Skip's dedication to 1st Oatley Bay recognised

1st Oatley Bay Scout Group’s newest Medal of the Order of Australia recipient is a bit embarrassed by the acknowledgement.

Leader-in-Charge Mark Connell OAM was named in the King’s Birthday Honours list last Monday for his service to youth through Scouting. He said he was first told he was nominated for the award about three months ago.

“I thought there are so many other people within Scouting who have done a lot more than what I’ve done,” he said.

“I know who nominated me and I thanked them for the honour, but there are people I know who’ve been in Scouting much longer and done bigger and better things over the years.”

“Skip” as he’s known in the Group might be selling himself a bit short.

The 66-year-old has been a member of 1st Oatley Bay Scout Group since he was an eight-year-old Cub Scout. At the time they had four sections – from Cub Scouts to Rover Scouts – and he experienced all the youth sections thanks to the support of his Scout Leader Peter Eden.

“He progressed into a Venturer Leader and I progressed into that section,” Skip said.

“The group of fellow [Venturer] Scouts at the time then wanted to start the Oatley Bay Rover Crew [Unit] again as it had folded. Peter Eden became our Rover Advisor.

“Not only was I blessed to be able to progress the four sections in Oatley Bay, but three sections had the same Leader.”

Scouting was a major part of Skip’s life, not just as teenager, but as a young man, meeting his future wife Susan in Rover Scouts, and not getting booted until he was close to 29, “a few more years after I was supposed to leave”. After taking time off to get married and have kids, he returned to the Group during “a crisis meeting”.

With the Cub Leader at the time needing to move interstate within a month, there was a big hole in the Group. Knowing he wanted his kids to enjoy Scouting at Oatley Bay, he had no hesitation about volunteering to become a Cub Leader, a role he held for more than 10 years.

During that time he was the Seeonee Leader for the Georges River East Hills District, ran many Cub Scout District and Group camps, and was part of a Palaver team for many years, where they enjoyed many fun weekends away.

Another crisis meeting saw the Scout Leader moving out of area, spurring Skip, who wanted Scouts to continue, moving up a section and bringing along Jen Attard (wife of Silver Kangaroo recipient of 2025 Joe) as part of his team.

“That was fantastic, because of the fact that Jen had a lot of experience in Scouting too and she slotted right in. We became the team in Scouts and that was good,” he said.

“I’m still here as a Leader now and at times filling in for various roles running the District swimming carnivals and the Founder’s Day camp every year.

“I became the Leader-in-Charge about six years ago, after our Group Leader finished up when their last child moved out of Scouting. I thought we don’t have anybody who can fit the bill of being a Group Leader, so in the interim I’ll take it on. My aim is to become Group Leader; as the body gets creakier I’m not going to be jumping off cliffs or doing marathon kayak paddles anymore.”

That is one of the things that Skip loves most about Scouting – the opportunity to do a wide range of activities.

“Being in Scouts I was blessed to have great Leaders and mentors who did some fantastic trips over the years, whether camps, or abseiling or whatever. That adventure, excitement and the access to those activities – I always have fantastic memories,” he said.

“When I took up the role as a Leader, I could participate in those activities more and pass on my knowledge and what I learnt through my Scouting years to the younger members. I could still go bushwalking, kayaking, sailing. I really enjoyed that.

“As a Sea Scout Group, during the warmer months all sections are on the water during their meeting nights and we do extra activities – our Scout section paddled from Five Dock to Cockatoo Island in our kayaks, camped overnight and paddled back the next day. The only thing we had to dodger were the ferries! I like to do those adventurous activities.”

It was this connection to the water that gave Skip his Scouting name. At 1st Oatley Bay Scout Group, the Scout Leader is always Skip for “skipper” or Bosun. While this step up meant leaving behind the name of Akela from his Cub Scout Leader days, it is a name that fits well with the other marine Scouting names the Group uses in its own tradition.

“We have Scouting names such as Otama (from the HMAS Otama, a decommissioned submarine), Crawfish, Mermaid, Starfish and Heron. Starfish and Mermaid were chosen by the youth members themselves.”

Along with the opportunity to explore the great outdoors and challenge himself with different activities, Skip said it’s the lifelong friends he has made over the years that makes him love Scouting. He said he is still in touch with a group of ex-Rovers and Scouts and they get together regularly.

“I still live in the Oatley community; I’m blessed to live in the same area I grew up,” he said.

“It’s fantastic when you’re walking down to the local shops and see one of your past youth members who’s now progressed into a different phase of life and they say, ‘Hi Skip, how you going?’ and they still remember me. I always get the same comment – I remember that camp, we went sailing, we did this kayak journey. It’s great they still remember those activities, and I hope they’ll take up the challenge to become a Leader in future years.”

But what would he say to someone considering volunteering at Scouts?

“It’s two-fold – you have access to such a wide range of activities that you can do and learn and experience in Scouting. You’ll never get that opportunity anywhere else,” he said.

“Two, it’s fun, it really is! When you have a group of kids who you can see they’re having fun and they’re learning by doing, it gives me pleasure to say they actually know how to do that knot now and they can tie a bowline now.

“The challenge is we’re all limited in time these days, but if you stop and take the time to enjoy it with the youth members, that’s great.”