Bears Earn their Rank

I am very excited and proud of this achievement. Most packs wait until the Blue & Gold Banquet to earn rank, but a lot of boys in our pack also take part in sports in the spring. So I tried to schedule the curriculum with us finishing rank by the Holiday Party in December. It worked out pretty well since all but one scout earned rank (the other is VERY close). The theme for the meeting was "stars", so I cut out a star and put each scout's name on it along with a quote or saying that matched the theme glued on the front. On the back, I taped a piece of paper in the shape of a pocket to hide away the rank patch in. The idea was to have parents and scouts together and give the star to the parents, saying that the parents, rather than the children, were the stars, and that our children were our moons because they reflect back everything that we shine upon them. I am sure I am not the best orator, so I hope they understood what I was trying to say in such a short time. We only had a short time as the main focus of the night is on the crossover ceremony from the Webelos 2, which was an awesome event. My friend Jennifer's son became a boy scout tonight!

Here are some Bears and parents very proud of their achievement!

Here is my den, from left, Will, Zachary, Kurt, Konrad (in front), Dallas, and Bryan. (not pictured: Jonathan, Marshall, & Hayden - they were all there but left before I could get this picture).

And here is Dallas holding his star:



Since I was busy facilitating the awards ceremony and Dan was busy with Savanna & Bailey, despite having a camera with us, I did not take any pictures. These were generously passed along to me, and I think there are some that have Dallas in the frame and hopefully of Noah's ceremony also. I sometimes feel like a horrible mom not capturing these precious moments on film, but I get to experience a lot more being the den leader and in the thick of things. It is not really natural to have the camera and make them all pose in the middle of the ceremony. I am thankful to all of those who can sit in the audience and take pictures and share them with us. God Bless you!

Here is a picture from the back of the Webelos 2 crossover ceremony; they actually "cross over" a bridge:

I will add more soon if I get them! I hope to get pictures from other parents that will hopefully have my kids in them.