Last night my husband and I were invited to a Blue and Gold Banquet. For those of you who were never Boy Scouts, let me explain. Every year the local troops have a birthday party for the Boy Scouts, the Blue and Gold Banquet. They get together and have the presentment of the flag and some type of program. Normally food is involved - yea! Last night it was spaghetti, salad and garlic bread, made by proud and loving mothers of scouts. And, of course, cake. Cakes galore. All the boys are responsible for bringing a cake representing the Boy Scouts. A lot of the boys help their mothers design and make the cakes themselves. And some of them are pretty awesome! It was a fun night, full of frequent distractions from younger siblings and their antics as they played on the other side of the gym. Put 50 children together and you're bound to get some craziness!
It's been a while since we've attended the Blue and Gold with our own Boy Scouts, and being there last night brought back some fun memories. I know that for some the Boy Scouts may not bring warm and fuzzy thoughts. It may even bring some negative thoughts. But the Boy Scouts taught my boys some really great lessons and life skills. They had a terrific amount of fun. The Scouts helped them learn how to be boys/men of integrity and character and honor. And how to follow through. And the leaders were great men showing great examples. And I am proud to say that I am the mother of two Eagle Scouts.
Being there last night, however, also made me think back to my own Brownie days. I never made it past the Brownies. You see, I used to be afraid of dogs (still am, depending on the dog). The house where we Brownies had our meetings was the home to a dog . . . I'm sure it must have been a gigantic, snarly, growling, teeth-baring, drooling, Brownie-eating dog. I lasted two meetings. Which is a shame, cuz the uniform was really cute.
I was a brownie too! And there was a big dog that I hated there too--he was a great dane, seriously people, that's not a dog, that's a HORSE! So, I lasted half a year, I think, then never made it back...
ReplyDeleteI joined the Boy Sprouts (my parents' name for us) in 1964 and got as far as Life, and then went to work at Sunrize market as a sophomore in high school. I can still tie the meanest knots on the block.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the two Eagles, that's quite an accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteI have one cub scout, one 11 year-old scout (why don't they have a name for them?), a Life and my 17 year-old is just a couple badges away from Eagle. My boys, and girls, have worked at Scout camps for the past 5 years. I haven't seen anything that can compare with the skills that these boys are taught through the program.
I always wanted to be a Girl Scout soooo bad, but my mom refused to let me because it wasn't 'sponsored' by the church.
Brownies for me consisted of the leaders dumping some craft supplies on the table and then sitting and gossiping for an hour until our moms came and picked us up. If there had been dogs involved, I doubt I would have made it even to the 2nd meeting. The uniforms are cute, but only through the 3rd grade.
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not the only one with a dog "thing"
ReplyDeleteI was a brownie. Our leader was the mother of a very good friend of mine and my friend had a very cute brother. Congrats on the two eagle scouts, moms help with that.
ReplyDeleteIn our case, Tammy, it was definitely dad who was right there beside his boys the whole way :)
ReplyDeleteI was forced to be a Blue Bird (I think, I only have hazy memories of a blue vest and crying when they tried to make me sell door to door)but I wanted my kids to be involved in boy or girl scouts if they wanted. Turns out, they have a hefty dose of me in them, and didn't enjoy it. Congratulations on two Eagle Scouts! That is such a wonderful achievement.
ReplyDeleteI was never a Brownie but I was a Girl Scout ..
ReplyDeleteI never had the opportunity to do the scouty thing but I managed to marry and Eagle Scout -- although, no surprise, I do have some issues with BSofA I will allow as to how the dude I married seems really value his association with scouts. He learned a lot about the natural world and about achievement of goals via the scouts.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am a Brownie drop-out, though I made it slightly longer than you did. I started in one troop and then was transferred to another. The second troop leader didn't do everything exactly the same way as the first and it was deeply offensive to me. I abhorred change from an early age, apparently. I'm STILL trying to address that issue. :)
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have Brownies to thank for knowing about fried bananas, walk-in refrigerators (tour of McDonald's), the catty behavior of ten-year-old girls (they were impossibly sophisticated to my seven-year-old self), the Bicentennial and how to turn a burned-out light bulb into a sock-covered sculpture vaguely resembling a mutated bird. I think I actually possess a picture of myself in the uniform, too. Heh.