when your son crossed over

[bear dad]

Well the time has come and my son is crossing over this friday.He has been with the pack since he was a bear and now as he say's " moving to the bigger guys". What has touched me is how much fun he has had during these past years.

He is eager to become a Eagle someday as that is his gold and wants to a be den chief also.Glad he got into scouts as he don't play sports as far as a team thing, and with scouts he has a chance to enjoy something he likes and shine while doing it.

 

While the pack will miss him, this is what he has worked for and took time find a troop he really likes and spent time with them. The SM said he was full on engery and will be great for the troop.

 

So my question to all of you that had your son cross over from a Webelos what do remember most about the event, and his time with the pack?

[Basementdweller]

The ceremony. His eyes when he received his career arrow.

 

From his years in the Pack.......I have a picture of him and his buddy at a council event shooting sling shots. Goggles, huge smiles. the weather that day was crisp fall, The first day it really smelled like fall.

[kari_cardi]

I remember his pride as he stood in front of everyone with his friends and den mates, wearing his oversized uniform (that I just replaced with a larger size!) and receiving his AOL plaque, epaulets, necker and slide, and handbook.

 

I also remember that it was a very long day, my other son broke his leg that afternoon and I was so worried for him and that we wouldn't be discharged from the ER in time for the ceremony. I made it home with only 15 minutes to spare, to pick up my soon-to-be Boy Scout and run to his AOL ceremony.

[qwazse]

With my oldest B&G was nice, but my favorite memory was when he, his best buddy, his dad and I went on the boys' first backpacking trip. For those two, that defined the transition from cubs to boys..

[resqman]

I remember how much work it was being a den leader providing a challenging program for my son and his den weekly. My son got to test out many of the den and pack meeting activities prior to the actual meetings. The fun ones were great while others you could see his boredom during the meeting because he had already done that.

 

I made a hat/headress for the ceremony from a horned viking helmet and a yard of black fake fur to approximate a buffalo hat for the medicine man to wear. That was the part of the entire ceremony that my son liked the most. The following week we bought a second viking helmet which we still have and wear from time to time 5 years later.

 

Last night he came home from his Philmont planning session and said he was going to volunteer to be the crew leader. Really cool to see him grow up and start leading adventures of his own.

[SMT224]

We have a lot of good Cub memories, but the one all three of my boys seem to remember most and still talk about was the Father & Son cake bake.

 

We made a dozen cupcakes, took the wrappers off, put them in a pile, and covered them with a huge amount of chocolate mixed with vanilla frosting, making it look like a mountain. We then made a indentation at the top and add orange and red frosting flowing out and down the mountain. We added a candy village that was just about to be engulfed by the lava.

 

We made three of these over the years, and they were very popular with the other Cubs, and always brought the highest donation during the auction - much to the horror of the mom's who would be taking them home!

[Tampa Turtle]

My sons were one year behind the other. Got AOL and crossed over at B&G. My oldest really wanted that arrow and was pretty happy--he never gets much recognition. As I was up on stage as Assistant WL I didn't see much.

 

Enjoyed my youngest more. He was really happy; decorated much of the room, I was WDL then and was proud of all of "my boys". My older son was a Boy Scout then and serving food and proud of being "an older guy".

 

 

[moosetracker]

I am sorry to say, I don't remember my sons face. I remember the bridge, him meeting the troop on the otherside.. The career arrow wasn't used at that time.. At least I never heard of it until my boss about 2 years back, as a WDL complained of building the blasted arrows and the work put into them and he only had 3 in his den...

 

Strangely the most I remember of that day was my son's uncle, my husbands brother.. He came all decorated with his eagle pins, and sat in the audience puffed out with pride at my sons accomplishments. I don't even remember who else from the family came that day. I do know there were others, we went out to brunch with everyone before the crossover ceremony.. I am sure my husband wore his eagle medal, and if his other Uncle was there he did too, so it was not the oddity of his wearing his eagle medal.. Just the total beaming pride he had all day long..

[Engineer61]

If I recall, the only thing I remember my Scout talking about was the "hokey Indians".

 

It take a while to make the dang arrow.

[SR540Beaver]

Our "hokey indians" get so many requests each year that we can't possibly do them all. The Packs and the boys love them. One of our ceremonialists was dying to become an OA member and join the ceremony team ever since he saw them as a Tiger. He's our Vice Chief of Ceremonies now. It's a blast getting to go provide a ceremony and see all the excited Webelos crossing over to their next great adventure.

[shortridge]

I don't remember much about my crossover, except being so proud to get that red beret and red neckerchief. My first camping trip with my troop was much more important - especially so because I'd just gotten over chicken pox, and only got cleared to go on Saturday morning. That was also the campout where my patrol and I learned that you could boil more than one hot dog at a time. And man, that spaghetti in the cold rain is still the best meal I've ever had.

 

My brother's AOL ceremony was extremely memorable, because one of the OA members leaned down a bit too close to the row of candles he was lighting and caught his headdress on fire.

[Troop185]

Back in the 1980s' when Webelos was a one year program, I was the Webelos Leader for my son's den. Everyone in the den were going to received their Arrow of Light at the Blue and Gold in February. I asked the scouts if they want to work on some more Webelos Activities Badges or join the Boy Scouts (back then, no one joined until school ended in June). They all wanted to join the Boy Scouts!

 

I asked the Scoutmaster (a friend of mine) to arranged for the Crossover at the Blue and Gold. I remember having a lump in my throat when my son crossed over, thinking he was no longer a little guy. At the time, he was already 11 1/2. Within eight months, he was 1st Class and our ranked me (I only made it to 2nd Class). He was an Eagle at age 14. Two of the other six scouts in his Webelos Den made it to Eagle.

[pixiewife]

My greatest memory is not my sons' actual crossover. However, at our very first Blue and gold banquet (when our pack does all of the AOL and crossovers) my son was a very new Wolf Scout. I didn't even know the first thing about Scouts.

Well, the area Boy Scout troop was there to cross over the new scouts, and instead of just coming up to the stage, their Scoutmaster called them out in color guard style. My 8 year old's head snapped around, his eyes shining, and he said " I want to be an Eagle Scout!"

I am very proud to say, that he has just turned 15, and will be doing his project this spring!

~Pixie

PS~ We will be having my 2nd sons crossover in 2 weeks, I am WDL, and am really trying to make it special!

[bear dad]

Well my son just crossed over , he joined the troop right before Christmas and they was off till this past week. from the moment he walked thru the doors he was on the SM to get the Scout badge stuff signed off.

he recieved it this past Monday nite. he was very proud.

Lot of the new scouts are working on Fire chit and totem chip as he is very excited about them. Already talking about MB classes. He has a lot of energy right, hope he kepts focus.

[qwazse]

The cross-over itself was just a formality in my mind. (Maybe because there was no cheap imitation of Native Americana involved.) Don't know if it's my son's favorite memory, but mine was his first backpacking trip we took with his buddy and dad that same year. It was just the four of us and really represented the transition from the cub world to a place where dads began to step back.

 

Advancement was not instantaneous with those two, but 7 years (and lots of miles hiking, biking, and canoeing) later they both Eagled.