De La Salle Scout Group News 2004

Group News 2004

Group Christmas Mass and Award Ceremony Held (19/12/04)

Above: Bro. Finbar and Agnes Hayes receiving their presentation from the County Commissioner, Jody Phelan.

The annual Group Christmas mass was held on Saturday 18th December at 6.30pm in the De La Salle College Chapel. There was a number of presentations made during the ceremony including to Bro. Finbar O'Keeffe and Agnes Hayes from the Scout County for their work with the Scout Shop in Waterford City. Service medals were also presented to Agnes, Stacia Coughlan (10yrs) and David Guilfoyle (20yrs).

Above: On the left David Guilfoyle receives his service award and on the right Stacia Coughlan receives hers from Jody Phelan and David Rogers.

A Peace Light which had began its journey in Bethlehem was also present at the ceremony. On the 1st of December last, an ecumenical service was held in Palestine, at the Grotto of Christ’s Birth in the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem. At the end of the service a light

from the flame at the grotto was brought away in an oil lamp to start its journey through that troubled land to Israel and on to Tel Aviv airport. A young Palestinian Scout carried the lamp from the grotto in Bethlehem and handed it to a young Israeli Scout at their border, she then passed it to representatives of Austrian Airlines who brought it to Vienna to be received by Jana, a member of Austrian Scout and Guide Association who was chosen to receive this years Peace Light from Bethlehem.
During the Peace Light Service in Vienna on Saturday 4th of December, Jana carried the lamp to the front of the church and lit the Viennese Peace Candle from it. Delegates from each country in Europe were invited to come and light their lamps from this candle and to return to their home countries with this symbol of Peace.

Above: The Peace Light being received at the De La Salle College Chapel.

The light with us had travelled by railway through middle Europe to Paris then on to Calais, over the English Channel to Dover, up through England to Scotland, where it was collected by Scouts from Derry and carried by Ferry to Larne, then taken by road to Dublin and on to us here in Waterford. This went from our Mass down to the Sacred Heart Church, where Jody Phelan and Bernie Rogers presented Fr.Melody with the light.

Pipe Band Honoured at Mayoral Reception (9/12/04)

The De La Salle Scout Pipe Band were honoured with a Mayoral reception at City Hall on Thursday the 9th of December last. The Mayor of Waterford City, Seamus Ryan presented a Waterford Crystal Mayoral Plate to the band which was received by Pipe Major, Pat Murphy. The Mayor commended the band for their 70 years of service to Waterford City and wished them every success with their trip to Pipefest 2005 in Edinburgh and for the future. David Stone from the Waterford City Pipe Band was also honoured at the event after winning the All Ireland U16 piping championships.

Above (L-R): Bro. Finbarr O'Keeffe, Mayor Seamus Ryan, the band's longest serving member (Pat Murphy) and the youngest member (Ben Jacob).

Service to Scout Shop in Waterford Recognised (1/12/04)

The distinguished service of Agnes Hayes and Bro. Finbar O'Keeffe to Scout Shops Limited was recognised recently. The depot in Waterford shut its doors for the last time in October as part of a restructuring of Scout Shops operations across the country. A number of presentations were made to Bro. Finbar and Agnus on the night. Present were Seamus O'Connor and Gerry Glynn - Scout Shops, David & Bernie Rogers - Group Leader DLS, J D Hennebry - Former Unit Leader DLS, Sean & Barbara Hayes - Former Regional Comissioner, Jody & Miriam Phelan County Comissioner, Bro Finbar and Agnus Hayes.

Many scouts and leaders will remember the original De La Salle Scout Shop which operated from the kitchen of the monastery in St. Stephens street for many years. The spiral stairs off the kitchen was always jammed with uniforms. In the early 90s, Bro. Finbarr and Agnes took over the running of the Regional shop which had moved from above Morris's in the Glen to a unit above Sasha in Broad Street. The shop moved to College Street in 1998 and its operation was maintained by Bro. Finbarr and Agnes on behalf of the De La Salle Scout Group. Without fail, the pair were always available on Monday and Wednesday nights and always kept an excellent range of all scouting goods. Most importantly they always offered good advice and had a warm word for everybody. The Group and County owes a significant debt to their generous dedication to the shop and to scouting in general.

Group Members Honoured at Annual Youth Awards (27/11/04)

Above (L-R): Joe Gough, WVYC; Michael Flynn, Waterford Crystal; Sue Larkin, WVYC, David Rogers, De La Salle Scout Group - Volunteer of the Year Winner; Mary Roche, Deputy Mayor and Cathy Hanrahan WVYC.
Photo © Joe Evans, Waterford News and Star.

Congratulations to Robert Windle (Roddy - below left) who won the Adult Leader Award in the Culture category at the Waterford Annual Youth Awards last night in the Granville Hotel. Roddy has been a member of the De La Salle Scout Pipe Band for many years as well as serving as a leader in the 3rd Beavers and 7th Macaoimh. Roddy is currently working in Australia and Pat Murphy, Pipe Major accepted the award on his behalf. Well done also to Group Leader David Rogers (below right) who received the Volunteer of the Year Award from Deputy Mayor, Mary Roche. At the ceremony she stated " From an early age his dedication to scouting was apparent. He would take his fold up bike into school on the bus, attend his scout meeting on a Friday night and then cycle home to Brownstown Head after the meeting - come rain, hail or snow! He completed six years as Regional Commissioner of the Waterford and South Kilkenny Region, where he built on the good work of all those who preceded him. as part of his responsibility as a board (SICSI National Executive Board) member he was involved in the steering committee, which did much of the work in forming the new association, Scouting Ireland. He is currently Group Leader of the De La Salle Scout Group where his heart has always been and always will be. He is dedicated to scouting as an overall way of life. He does his best at all times, with a smile and a cheerful word for all in true scouting fashion" said Councillor Roche.

Breda Murphy, Group Leader of St. Pauls won Adult Leader in the Uniformed Category and David O'Sullivan, St. Pauls was honoured with the youth award in the same category. The award ceremony, sponsored by Waterford Crystal, took place at the Granville Hotel on Thursday the 25th of November last and are held each year to recognise exceptional contributions to youth involvement and leadership throughout the community in Waterford City. Well done to Roddy, Dave, Breda and David - the awards were very well deserved.

Beaver and Macaoimh Investitures Held (22/11/04)

Congratulations to all those who took part in the Investitures which took place on Monday the 22nd of November last. The 7th Beavers (picture below) held theirs in the St. Stephen's school Hall and the 3rd Macaoimh (pictured above) held theirs in the Den. There are more images on our Beavers and Macaoimh pages.

Well done also to Laura Burke and Claire White (pictured below) who were presented with their Woodbadge Woggles after completing their first part of their Woodbadge Training, they also renewed their scout promise on the night.

Above (L-R): David Rogers, Group Leader; Mary O'Halloran, Deputy Mayor; Martin Burbidge, Chief Scout; Kate Hayes, Chief Scout Award Recipient.

On Friday the 1st of October, the Chief Scout, Martin Burbidge was in the city to present Kate Hayes with her Chief Scouts Award. The ceremony took place at the Waterford Crystal showrooms and gallery. Kate is the first female scout in De La Salle to achieve scouting's highest youth award. The subject of her project was the new scout association. Kate's award came on the 20th anniversary of the first ever Chief Scout Award in De La Salle which was given to Mark Roche in 1984 and awards were presented to some of the 16 previous recipients to mark the occasion. Our Gallery page has a selection of images from the night.

Above (L-R): Chief Scout Award Recipients: Paul McSweeney, Mary O'Halloran (Deputy Mayor), John Kinsella, Kate Hayes, Brian Butler (on behalf of Gordon Butler), Kieran O'Connor, Chief Scout Martin Burbidge, Tom Casey (on behalf of Mark Casey) and Billy Collins (on behalf of Colm Ennis).

The Group's development fund towards the new scout den was also officially launched by the Chief Scout, further details of which are available on our Development page. The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Mary O'Halloran was also in attendance to congratulate Kate and to wish the Group well with their development plans.

Above: The Team from the 7th Waterford on the National Patrol Challenge 2004.

Well done to the scouts from the 7th who took part in the National Patrol

Challenge which was held at Larch Hill in Dublin from the 19th to the 22nd of August 2004. The event was based around Campcraft and a series of bases which included the Village, the Institute, Engineering and Air and Sea bases. Campcraft was broken down in safety and hygiene, cooking and the campsite itself. There was also the usual logbook to be kept as well as a campfire. The weather made the weekend very tough going with the rain really only letting up for a short time on the Saturday.

The 7th finished in an excellent 17th place out of the 57 teams which is a testament to the hard work put in by the scouts and their leaders Billy Collins, Kenneth Rouse and Patrice Power. The team consisted of PL Maurice Kavanagh, Barry Kelly, John O'Keeffe, Eoin Kelly, Michael Kavanagh, Darragh O'Callaghan, Ian Grant and Emmet Power. Well done also to St. Pauls from Waterford who came 3rd behind the 80th Cork in second place and the winners - the 34th Limerick. Finally well done to the 15th Sacred Heart also from Waterford City who came 12th.

Above: The Waterford Scout County Venture Scouts during their group expedition to London in 2004.

From the 2nd to the 5th of July 2004 the Waterford Scout County Venturer Group held their expedition for 2004 to London. It was attended by Brian Walsh, Leon Mullally, Michael Cleary and Colm O'hOgartaigh from De La Salle; Emma Sheehan, Ruth Fitzgerald and Lorraine Coughlan from Ballygunner; Niall Mahon, Sarah Johnston and David O'Sullivan from St. Pauls, Simon Shanahan from Thomastown and Daire Nevin Maguire from Faithlegg. They were accompanied by leaders Owen Riordan and John Burke from De La Salle and Chris Homes and Brian Fanning from Ballygunner. As well as the usual tourist spots like Big Ben and the London Dungeons, the group also visited Thorpe Park.

On Sunday the 20th of June last the Group held an open day at the renowned and historic settings of Sion Hill House and Gardens in Waterford. The event was hosted by George and Antoinette Kavanagh. The day included guided tours of the beautiful gardens, a campsite display and a performance by the De La Salle Scout Pipe Band. The day also marked the commencement of the new De La Salle Scout Group Development fund, more details of which are available on our Development page. Our Gallery page also has loads of photos.

The Group leader, David Rogers would like to extend his sincere thanks to George and Antoinette Kavanagh, the Parents and Friends Support Group, to the scouts, leaders, venturers and pipe band members and to all those who visited on the day.

The group would like to extend its sincere thanks to all those who contributed to the success of it's recent celebrations to mark the 70th Anniversary of the De La Salle Scout Pipe Band. The History of the De La Salle Scout Group shows that a decision to start a Pipe Band was taken at a meeting of the Scout Committee held on December 15th 1933 and that just five short months later the band held its first public parade to the Cathedral to celebrate St De La Salle’s Day on May 15th 1934. On the 15th May 2004 the band attended mass at St. Patrick's Church and then retraced the steps of its first ever public performance, seventy years ago. In the afternoon the band joined up with several other Pipe Bands and paraded through Waterford city centre where it received a fantastic reception. The bands that took part were the Waterford City Pipe Band, the Portlaw & District Pipe Band, the Kellishin Pipe Band (Carlow). Some members of the North Berwick Pipe Band and Preston Pipe Band also travelled from the UK to play with our Band at the event. Our Gallery Page has more images of the day.

A number of awards were also presented on the day. Pat Murphy received the Founders Award, Tom Nugent received a 10 Year Service Star and Brian Fanning received the Bronze Merit Award. Brendan O'Shea, currently Group Leader with Ferrybank and who was a member of the Band and a Leader in De La Salle, received a Bravery Award at their Group Council Meeting this week.

Congratulations to Maurice Kavanagh and Brian Walsh of the 7th De La Salle Scout Troop who were awarded with their National Scout Awards on Saint Patrick's Day. The awards were made by the Waterford County Programme Coordinator for Scouts, Tom Casey who praised their achievement. Scoutleader, Billy Collins was delighted with the awards and said that it was a mark of the excellent contribution which both scouts had made to their troop.

On the 17th of February the Waterford Unit of the Order of Malta made a presentation to

the De La Salle Scout Group, to mark our 75th Anniversary. This was also in recognition of the fact that members of the De La Salle Scout Unit helped in the formation of the Order of Malta in Waterford City. The presentation was carried out in St. Johns Church, following the Order's Investiture and Awards night. Fr Tom Rogers - Officer-in-Charge of the Waterford Unit presented the Waterford Crystal plate to two of our youngest members. Those present in the photo are, Ray Smith - 3rd Beavers, Stasia Coughlan - 7th Beavers, Tom Rogers, Robert and Bill from the Beavers and David Rogers, Group Leader.

On the 20th of January last at the Waterford Crystal Sports Complex the New County Management Committee was elected. They are as follows: County Commissioner, Jody Phelan; County Chairperson, Brian Gaule - 1st Port of Waterford Sea Scouts; County Secretary, Alison Parle - St Pauls; County Treasurer, Brendan Doherty - Faithlegg; County Programme Co-ordinator, Paschal Guilfoyle - De La Salle; County Training Co-ordinator, Breda Collins - St Pauls. Further Programme Co-ordinators will be appointed at the next meeting which will be on Monday 9th Feb at St. Pauls and no appointment has been made to the County Chaplain position as of yet.

Pictured above is a mix of the County Management Team and the Provincial Support Team. The front row is made up as follows; Bishop Lee, Jody Phelan County Commissioner, Mayor Tom Cunningham, Brian Gaule County Chairman, Dean Trevor Lester. Back Row: Joe Gough VEC, David Rogers Provincial Adult Resources Rep, Breda Collins County Training Co-ordinator, Derrick Watson Provincial Commissioner, Brendan Doherty County Treasurer, Paschal Guilfoyle County Programme Co-ordinator, Justin Maher Provincial Support Officer, Alison Parle County Secretary, Tom O'Neill Provincial Secretary. Missing from Photo is Bernie Rogers Provincial International Rep and there is no-one appointed to the Provincial Training Rep or Programme Rep yet for the Province.

The South East Scout Province is made up of Waterford, Wexford, Carlow/Kilkenny, Laois/Offaly, Kildare North, Kildare South and Wicklow. The Scout County has formally been called 'Waterford Scout County'. The groups are the 3rd/7th/13th Waterford De La Salle, 4th Waterford Abbeyside, 8th Waterford Tramore, 10th Kilkenny Kilmacow, 11th Waterford Dungarvan, 12th Waterford Stradbally, 15th/25th Waterford Sacred Heart, 16th Waterford Cappoquin, 17th/20th Waterford St. Paul's, 18th/26th Waterford Ferrybank, 19th/29th Waterford Ballygunner, 27th Waterford Butlerstown, 31st Waterford Faithlegg, 35th Waterford, 1st Waterford Port of Waterford, 2nd Waterford Dunmore East.

Finally there is a competition for all Scout Groups in the County to design a new 'County Badge' which will be used as a Flag also. Each Scout Group can submit 6 entries, taken from all of their sections, to the County Management Committee for the meeting which will be held in March.

Previous Group News stories are available
on our Group News 1998-2003 pages.