July 2000

A Trip Across the Country

(From Sea to Shining Sea)

[Tonight we're going to take a trip--a trip across the country--from sea to shining sea.

We'll begin in the east and move our way west, like our forbearers did as they settled this great land. When our country first began as a new country, the land on the east coast was settled. People moved from other countries to this land of opportunity.

The trip through Cub Scouting goes doing much the same way. When boys first join a Pack, they settle in this new world we call Cub Scouting. And like the first settlers of the new world, they learn new ideas and new ways to live. The new Cubs have learned about the Pack and about Cub Scouting. They have discovered the Law and the Promise, the Cub Scout Sign, handshake, and salute, and other important things that make being a Cub Scout possible.

(BOBCAT)

Tonight we have several Cub Scouts, new to the Pack, who have just begun their trip. [List names of Bobcat recipients and call them with their parents to the front of the room.]

[Hand parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them with the Cub Scout handshake. Offer an applause and ask them to take their seats.]

Once the settlers became comfortable with how to live in the new world, they became more adventurous. They set out from the east to cross the Appalachian Mountains. As they crossed the mountains, they found new adventures and new challenges. In Scouting, the Wolf Cub Scout moves forward too, crossing his own "mountains" to meet new challenges and adventures. He learns about the American flag and his state flag; he begins to work on being physically fit, and he spends time learning more about his family, his home, and his neighborhood.

(WOLF)

Tonight we have some Cubs who have crossed the mountains of the Wolf trail and have met the challenges and welcomed the adventures that have brought them. [List names and invite them with their parents to come forward.]

[Hand out badges to parents to give to the boys. Congratulate them and offer a suitable applause. Have them sit down.]

So our trip continues. From the Appalachian Mountains, the settlers moved further west, into the Great Plains. Here they were greeted with challenges they had never imagined. But they also found the room to grow. That's exactly what happens after a Cub Scout leaves the Wolf den and becomes a Bear. He faces more challenges, but he also learns and grows by facing those challenges.

(BEAR)

What does it take to face challenges and succeed in them? We can look to several of our Bear Scouts to find out. Tonight we have several Bear Scouts who have done just that. [List off Bear candidate names and invite them and their parents to the front of the room.]

[Hand parents the awards to present to the boys and congratulate them. Offer an applause and ask them to take their seats.]

Across the Great Plains and into the Rockies our settlers traveled. The Rockies presented to them the greatest of challenges. But again, they rose to the challenges, because they knew that with the hard work and hardships came a freedom and a strength that made it worth the effort. What about the Cub Scout's path? The next phase of their trail is the Webelos. Here the Cub Scout begins to let go of the security he has known from working closely with his parents. He starts his climb into a freer, but more responsible and more challenging level. He no longer has his parents sign off his completed requirements, but reports them to the Den Leader himself. He is becoming more responsible--the challenge--but is also growing more independent, learning to handle his freedom well.