Founder's Day and B-P Sunday 2018
As many of you know, the Scouting movement was started by Lord Robert Baden-Powell at the turn of the 20th Century and has developed into the global phenomenon it is today with over 40 million members worldwide. This makes it the largest youth development programme in the world and as proud members of a Scouting Group, we can all attest to why.
What some of you may not know is that Baden-Powell (fondly termed as B-P by his followers) was born on 22 February 1857 and this day is now celebrated as Founder's Day by Cubs, Scouts, Rovers and Scouters all over the world. In South Africa, Cubs and Scouts honour B-P by wearing their uniform to school (some Scouters have been known to join in the fun on occasion) and many schools kindly permit this.
The Sunday closest to B-P's birthday is hailed as B-P Sunday where Scout Groups in the Western Cape Region are honoured for their achievements from the year before (namely the Leaping Wolf Award for Cubs and Springbok Awards for Scouts). It is also the announcement of the top ten groups in the running for the coveted Tonkin Trophy. This trophy is awarded to the Group that boasts the best all round quality of Scouting and is an incentive to keep standards high.
This year's B-P Sunday event was held at 1st Strand Scout Group Hall in Strand. We must confess that this is a very beautiful venue and we all thoroughly enjoyed picnicking under the trees with the other groups before the parade. There was much sharing and bartering for food, interspersed with some cricket and tree climbing. There was talk that this venue will be available for camping so keep an ear out. Thanks to 1st Strand for hosting the event.
This year we were very pleased to be able to have our Cubs carry the Cub Flag into the parade. A big thanks to Troop Scouter Craig Burchell-Burger for ensuring that our flagpole was available in time. Both the Troop and Pack were represented in the line up by proud and happy Scouts and Cubs.
A very big congratulations to three of our members who earned their Leaping Wolf Badge, namely Liam Storey, Sarah Heaton and Rohan Jihlmeet. This is the top award that a Cub can earn and is the only badge that can be worn when going up to Scouts. Your hard work and determination is recognised and applauded! Congratulations to all the Patrols in the Troop as well as the Troop as a whole for earning a Silver Star Award and a big WOOF WOOF WOOF to the pack for earning the Gold Star Award.
The biggest announcement of the day was 1st Muizenberg placing 4th in the running for the Tonkin Trophy. This is a fantastic achievement and means that we have moved up 5 places since 2016! WELL DONE everybody, your passion for the movement and dedication to the Group is evident in the results. Onwards and upwards! Let's continue to live by and honour the Scout Laws and make our founder proud.
