Pack 107 Celebrate Their Cub Scouts’ Achievements at The 2021 Advancement Ceremony

June is a busy month where students of all ages celebrate the end of the school year, and for some, it is graduation. In Cub Scouts, we also celebrate the end of the Scouting year with an Advancement Ceremony, and it also marks the kick off of the new Scouting year. Pack 107 held their Advancement Ceremony and Camp Out this past weekend, June 26-27, 2021 at the Grafton Lions Club. This is the Pack’s first family camp out since the COVID pandemic. Everyone was so happy to be able to enjoy the outdoors and camp together once again!

The ceremony began with the Color Guard presentation of the flags by the Webelo Den, with our Webelo Scout Lukas H. as M.C.

At the Advancement Ceremony, Pack 107 was excited to officially welcome all the new Scouts that signed up at our May and June Scouting Fun Fest. It was so thrilling to see all the smiling faces of the eager new Cub Scouts, and their families, as they were presented with their new neckerchiefs. A few of the new Cub Scouts already started earning hiking miles and community service hours, and one new scout even earned his Recruiter patch! We are so happy to welcome Oliver N., Oliver D ., Christian E., Andrew N., Jacob H., Gabriel R., Tatenda N., Max. V., and their families to Pack 107!

As we reflect on the 2020-2021 Scouting year, all the Cub Scouts, their families, and Pack Leaders worked so hard and were so flexible to make this year a success. Families works as units and spent family bonding time working on portions of the various adventures at home. They learned to “Do their Best” and “Be Prepared” when we held our various Pack meetings, Den meetings outdoor, through, sun, rain, and cold. Amazingly, no body minded, and they were just happy to be together and enjoy all the fun activities. This would not have been possible without the kindness and generosity of the Grafton Lions Club for allowing us to host our meetings and events on their property. Even more remarkable, Pack 107 was able to keep their commitment to community service, with monthly Norcross Park clean ups, and collecting food, personal care items, socks for the those in need. Amid a year like no other, Pack 107 is so especially proud of all the Scouts for completely all the required adventures to earn their rank badge. These Scouts were recognized, and received their well-deserved belt loops and adventure pins, hiking miles awards, and their rank badge. Congratulations to all our Scouts and families!

In addition, this year’s Council Pinewood Derby winners for 2020 and 2021 were presented with with their trophies. Congratulations to Steven L. and Matthew L. for earning the 3rd place trophies for their rank in the 2020 race., and to Gabriel F. for winning 2nd place for his rank for both 2020 and 2021 races.

Our Pack leadership team also received service pins to recognize their years of service on the Pack Committee. Thank you to Mr. Chris Nichols for 1 year of official service as committee member, Pinewood Derby Chairperson, and photographer. Mr. Nichols has been actively volunteering in the pack long before he became a committee member. Thank you to Mrs. Tiffany Bubriski for 2 years of service as Den Leader for the Girls Den, and to Mr. John Bubriski for 4 years of service as IT Chairperson and Den Leader for the Bear and upcoming Webelos Den.Thank you to Mrs. Christine Gaspar for 3 years of service as committee member, photographer, contributor to Pack 107’s postings, recruitment committee member, talented multi-talented volunteer for many events, and new Tiger Den Leader! Thank you to Mr.Dan Gaspar for 3 years of service as assistant den leader, den leader for the Webelos Den and upcoming AOL Den, recruitment committee chairperson and Pack Committee Chairperson! Thank you to Mr. Larry Drew for 4 years of service as den leader, assistant den leader of the Webelos den and soon to be AOL den! Mr. Drew also the Committee Chairperson of the all female Scouts, BSA Troop 2019. Thank you to Mrs. April Lane for 4 years of service as Pack Treasurer, and Popcorn Kernel, and to Mr. Rob Lane for 6 years of service. He is a retired talented den leader, as of last summer, after his AOL den “graduated” and cross over to the Scouts, BSA Troop level. Mr. Lane remains active as a committee member, and Co-Popcorn Kernel. Thank you to Mrs. Cindy Fong for 4 years of service as Public Relations Chairperson. She shares about all of the Pack’s activities, with the Greater Grafton community, via Facebook posts and blog posts on the graftonpack107.org website. Thank you to Ms. Tabitha Lefrancois for 5 years of service, as the Pack’s secretary, Lion Den leader, Assistant Cubmaster and Cubmaster. She also works tirelessly behind the scenes for many of the pack administrative and program planning. Thank you to Mr. Matt Davy, who could not be at the Advancement Ceremony, for 2 years of service as den leader for the Wolf Den and soon to be Bear Den.

A great program requires dedicated and creative minds and bodies. Thank you leaders for sharing your time, talent, and love of Scouting with Pack 107. Anyone who has interest in giving us ideas and input into advancing the Pack’s Scouting program to be the best of the best, we’d love to get your input and have you join one of our Pack Committee meetings.

After the ceremony, the scouts and their families enjoyed a pizza dinner along with chips, and fresh fruit, Kool-Aid and water, all served from with a friendly smile from Mrs. April Lane and Mrs. Christine Gaspar. It was so fun to finally be able to enjoy a meal together again, and to make new friends.

After dinner, the Scouts were treated to an epic “Scout Ninja Warrior-like” obstacle course starting with navigating through a rope web in the forest, followed by commando crawling through a low pass, and tunnels, beach ball relay balancing a beach ball on a hoop net, basketball hoop toss, pool noodle weave run, ping pong ball toss, and hula hoop jump. This was the masterminded and set up by our talented Mrs. Christine Gaspar! Thank you so much for all the planning and preparing that went into this!! It was a big hit!! As if the obstacle course didn’t tire them out, the Scouts continued afterward with hula hoop contests, hide and seek, tag, and discovering fireflies after sun set.

After all that fun, everyone enjoyed a cooling and quenching freezy pop treat, before the start of the campfire program. It started the Campfire Ash Ceremony (also known as a Friendship Ash ceremony) , and is a ritual associated with Scouting meant to convey the long history and fellowship associated with the movement. Attributed to Lord Baden-Powell, it is said that he would take a small amount of the ashes from the campfire he was at, and would take them to add to the next campfire he attended. The Scouts from Troop 2019 performed campfire side skits, followed by Ms. Tabitha’s jokes and riddles, and then the Cub Scout and their families were invited to share any jokes or skits. It was amazing to see so many Scouts who wanted to share. Even our newest and youngest Scouts came out to share! It was amazing to see so many new friendship develop already!

A flag retirement ceremony followed with Troop 2019 leading the solemn ceremony. The Scouts, BSA Handbook states: “A national flag that is worn beyond repair may be burned in a fire. The ceremony should be conducted with dignity and respect and the flag burned completely to ashes.” … The Scouts, BSA Handbook explains, “As the symbol of America, it stands for the past, present, and future of our country.”

The campfire program ended with the singing of Scout Vespers. Scout Vespers is a traditional Scouting song. The tune is that of “O Tannenbaum/O, Christmas Tree“. The song is usually sung at the end of the evening campfire, often as people are filing out of the fire circle. Often it will be sung by alternating singing the lyrics and humming the tune.