News : Top honor: Nine Cub Scouts earn Arrow of Light; advance to Boy Scouts

Current Boy Scouts welcomed 9 new members during a special ceremony Friday.

The Arrow of Light recipients with their plaques, and the light and candles used for the ceremony.

The new Boy Scouts joined the current Scouts during Friday's ceremony.

Lighting one of the Arrow of Light candles.

Melvin Hurst, left, was honored for his years of service by Greg Sampson.

Andrew Sampson welcomes his brother, Evan, across the ceremonial bridge to join the Scouts.

Greg & Debbie Sampson were honored for years of service to the Cub Scouts.

The Cub Scout flag salute...

Caleb Stewart welcomes Nash Stewart to the Boy Scouts.

The nine boys who earned Cub Scouting’s highest honor joined hundreds of Pack 47 members who have earned the Arrow of Light honor in the pack’s 70-year history.

But Colton Evans, Dillon Fox, Jake Gram, Clint Hill, Evan Sampson, Thomas Sietz, Mason Stainbrook, Nash Stewart and Asa Van Fossen will have something that nobody else in Pack 47 has received: An Arrow of Light plaque. All are 5th graders attending Shellsburg Elementary. This is the largest group of Arrow of Light recipients in recent memory for Pack 47.

Complete with an arrow and their name plate, the plaques honor the years of commitment the nine have made to Scouting. Scoutmaster Melvin Hurst told the audience during the Blue & Gold Banquet Friday evening that every Arrow of Light recipient for the rest of the history of Pack 47 will receive such an arrow.

The ceremony was also the last official event for the boys; they officially became Boy Scouts. Boy Scout members were waiting behind the curtain to welcome them after the end of the Arrow of Light Ceremony. The new Boy Scouts crossed a bridge symbolizing the change. They will be able to wear their Arrow of Light pin on their Boy Scout uniform; if as adults they become Scout leaders, they will also be able to wear a symbol of that accomplishment on their adult leader uniforms.

Scoutmaster Hurst also received a special award, honoring him for his years of service, and for continuing to serve the Scouts even after his own children grew up and left the program. He tearfully told the audience that his goal is to help good boys become great men.

Cub Scout leader Greg Sampson will leave the Cub Scouts to become a Boy Scout leader. He and his wife, Debbie, also received special honor for their years of service to Pack 47.