Thread: Heaven: 100 Years of the Scout Movement Board: Limbo / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by Aggie (# 4385) on :
 
The Scout Movements celebrates its Centenary.
Great to see so many teenagers still enjoying Scouting, and having fun at the Jamboree.

I was a Brownie, and then a Guide. At that time, the movement was segregated into Guiding for girls, and Scouting for boys, which was a shame, as our local Scout troop did a lot more fun, outdoorsy things than we did, such as building rafts, canoeing, hiking etc.

Although we did have a summer camp, and the odd weekend camp, which was always great fun. Occasionally, we did a bit of tracking through the woods, but as there were a lot of girls, who didn't care for being outdoors in the elements, we did a lot of boring (IMHO, of course!) stuff like needlework, knitting, singing and dancing, acting, reciting poems etc. None of which I was very good at, or particularly enjoyed, so unfortunately I left.

I later heard that a lot of people became bored, and also left, and then several years later the Guide unit ceased to exist, which was a shame.

Although, I have heard that nowadays, girls are now allowed to join Scout troops, and there is also a lot more emphasis on outdoor activities, and team building games etc.

What are your memories of being a Scout/Guide? Or are you still involved as an adult leader?

[ 21. May 2008, 20:04: Message edited by: Belisarius ]
 

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Posted by Campbellite (# 1202) on :
 
I have twenty odd years experience in the BSA, as a scout and as a scouter. Have the beads* and everything.

I expect our resident Scouter enthusiast along any minute now. (Unless PeteCanada crossposts with this).

*"Back to Gilwell, happy land..."

[botched code]

[ 01. August 2007, 15:46: Message edited by: Campbellite ]
 

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Posted by J Whitgift (# 1981) on :
 
I was, in my time a Beaver, Cub, Scout and latterly Venture Scout - I left the movement in 1995 when I went to University.

I have mainly good memories of being a Scout in <Borough deleted>, South London. My first taste of Whiskey, my first time drunk, trespassing, setting fire to random things and hitchiking my D of E Silver hike. Happy days ...

Despite our high-jinks, we actually had some great leaders (at our Scout troop) who allowed us a great deal of latitude, without letting us run wild. They also respected us and obviously enjoyed themselves, which can be very liberating! Had I not been a Scout I doubt I would have ever:

- Hiked in North Yorkshire
- Gone caving
- Abseiled
- Done rock climbing
- Gone camping
- Set fires in random fields of England
- Seen a full bottle of beer go into orbit after it had been left in the camp fire for too long.

Long may Scouting continue!

[ 01. August 2007, 15:52: Message edited by: J Whitgift ]
 

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Posted by Aggie (# 4385) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by J Whitgift:
My first taste of Whiskey, my first time drunk, trespassing, setting fire to random things and hitchiking my D of E Silver hike. Happy days ...

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Clearly Scouts did indeed have more fun!
 

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Posted by Ann (# 94) on :
 
I was a Brownie; I started Guides but the unit folded when the leader left to get married and I hadn't found anything interesting enough to look for another unit. The only bit of tracking we did (in an urban environment) was sabotaged by some scouts who re-positioned the twigs on the pavement so we went on a long walk reading signs into anything and everything and only just made it back for the end of the meeting.

My children have all been through the Scouts (or Brownies/Guides) and are all Scouts of one form or another now - the two girls took one look at the local senior section Guides and decided to join Explorer Scouts instead. The older boys are in Network (18-25) and both help out at Cubs and Scouts.

My daughter is one of those having fun (I hope) at the Jamboree.
 

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Posted by Liturgy Queen (# 11596) on :
 
I had a friend in high school who was involved in some kind of ultra-orthodox/Old Believer scouting organisation. I didn't know much about them, but they struck me as the Lefebvrists of scouting, and proudly retained their stetsons like traddie Catholics have their birettas and maniples. [/analogy]
 

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Posted by PeteCanada (# 10422) on :
 
Scouting was fun when I were a kid, but I dropped out when I was 14 - overwhelmed with things happening in my life at that time.

I returned to Scouting as a leader in my mid-thirties, my kids finished long before I did, because I went on for nearly 20 years as an active leader - in either Cubs or Scouts and sometimes both simultaneously. I'm semi-retired now, still keep my membership, and am active in the Baden Powell Guild.

I have many fond memories of Scouting including several camps at -40, two Canadian jamborees on staff, many US/Canadian joint camps, area camps, provincial camps, leader camps. I had to cancel a third jamboree when I was diagnosed with cancer 3 weeks before. I remember trying to negotiate attendance with a promise that they could have me after, but I lost that battle.

This year the Canadians are jamboreeing at Tamaracouta Scout Camp in Quebec Province. I could have gone, I was so tempted, but reality intervened. Dang reality

Just a few weeks ago, a car screeched to a stop just before I crossed the road and a young man I hadn't seen since he was 16 came running up to me and gave me a hug.

It's times like that that make it all worth-while.

I Scouting
 

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Posted by Chelley (# 11322) on :
 
I was a Brownie, a Guide, briefly a Ranger and then defected to Venture Scouts where I got the absolute bug for camping and walking up hills/being outdoors generally... I was not one of the most motivated of Scouts (significant understatement) and achieved pretty much nothing award wise, but I did have a lot of fun, make some excellent friends, get involved in a lot of community service type stuff, get the above mentioned bug for camping and climbing (which has never left me) plus a love of maps and orienteering and stuff... And where else would you get the opportunity to sit in the back of a van with all the windows covered, get dumped somewhere isolated and have to find your way home by the stars (or if they didn't take us far enough, by the pubs we passed! )

[ 01. August 2007, 21:08: Message edited by: Chelley ]
 

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Posted by Cusanus (# 692) on :
 
I (perhaps) finally hung up my woggle last month after over 30 years in the movement. To be honest, I was becoming a bit jaded with the leadership in Oz - in my state in particular - which seems be becoming much more bureaucratic and out of touch with the realities of working directly with young people. As I have moved around the country a bit, Scouting was a great way to develop links with a new community that weren't restricted to work.
 

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Posted by MouseThief (# 953) on :
 
Do American scouts get to weigh in too? We too trace our lineage back to Bade-Powell, who had demi-god status in the BSA when I was in it. After a brief experience with Cub Scouts whose duration I can't even recall, and a couple of scoutless years, I joined Boy Scouts when I was in Middle School, my new stepdad saying he wanted me doing something productive with my time, which for him meant either sports, or scouting. Since I had (and still have) four left thumbs, I picked scouting, where the camping and goofing off were far more important to me than all that merit badge and rank advancement stuff.

I remained in Boy Scouts until I was 14, at which point I discovered Sea Explorers (part of the Explorer program, but called "Sea Scouts" by just about everybody), since they had two things going for them that Boy Scouts did not: (1) boats, and (2) girls.

I cannot speak highly enough of my time in Sea Scouts. It accompanied me through the worst "growing up" years, and taught me leadership, the value of earning trust, skills in electricity, plumbing, carpentry and many other things, as well as a love of the sea. I can't recommend it highly enough.
 

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Posted by Petrified (# 10667) on :
 
Possibly not quite on topic but I thought this was well put youth crime

Both pebbles have gone right through Scouts/guides and enjoyed it.
In DofE expeditions you can always tell the Scouts because they tend to take the lead and can read a map!

I recall once on the way to an event at the local bowls club (in uniform) a group of teenagers hanging around shouted they were "sad" after a afternoon playing for the Scout trophy with help from the much older club members and stuffing themselves at a barbeque kindly put on we had no doubts who were "sad"
 

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Posted by J Whitgift (# 1981) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Ann:
I was a Brownie; I started Guides but the unit folded when the leader left to get married and I hadn't found anything interesting enough to look for another unit. The only bit of tracking we did (in an urban environment) was sabotaged by some scouts who re-positioned the twigs on the pavement so we went on a long walk reading signs into anything and everything and only just made it back for the end of the meeting.

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Reminds me of a night hike I once did as a Venture Scout, in South Croydon. The person who dropped us off at our start point dropped us off at the wrong railway station - Warlingham not Woldingham (which is about 4 miles away). We then spent the next 3 hours trying to figure out why the map we were using didn't have any of the features on it that we could see.

In my time as a Venture/Scout, I have lost a whole group on a hike - they decided they knew a better route and turned up an hour after I'd got back to camp. On another occasion we dropped off a troop of Scouts for a 10 miles hike, got back to camp (about 30 minutes away), set off on our own 10 mile hike, including 30 minutes or so for lunch. It was when we got back and found that the Scouts hadn't turned up that we started to worry ... they eventually turned up 2 hours later, having spent 2 hours for lunch!!
 

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Posted by PeteCanada (# 10422) on :
 
Ah, Scouting. Nothing like young people to keep your blood pressure up!


 

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Posted by Boopy (# 4738) on :
 
I had a fun time as a Brownie about 30 years ago. One of my daughters was a Guide, but in a fairly ininspiring troupe - over 50 girls with 2 not-very-competent leaders. A great deal of disorganised, unfinished craft work, leaders not good at sorting out inter-group squabbles, and everything just feeling a bit last minute and unprepared.

One particular last straw was an evening devoted to patrols carrying out a 'survey' (buy and eat) of the local town chip shops.

The leaders were well intentioned and gave generously of their (voluntary) time, but it was a bit of a shambles, as if numbers had got away with them.

I remember contacting Guide headquarters to find out what the maximum numbers and guide-to-leader ratios were supposed to be, only to be told there was no maximum and that over 50 guides with 2 leaders was apparently fine. They were also apparently fine with Guides being transport in the private cars of other (unknown, not pre-arranged groups) parents on outings - which is unusual nowadays in any youth organisation. This was only a couple of years ago. Left me with rather a poor impression of the Guide movement I'm afraid, though no doubt there are other positive experiences to balance this.
 

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Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :
 
I was a Brownie, but I so wanted to be a Scout. My brother had heaps more fun.

I lasted one week at Guides. Fortunately my mother hadn't got round to buying my uniform or I'd have been stuck in it for years.

I joined the church choir instead. 35 years later I'm still there.
 

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Posted by Wandering Crucifer (# 7497) on :
 
I was on a week long Scout camp last week, as an adult helper. We had all the traditional things such as wood fires, canvas patrol tents, and bucket toilets. We were in the North West of England, so we didn't have any major flooding, although it did rain heavily one day and the mess tent started to flood. When it got too wet we took the scouts bowling, swimming, and to the cinema. Apart from that, we had raft-building, cycling, climbing (on a climbing tower), pioneering, and backwoods cooking.

I was in Cubs, Scouts, and Ventures. I learnt how to read a map, tie knots, first aid, and many other things. I don't have much to do with Scouts now, except when I go away with my old troop on their annual week long camp.
 

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Posted by Carys (# 78) on :
 
I was a brownie and enjoyed it. Did 18 months as a Guide but then people who'd been a Guide less long than me were asked on camp and I wasn't and they were changing the uniform and I just didn't go back after the summer (when I started at high school) much to the surprise of my guider. Sometimes I regret this. I think I might have enjoyed Scouts more, but I don't think they'd gone mixed at that point (and we didn't have them at church, oddly we had Guides/Brownies and Boys Brigade).

Carys
 

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Posted by Agent Smith (# 3299) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Boopy:
I had a fun time as a Brownie about 30 years ago. One of my daughters was a Guide, but in a fairly ininspiring troupe - over 50 girls with 2 not-very-competent leaders. A great deal of disorganised, unfinished craft work, leaders not good at sorting out inter-group squabbles, and everything just feeling a bit last minute and unprepared.

One particular last straw was an evening devoted to patrols carrying out a 'survey' (buy and eat) of the local town chip shops.

The leaders were well intentioned and gave generously of their (voluntary) time, but it was a bit of a shambles, as if numbers had got away with them.

I remember contacting Guide headquarters to find out what the maximum numbers and guide-to-leader ratios were supposed to be, only to be told there was no maximum and that over 50 guides with 2 leaders was apparently fine. They were also apparently fine with Guides being transport in the private cars of other (unknown, not pre-arranged groups) parents on outings - which is unusual nowadays in any youth organisation. This was only a couple of years ago. Left me with rather a poor impression of the Guide movement I'm afraid, though no doubt there are other positive experiences to balance this.

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I am sorry you were given a bad impression of the Guide movement. There are now strict controls on what is and isnt permitted. (I now work the the UK organisation)

We are preparing for our centenary in 2010, but there have been loads of scouts on the tube recently.

I went through Brownies (with the old brown uniforms and yellow ties), and then to Guides with navy shirts and skirts. I didnt enjoy Guiding as much however that may change in the next few months
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
I have many happy memories of scouting. I went through Brownies, then Cadet and then Senior Girl Scouts.

At that time, back when dinosaurs wandered the earth, the Boy Scouts had more adventures, as they could go to overnight camps, where we were only allowed day camps. But we learned to cook on large-sized vegetable can "Stoves" (yummy silver dollar pancakes!) and baked foil dinners under ground (not quite so tasty). We tied knots and learned knife handling, and lots of theoretical knowledge of what to do in an emergency. We'd take long hikes, which was a normal leisure time activity in the sparsely populated hills of my childhood.

Most especially, we did have a lot of fun!
 

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Posted by Hugal (# 2734) on :
 
I was a cub and a scout. I really enjoyed cubs despite being truned down for Sixer several times thanks, I think, to family polotics. I was always seconder. I performed the promise at a big area event in Preston. Our Scout pack was not as good as some of those mentioned. We did a bit of orienteering but not pot holeing or anything. I also was part of the local Penticostal Sunday school who had the hall next door to the scouts and has a youth evening on a Wednesday. I went camping with then and did some other things it was great.
 

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Posted by Spike (# 36) on :
 
I was in the cubs and really enjoyed it. I rose to exalted rank of Sixer!

I then moved up to the Scouts but didn't enjoy it so much. The Troop Leader seemed to resent middle class kids or kids who went to church (despite this being a church affiliated group). As I fell into both categories, I didn't stand much of a chance and after a while got fed up with the snide and sarky comments about doing my homework or "being religious" so I left.

I wasn't the only one.
 

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Posted by chukovsky (# 116) on :
 
I was a Brownie, and then a Guide and a Venture Scout. I am now a Brownie leader. I am a bit sad that Scout groups are now compulsorily mixed - I have no objection to mixed groups, but girls now have the choice whereas boys can only go to mixed groups (in theory - in practice I think where Guiding is strong some groups are almost all-male).

Our Brownies was fairly normal but not too soppy but our Guides was a lot more outdoorsy than other local Guides (late 70s-early 80s) and it really depends a lot on the leaders - even now some Guides are very outdoorsy whereas others just do crafts and cooking. It is supposed to be much more girl-led now (not sure how far Scouts has gone in that direction), but girls of that age need ideas and encouragement to know what is out there.
 

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Posted by Raineyseason (# 12854) on :
 
I read in the newspaper that one hundred years ago, the Scouts learnt to hunt and skin rabbits and roast them on an open fire.

And that now, they're not allowed a fire and it is all veggie burgers in case the presence of meat upsets those of a religion that only accepts veggie food.

Also, they dismantled the traditional outside Scout and Guide church, in case it "offended" those who are not of Christian faith.

It seems as though the Scout and Guide movement is in the hands of those who seek to "de-christianize" and that is common practice with those who work with kids, particularly in the education sector. For example, my last boss was a Head Teacher who explained to the gathered year groups 7,8,9 and 10, that "Christmas is a great Pagan Festival." Thankfully, they weren't listening, but chatting among themselves...as they tended to do during Assembly, so nobody started laughing at this Head.

As for the Scouts/Guides...well... I'm not for skinned rabbits, but no fire and no meat...and presumably no "Serve God and the Queen." Also?
Hmmmm.
 

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Posted by Agent Smith (# 3299) on :
 
Serving the Queen is still in the Guiding Promise (I am not a brown owl or similar, but have this on good authority)

The promise can be named as a God (Ie the christian version) or other i.e Allah and Buddha etc. One has to have a belief in God, therefore athiests are not permitted to become members.

I had a discussion with a colleague (who is an athiest), about our thinking day service. The discussion went along the lines of doing away with thinking day and church service as its not what modern guiding is all about.

I disagreed wholeheartedly as it is a tradition and we should be looking back as well as celebrating what is to come, and having a religious celebration to encompas to serve "god" which ever version suits you. (This may get too purgatorial now)
 

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Posted by philj (# 12884) on :
 
I have been a scout all my life, from being in the movement as a member up to ventures and then leader until I had to leave to go to college again. I still class myself as a scout however.

As a leader the kids used to love the "chip-shop" challenge and was a regular request when we asked for their suggestions. We never complained about getting the odd chip either. Even the Cubs used to have their own version.

Scouting certainly taught me a lot and I will be hoping my kids carry on the tradition.
 

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Posted by AlmostRev (# 11571) on :
 
I was a Junior Scout in elementary school, but the Cadet troup folded and I never found another one to join. I found my love of photography--I earned my photography badge.

My youngest brother was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout through Junior High School (ah, the Pinewood Derby days!!!). My nephew is a Sea Scout. One of my nieces was a Brownie, but swimming & dance lessons started to take up a lot of time so she dropped out.

Dee
 

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Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Raineyseason:

As for the Scouts/Guides...well... I'm not for skinned rabbits, but no fire and no meat...and presumably no "Serve God and the Queen." Also?
Hmmmm.

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• smoked salmon
• shepherds pie
• chicken curry
• macaroni cheese

quote:

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Originally posted by Raineyseason:
It seems as though the Scout and Guide movement is in the hands of those who seek to "de-christianize" ...

As for the Scouts/Guides...well... I'm not for skinned rabbits, but no fire and no meat...and presumably no "Serve God and the Queen." Also?
Hmmmm.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Agent Smith:
Springing from the Centenary Scouts thread, I thought it would be fun to reminisce about what you got up to as a Brownie, Guide, Ranger, Senior Section, Scouting person*.

Also if there are any badges which you may think appropriate, please join in.

I have fond memories of going to the 75th Anniversary Celebration for the Brownies (Agent Smith is a girl , and learning to semaphore, etc. I didnt get up to anything rebelious - I saved that for a Church Youth Group

(Edited to add Liz )

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quote:

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Originally posted by Spike:
Useful things I learned in the Scouts

• Setting fire to things
• Smoking
• Carving my initials with a penknife
• Pissing out of the back end of a tent when its raining outside

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quote:

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Originally posted by Legodude_uk:
I'll join in with:

• Burning things
• Canoeing
• Reading Maps
• tying bits of stick together to make things
• Sailing
• Camping
• a keen sense of adventure

One of the best memories is builidng a camp oven and roasting a chicken in it, I've never tasted chicken that good since, and it was fun slopping the mud around...and that was when I was in Ventures!!!

Worst memory, possibly getting hosed down with cold water after doing stream clearing for my Cub Conservation Badge, but we had hot tomato soup afterwards so that was OK!!!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Ju7ia:
Being able to roll my bedding up and balancing it, with other people's onto a precariously leaning bedding rack made of sticks. This gave me a marvellous learning experience of team work and perseverance - useful in my adult life. It was great...

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quote:

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Originally posted by Izzybee:

quote:

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Originally posted by Ju7ia:
Being able to roll my bedding up and balancing it, with other people's onto a precariously leaning bedding rack made of sticks. This gave me a marvellous learning experience of team work and perseverance - useful in my adult life. It was great...

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I was best at the dish racks made from garden center bamboo and endless legths of string. If you ever need some washing up done in the wild in China, then I'm your woman.

Actually, I loved Guides. We were outside nearly all the time. I'm also biased because my Mum took over our company when I was about 11. She didn't like camping, but loved sorting out the other outdoor activities, so she teamed up with another leader who was great at camping, but not so good at some of the other stuff. We had really fun camps - 2 units together made for some new friends, too

I think my "best Guide moment" was going to Switzerland with some Rangers (I was a Young Leader) - we had a blast and got to visit "Our Chalet" - lots of swimming and mountain hikes, and dinner every night with the Venture Scouts camping down the road.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Raineyseason:
Brownies was excellent. I learnt how to make knots with big ropes and how to skip and also some swear words.

The other thing that was good, was skipping around a four foot plastic toad stool with a gonk in repose at the stem and singing, "Here we are the jolly Pixies, helping people when in Fixies."

The toad stooll was a large mushroom. Red with white spots. Similar to hallucinagenic mushrooms.
Did somebody have a weird sense of humour going on there? Elves, Sprites, Pixies and alot of skipping and chanting in rhyme?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Chorister:
Tracking in the woods and swimming in the river. Lots of collecting natural items in matchboxes. Feeling upset when an arson attack burned down the wooden Scout hut.

Strange how it never rained when I was a Brownie.....

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quote:

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Originally posted by Campbellite:
I have too many great memories to list. There was the camp out in January when it got down to -25F in Mississippi of all places.

Or the time we couldn't find our assigned campsite, and the next morning discovering that during the night lightning had struck a large tree in the middle of the site we were supposed to be in and covered it with splinters up to 20 feet long. [hmm, that was also in Mississippi, come to think of it.]

Or the week-long summer camp where it rained every day for the entire six days.

Great fun. Really!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Cusanus:

quote:

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Originally posted by Raineyseason:
It seems as though the Scout and Guide movement is in the hands of those who seek to "de-christianize" ...

As for the Scouts/Guides...well... I'm not for skinned rabbits, but no fire and no meat...and presumably no "Serve God and the Queen." Also?
Hmmmm.

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Why don't you find out for yourself? These are ill-informed conclusions arising out of prejudice.

And Scouting has never been a 'Christian' organisation, although churches have sponsored groups (this has all but died out in Oz, though). Baden Powell was, if anything, a Romantic pantheist. Most Scouts in the world today are not Christians.

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I agree Cusanus. My own Scout troop (separate to the Beaver/Cubs groups I went to) was attached to a Church and had Church parade, but outside of that the faith was implicit and not explicit. When we did have a 'Scouts Own*' it was to be told that we weren' going to have the faith rammed down our throats, but that some of our leaders were Christians. Which was quite appropriate under the circumstances.

Given how good Scouting has been/remains ar inspiring and engergising young people, whether there is a faith element attached or not seems to be a moot point. I suspect that many would be turned away by an overt expression of one faith or creed. However, as Scouting is about care for your environment, community, comradeship and good citizenship, it seems to fit in with the teaching of most religious faiths (not just of Christianity) as well as those of many non-religious belief/ethical systems.

In many ways Scouting seems to encapsulate that dictum of St. Francis about sharing the Gospel and of only reverting to words when all else has failed.

As Cusanus advises Raineyseason, you may want to revisit your opinions about Scouting after you've had the chance to view the modern Scouting movement at work. You may well be pleasantly surprised.

* A kind of time for reflection.
 

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Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on :
 
I loved Guides (though was also slightly embarrassed as I got older by how untrendy it was seen as being). I was a Brownie, a Guide and a Ranger Guide (the latter was in a combined troop of Rangers and Venture Scouts, we called ourselves Ravens).

All throughout we were an outdoorsy lot - the camping was the best bit (though I do remember organising a fahsion show for some badge or another so we must have done inside stuff too). I too can lash a mean draining board together out of bamboo. Not to mention other weird and wonderful camp gadgets. And we definitely cooked on open fires - anyone remembering softsoaping the pans?

Fun times.

[ 06. August 2007, 18:21: Message edited by: Yangtze ]
 

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Posted by Spike (# 36) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by J Whitgift:
I agree Cusanus. My own Scout troop (separate to the Beaver/Cubs groups I went to) was attached to a Church and had Church parade, but outside of that the faith was implicit and not explicit. When we did have a 'Scouts Own*' it was to be told that we weren' going to have the faith rammed down our throats, but that some of our leaders were Christians.

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Same here with the church parades, but we didn't ever have a "Scouts Own". Our Rector once asked me if we ever had Scouts Own at weekend camps. As a Scout, I was told always to tell the truth, so I replied in all honesty that we didn't. The Rector then spoke to the Troop Leader pointing out that as a church sponsored group, we should be doing this. The Troop Leader then gave me a hard time for "dropping him in it" by "grassing him up" to the Rector.

It's about that time I decided I'd had enough and joined the St John Ambulance Cadets instead. That was OK as the adult leaders didn't get their kicks from taking the piss out of me for going to Church or having a "posh" accent. I also learned useful things like how to patch up a broken leg or revive someone who'd had a heart attack.
 

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Posted by Raineyseason (# 12854) on :
 
Hello Whit and Cusanus, Thanks for your directives and yes, as an ex-teacher, I know how great it is to work with young people and Scouts/Guides need leaders. Thanks for the challenge to apply for leadership
The drawback is that I have a physical disability which means that I have a limmited amount of energy. I would be unreliable because I end up in hospital (very annoying) and it is true to say that if you are alot of physical pain, it is difficult to be around people. Dealing with pain makes people irritable when they don't mean to be. I think anyone who finds the time to lead Scouts and Guides has got my respect.
 

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Posted by Aggie (# 4385) on :
 
The Brownie/Guide and Cub/Scout movement where I lived was very closely affiliated to the church, and attending Church Parade was more or less compulsory, as was attendance at the Harvest Festival and the Carol Concert.

Before Church Parade, we used to stand outside the church for ages, before we were allowed to process in. I can remember Church Parade in winter being a grim experience, especially if it was very cold - as we were not allowed to wear coats or gloves, and our Guide uniforms consisted of a knee length navy blue skirt, white socks and a blue cotton blouse, as well as a hat and yellow woggle. I remember once we were standing outside in the churchyard in a sleety, snowy gale, and I was so cold that I wrapped the flag from the standard around my hands to keep them warm. The DC who was "inspecting" us noticed, and gave me a severe telling off for this. (Cannot imagine today's kids putting up with that sort of thing.)

I really enjoyed camping, although I think only went once or twice with the Guides, as we didn't do a lot of outdoorsy things. Although in the very hot summer of 1983? or 84 (whichever was the hottest) we shared a camp near Corfe Castle, Dorset, with a couple of other Guide troops, and it was great. We went hiking, rambling and canoeing, which I really enjoyed (and still do!). We also did rifle shooting (I didn't care for this very much, as I was terrified in case I accidentally killed someone! And also I bruised my shoulder from the kickback.)
We also swam in the sea and in a river near the camp - no one bothered, or concerned themselves about Weils Disease, poisonous algae etc, in those days.

My culinary skills were honed cooking over the fire at camp, and one day we cooked a meal for the visiting local DC and ADC, and their husbands.

We learned how to make a bedding roll, and how to make storage racks for bedding rolls and other items out of sticks. (And if you didn't do this properly, and it rained, then your sleeping bag and sheets got wet!) The only things I didn't enjoy about camping were having to empty the latrines, and not being able to have a proper wash. We made a "stand" for a wash basin (plastic washing up bowl) out of long sticks lashed together, and that was the only facility we had for washing both ourselves and our clothes.

[ 07. August 2007, 10:45: Message edited by: Aggie ]
 

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Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on :
 
My mother had an older sister who was a Girl Guide many years ago, and mum stood and jeered at them trying to march well through the streets in Dundee; mum went to a kirk that had a retired Sergeant Major who insisted on proper marching in the Girls' Guildry and Boys Brigade - so she was perfect at all marching movements.

My brother was a Scout, wearing kilt as uniform, greeted by Chief MacLean because he had the same kilt, and camped and cooked and hiked and mountain climbed for years.

My sister was a Brownie and a Guide and then a Guide Captain for ages till the Methodist Church she and her partner worked in (for the Guides and Scouts) banned them from being leaders because they hadn't had a wedding and they were expecting their first child. (They've been together for nearly 40 years ) Their kids have all been Scouts/Guides in the mixed groups and at least on of them is a leader now. The whole family is part of the SAGA, Scout and Guide Association, which meets regularly for camping and doing some necessary work, usually ecological, in UK or abroad.

I was a Brownie for a very, very short time, and my mum banned me from going because she said I was telling lies and I've never believed her about that.

I became a Ranger when I was 16, as it was started in our little town and a whole group of us joined. We were allowed to wear old army navy tops and the usual guide leather belts. It was a great group - we learned camping, hill-walking and mountain walking, map reading and compass following, all the sort of making fires and cooking that you see nowadays on the survival programmes on TV, and some of us went on to be leaders - I was a Tawny Owl when I was at uni and ended up as one of a group who went to Germany and stayed there, in Kassel, all summer and included a camp.

In London I was a Guide leader and a camp leader, usually out to the Beckonsfield area; the senior leader had them wear swimsuits when it was bucketing with rain.

I've always had to do the knotting and pole making, pole cutting and proper fires, not gas, and it's been very useful for nowadays - our NWine lot have learned to camp properly and look after their tents properly even although they weren't Scouts.

My great-uncle was also a Guide Captain - in individual performances and Pantomime Dame times. He'd be the only one who insisted in showing his "fleecy pants".
 

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Posted by Raineyseason (# 12854) on :
 
Daisymay that is a weird reason for your mother to stop you being a Brownie.
 

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Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on :
 
Be that as it may, I expect it's a long family story. Here's the one I'd rather hear about:

quote:

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My great-uncle was also a Guide Captain - in individual performances and Pantomime Dame times. He'd be the only one who insisted in showing his "fleecy pants".

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quote:

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Originally posted by Mamacita:
Be that as it may, I expect it's a long family story. Here's the one I'd rather hear about:

quote:

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My great-uncle was also a Guide Captain - in individual performances and Pantomime Dame times. He'd be the only one who insisted in showing his "fleecy pants".

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I don't think that US scouts have a tradition like that, so, can someone explain the "fleecy pants" to me?

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