Yellow and blue balloons floated above the tables set up in the Crozet United Methodist Church hall Feb. 26 as Cub Scout Pack 79 held its annual Blue and Gold Banquet, the occasion when 10- and 11-year-old Cub Scouts move up to join a Boy Scout troop. There was a yellow and blue bridge they would cross to symbolize the transition.
More than a hundred family members and scouts turned out for a dinner of fried chicken and ham, slow-cooked green beans, mashed potatoes and salad. There was a cake, too.
When the ceremony began, assistant Cub masters representing the four corners of the winds came forward and each lit a candle while describing one ideal on the path of scouting.
Cub master David Vance awarded Arrow of Light pins and patches to Chris Carmagnola, Noah Davis, Hunter Byram, Nathan Nelson-Clauss and Jack Vaughn. Each surrendered the plaid kerchief he had worn around his collar as a Cub Scout and took a framed certificate marking the accomplishment of Cub Scout goals. At the far end of the bridge, scoutmaster Gary Conley of Troop 79, also based at Crozet United Methodist, handed each boy a new Boy Scout Handbook. “This handbook has everything you need to reach Eagle Scout but the inner drive,” he told the new scouts. Four of those crossing over joined his troop and another joined Troop 114, based at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ivy.
Assistant cub master Vic Pena wrapped up the evening with words of praise for departing Cub master Mike Carmagnola. “Pack 79 is the most outstanding pack in the Stonewall Jackson Council,” he declared, “thanks to the efforts of Mike Carmagnola.”
Carmagnola, who will move on to the Boy Scout troop with his son Chris, brushed off the compliment. Waving to encompass the crowded room, he said, “It’s obviously not about one person.”
Crozet has a second Cub Scout pack, Pack 107, based at Brownsville Elementary School.
