Brooklyn Scout Group was formed in July 1909.

And since 1909 we’ve been doing much the same sort of stuff as this newspaper report on an expedition from November 1909 recounts.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 114, 10 November 1909, Page 3

…Branching off up one of the main gullies to the right the commands, separated and received instruction in making fires, in forest lore, in observing bird life, and on scout practice. A number of scouts made their first acquaintance with nettles by personal contact. Nests of the thrust), chaffinch, and goldfinch were studied. One patrol did a good turn by building stone bridges for those following. The billy was boiled for the patrols by the Brooklyn scouts. Thereafter followed “deeds of daring…

Read more historic articles mentioning the Brooklyn Scouts in from National Library’s Papers Past service.

Books

As part of the celebrations for the Group’s centenrary, we published a book of the history of the Group’s first 100 years. Physical copies are still available at $20 each.

We’ve also tracked down copies of books written to celebrate the 50th and 75th anniversary of Brooklyn Scouts at the Alexander Turnbull Library.

We have resolved to release these as digital downloads under a Creative Commons – Attribution license as soon as can.

1. 50th Anniversary Booklet – 1959
2. 75th Anniversary Book – 1984
3. 100th Anniversary Book – 2009

Centenary Celebrations

In 2009 we celebrated 100 years of service to the youth of Brooklyn. We held our celebrations over the weekend of 4th July.

An ‘old scouts’ dinner was held at the Masonic hall, Owhiro Road on Friday 3rd July. Then on Saturday we marched from St Matthews Church, Washington Avenue, at 12:30pm, to the Scout hall for the 1pm start of an open afternoon.

The Hall Open Day was a chance to showcase displays and photographs, and for the scouts to perform a couple of skits and show off some of their scouting skills.

The afternoon ended with a barbecue.  Alongside the book, caps with the Brooklyn Scout Group centenary logo and a limited edition cloth badges were produced.