Scout Talk

B7

By Paul Murray

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Like all youth organizations, Scouts Canada is constantly coming up with new and fresh ideas, trying to keep their youth programs meaningful in modern times.

One topic that is on everyone's mind today is the environment, and how we must protect it for future use. In 2004, Scouts Canada unveiled the new Climate Change program, which taught all age groups just exactly what climate change was, and how they could work on prevention. This program has been widely used by groups across Canada, and by many non-Canadian groups as well.

This year, Scouts Canada launched another new exciting program called Emergency Preparedness. It ties directly to the Scouts motto "be prepared." A good scout would not be caught unprepared in an emergency. How many of you have a kit at home that provides food and drinking water for 72 hours? Have you considered what you would do with your pets in the event of an emergency? What skills that we learn in scouting may be useful to your neighbours and immediate community during times of emergency? Scouts Canada worked closely with Emergency Management Ontario (EMO) to help develop the program and support materials.

Cubs and Scouts can earn new emergency preparedness badges by completing the necessary requirements, and there is a multi-week program for Beavers as well. For more information on this new program, check out www.scouts.ca

A good scouting friend of mine attended the World Scout Conference in Korea this past July. At a special ceremony, five new countries joined the World Organization of the Scout Movement, which is the governing body for all Scout organizations in the world. Canada joined WOSM in 1946. The five new countries that joined this year were, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Montenegro, Syrian Arab Republic and Ukraine. The ceremony was very similar to the medal presentations at the Olympic games, with the national anthems of each new country being played as they marched into the assembly hall. There is now some form of organized scouting in over 217 countries and territories in the world with more than 28 million members. It is a wonderful feeling for the groups in the Sussex area to belong to such a powerful and large youth group.

One of the great success stories early in the new scouting year, is the group from St. David's in Rothesay. Three years ago, they were on the verge of closing down, with no leaders or registered youth. Area Commissioner Lloyd Keirstead called a parents meeting. The result was a few new leaders and youth. This year, after some progressive campaigning, they have nearly 70 registered members. Many of their new leaders have taken the Wood Badge 1 training, and in September, four of them took the Wood Badge 2 course. This group certainly deserves a "tip of the old Stetson" for a job well done!