Scouts' Day
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Scouts' Day or Guides' Day is a generic term for special days observed by members of the Scouting movement throughout the year. Some of these days have religious significance, while others may be a simple celebration of Scouting. Typically, it is a day when all members of Scouting will re-affirm the Scout Promise.
Contents
- 1 Founders' Days
- 2 World Thinking Day
- 3 Saint George's Day
- 4 Scout Sunday or Scout Sabbath (Boy Scouts of America)
- 5 Girl Scout Week (Girl Scouts of the USA)
- 6 Scout-Guide Week (Canada)
- 7 Africa Scout Day
- 8 World Scout Scarf Day
- 9 Scout Service & Public Relationship Week (Sri Lanka)
- 10 Dates celebrated by country
- 11 See also
- 12 External links
- 13 References
Founders' Days
Worldwide in nearly all Scout associations, Founders' Day is celebrated on 22 February, the birthday of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (born in 1857), the founder of Scouting, and coincidentally also of his wife Olave Baden-Powell (born in 1889).
Individual associations also celebrate their own founding on other dates, although these are generally restricted to "major" anniversaries, such as a decennial. Girl Scouts of the USA celebrate Founders Day on 31 October, the birthday of Juliette Low.
World Thinking Day
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Thinking Day is celebrated on 22 February. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) chose the date as it was the birthday of Scouting and Guiding founder Robert Baden-Powell and of Olave Baden-Powell. It is thus celebrated by Girl Guides and Girl Scouts associations. SAGNOs (those associations which are part simultaneously of WAGGGS and WOSM) usually take part in it. It is also celebrated by some boy-oriented scout associations belonging to WOSM (i.e. Greece, where it is called Imera Skepseos),
Saint George's Day
Saint George is the patron saint of Scouting. The nearest Sunday to 23 April is observed as a celebration in some countries, for example, the United Kingdom and Spain.
In the UK many Scouting Districts celebrate the day with a parade of the groups and sections to a church or other suitable venue, often outdoors, where a service is held where the Scout sections all re-affirm their Scout Promises.
However, it is becoming more difficult to encourage participation by the youth membership, so many Districts forego the parade and church service in place of a more family oriented day. The focus of the day is still the affirmation of the Promise by all members.
Windsor and Queen Scouts Each St. George's Day is also marked by a service in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, which is open to all recipients of the Queen's Scout Award in the previous year.
Scout Sunday or Scout Sabbath (Boy Scouts of America)
The Boy Scouts of America have designated the Sunday preceding 8 February, or 8 February if it is a Sunday, as Scout Sunday and the following Saturday is designated as Scout Sabbath. The United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) celebrate Scout Sunday on the second Sunday of February as not to conflict with Transfiguration Sunday.
The day is meant to mark the founding of the Scouts in the United States. Observation varies by unit and locale. Scouts go to their places of worship in uniform and help with the service.
In the United States, Scouting has been used by churches, synagogues, and many other religious organizations as part of their youth ministries. Approximately 50 percent of all Scouting units are chartered to religious groups. These observances offer an opportunity for congregations to honor Scouts and Scouters, as well as to learn more themselves about the value of Scouting as a youth program.[1]
Girl Scout Week (Girl Scouts of the USA)
In the Girl Scouts of the USA, the equivalent holiday is Girl Scout Sunday or Girl Scout Sabbath, celebrated in Girl Scout Week the week that includes 12 March, the day the first Girl Scout troop was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia in 1912.[2]
Scout-Guide Week (Canada)
In Canada both the Guides and the Scouts celebrate Scout-Guide Week which is the week (Sunday-Sunday) in which 22 February falls (not including the first Sunday). It is often used to have joint events between the two groups.[3]
Africa Scout Day
Africa Scout Day is a day of celebration for Scouts in Africa and is held annually on 13 March. At the 62nd ordinary session of the Council of Ministers of the then OAU, (currently African Union) in Addis Ababa in 1995, a resolution was passed that Scouting in Africa must be recognized and as such 13 March would be celebrated as Africa Scout Day.[4]
World Scout Scarf Day
World Scout Scarf day is a recent effort to encourage active and former Scouts worldwide to wear their neckerchiefs in public annually on 1 August as a symbol of the Scout promise and the spirit of Scouting. It has been promoted on Facebook [5] and by Scouting organisations since 2007.[citation needed]
Scout Service & Public Relationship Week (Sri Lanka)
Scout Service & Public Relationship Week is held annually on June–July. Scouts will call on the public during this week in uniform. The event began with the participation of scouts from all 37 districts simultaneously numbering approximately 40,000 between the ages of 7 and 18. A Patrol consisting of four scouts or more in uniform will carry an official card given by Sri -Lanka Scout Association for public contributions. Scouts find money for their Scout Group through the Service & Relationship week each year. They go to houses and work places and help their owners with small work they can do. People give them work and then give some amount of money for their effort. The association requests the public to contribute to them generously as this is the main fund raising project for them.
Dates celebrated by country
| Date | English name | Location/local name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Scouts' Day | Burma | |
| 22 February | Thinking Day | worldwide (Guides) | Marks shared birthday of Scouting's founders |
| 22 February | Founder's Day | worldwide (Scouts) | Marks shared birthday of Scouting's founders |
| 5 March | Scouts' Day | Republic of China (Taiwan) | |
| 12 March | Girl Scout Birthday | United States | Marks founding of first Girl Scout troop in the USA |
| 18 April | Scouts' Day | Armenia | Social and Scouting work take place in one of the central parks of Yerevan[6] |
| 19 April | Guides' Day | Georgia | anniversary of the first national Girl Guide conference in 1997 |
| 19 April | Scouts' Day | Azerbaijan | [7]/regional_and_national_events_of_eurasia_region |
| 23 April | St. George's Day | United Kingdom | Parade of Queen's Scouts at Windsor Castle |
| 23 April | St. George's Day | Denmark | Parade submitting[clarification needed] Scout's promise |
| 23 April | Scouts' Day | Mexico | |
| 19 May | Scouts' Day | Croatia | first training in 1950 |
| 22 May | Girl Scout Day | Japan | |
| 30 May | National Scout Day | Maldives | Scouting began in First Male' Scout Group, Majeediyya School |
| 31 May | Vietnamese Scouting Day | Vietnam | |
| late May | Scout Movement Week[8] | Liberia | In 2009 was 25–30 May |
| 1 July | Scouts' Day | Thailand | Scouts pay homage to King Rama VI, and take part in parades |
| 3 July | Scouts' Day | Nepal | 2009 was 57th Scout Day |
| 1 August | World Scout Scarf Day | worldwide (Scouts & Guides) | Many people followed the call and thus made the spirit of scouting visible |
| 14 August | Pramuka Day | Indonesia | Honors the national scouts of Indonesia (Pramuka) first public parade in 1961 |
| 5 September | Scout and Good Action Day | Argentina | Celebrates the scout and good act day doing charity work, donations and personal good action. |
| October | Scouting Month | Philippines | The Boy Scouts of the Philippines was chartered by Congress on 31 October 1936. |
| variable | Girl Guides Day | Brunei | First was 6 October 1985, chosen to be near their royal patron's birthday[9] |
See also
- Religion in Scouting
- Scout Law – A Scout is reverent.
- Scouting 2007 Centenary – celebrations for 100 years of Scouting
External links
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- Scout Sunday
- A Scout Is Reverent: Scout Sunday Observance
- St George Day
- St George Day
- Scout Sunday in the United States
References
- ↑ Scout Sabbath
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- ↑ World Scout Scarf Day Facebook page
- ↑ http://scout.org/en/around_the_world/eurasia/information_events/events
- ↑ http://scout.org/en/around_the_world/eurasia/information_events/events
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- World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, World Bureau (2002), Trefoil Round the World. Eleventh Edition 1997. ISBN 0-900827-75-0
