End of the Year Celebration

The last official Pack meeting of the school year is a special one. We wrap up the program for the year and the Scouts officially move on to their next rank. Try to make this a special event so that you can send the Scouts off in style!

Cheers:

Cheers are a great addition to you monthly Pack meeting. A good cheer can help you capture the attention of the Pack and visitors and arouse excitement at the same time. Here is an example of a cheer that you could use at this end of the year meeting.

Cubmaster: Same friends!

Scouts: New Adventures!

Location, location, location:

Think about where you want to hold such a special Pack meeting. Is your normal meeting location the right place? Maybe with some special decorations that space is the perfect fit. Maybe this is a meeting that you want to take on the road. This Pack always makes the final meeting of the year at a local park. Getting outside in the beginning of summer is nice and after the meeting is officially concluded the Scouts can play on the equipment at the park.

On to new ranks:

It is a tradition for the Arrow of Light Scouts to have a special Crossover Ceremony. Some Packs do a similar concept on a less grand scale for the lower Dens as they move to the next rank. Having a special ceremony that is different from an Arrow of Light Crossover Ceremony allows the Scouts to still feel like this is an achievement, while still making sure the Arrow of Light Crossover is still something to look forward to. This Pack meets at a local Park where there are some small bridges as a part of the park. They allow each Scout to cross one of these bridges each year before their special Pack bridge as Arrow of Light Scouts.

Look for an area that has a neat bridge to make this a special memory.
Consider layering the specialness of the ceremony. This Den Leader makes sure that each Scout gets their new; hat, neckerchief, and slide at the event. These Scouts are Wolves that were just awarded their Wolf rank and then given their new Bear gear.
This Lion Guide buys each Lion a Tiger backpack as a congraulations gift. These Scouts are also each give two Lion parent pins that the Scouts can give to members of their family as a thank you for helping them throughout the year.

Add some Food:

Add some food to the event to make it extra special. Maybe you do an ice cream sundae bar as part of the special celebration, maybe it is a dessert buffet with each family bringing in a special treat, or perhaps it is a full blown potluck so that the Scouts and their families can celebrate a successful year!

Adding food to an event always seems to make it extra special.
The Scouts can have some bonding time with their friends.
Through the Cub Scout journey many of the families will become friends with other families. It is nice to be able to just sit down and enjoy each other.

Add some Pizazz:

What can you do to add something special to this meeting. A special sweet treat, a campfire program, thank you gifts. Maybe come up with a special annual tradition for your Pack.

This cake was made by a local baker when the Pack was an all boys Pack. Having such a fancy special dessert really made the Scouts feel special.