Centenary celebrations for three Scout Groups

September is the month for celebrating with Groups across the state kicking up their heels for 100 years of Scouting.

1st Cobargo and 1st Hay Scout Groups both celebrated their centenaries on 12 September, while 1st Forster-Tuncurry Scout Group’s event is coming up on Sunday, 27 September.

Gramparr’s dedication revitalised 1st Cobargo

Cobargo Showground was the location of the celebration for 1st Cobargo Scout Group, with displays of photographs and Scouting memorabilia, followed by a dinner and bonfire.

The Group was started in December 1925, with the official paperwork for the new Group arriving on 23 July 1926. Despite a couple of closures over the years due to Leaders moving away and World War II, 1st Cobargo is a popular Group, with many long-term Leaders.

In fact Graham “Gramparr” Parr has been credited as a driving force behind the Group’s ongoing success, giving back to the Scouting Movement he has been part of since he was a child.

He told the Merimbula News Weekly that when he arrived more than 30 years ago, the Scout Unit had stopped running, with only Cub Scouts active. He decided he would restart the Scout Unit.

“We take the non-sporting people. We take the kids that don’t fit in and we give them somewhere to go – a home,” he said.

Venturer Leader Michael Gross is also a key part of the Group, having served for 15 years and providing hands-on electronics and soldering projects to Groups across the South Coast and Tablelands Region.

Sharing the opportunities of Scouting

Current and former Scouts, Leaders and families celebrated the generations of Hay young people who have passed through 1st Hay Scout Group over the past 100 years. The Group marked 100 years with a special celebration during the Hay Show weekend, including a cake cutting by Betty Hanslow, the Group’s oldest former member present, and Alexander, one of the Group’s youngest Cub Scouts. The ceremony reflected on the people who have contributed to keeping the Group going, with youth members Emily, Lachlan and Frederick shared what modern-day Scouting looks like to them. Group Leader James Caughey shared in The Riverine Grazier about his own journey, starting off as an adult helper. He said Scouting had provided opportunities to share adventures and experiences with young people and his own family. “Scouting is about opportunity,” he said. “It’s about giving a young person the chance to try something they’ve never done before.”

Open Day planned for anniversary

A number of name changes over the years have not changed the core of Scouting at 1st Forster-Tuncurry Scout Group.

1st Cape Hawke Scouts was formed on 29 July 1926, originally meeting in the School of Arts hall before the original Scout Hall was opened on Pilot Hill. In 1953, the hall was dismantled and moved to its present location, changing its name to 1st Forster Scout Group. Another name change was in order in 1973 to encompass both towns, bringing about 1st Forster-Tuncurry Scout Group.

To commemorate their 100th anniversary, the Group is holding an Open Day at the hall, starting with the formalities at 11am, followed by activities, a sausage sizzle, hall and memorabilia from 12pm, open to all members of the public.

Past and present members are welcome to join the Group for this special location at the hall, corner of Lake and MacIntosh streets, Forster.