Back in the B.S. era (before-Covid), our normal Blue & Gold Banquet included a meal and live entertainment. Our 2020 event was cancelled due to the growing pandemic. In 2021 we held a virtual banquet, encouraging Scouts to cook a meal with their parents and then tune in to a virtual mad scientists show. We haven’t been able to assemble all in one place indoors since the start of the pandemic, that is until last week.
For our 2022 Blue & Gold Banquet, Pack 1540 celebrated the 112th birthday of Scouting in America, Jurassic-style! Our main entertainment was a reptile show with turtles, snakes, and a few amphibians. We decided to not provide a meal – families were encouraged to eat before arriving, which helped ease some concerns about spacing and masking. We replaced eating time with dinosaur-themed activity stations:
- Visitor Center: sent the Scouts on a scavenger hunt to find dinosaurs on the loose
- Tyrannosaurus Rex: puppet operated by a volunteer
- Fossil Dig Site: individual clay eggs with dinosaur toys inside
- Veterinary Clinic: pin the tail on the dinosaur
- Feeding Station: bean bag toss into dinosaur mouths
- Mr. DNA’s Lab: dinosaur-themed activity pages
- Petting Zoo: provided by a reptile expert
The event included a Jurassic Pack-style entrance gate, a movie-accurate Jeep provided by the Jurassic Park Motor Pool, friendly velociraptor keeping Scouts out of the elevator, and an opening skit performed by the Den Leaders that re-enacting parts of the opening scene of the movie complete with costumes and props (“You did it you crazy Cubmaster, you did it”). The evening ended with a big suprise – a life-size dilophosaurus!
Scouts and families had a “roaring” fun evening. Many, many thanks to our families and Den Leaders. Scouting finds a way!
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