To stretch the second year youth a bit farther, I offered a challenge... To complete all the activity pins in the book and earn the "Panda" and religious knot by the time one bridged into Boy Scouts. The prize was a hand-carved neckerchief slide.
At first, the slide I carved was a ball and chain. It was carved of beechwood which is quite hard. Every year I had just a few boys complete the challenge so carving that slide was no problem. I wrote the twelve points of the Scout Law on the rotating ball.
Then, one year, a whole den of Webelos took up the challenge and completed everything. I seem to recall there were seven or eight boys in that den. From then on, I switched to a Scout sign slide.
This year one boy has met the challenge. He is no longer in my Pack but remembered the promise and met the challenge. The one I am carving here is from katsura wood. It will be the color of the lower slide when varnished. The one above is of hinoki (false cypress) . These are two of my favorite woods.
As a side note, more often than not, the boy who works for this award is likely to meet my second challenge. If he makes "Eagle" I will carve him an eagle slide. It is very rewarding to see that youth trade one slide for another. Often those youth have moved away from Japan and I send about five or six slides overseas every year with my congratulations.
