Centre Hall Cub Scouts hold Blue and Gold Banquet

CENTRE HALL — Cub Scout Pack 20 of Centre Hall held its annual Blue and Gold Banquet on March 10 in the Centre Hall Lions Club building. About 80 Scouts, leaders, parents and  grandparents gathered to honor the pack’s leaders, volunteers and community supporters, and enjoy a meal together.

Following the Pledge of Allegiance and a recitation of the Cub Scout law, Cubmaster Jesse Weaver presented a brief history of the beginning of the Boy Scouting program. British military officer Robert Baden-Powell started it in England in 1907, and it was brought to America in February 1910, where it became the Boy Scouts of America.

The guest speaker for the banquet was Jack Oakes, of Centre Hall. Oakes served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1961 to 1977, with a tour of duty in Vietnam, then served in the Tennessee National Guard. The topic of his presentation was uniforms.

“I wore a uniform for 29 years,” said Oakes, who was a Boy Scout in his youth, a police officer in Virginia for three years and then in the military for 21 years.

Oakes showed slides of Boy Scout uniforms of past decades, and noted some of the changes in style through the years. He said the Scout uniform indicates the qualities of scouting — character, bravery, respectfulness, service and others. He also noted that Boy Scout uniforms are made of rugged materials to withstand the rigors of outdoor scouting activities, often in bad weather. Patches, pins and medals on uniforms indicate specific accomplishments and advancement in rank on both military and Boy Scout uniforms.

“Remember, with the uniform, you’re representing the largest boys’ organization in the world,” Oakes told the Scouts. “You’re representing something that stands for good. Wear it with pride.”

Another guest speaker at the banquet was state Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, who praised the Cub Scouting program and its leaders and volunteers.

As always, a highlight of Pack 20’s Blue and Gold Banquet was an auction of cakes baked by Scouts and their parents. The cakes followed a LEGO theme, duplicating the shapes of the popular building blocks and figures. One by one, auctioneer Tammy Miller offered up the desserts until all were sold, with the final cake netting $100.