As winter holds off spring’s procession, and stores decorate everything red for Valentines Day, Cub Scout Packs all around the country are planning their Blue and Gold Banquets. There are balloons, cakes, family and friends. There are songs, skits, speeches and ceremonies. Yes, the color of February should be Blue and Gold.
One of the things that I remember most from my Cub Scout days is the Blue and Gold banquet (2nd of course to the Pinewood Derby). My elementary school gym was all decorated (in Blue and Gold of course), I was all dressed up in my uniform and my whole family was there to see me get my awards. At the time I did not fully understand the significance of the Blue and Gold banquet. I hope that our first Pack 567 Blue and Gold Banquet is one that everyone will remember for years to come.
The Blue and Gold Banquet started out as Parent/Cub “pot-luck” dinner put on by Pack 1 of Michigan City. Dads were to bring utensils made of wood; whittled by the Cub and his Dad. In the 1930s, father/son “Bean dinners” and “Cub family dinners” began to become common place. Then in 1943 the BSA formally started calling these events “Blue and Gold Banquets” and they became synonymous with “celebrating the birthday of Cub Scouting.”
The Blue and Gold Banquet also signifies some happy, but yet sad, news for our Pack. Our 2nd year Webelos, that have been working so hard following the Cub Scout Trail, will now complete the trail and move on to become Boy Scouts. Although we will miss them, we are very proud of everything they have accomplished in Cub Scouts and everything that they will accomplish in Boy Scouts. I know they will all make fine Boy Scouts and hope that they remember the time they have spent in Pack 567.
So get your party hats ready, and be glad we don’t make you carve your own utensils.
Yours in Scouting,
JK
Greetings Pack!
