Weblos advance to Boy Scouts

VERNON — Parents, relatives, and friends gathered on Feb. 23 at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church to celebrate nine Vernon area Webelos Cub Scouts crossing over into two area Boy Scout troops. Pack 183, Arrow of Light Den, Cub Scouts Adam, Quinn, Sean, and Tyler crossed over to Scoutmaster Cindy Raue’s Troop #283; and Matthew, Sawyer, Atticus, Heath, and Patrick crossed over to Scoutmaster Jack Rueckel’s Troop #48.
Cub Scout Pack 183 Den Leaders are Jennette Zmach and Mike Costa.
During the Webelos Crossover Ceremony, Cub-master Rob Staab said the Cub Scouts had achieved the highest award, the Arrow of Light badge, which helped prepare them to become Boy Scouts.
Each family stood behind their son during the ceremony. Staab told the scouts, many people had assisted them in the past and would continue to help in the future, as they take more responsibility for themselves.
Young men lit blue, white, yellow, and green candles, reminding everyone of lessons learned in Cub Scouts, Scout Law, the Arrow of Light, and the beginning path toward Eagle as Boy Scouts.
After receiving their Arrow of Light Badges, the young men pinned Arrow of Light pins on their moms or dads, as Staab reminded the boys, “They are celebrating this achievement as they helped you along the way.
Staab asked Troop #283 and later Troop #48, “Are you ready to receive your scouts?”
Each of the nine scouts crossed the elevated log bridge, tied together with rope, to their new welcoming Boy Scout troop — symbolic of crossing from being a Cub Scout to becoming a Boy Scout. On the other side of the bridge, the new troops replaced the Cub Scout neckerchiefs with Boy Scout neckerchiefs — to many claps.
Rueckel said Boy Scouting is an opportunity to learn camping and canoeing – things boys seek to do, learn to do, and want to do. He said, their troop is based in Hamburg; scouting is a big family; and hopefully, they will keep the young men in the scouting family, active, and learning.
Raue said she was very excited to welcome their new scouts. She added, she has been a scout master for two years, and her scouts are doing such a fine job. Last summer, she said, she did her first summer camp with the younger boy scouts, who completed all their merit badges by the end of the week. Raue was very proud of them, she said, and they hope to take the new scouts on this year’s summer camping trip.
At the end of the ceremony, each family provided food, including colorful salads and pastas. One new Boy Scout exclaimed, “Chicken nuggets. Look at this. Chicken nuggets!” with a big smile on his face.