For the most part, the Arrow of Light Ceremony completely focuses on the scout who has earned it. I set up a display with Ryan’s belt loop display (more about this later), the Cub Scout scrapbook that Ryan and I put together, and some of his swimming awards.
We had a great program. The Pack had a brief period of time at the beginning where they awarded the other scouts their awards, and then they turned the rest of the time over to us for Ryan’s program. Rara and Papa told the story of Akela, and the legend of the Arrow of Light. Rara used Grandpa Jensen’s bow when she talked about the shooting of the arrow. This is our pack’s first Arrow of Light in about 1 ½ years, so many of the scouts have not seen a ceremony, and are not familiar with the story, or even the award itself!
There are seven character points of the Arrow of Light. I asked several people who are close to Ryan to speak about one of the character points, and then give examples of how Ryan has developed each of those traits. Rara talked about Wisdom, and Papa talked about Courage. Ryan turned on each of the lights or points as each person talked about them.
Chris Flanagan, the Young Men’s President and a good friend, talked about Self Control.
Greg Mortensen, Ryan’s Primary teacher, talked about Justice.
Bishop Paul Schmutz talked about Faith.
Donna Hiatt, Ryan’s Webelos leader, talked about Hope. She awarded Ryan his Arrow of Light Patch. (I’m sorry the picture is a blurry. I handed my camera to someone else while I went up front.)
Natasha Boren, the Cub Committee Chair, talked about Love. She presented Ryan with the leather hanging she made with many of his awards.
Usually all of the scout’s awards go on the hanging, but Ryan has so many that we had to do a couple of other things. We left all of his monthly patches and his camp patches on his bandelo. I also purchased a display for Ryan’s belt loops. It holds 40 belt loops, so Ryan’s goal was to fill it. He ended up with 42 belt loops!
I also received my Arrow of Light Mother’s Pin. We really did have a lot of fun earning his Cub Scout awards together. I was his Wolf den leader, and then in Cub Scouts for almost the rest of his time in Cub Scouts. We also had a lot of fun working on the belt loops together. We did a lot of them for our Family Home Evening activities.
After the Arrow of Light was awarded, Ryan crossed the scouting bridge from Cub Scouts and Donna Hiatt to scouting with Steve Cohen. Steve welcomed Ryan and presented him with his scout neckerchief and our troop’s special neckerchief slide.
After the program, we had a wonderful cake that Natasha Boren had ordered. We loved it!
A special thank you to Rara & Papa for the wonderful program, and to all of our special guests who took time out of their busy schedules to join us and support Ryan…The Flanagan family and Geri Turley (the Cubmaster through much of Ryan’s Cub Scout time)…
Scott Johnson and Jeff Novak (our home teachers) and Merilee Novak…
It was a great evening, and a lot of fun honoring Ryan for his commitment and hard work in Cub Scouts.
1 comment:
I'm organizing my son's arrow of light ceremony. Where did you buy the belt loop holder? BSA or a store? I wonder if I can use a glass flame from somewhere else. hmmm. how did you set up the area for food, tables, etc? let me know.
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