De La Salle Scout Group News 2007 Page

Pictured below at Mahon Falls in the Comeragh Mountain are a group of scouts from Serbia who were visiting Waterford after the World Jamboree in the UK. They spent time at the 7th's Annual Camp in Faithlegg and were also hosted by the families of Mary Winter, Siobhan Ryan, Maureen Drohan and the O’hOgartaighs and Pat Murphy. There are more details on the 7th's Camp 2007 page.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of world scouting, the De La Salle Scout Group were delighted when the Waterford Today newspaper which has a circulation of over 17000 copies in and around Waterford City decided to run a full page feature on the group. The article was run on the 8th of August and included information on our history, all of our present sections including the pipe band, information on the website contents as well as our plans for development in the future.

We are very grateful to all at the Waterford today for the coverage. You can download the full article here.

Pipe Band to attend the World Scout Jamboree: Very early on Monday July 30th the band will leave Waterford by bus and head for the World Scout Jamboree which is being held in Hylands Park. The Band will stay at the Essex Scout County's camp site at Skreens Park. On Tuesday the band will visit the Jamboree site and will practice with six brass bands from the Scout Association of Great Britain and from Holland. Then on just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning August 1st the combine bands will play in the 100th anniversary of the founding of scouting and thus will commence a day of celebrations around the world. In the after noon the band will play at various venues around the Jamboree site and then will join the 40,000 other scouts from all over the world to enjoy an evening of celebrations. On Thursday the band will take a well earned rest before they travel back to Ireland on Friday.

Above: Members of the De La Salle Scout Pipe Band at the scouting sunrise 100th anniversary celebrations at the World Jamboree in England.

Band BBQ August 19th: Before the band departs for Scotland its members, friends, supporters and band families will have an afternoon BBQ at the O Griofa household on the Tramore Road and anyone wishing to come along to support the band are asked to contact Pat Murphy on 086 8270633. The usual BBQ food will be provided and you are asked to supply you own drink. It will be an excellent way to get to meet the members of the band and their friends and families informally and the band will perform for the gathering in an informal setting.

Scotland 2007: On Thursday August 23rd the band will make its third trip to Scotland and while there it will attend the Edinburgh Tattoo, have a leisurely day in Edinburgh, attend the largest Highland Games which is held annually at Cowel, take part in the annual massed pipe band gathering at Floors Castle and on the Monday play at a number of venues in and around North Berwick where the band will stay. The band will then return to Ireland on August 28th just in time for the younger members to return to school after their annual summer holidays.

New Recruits: The new piping year from a scouting perspective will commence with practice on Monday September 3rd and anyone, young or old interested in learning pipes and/or drums and who are prepared to accept the scouting ethos of the De La Salle Scout Group are welcome to join.

The De La Salle Scout Pipe Band have there own page on the website - Click Here to Visit.

Congratulations to David Rogers and Sean Hayes who were both presented with Cuchulain Awards recently. The Cuchulain Award is the highest award that can be given to any leader in the Scouting Movement. In order to receive this award the recipient has to be nominated by a fellow scouter in recognition of many years of dedication, commitment, selfless effort and most of all a complete understanding of the entire scouting organisation. Sean is the current scoutleader of the Ballygunner scout troop and has been involved in Ballygunner and at a regional level in Waterford in many positions since the 1980s. David Rogers was the Group Leader of De La Salle from 2003 until 2006 and has also served in a great many positions in scouting at a local and national level. Congratulations to both from the De La Salle Scout Group.

Above: David Rogers, Scouting Ireland; Martin Burbridge, Chief Scout; Sean Hayes, Ballygunner and Tom O'Neill, Waterford Scout County Commissioner.

Group support Down Syndrome Ireland (12/06/07)

Pictured above are Mary Winter, David Collins and Darragh Quinlan from the De La Salle Scout Group with Cha O'Neill from Waterford City Council and other supporters from Down Syndrome Ireland. The group were at Waterford City Hall to launch the De La Salle Scout Group's support for Down Syndrome Ireland's HB Icecream Day. The entire De La Salle Scout Group took part in the fundraising as part of our annual group weekend in Faithlegg in May.

Group Members to join the World Jamboree in England (21/03/07)

The 21st World Scout Jamboree will take place from the 27th of July to the 8th of August next at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex, in the heart of England which was the birthplace of the Scouting movement. The jamboree is being hosted by the Scout Association of the United Kingdom and it will bring together 40,000 Scouts, Venturers, leaders, and staff for the 12 days. 2007 is also of course the centennial year of the founding of the Scouting movement and the jamboree theme will be "One World, One Promise". The De La Salle Scout Group is honoured that the De La Salle Scout Pipe Band have been given and have accepted an invitation to play at the opening ceremony and twenty six members of the group will travel to Chelmsford to take part. With the support of the overall group, other groups in the County and a number of sponsors including Knorr, the band have raised the money to be able to attend and our thanks goes out to all of those who gave support.

Above: David Rogers, Unilever Ireland is pictured presenting a cheque on behalf of Knorr towards the cost of the Pipe Band's trip to the World Scout Jamboree in the UK later this year. Also included are Owen Riordan, Group Leader; Colm O'hOgartaigh, Bass Drummer and Pat Murphy, Pipe Major.

In addition to the band's participation in the event, scout Cian O'hOgartaigh from the the 3rd De La Salle Scout Troop has been selected as one of the two representatives from the Waterford Scout County who will attend the jamboree with the support of a special bursary established some years ago by the County. Seamus Grant from Ferrybank was the second scout selected from the County and they will join the Irish Contingent for the entire event.

Nancy Sharpe - Ar Dheis De go raibh a h-anam (05/03/07)

Above: John Sharpe Snr, Nancy Sharpe and John Sharpe Jnr at the Group's 70th anniversary celebrations.

The De La Salle Scout Group would like to extend its sincere sympathies to the family of Nancy Sharpe (née Nolan) of Ashley Drive, Cherrymount and formerly of Lombard Street who passed to her eternal reward on Tuesday, 20th February 2007. Requiem Mass was celebrated on Thursday, 22nd February at the Sacred Heart Church, The Folly after which Nancy was laid to rest in Faithlegg Cemetery, Co Waterford. Nancy was a long time member of the De La Salle Scout Unit Finance Committee and more recently of the Group’s Parents and Friends Support Committee for which she was a recipient of a Thanks Award from Scouting Ireland.

Above: Nancy (left) shares a joke during the Group's Big Walk fundraiser in 2005.

Nancy was a part of the bedrock of the finance committee who along with her many very close friends on the committee worked tirelessly in support of the fundraising for the De La Salle Scouts and in support of countless unit and group events over the years. For decades she has been an irreplaceable feature behind the catering table at group events in marquees and halls whenever and wherever they happened. She was never without a smile and would never let you away with an empty plate or a solitary bun! She is survived by her husband, John Sharpe Senior who has also had a lifetime’s involvement in the De La Salle Scouts and her sons, Tony, Frank, John and Brian. She will be sadly missed by them and by us all and again condolences are extended to her family, relatives and friends, including those many of us from within the group.

Above: Nancy puts the finishing touches to the food at a Chief Scout's Award Night.

There will be a Burns Supper run by the Scottish Community and the De La Salle Scout Group Pipe Band on March 9th 2007 at Waterford Castle Golf Club. The event will start at 8.00pm and it should be an excellent night. As the numbers are limited to 100 please don't delay in getting tickets which cost 25 euro.

There will be a three course supper including Scottish Haggis and then dance the night away. There will also be a late bar. Tickets are available from Michael Garland Waterford Castle Golf Club on 087 2339197, members of the De La Salle Scout Group Pipe band or ring 086 8285626.

Scouts from the De La Salle Scout Group and the Waterford Scout County are being urged to support a very important environmental project in Co. Kerry. The website at http://www.aniolair.com/ highlights the re-introduction of the white-tailed sea eagle which is due to take place this summer in County Kerry. The community of Kerry and visitors from across Ireland are looking forward to welcoming these incredible creatures back to the skies and wilds of the south west again after a hundred years or so but of late the work is coming under attack by a small number of people who are seeking a deferral of the scheme. In response, a short focused campaign is underway expressing support for the project. Their aim is to collect 10 000 names of people in support by St Patrick’s Day, to be presented as a counter weight to the negative headlines for Minister of the Environment to consider before he takes any actions he might think are wise ahead of the forthcoming election. For now, it is crucial that you support the most exciting nature re-introduction project ever undertaken in Ireland by clicking on http://www.aniolair.com/.

The Waterford Scout County, St. Pauls and Middle Earth Venturer Groups were in the Reeks in Kerry from the 13th to the 14th of January last for an ascent of Ireland's highest peak - Corran Tuathail (1039m). They were based for the trip at the very impressive An Oige Youth Hostel, just outside Killarney. The conditions were exceedingly tough on the day of the ascent with strong winds and rain dominating for most of the hike. Pictured above on the summit are from left to right: Maria Duddy, 1st Port Waterford; Harley Jordan and Kyle Moody from the Middle Earth Venturers; Eric Whelan, De La Salle Venturer Leader, Patrick O'Brien, Middle Earth; James Hunt, 1st Port Waterford; Daniel Vagg, Middle Earth and Chris Home Ballygunner Leader. The photo was taken by Brian Fanning, also from Ballygunner. Well done to all those who made their first ascent of one of Ireland's finest mountains. Click here to view a larger size image.