Confession: I've always wanted to celebrate the Chinese New Year for a Blue and Gold Banquet, and never done it . . . until now! The biggest obstacle? No dancing dragon. And after watching one of my favorite cubmasters, Donna, tackle a Chinese New Year complete with her very own dancing dragon, I felt the bar had been set. And it was a high bar.
And then the Kung Fun Panda movies emerged. Never has a dragon warrior been so cuddly -- I mean amazing! (Note: cuddliness factor may be a by-product of pure awesomeness, I suspect.) I'm a big fan of tackling contemporary themes for Blue and Gold banquets, so it seemed the perfect moment to combine contemporary with classic, and thus emerged our Kung Fu Panda New Year. (And the perfect excuse to finally build a dancing dragon!)
Kudos go to Cubmaster Jay for getting the pearl rolling on this gem of a dragon, having already built one a few years before at the Grand Teton Council's all-family week-long event known as Tall Timber. When I was tired and wanted to give up, he was coming up with ways to make things flap and waggle and look all very cool and Chinese dragonish. He had more vision than we had time, but I still think--for a first attempt on my part--it turned out to be a pretty decent dragon.
And of course, whatever I created, I'm happy to share. I've posted everything here on my blog, from pictures to "pack picks" (cheers, skits, ceremonies, food, etc.), and even thrown in a Kung Fu Panda-themed Chinese Zodiac placemat, just for fun. On the night of the banquet, don't forget to take a moment to thank your leaders (I gave them cuddly panda fridge magnets), include some authentic Chinese instrumental music with lots of gongs, and keep spare forks around for those who genuinely will never convert to chopsticks. (We still love them, but pointy sticks just aren't their thing --) And have fun celebrating the "sheer awesomeness" that is Kung Fu Panda.
