SAC Scouts Newsletter

Issue Issue 9494 April April 2015 2015

From the Courtyard

sac scouts newsletter

From the Courtyard feature of the month

ANNUAL PARADE 2015

What’s on May 23-24 SACFEST

Our founder, Baden Powell, chose St. George to be the patron saint of scouting as he believed that the figure of the saint in the legend, (dragon-slayer and princess-saver), exemplified, metaphorically, courage in adversity, perseverance, chivalry and faith in the triumph of good over evil.

So every year, the scouting movement has celebrated this day in various ways. Historically, the scouting movement started off in overwhelmingly Christian societies within the British Empire. Even when scouting was present in countries where Christianity was not so common, scouting was initially only allowed for British subjects and other foreign nationalities (depending on whom the British Empire was at war, or at peace with), not for the native population. Nowadays, the scout movement is a multi-faith organization spanning hundreds of countries, and as such, the religious ceremonies of St. George's Day have been adapted by various member communities in ways that allows them to celebrate a worldwide day for scouting compatible to their religious beliefs. A marching parade is usually held in conjunction with whatever religious celebration the groups hold, thereby paying homage to the spiritual aspect, as well as celebrating the foundation of such a movement that has gathered a rich history since 1907, and is currently the largest youth association in the world.

Feature of the Month

From the Courtyard

ANNUAL PARADE 2015

Issue 94 April 2015

Locally, the traditional celebration of Mass is the predominant form of celebrating the religious aspect of St. George's Day, as the members in Malta at present, still come from an overwhelmingly Catholic background. So bright and early, on the morning of the 26th April, the members of the SAC Scout Group arrived at their HQ in full regalia. Nothing ever seems to dampen the collective good spirit of the cubs and scouts once they get together, and their energy, (towards selected activities of their fancy), is indomitable and awesome to behold. The older, coffee drinking members, were a tad less sprightly at the hour of 0830 on a Sunday. Mass was celebrated in the school chapel, after which, we assembled on the front steps of the school to take the annual group photo, featuring a collection of crooked berets, mis-shapen BP hats and strained shirt buttons. All these are arranged post production by our team of in-house, photo editing experts. The leaders and elder members did not go around straightening scarves and berets. Nor did they strive, from the night before, to beat those blasted BP hats back into their original shape. No matter how flat they are stored, those hats have the ability to spontaneously morph into Indiana Jones headgear. They're jolly good at keeping the sun off the back of your neck though. Handy, when our group was part of the rear section of the parade, which meant waiting for an hour and a half on the granaries. The 26th turned out to be a glorious spring day, so we all kept our hats and berets on, resulting in the typical 'Break seal here' line around all of our foreheads.

2

From the Courtyard

ANNUAL PARADE 2015

Issue 94 April 2015

The various pictures we've seen of our group whilst we were marching, show, gratifyingly, a pretty smart turnout indeed! And it was rather pleasing, to hear from the surrounding onlookers, "Ara! Dawn ta San Alwigi!" Yes, indeed. 'Ta San Alwigi', have been around for 99 years and going strong. Hitting the centenary mark next year, and it will be a privilege, for all those involved, to be at such an historical landmark in the history of a group that since 1916, has been one at the forefront of scouting in Malta.

St. George's Day Trivia:



The actual feast is on the 23rd April, but since this year the 23rd happened to be a Thursday, the next closest Sunday was selected.



St. George is the patron saint of England and emblem is a re cross on a white back-

Feature of the Month

ground. Hence the colours of the English flag.



The real St. George is said to have been born in modern day Israel, in the city of Lod (Lydda), about 280 AD. Rose to officer rank in the Roman army.



Christian martyr for not renouncing his faith when the emperor announced that all christian soldiers should be arrested. He was eventually beheaded.

 

The legend of St. George and the dragon is of apparently Spanish (Catalan) origin.

Some Muslim cultures also venerate St. George, by the name of El Khudder, and there is a legend of him having killed a dragon near modern day Beirut.

The cubs who participated in the parade were very excited and looking forward to this event. For two weeks prior to the parade the pack practised marching during their week meetings at HQ. We asked the cubs to give us their comments on the parade and this is what some of them told us: “I enjoyed the parade, we marched all through Valletta and the best part was when we saw the President.” – Nathan Axisa “I enjoyed it very much because I carried the flag!” – Matthias Galea “I did not enjoy it because Neil was stepping on my shoes. I liked it because I saw the President. It was very busy with all the Scout Groups marching.” – Matthias Cassola

3

From the Courtyard

ANNUAL PARADE 2015

Issue 94 April 2015

“At the parade we (...) saw the President and Malta’s top Scout chiefs. There were different instruments played in the different groups. Both our GSL and AGSL were there.” – Neil Borg “I was so excited that I could not sleep. It was very hot, but thank God we were with our summer uniform. There were lots of people and I got shy but I did it and at the end I felt happy.” – Francesco Scardino “I enjoyed the parade because it’s not every day that you march and you get to see the president.” – Jason Dykstra Other comments included that the cubs enjoyed the parade because they saw the President of

Feature of the Month

Malta, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, because the cubs saw their friends and their family and be-

4

cause they looked smart dressed in their uniform. Some cubs also enjoyed marching through the Capital City. Some cubs also complained that they did not enjoy the parade because it was hot and it was long.

We hope that we will have a similar turn out for next year’s parade and that the cubs will enjoy it as much as they did this year.

From the Courtyard

GSL’s note

Issue 94 April 2015

Easter Camp and other Activities To be honest after a successful Easter camp I was hoping for a few weeks of calm without having to plan too much for the near future. However, my hopes were dashed as events have been happening one after the other and more are planned for May. During April the two key events were the Annual Parade on April 26th which required a lot of preparation in our drill and marching skills and uniforms. Seventy members from our Group participated in the Annual Parade which left the Granaries in Floriana at around 11:00am and marched down Republic Street giving a salute to the President H.E. M. L Coleiro Preca and the Chief Scout and Chief Commissioner together with other dignitaries.

Anzac Day On April 25th a number of our members took part in the Anzac Day Commemorative Service and Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Pieta Military Cemetery. We take pride in being invited for this event by the Australian High Commission and event in which we have been taking part for over twenty years. ASL Ian Meli

GSL’s note

was responsible for this event and laid a wreath in the name of our Group. The scouts that attended were Daniel Busuttil, Jake Busuttil, Matthias Bartolo, Nigel Grech, Thomas Galea, Gerald Sammut and Daniel Mallia. Patrol Leader Daniel Mallia assisted Commissioners in the wreath laying while Senior Patrol Leader Daniel Busuttil also assisted with the laying of the SAC wreath.

ANZAC DAY IN MALTA Malta was a British colony at the time of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915. Apart from many of its nationals serving with the armed forces, including 800 Maltese volunteers who supported the Gallipoli campaign, numerous sick and wounded men were evacuated to Malta from Gallipoli for medical treatment. This contribution resulted in Malta becoming known as ‘The Nursemaid of the Mediterranean’. Despite the best efforts of medical staff, however, some casualties did not recover and were buried on the island. Among these are 202 members of the Australian Imperial Force and 72 members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

The Second World War saw Malta playing a vital role as a base for harassing ships on the axis supply lines to North Africa. Ships of the Royal Australian Navy assisted in escorting convoys to supply the island, and pilots from Australia and New Zealand formed part of the fighter defence in offensive operations. Malta later became a spring-board for the allied invasion of Sicily. There are 24 members of the Royal Australian Air Force and seven members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force buried on the island as a result of this conflict. There are also 206 Australians and 85 New Zealanders commemorated in Malta.

5

From the Courtyard

GSL’s note

Issue 94 April 2015

From 1952 to 1955, No. 78 Wing of the Royal Australian Air Force was deployed to Malta and flew Vampire and Meteor aircraft during its tour of duty on the island. A member of this unit, killed in a flying accident in early 1954, is the last known Australian serviceman to be buried in Malta.

The majority of graves in Malta are in the form of multiple burials due to the rocky nature of the island and lay beneath recumbent stone memorial slabs. There are, however, a number of individual headstones that were erected privately on these as well as on the single graves.

Anzac Day has been commemorated in Malta since 1916, and was originally two services. A service for non-Catholics was held at Pietà Military Cemetery and another at Addolorata Cemetery for Catholics, owing to the practice that servicemen were buried in cemeteries according to their religion. With the unveiling of the War Memorial in Floriana, the services were combined and held at this new location until 1977.

A low key service was held in 1978.

Since 1979 a commemorative service has been held at Pietà Military Cemetery as it contains the highest

GSL’s note

number of ANZAC war graves on the island.(Source: Australian High Commission)

Plans for May A leaders meeting will be held early in May to start working on our 100 th year anniversary programme.

We plan to involve parents and former members once an outline of events is established.

On May 9th we are taking part in a clean up campaign called Let’s Do It Malta where we shall be joining many other organisations in cleaning open spaces from rubbish / trash left by the inconsiderate individuals in our country. We plan to focus on the Ta Qali area.

During the weekend of May 22-24th we shall also be involved in SACFEST preparing some obstacles for the obstacles and helping out where and when required. Members are encouraged to attend.

6

St. Aloysius College Scout Group 2015

From the Courtyard

7

ANNUAL PARADE 2015

Issue 94 April 2015