm talking about. The massive ramble of old ribbons on the Pack or Troop flag that start to look ratty and resemble a dust mop. You reach a point where it starts to look messy and unkept.

 

I want to remove all the old ribbons except for those within the last few years to make room for new ones, but I also want to come up with a way to display some of our Pack history and these old ribbons.

 

 

How about some ideas of what other units have done with these old ribbons?

[sst3rd]

I can only tell you what we've done with our ribbons. Our Troop is only 40 years old, but like you said, you can't have all of those old ribbons on the flag, so there for a while, we just stuffed them in a desk drawer.

 

About ten years ago, I got them all out. Our Troop does have a small building to meet in, so I divided these ribbons by the year, grouped them, and hung them along the wall next to the ceiling in sequential order. Now, everyone can follow our activities through the years from the beginning.

 

sst3rd

[scouter-mom]

What about sewing them onto a blanket, creating a type of quilt, a wall hanging as a display?

 

Just an idea. (I like sst3rd's idea!)

[Prairie_Scouter]

Our pack is also about 40 years old, and we've done what sst did. Brought it out first at a B&G dinner. It inspired a lot of "wows" when people saw how far back the ribbons went.

[Fuzzy Bear]

The Dust Mop tells a story:

By arranging the ribbons in chronological order, it indicates what, where, and when it happened. It might also begin to explain how. You can then begin to find out who was there. Once you get a few names, then the stories will pour out and so will more names. You will need someone that is willing to do the detective work and someone that is willing to record it but finding your history will bring about many unexpected and exciting results. Most likely, you will find a need to have a few more banquets with the newly found old-timers. You may need to figure out how to best record the stories and the times because your history will find new importance. Scouts and parents love the stories and it gives a sense of belonging to something very special. It will develop into a type of legacy or glue that binds people together. Along the way, you may also find a few willing to do something more than be just a memory on a bunch of ribbons. At that point, you will discover what to do with the ribbons because your emotions towards them will have changed.

 

FB

[docjwt]

Many years ago in my old troop we had the same problem. One of the ASM's took on the project of researching and displaying all the old ribbons along with help from several of the boys in the troop (including the historian). What they came up with was several very nice homemade frames that they placed all the ribbons in by year with a brief write up giving the dates and history of the ribbon. We were able to hang these in our meeting room for everyone one to see. It was a great way to document some of the history of the troop and helped the boys to see they were continuing the "linage".

 

James