Cub Scouts hold annual Blue and Gold
Photo by Adam Herrenbruck Blazz Wood switches the pepper shakers before handing one to Tyberious Harwood as Brian Baker waits down the line during their skit.
The noise level inside the pavilion at the Sanders County Fairgrounds rose a few notches as the Plains Cub Scouts Pack 46/57 held their annual Blue and Gold Banquet Thursday evening. Fourteen Cub Scouts from grades first through fifth and their parents gathered for the banquet and awards ceremony.
It was a meal fit for Cub Scouts - chili dogs, chips, salads, and cake decorated blue and gold in honor of the scouts and their achievements.
Pack leader Don Damschen said the Blue and Gold Banquet is one of the major annual events for the scouts, along with the Pinewood Derby. The banquet is a chance to award the scouts for their participation up to that point.
The scouts' ranks ranged from Tiger Cub to Webelos and received awards after dinner. Damschen said the scouts were being awarded patch segments for the activities they have completed and some received rank advancements. Damschen said some of the Webelos - a shortened title for “We Be Loyal Scouts” - were awarded fitness and handyman pins. The pins are two of 20 that Webelos earn.
After the awards were given out the scouts performed skits for their parents and the rest of the pack. Each group portrayed humorous situations and jokes on the stage in the pavilion. The settings ranged from inside a doctor's office, on city street, to inside a submarine.
Sydne Connolly also serves as a pack leader, along with her husband Pat. She said they got involved because the Cub Scouts always needs parents to lead.
“One of the challenges is occupying their energy, you know, creatively,” Connolly said, adding they encouraged their two sons to be involved in scouts because Pat was an Eagle Scout and they see it as a way to help young men build character.
“It's a good organization to help boys build character traits,” Connolly said. “It keeps them on a good path.”
Damschen is also an Eagle Scout from Plains and he said he keeps active with his kids in scouting because he still sees it as “a great program.” Brenda Lamb has sons in Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts and like the others she encourages them to stay involved because of what she sees in the program now, and from personal experience.
“I did Campfire Girls and I like self-motivated programs with self-recognition and I wanted my boys involved in those kinds of programs,” Lamb said. “What kept me was that they teach the values I want my kids to grow up with. I can't think of a better way to teach a kid.”