A friend’s youngest boy decided to join a traditional troop in our community and the new cubmaster needed ideas for an appropriately traditional graduation ceremony.
In my boy scouting library is a 1973 printing of “Staging Pack and Den Ceremonies.” Here is a scan of the chapter on graduations.
The older ceremonies were significantly better designed with a dignified, stately language little heard today. This is also the origin of the so-called “bridging” ceremony, an innovation to match the Improved Scouting Program and its emphasis on transferring cub scouts into the boy scouting program. The concept of “bridging” is a reference to the idea of the Boy Scout Trail, leading from cub scouting to American citizenship and Manhood.
Of interest, at this time was a natural link between cub and boy scouting. The Arrow of Light Award, formerly the Webelos Award, came with a signed certificate that qualified a boy as a Tenderfoot scout on acceptance into a troop and payment of his dues. This is a tradition worthy of revival!
Here’s a quick outline of the material:
| i. | Cub Scout Family Graduation | p. 150 |
| ii. | Seven Virtues of Life | p. 152 |
| iii. | Crossing the Bridge | p. 154 |
| iv. | Indian | p. 156 |
| v. | Friendship Fire (Outdoor) | p. 158 |
| vi. | Bridge to Scouting | p. 160 |
| vii. | Archway to Scouting | p. 161 |
| viii. | The Milepost | p. 164 |
