Blue and Gold

Several months ago, Stephen and I were asked to serve in Cub Scouts. If you ever asked me what church service I would want to do, I would have answered "anything but Scouts." God heard me, so He put me in Cub Scouts. At least I have Stephen to work with me. I am Cub Committee Chair and Stephen is Cub Master which means we are the top two leaders for our ward troop. We have three dens, one for each age group between eight and ten. Our troop, however, is very small. We've had den meetings (meetings for all the boys) where only one boy would show up. We never had more than three boys at a time. It was kinda pathetic.

To solve this problem, we combined with another neighboring troop. They have large turnouts and a system already in place that was functioning well. We hopped onto their schedule, but we are also providing equal leadership. Hopefully, this will benefit everyone. However, I'm learning my job doesn't really change from this combining, which is both good and bad. It's been a growing experience at best. I've come to appreciate the boys, but I still dislike the Scout program and all the regimented regulations I have to jump through. I wish things were simpler.

That being said, there is one aspect I got to participate in that I really enjoyed. Every year, the Cub Scouts have what is known as the Blue and Gold Banquet. It's like a birthday party for Cub Scouts. My attention was grabbed at the word "Party." I love throwing parties. I enjoy hosting, decorating, and making fun events on a budget. I recently hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law and a Little Mermaid birthday party for Paige. This Blue and Gold Banquet was an opportunity for me to actually enjoy some aspect of Cub Scouts.

This would also be the first combined pack meeting for the two troops, which meant our numbers were much higher than it otherwise would be. Several of the ten-year-old boys would be earning their Arrow of Light award, which is basically the biggest award in Cub Scouts. Because of this, the other troop decided to theme the night around that award. "Path to Adventure" became the guiding phrase which, in juncture with the Arrow of Light awards, led to a camping theme for decor. I scoured Pinterest for inspiration and though that and some thinking on my own, I feel like I came up with a pretty great setup for the night. I think pictures will best explain how things turned out.

We set up a tent and camping chairs to help set the mood. We also borrowed three Christmas trees to add to the "authenticity" of the campsite.

We had 13 tables total for out estimated 100 people. We came nervously close to that number, but had enough seating and enough food for everyone. The tables were decorated with a blue tablecloth to go with the Blue and Gold concept.

I made little fires to go on the tables as centerpieces. I was trying to figure out the best way to make it look like a campfire by making paper logs of some sort, but for the size I wanted (and the weight of the tissue paper falling on itself), little buckets worked the best. I already had some given to me from the previous leader, so that helped. Half were blue and half were gold. I used a red and yellow tissue paper to create the flames.

At the front and center of the room, I made a large fire using several tissue papers and a borrowed fire pit. It was referenced later in evening during the ceremony for the Arrow of Light awards.

We went with the camp out theme for dinner and ate hot dogs. Someone else was in charge of the food, but I helped by providing the cliche camping water dispenser and all of the gold tableware you see. I liked the idea of the gold tableware on the blue tablecloths.

I was asked to also provide the dessert for the night. Initially I was going to just order some from Walmart, but I felt like it would be too expensive. I also loved the idea of making s'more inspired cupcakes. So I decided to swim into the deep end of the crazy pool and made all the cupcakes myself. I used six boxes of cake mix and made almost 150 cupcakes. We had less than a dozen leftover, so my estimate was close. I used chocolate cake and vanilla frosting and topped them with a graham cracker and Hershey's chocolate square for a treat worthy to be roasted next to a campfire. 

How perfect is this photo!

The star of the show for the evening was a man dressed in Native American clothing who presented the Arrow of Light Awards. He told the "origin" story of the Arrow of Light and had all the boys captivated. They sat around the fake campfire I had made for the man's ceremony while parents watched. It was a hit. I think all of the younger boys are now very motivated to earn the award themselves.

Overall, it was a fun night. It was stressful to plan for such a large party, but I focused on a few details and let the rest be. I tried to be budget minded. In total, all of the decor, tableware, and even the cupcakes totaled $105.00. The food came to cost more than that, but since the other troop was in charge of the food and the program, I wasn't involved in that planning. I think they spent $160 or something close to it. Both troops had a budget of $200, so we came in well below what we needed to. I don't think the extra money could have bought us anything more to make a difference. I'm really happy with how it all turned out.