It seems I am still jammed in the Scouts Victoria database, despite having moved and let them know. Some other aspects of their record-keeping appear to be pretty good, however, as I arrived home today to find a letter of congratulations from them and my 30 year service badge, right on time.*
Yep, 30 years.
That’s
- about 1000 meeting nights
- 305 nights under canvas (and over 380 nights away of all kinds)
- over 1100km of hiking, canoeing, and cycling (more, in fact, because the “easier” activities are scaled downwards to make them comparable with hiking)
- 6 groups (1st Rosny, 1st Montagu Bay, 1st Burnie, 1st Montagu Bay (again), Portugal Cove-St Philip’s (in Newfoundland, Canada), 17th Essendon, and Clarence Sea Scouts)
- 5 Jamborees, 8 Cuborees, and a Venture
- 3 styles of uniform
- 2 Wood Badges (one for Cubs, one for Scouts)
- a helluva lot of kids
- some wonderful friendships
- and more good memories than I can remember.
I asked Georgie, one of the Scout leaders at Clarence, if she’d mind presenting the little badge to me tonight at Scouts, which she duly did … but without overly emphasising the fact that she hadn’t been born when I started! 🙂
* (a) It will be interesting to see if/when Scouts Tasmania realises! (b) It will be interesting to see if I’ll ever receive the associated certificate, as it was sent to the Moonee Valley District Commissioner.
You didn’t stand a chance! Great job, but you still have over twenty years to go to catch the ancestor who started it all. Your GP’s would be, and AP’s are very proud of a clan that caught the vision!
Here’s to Scout/Guide co-operation!