Crossing Over: The Arrow Of Light Ceremony

After five years of Cub Scouting, six boys from local Pack 55 crossed over to Boy Scouts this weekend. In a ceremony at their annual Deer Lake campout, amongst family, friends and fellow scouts, these boys earned their Arrow of Light award.

Matt Beauvais, Chad Davenport, Marcus Fleury, Matt Lebert, Ricky Koscinski and Wyatt Reu are now Boy Scouts in Troop 55. Three of these boys have been together since first grade Tigers, and each year thereafter another of the boys joined in. They are now part of a brotherhood that will continue to guide them into manhood.

Scouting provides many wonderful things to these boys. But mostly it instills in them that these fellow scouts will always have their back. They know that they have a code to live up to and much more exploring to do. As Boy Scouts they plan their own adventures down to the details and take responsibilty for making them come to fruition.

At their final Den meeting a few weeks ago, they recounted their favorite memories over the years. Catching toads by flashlight at last year's campout was high on the list, but after giving thought, the rest of these came out and were re-lived: the Pinewood Derby car races, the annual Blue and Gold awards dinner, the box cars they made that fell apart from the wind at the beach, the seal watch they went on, art lessons, glass blowing and a hike with artist Joan Levy, swimming at the YMCA, a nature lesson at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, and another one at Miegs Point.

They also remember making meatballs, and learning about travel, about first aid, and about being a citizen. They ran races at the town beach and cleaned up trash at the fishing hole under the bridge. They made holiday decorations and cards for our soldiers. These boys have learned about honor, honesty and doing good deeds.

And in case you were wondering why this story is told in the first person as I have the inside track, I have been the Den coordinator, and Pack Secretary for the five years. I can honestly say with a little tear in my eye, that I have loved watching these boys grow. They have courage in their spirit for adventure and learning. They have pride and have accomplished so very much with true determination and a lot of fun.

It has been one of the true pleasures of my life to have helped them along the way.