Photo by Lester Smith
Den Chief Dan Burke offers his congratulations to Noah Greco, who has just crossed over the bridge symbolizing his completion of the entire Cub Scout program and earning the Arrow of Light rank. Advancing Cubs of Suffield’s Pack 266 crossed over at the pack’s Blue & Gold Banquet on February 24. Eleven boys had become eligible to join a Boy Scout troop, and representatives of Troop 66 and Troop 260 were waiting upstage to welcome them.
Eleven proud boys of Pack 266 celebrated the successful completion of their advancement in the Cub Scout program at a traditional Blue and Gold Banquet on February 24. Fellowship Hall at Suffield’s First Congregational Church was crowded with parents, grandparents, and friends along with the other boys in the Pack: Bobcats, Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and those who are completing their first year Webelos level, hoping to cross over to become Boy Scouts when they earn their Arrow of Light rank next year. (Webelos means We’ll Be Loyal Scouts.) Boy Scouts and leaders of Troop 66 and Troop 260 were present to receive the cross-over Cubs.
Following the Presentation of the Colors, First Selectman Melissa Mack spoke briefly, recognizing the boys’ progress and the good efforts of the pack leaders. The Story of the Blue and Gold – the origin of Cub Scouting – was told by the boys themselves, who also recited the program’s elemental tenets in the traditional candle-lighting ceremony. Then each of the boys crossed over the symbolic bridge on stage to a handshake from Den Chief Dan Burke after an arrow was shot across the room into a hay bale by a Scout archer. The boys were given their Arrow of Light to keep as the symbol of their achievement.
On stage they were welcomed by Scouts and leaders of the two Suffield Scout troops. The choice between Troop 66 and Troop 260 each year is freely made, often the result of personal friendships.
A generous buffet dinner followed, and the event ended with an entertaining show by a talented ventriloquist, Michael Lawson of Enfield, who had volunteered his hilarious performance. His dialogues with puppets Edgar (reminiscent of Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen’s popular sidekick of mid-20th Century fame) and Uncle Seymour, a crotchety oldster, were very well done, and often quite relevant to the occasion.
A notable feature of this Blue & Gold Banquet was that the advancing Cubs were seated at their own table across the front, giving them the position of honor and the best seats for the show. This reporter, having attended many such events, cannot recall seeing this arrangement before.