Blue and Gold Banquet

[GHogKilla]

Hi! My name is Ami and I am new to this site. I am drawn here because I was named to do the Blue and Gold Banquet this year. Another leader has already planned to have a Native American tribe come and dance or something. So I was thinking about doing a Native American theme. I would like any ideas but my main thing is the dinner. Last year was our first year in Cub Scouts and I didn't even know the celebration was for the Birthday of Scouting. So I want to change that so everyone knows why we are there. Also, the pack provided ham and canned mashed potatoes. Parents brought dishes to share (with no sign up sheet so we had 10 bowls of mac and chz) and parents brought place settings. I am over thinking that part is odd since originally cubs whittled their utencils. But I would like to replace the ham and canned potatoes. Maybe something along the Native American line? Any advice is welcome and thanked. Peace, Ami

[Novice_Cubmaster]

Hi Ami,

 

Don't know about any Native American foods, but our Pack's goal for a Blue & Gold called for feeding a lot of people inexpensively with a minumum of fuss. Hate to say it, but ham does work out really well. So do big premade trays of lasagna (Sam's Club & Costco). You can also try asking local restaurants for food donations - units in our area have in the past had fried chicken donated by Mrs Winners and pizza & salad from Papa Johns.

 

One thing we noticed a while back was that kids in general aren't thrilled by banquets. So, in the last couple of years, we've dropped the banquet & shifted to a pot luck dessert buffet - instead of spending money on food, we used the funds to bring in a "special guest". This year, we're having a snake wrangler come in with a variety of critters to hold & pet. (Creeeps me out, but the kids love it.) And there's always the chance that a python will eat the Friends of Scouting presenter - I hear they taste like chicken.

 

Good luck with what ever you go with.

 

NC

 

 

[Nike]

I heartily agree with dumping dinner. It's a party for Scouting's Birthday. Believe me, Cubs know what a birthday party should be. A dessert banquet with a big cake from the bakery would make them more than happy. As for Native foods and activities, if you have invited a local tribal dance group, contact them for ideas of foods or other things.

[Lisabob]

Getting people to change traditions is really tough so you may face some initial reluctance to dump dinner - but, if you can do it, I agree!

 

Regarding cheap/easy, we used to do a "macho man" cake bake competition. The boy and his parent (we specified dad or male relative/family friend - anybody but Mom and Grandma!) were challenged to make a cake and decorate it in some theme, using only edible items. It is amazing what kids can do with pretzels and gum drops! A few people would buy a cake from the grocery store but most did make their own. That was a whole lot of fun, and of course it provided dessert for the entire group too.

 

If you can't get rid of dinner, and even if you stick with the ham (I agree about the canned potato - yuck!) you can still coordinate a bit better. When we did dinners, we assigned each den some type of item to bring. Give the Tigers the easiest things. We also had the boys make the decorations, place mats, etc. in their dens during the month or so prior to B&G. Add a few balloons and you're ready for a party! (I've never heard of the boys whittling their utensils though - what about the parents/guests? Personally that doesn't sound like something I'd enjoy, but maybe you have a way of making it work.)

[John-in-KC]

Much of what LisaBob said

 

In fact, much of what she said is how my Pack did it 40 years ago.

 

This is a SPECIAL pack meeting, it's the birthday party for Cub Scouting.

 

Sadly, the Council Solutions Group does not put the annual Cub RT guide and themes online, as does the former Boy Scout Division. Hopefully, this will change.

 

From one website (kismif dot org), it looks like the Feb 09 theme (B&G Month) will be American ABCs. There's lots you can do within that, both to celebrate Cubbing and the American Indian.

 

Whatever you do, involve the boys! If you bring in Indian dancers, make sure they bring out the Cubs to dance with them. When the kids can "ham it up" (no pun intended to the food), so much the better.

 

BTW... spaghetti and meat sauce can be a fun dinner for kids, and relatively inexpensive (I've substituted ground turkey for ground beef more than once).