moosetracker 132 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Last night was our annual woodbadge dinner. I have gone for maybe 7 or 8 years now.. Nice normal type of dinner, good food, friends, fellowship.. But, normally just some normal speeches, and dinner is with everyone getting up one table at a time, to go up to the table and get their food. This year it was all changed around and different.. More fun campfire type stuff, (and alot of those on our Woodbadge staff are truely entertaining characters.) And the change to serving style was a huge improvement. They did a really fun game and it ended in someone at our table winning 2 gifts, the gift of a mug and the gift of service (they became our table server).. So the server for each table was the only one who would go to the kitchen for the food and bring it back to the table, to be served family style.. It really sped things up (but I think may have caused some waste of food).. The only problem came with the whole chocolate cream pie that came with no serving utensil.. Two at the table had fun butchering it with the plastic silverware. Well regardless of looks it tasted good! Do your Councils have an annual dinner? We hold ours in March since our Woodbadge is in October, and that is the 18 month mark for a course.. Some people get their beads earlier at a place of their choice for the ceremony (like a pack meeting, COH or something), but most get beaded at the Dinner. My son got his beads that night.. He also won the cup and was our table server.. His fianc won a belt buckle (which he knows he will get, since he likes belt buckles and she doesnt).. We also got him a green vest with the woodbadge symbol and the patch of his patrol (his fathers & my gift to him for completing wood badge..) Anyway the kid really cleaned up last night.. Link to post Share on other sites
BDPT00 41 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 It all sounds pretty good. Fun. Only piece I don't care for is awarding beads at a Wood Badge dinner/breakfast. It's the wrong audience. Many will be bored with it (seen it too many times, and don't know the recipients), and more importantly, the people who should see it aren't there. I think beadings should be in front of a roundtable, a unit, or a training course (not WB). I was at a WB breakfast a few years ago. 35 people got beads. What a total waste. That was the last time beads were presented at the breakfast. How many get beads at the dinner? (I 'm trying not to jump to conclusions) BDPT00 Link to post Share on other sites
OwntheNight 10 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Ours is normally held in February, but due to the "lovely" weather we had in February, they have moved it back to the middle of April this year. Our council hosts 3 WB courses a year, so we have 3x the amount of participants trying to show the most WB spirit throughout the night! It ends up being good fun for everybody. The highlight of the evening is the unveiling of the official course totem that's to be hung in one of the activity or dining halls at one of the camps. (Our course still claims the title of LARGEST totem around, Hee,Hee!) We also honor the outgoing CD's and introduce the new CD's for this years courses. I kind of agree about the beadings at the dinner, wrong demographic, should be done to get people excited and interested about WB. I will say though, the beadings done at the dinner are impressive. They pull out all the stops and do the full ceremony, unlike some I've seen at RT where they just water it down, and move on to the next line of business. It's a good night to meet up with some of my course mates, whom I don't get to see often enough, but there are still a few of the "old guard" who show up and gripe about WB21C. I enjoy listening to their stories, but I've just learned to avoid conversations with them about the "old vs new" argument. It's not productive, and the reason we're at this dinner is to celebrate, have fun, and sing the song one more time with our mates! Link to post Share on other sites
moosetracker 132 Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 Unfortunately too many, more then 1/2, I got my beading at a roundtable, but not my own roundtable. I got beaded with another person in my patrol at her roundtable. I am just not one for too much pomp around people I know, and I am one who doesn't want to put those volunteers who have to run around beading everyone to alot of trouble.. I asked my husband where he was beaded, it was at the dinner, I know a lot of his patrol got beaded elsewhere as he traveled to each beading for them, but really didnt remember his (so maybe that is proof it isnt as memorable). My son as I just stated was also at the dinner, I think just because he skirted under the wire on his time.. Your right, it is not really the best place and doesn't promote woodbadge. At least with our group though I would say that we have friends both in & out of district. So there are many people we know at the dinner. But not many we know from our district.. I looked on the district training records a year back and there were only 3 of us.. This year though with my son, we counted at least 4 from our district.. To be honest, they give us the option to do it outside of the dinner, but really dont push it.. So for most people it is convient because they want to celebrate it with those who were in their woodbadge patrol, and probably like me, dont want to put everyone to a lot of trouble over them. I guess us normal people just dont think about promotion, we more think about not being a bother to everyone around us. So do most other councils have a breakfast rather than a dinner?? Link to post Share on other sites
jhankins 10 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Congrats to your son! We have a dinner every November. I don't know the history behind why we hold it that month, though. The dinner has been going through an identity crisis trying to find the best audience, and we're getting closer to that. In year's past it's been a catered buffet style thing costing $30 per person, and other times it's been a potluck with a $5 fee. I enjoyed the potluck. So many wonderful foods and lots of new dutch oven recipes to take home and share. Most beadings have been placed at the unit level the past few years, but sometimes schedules line up for course directors and participants to have a beading ceremony there. Not too many, though. In my council the gauge of success is how many previous course directors attend a wood badge reunion dinner. Last year we had 13 years worth of CDs, and it was awesome to get to sing with them, even getting to sing of the Wolf and Raven (which is rare around here). Link to post Share on other sites
infoscouter 11 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Ours is a breakfast, instead of a dinner. I like the family style serving idea. We end up in long a buffet line and food is sometimes cold. Big attraction is the silent auction for various critter related items. We introduce the Course Directors and staffs for next three or four upcoming courses (we hold three courses a year in our council), rather than doing any beadings. Those are encouraged to be held at RT or a unit event. Link to post Share on other sites
trippedintoscouting 10 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I was at the WB dinner on Saturday and received my beads. My patrol decided back when we took the course in fall 2009 that we would all get together for one beading. While only four of the 7 of us were there, I am glad I made the decision to get them at the dinner, if only to reunite with my patrol. There were also quite a few leaders from our district, including my ticket counselor, so I had friends and family there. I haven't been to many beadings -- some at our annual district recognition dinner, a few at Round Tables, and just recently, two participants from our course were beaded at a Blue & Gold banquet. It was good not only to see my patrol mates be awarded their beads, but to see friends I made from other patrols being awarded them, and of course, to see the course staff, who were fantastic. Link to post Share on other sites
moosetracker 132 Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 trippedIntoScouting - are you from the NH council? DWC?.. Or did you just by coincidence have your Woodbadge dinner on the same night as ours? If you were at our dinner. You may only have last years dinner to compare it to, (unless you are the one we have jokingly dubbed "the overachiever" from our district that was completed in 6 months and this was your first dinner) but what did you think of the changes? Link to post Share on other sites
Austinole 43 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Never heard of a WB dinner or breakfast. We have a pretty small council and WB is only offered once every two years. Sounds like fun. I wouldn't mind seeing all my Wood Badge friends get beaded. I guess that's the bonus of having a small council. I know everyone that would be getting them pretty well. Link to post Share on other sites
nolesrule 58 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Our council holds a Wood Badge reunion/recruiting dinner usually in mid-September. We do a pot-luck buffet, with different categories of items assigned to different critters. People who are interested in taking the course are invited to attend, which is why it's also considered a recruitment dinner. I've only been to one dinner, but at the one last September, there were 3 beadings from a course that had already completed the 18 month ticket period. There was also some program, the introduction of the next Course Director and a slide show from the last course that had been held, which is the one I took. Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Our council has done a WB breakfast with proceeds going to camperships & scouting scholarships. I went to a couple but haven't gone in a few years. They're ok. My recollection is that a lot of what happens at them held no interest to me, though. (Lots of droning reports from the Wood Badge association, followed by elections to the Wood Badge association, followed by meandering speeches from the winners of the elections. Snooze.) Link to post Share on other sites
moosetracker 132 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 LisaBob - that does sound totally uninteresting.. Our normal years had a few long parts, but not that bad.. There was more talking and visiting with each other then the speeches.. Longest parts for ours is just the beading ceremonies, and the introduction of the next course director, and his choice of staff. We have no awards & speeches by the awardees.. I fear that will be next week at the district awards banquet. My first, but I am kitchen elf, so get out of most of the speeches.. Link to post Share on other sites
BDPT00 41 Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 OK, so what's a Wood Badge association, and why or how does one get elected? Then what happens? BDPT00 Link to post Share on other sites
jhankins 10 Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Ya, I've never heard of a Wood Badge Association... Link to post Share on other sites
trippedintoscouting 10 Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Hi Moosetracker, I didn't pay enough attention at last year's dinner -- I sat w/two of the guys from my patrol and spent too much time catching up w/other course participants. Sad but true! This year there were a ton of us getting beads, you are right. I think there were way more people there this year compared to last year -- I remember a few empty tables last year, and this year it was packed. I "dragged" my husband and my two boys, but they had a good time too. My husband ended up serving, which he didn't mind. Link to post Share on other sites
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