By Ashok Verma
ON A BALMY Friday evening, 1st Seymour Scouts’ Hall at Chittick Park reverberated with solemn but hearty smiles as all connected to the movement joined in celebrating the group’s 110th anniversary.
To mark the historic occasion, all Scouts past and present were handed out a badge by Group Leader Stuart Ferguson.
Among them were “over 80” years old Alan Vearing (Baloo) and five-year-old Joey Jensen Walker. The duo joined hands to cut the historic 110th anniversary cake to the great delight of all gathered in the hall near the Aquatic Centre.
Alan, who joined as a Scout in 1987 and is still in the scouting movement, described the day as a very proud moment for Seymour Scouts.
“It’s just great. The milestone, 110, I feel it’s a great thing for scouting and a great thing for Seymour.
“I love to see the kids come up, and I love to see new leadership qualities invested into the system. The new youth members come up. I like to see that. I like to see new leaders being invested because a lot of us are getting old and we need to bring new blood into the system.”
And for the special moment, Jensen had a short answer: “It’s good. Cherries (on the anniversary cake) are good”.
Also among the gathering was the 1st Seymour Scouts Committee chair Madeleine Laming.
“It’s a turning point. We are reflecting on a history, which is good, whether it’s hard. It’s very beautiful. This is the way to tell people in the community Scouts are here. Come enjoy it. Look at all the wonderful things we do,” Dr Laming said.
“We are celebrating the past and looking forward to the future.”
Mr Ferguson said he was quite impressed by the Scouts’ milestone, considering the Scouts’ movement was founded in 1907 (by Major-General Robert Baden-Powell) and Seymour came into being just eight years after that.
“Volunteers over the years have done an amazing job. Without them, you can’t have the sort of program we have. It was a difficult time in the old days, but they have done a wonderful job. The scouting movement is still so relevant today.”
Former Group Leader Ranee Clarke said “as you grow in scouting, you get to do bigger and better things. Once you get up to be venturers, you get to do some really cool things, and international travel becomes available for you. So, you can look forward to that and maybe start fundraising”.
Dr Laming said the Scouts’ numbers go up and down. In the 1950s, 1960s, “we might have had 50 Scouts. Currently, we have about 30 in total from five years old to 18.
