BASSETERRE – SOME 250 members of the scouting fraternity gathered yesterday (Feb. 22) to commemorate Founder’s Day, which is celebrated on the birthday of founder of the scouting movement, Robert Baden-Powell.
Traditionally, scouting groups in St. Kitts observe Founder’s Day with the promotion of either one of three events or a combination of two. These events are a March, Church Service and Luncheon. However, this year’s observation was different as all three events were held to commemorate the day.
The day began with the Church Service at the St. George’s Anglican Church and was attended by representatives from the Girl Guides, Rangers, Brownies, Scouts, Cub Scouts, Eagle Boys Club, Police Boys Club, Police Drum Corps and the Cadet Drum Corps.
Also present were Head of State, His Excellency, Governor-General, Sir Cuthbert Sebastian; Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas; and Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Sam T. Condor.
Immaculately bedecked in their uniforms, the groups converged on the outskirts of the church grounds and marched through the streets of Basseterre reaching as far west as Fiennes Avenue and as far east as Sandown Road. The March flowed through Church Street, where it met Sir Cuthbert who took the ‘eyes right’ from the participants.
The final leg of the March took place at Victoria Road and culminated at the old Basseterre Girl School building, which was also the venue for the commemorating Luncheon.
All the marchers partook of the scrumptious meal set before them before departing for their homes. The Luncheon also was the zenith of a weekend camp that was organised by the St. Georges Scout Group.
In providing an abridgment of the weekend’s activities, Honorary Secretary and Event Planner for the St. Kitts Scouts Association, Vincent Fough said the events were successfully accomplished.
“It was a very successful weekend camp. The children had a lot of fun. We had persons like Azilla Clarke coming in and talking about ‘Coping with Today’s Youths’, and we also had Commissioner Dolphin speaking about ‘Scouting and Me’. We went on a hike on Saturday morning where we went to Olivees Mountain and the children had a great time. To round it out, we had a Church Service and we invited other groups, parents and others. I must say that we had a very successful celebration of Founder’s Day.”
Fough explained that in addition to having fun, scouts are taught the values and fundamentals associated with scouting which assist in moulding productive citizens.
