Working Together

(Equipment - 20 wooden matches held together with a rubber band. See that all the matches are even in the bundle so the package will stand on end. Stand the matches on the floor in front of the Scouts. )

Scouts, you'll notice the matches in front of you stand easily when they're all bound together with the rubber band.

But, look at what happens when I try to stand them after removing the band.

(Take the rubber band off and attempt to stand them up. Of course they fall in all directions.)

Our troop is like a bunch of matches. As long as we work together as a team, bound together by the ties of Scouting, we will stand together as a strong troop. But if we remove those ideas of Scouting, and each man thinks only of himself, we'll be like that bunch of matches when the rubber band was taken off.

As we all live up to the ideals of the Scout Oath, Law, Motto and Slogan, we will be wrapping ourselves with the band that will strengthen our troop and make sure that it stands for the things that make Scouting great.