Beading Ceremony last night!

[Axeman 10]

After working my Wood Badge ticket for 15 months I had my Beading Ceremony last night! It was a such a unique experience I thought I would share:

 

Last night was our District commissioners meeting & Roundtable. The commissioners meet @ 6:30 PM, followed by Roundtable @ 7:30 PM.

 

I'm in the commissioners meeting, listening to the Dist. Commish talk, taking notes, etc. The District Committee Chair is wandering around passing out our 2010 membership cards, and one of our Dist. Executives was meandering about distributing various paperwork (training bulletins and other stuff). As the Dist. Exec. walks by me he drops a white 9" x 12" envelope on the table and moves on. I glanced at it (it had a label with my name on it) but I did not open it since the Dist. Commish was making a point and I was trying to pay attention.

 

During a break in the action I opened the envelope. Inside was:

 

1. 1 Wood Badge necker- WD BDGE TAR 46 IN (65% polyester, 35% cotton) WPL 12681 Made in China

2. 1 Wood Badge woggle- Made in Thailand

3. 1 Beads Wood Badge 2 Bead Cat# 02175

4. 1 Wood Badge certificate BSA #34121 (2008 printing)

 

Holy smoke, it was my Wood Badge stuff, still in the original plastic packaging, which makes it even more valuable to collectors!

 

It really didn't hit me until today- that was my Beading Ceremony! Wasn't that unique?

 

I hope it was unique.

 

Axeman

CR/UC

[emb021 16]

Huh???

 

You should have received a proper ceremony. Usually when you work with your troop guide, and he knows you've completed your ticket and reported it to the proper people, he/she will work out when your beading ceremony will be. (they need to line up some people to do it, etc).

 

At the ceremony, they will usually remove your trainee neckerchief, and put on the WB neckerchief and woggle, and bead, explaining to the audience what its all about and the importance of it.

 

Dropping this all off in your lap isn't the way to do it.

 

Did you p*ss someone off?? Is this typical in your council of not doing beading ceremonies??

[Eamonn 61]

Well done !!

Wear your beads with pride.

Somehow I don't think that todays Wood Badge regalia will ever be that much of a collector item?

But I have been known to be wrong. (Just ask HWMBO!)

Ea.

[Twocubdad 665]

Congratulations!

 

I would take that to mean that they intend for you to take the various WB acootrments and do a presentation within your unit. There are all sorts of benefits to that: your presentation are in front of people who care; the Scouts may gain some appreciation for the effort their leaders put in on their behalf; a whole new group of people will be exposed to the WB program and will learn a new piece of Scouting heritage; and you will be recognized by the people for whom you undertook WB.

 

A win-win all around!

[JMBadger 10]

After some thought, it seems the DE who handed you the envelope was probably given the envelope with the expectation that he prepare a ceremony, or at least inform your TC that your stuff had arrived and was ready to be presented. Your name on the envelope was to inform the DE who the ceremony was for, not that you were to be simply given the envelope.

 

If I'd been handed the envelope, I'd have stuffed it in my little satchel and taken it home and forgotten about it (I have a bad habit of doing exactly that) until I had reason to go through it at a later date.

[Axeman 10]

I guess this means I completed the course, so I'll just go with what Twocub said and consider it a win.

 

Thanks!

[DYB-Mike 10]

Congratulations Axeman! Its a great feeling of satisfaction (and relief) when your Counselor declares the ticket complete!

 

Im must echo Emb021s sentiments though. There is a proper ceremony that goes along with the regalia. If I were in your position Id talk with my Counselor or the Course Director to see what can be done. My Course Director, who happened to be my Counselor, told me that I could involve anyone I wanted to in the ceremony, but it was his role (prerogative?) to present the Beads.

 

Getting the Beads is an accomplishment that should be properly recognized. Would we give out the Arrow of Light or Eagle rank in the same manner that you got your Beads?

 

Congratulations again!

 

YIS

Mike

NE-I-262

Still a Good OlBear

Getting my Beads 3/20/10!

 

 

[SSScout 1615]

Congratulations. I'm sure you will long remember the WB experience. And the ..."White Envelope"...

1) I hope you asked the DE about this. Did he know what was in the envelope or was he merely delivering for someone else?

2) In Our Council/District: When the final ticket is accepted, the WBer tells his Troop Guide how he/she wants his/her beads delivered. Ceremony? Where, when, how extravagant? And the TG and WB CD/SM comes and presents the WBer with the beads, necker, woggle, etc. No ceremony desired? Then what? Mail? Hand off at Roundtable? I had my beading done at my home Troop CoH and invited my WB patrol and many other Scout friends to witness. It was, therefore, not only a culmination for me, but an education for many others who did not know of WB.

3) I hope you will contact your WB CD/SM and TG and find out what happened. If the white envelope was your "beading", then you were really short changed. I find it hard to believe that the WB PTB would allow such to happen, knowing the dedication evident in my WB experience. I have to agree with emb021 and wonder who you might have annoyed...

4) Was the DE associated with your WB course? Did he/she attend too?

5) I hope you will politely pursue this and allow yourself the ceremonial recognition you deserve.

 

YiS

[hotair36 10]

Did you do your WB course out of council, at a distance away, and thus your CD/SM sent everything to your home council? That is one reasonable explanation for the white envelope. If so it should have gone through your home council WB coordinator. If that is not the case you got short changed. A bead ceremony is a time for your patrol to again get together with who ever you invite and if it's in front of adults to spread the word. I have seen beads presented at unit Courts of Honor, at Roundtables, at special unit family outings, at Blue and Golds, at Wood Badge Reunion dinners, and at BSLT.

If your DE (like many) is new to the program or is not a WB graduate he/she may not have been aware of what to do with the package and just was passing out the distribution items.(This message has been edited by hotair36)

[OwntheNight 10]

First off Axe, I raise my Nalgene, and give you a hearty, HERE,HERE! Congrats on finishing your ticket items, very well deserved. This is a great achievement and you should be acknowledged for it, not just passed out with membership cards and training materials. What I was told during my course, is that after the TG approves the items, the TG contacts the SPL who then contacts the recipent to arrange for a proper beading ceremony. If it was important enough for you to take Wood Badge, it should be important for somebody to properly acknowledge your accomplishments.

 

Ron

 

Always a Beaver

3 of 5 tickets done

[Crew21_Adv 25]

Axeman,

 

Greetings and congratulations!

 

 

Regarding the envelope. I wouldn't take it personal, at all. I'd consider it the same as delivering (or picking up) an Eagle Scout Rank recognition package (patch, medal, pins, card, etc).

 

Obviously an Eagle Recognition Kit is handed between the council registrar, to maybe a DE, to a unit Advancement, maybe to an ASM, then to the Scoutmaster just before the Eagle Scout Ceremony.

 

Some WB graduates desire to receive their beads right in front of the district committee or district roundtable, some desire to receive it at a huge council event, and some desire to receive their beads right in front of their own son and Scouts in the Pack or Troop.

 

Even, in my location, we recently had three leaders in my local troop that wanted to be beaded on the 100th Anniversary of Boy Scouting, during the troop meeting. Because of my geographic location, quiet a few advancement items are handed off in envelopes. The WB'ers in the unit had confirmed the recepients had their own 9x12 envelopes. I even had to break the glass in my own Scouting locker and bring one of my hot spare WB regalia, for our Scoutmaster whose regalia hadn't arrived yet.

 

So, Like Twocubdad said, and I'll echo.... That was not your beading ceremony. (It was just deliverying the regalia kit to your physical possession). It is for you to determine when and where you want the beading ceremony. Next Commissioners meeting, next R/T, next Pack meeting or Troop COH, or other appropriate venue.

 

Congrats again!

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv

 

 

[Brian85 10]

Maybe you could volunteer to put together a proper ceremony?

[emb021 16]

"I guess this means I completed the course"

 

You should know if you completed your course, as you should be in contact with your coach/counselor (whatever the term is being used now). Once you have completed your ticket, you should have let him/her know, who contacts the PTB. Its your c/c who works out with you your beading ceremony.

 

 

[Eagle92 110]

Congrats on completing WB. You must have a new DE who doesn't know athat there sia usppose to be a ceremony for receiving your WB items.

[Axeman 10]

I'm sure it was just a little mix-up, no big deal. Yesterday it felt like a bucket of cold water to the face; today I'm very embarrassed to have written the post. It was hochmut. Not my finest hour.

 

Thank you all!

 

Axeman

CR/UC

I used to be a Beaver...