Hazelwood Cub Scouts Celebrate the Year's Achievements in Blue & Gold Style

participated in a decades-old tradition last weekend when they had their annual Blue & Gold Banquet.

Cub Scout Pack 736, led by Cubmaster Michael Shea, invited family and friends to join them for dinner and an awards ceremony on Saturday evening.

“I just want to say that I’m proud of all my boys and all the hard work they put in to learn and earn their rank advancement, and to my adult leaders that teach them the fundamentals of becoming a Boy Scout,” Shea said.

Teressa Grindel’s second-grade Wolf den arrived two hours early to set up, and Henry Coffman’s first-grade Tiger Cubs stayed afterward to do the cleanup work. Bear den leader Becky Lunte handled the food, with help from Grindel and some parents.

Scout leaders, parents and grandparents helped the boys to make the event a reality. Parents and scout leaders helped the scouts complete the achievements necessary to advance in rank and win their awards, as well as helping to organize, set up and clean up the event.

Leaders helped scouts make center-pieces for the tables and one grandmother made trophies for each boy who had participated in the Pinewood Derby. The participation trophies were very well received by the scouts, especially those who hadn’t placed in the event.

“I liked getting the trophy a lot,” said second-grade Wolf scout Noah Atkinson.

Shea served as the emcee for the night, handing out awards to scouts and leaders and directing traffic when it was time to eat.

He said 16 boys in the pack earned rank advancements, and four of them earned their whittling chip card.

 “The whittling chip card allows them to carry a pocketknife to scout functions,” Shea said. “This achievement is a big leap for the boys, because they use this requirement for their campouts.”

Also in attendance was a council representative who asked parents to donate money for the Friends of Scouting program. At the end of the banquet, Shea announced that parents and other family members had donated more than $600, giving the pack a gold certification in the program.

Pack 736 is made up of students from and schools in the .

Blue and Gold History

The Blue and Gold Banquet was first held in 1933, when a leaders’ group suggested parent-scout dinners. By the early 1940s, the name “Blue and Gold Banquet” first appeared in Boy Scout literature.

The Cub Scout motto, “Do your best,” is historically an important theme for the banquets, partially because during the depression and when families were separated due to war, everyone “did their best” for their families to help their young Scouts celebrate their accomplishments.

These days, Boy Scouts of America call the banquet a “birthday party,” which is meant to celebrate the pack’s anniversary, thank its leaders and other adult helpers, and to inspire the scouts and leaders.

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