Troop Program Features
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The notable thing about this investiture is its simplicity. There are many more elaborate, more impressive ceremonies, but they can be unsuccessful. Many fail because a Scout forgets his lines or the staging is too complicated. Note how this ceremony is kept simple and natural, yet impressive from beginning to end.
(The troop is lined up along two sides of the room, troop officers are at the front of the room, parents are seated. The patrol leader accompanies the candidate to the shadowy room. Only one candle is burning.)
Patrol Leader (replying to the Scoutmaster's chal-
lenge): I bring Candidate , who
has completed his Scout work and is ready to be received into the fellowship of our troop. (The two walk together across the room and stop in front of a table holding a rough log candelabram. The Patrol leader steps back a pace and the candidate stands there, his eyes gradually adjusting to the iim light, aware that there are Scouts on either side and his parents and others in the darkness ,ehind him. But his eyes are on the Scoutmaster md troop leaders who face him across the burning candie's glow.)
Patrol Leader (steps from his position behind the table, picks up the lighted candle, and speaks directly to the candidate): This candle represents the spirit of Scouting. As we welcome you into the Followship of Troop,__________ we want you to stop and think about what it means to be Boy Scout.
Sure, it's a lot of fun, but more than that it's getting along with other people. It's doing your part, helping others all the time, learning to lead, too. It's living up to the Scout Oath and Law- and believe me that's a man's job! It's a Good Turn daily and the motto "Be Prepared." That's -" what the spirit of Scouting means to us in Troop _______ . Now, listen to the Scout Law. Patrol leader hands burning candle to a Scout who steps up to the table.)
Boy Scout (lights the first candle on the log and
turns to candidate);________________ (name), a
Scout is trustworthy. That means that everybody you live and work with can always trust your word. (The Scout hands the spirit of Scouting candle to the Scout next to him and that boy lights the second candle, turns to candidate, and speaks simply but impressively about the meaning of loyalty. So it continues, through 12 points of the Scout Law. Each Scout says only one or two sincere, forceful sentences. There should be none of the groping for words that so often spoils ceremonies. The twelfth Scout returns candle to the senior patrol leader.)
Patrol Leader: _____________________(name), you
have heard the Scout Law. Will you do your best to live up to it?
Candidate (his face glowing in the light of 12 burning candles): I will.
Patrol Leader: You will now be given the Scout
Oath by our Scoutmaster, Mr. __________________
(name). Please raise your right hand in the Scout sign.
Scoutmaster: Repeat each part ofthe Scout Oath
with me,_____________________ (name), because
it's your oath, your promise to live the life of a Scout. On my honor ... (Candidate picks up the words with him As they repeat the Oath, the Scoutmaster lights the three candles that represent the three parts.)
Candidate is asked to face the audience. The Scoutmaster steps forward, pins the badge on candidate's shirt, and, in a few words, tells what it means to be a member of the Boy Scouts of America. The assistant Scoutmaster then puts a new troop neckerchief around the candidate's neck and says a word about what is expected of him as a
member of Troop __________-the best troop in town!
That is the cue for the patrol leader to pin a patrol medallion on the new Boy Scout's right
sleeve and to tell him that (name) ________________ Patrol (the best patrol in Troop _______ ) is glad to have him as a member. Then the patrol leader takes the new Boy Scout by the arm to where the other Scouts are standing in line. They shake hands and everything is informal.
Nothing is memorized. A little equipment, a properly set stage, and a few Scouts and leaders speaking from the heart are all that's needed to make this an evening the new Boy Scout will remember for a long, long time.
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