PORT TOWNSEND — The first Sunday in February is Boy Scout Sunday, when Scouts traditionally attend church in uniform and take part in the service.
Early February is also when Cub Scout packs hold their Blue and Gold banquets, where the oldest Cubs, called Webelos, bridge to Boy Scouts.
Both mark the anniversary of the founding of Boy Scouting in the United States on Feb. 8, 1910.
Scouts across the country, as well on the Olympic Peninsula, are observing the 100th anniversary today, while Cub Scouts and parents of Pack No. 4479 got a jump on the celebration at their annual Blue and Gold banquet on Sunday.
“What makes this particularly special is that this is the centennial celebration,” said Cubmaster Andrew Dubar.
Today, Scouts in Sequim are planning to attend the Sequim City Council meeting, where the council will pass resolutions supporting Scouting, according to Derek Ballinger, district Boy Scouts of America executive.
A Port Townsend troop is planning to attend the school board meeting to ask questions and find out about service opportunities as part of citizenship requirements.
In Port Angeles, a newly formed Cub Scout pack, sponsored by the American Legion post, will hold its first pack meeting at 7 p.m. at the VFW Hall.
“They are having the oldest Scout and the youngest Scout cut the cake with a sword,” Ballinger said.
The oldest Scout in the area is a 92-year-old man who belatedly received his Eagle Scout badge in his 80s, while the youngest will be the youngest Tiger Cub, Ballinger said.
At Sunday’s Blue and Gold banquet at the Port Townsend Elks Lodge, four Webelos SEmD Owen Brummel, Tate Munnich, Noah Payne and Milo Rolland SEmD crossed to Boy Scouting.
Before they crossed a wooden bridge set up on the stage, each boy received the Arrow of Light award, the highest in Cub Scouting, from den leader Me’l Christensen, who commended them for their teamwork.
Eban Schumann of Troop No. 1477 read the Boy Scout laws while Ben Rolland lit a candle for each one.
Crossing the bridge one by one, each Webelo was welcomed by members of Troop 1477, who presented the new boys with new neckerchiefs, troop numerals, red epaulets and a Boy Scout handbook.
Then the boys, raising their hands in the Scout sign, recited the Boy Scout Promise in unison.
“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”
Ballinger, whose district covers Clallam and Jefferson counties, told the story of how Scouting was started in the United States by William Boyce, a Chicago publisher.
Boyce was visiting London when he got lost in the fog, Ballinger said.
He was approached by a boy who offered to help Boyce find his way, which the publisher accepted.
Reaching his destination, Boyce offered the boy a tip, which was refused SEmD the boy explaining that as a Boy Scout, he was expected to do a good turn daily.
Impressed, Boyce found out more about Scouting, which Robert Baden-Powell had started in England in two years earlier, and when Boyce returned to the United States, he organized the Boy Scouts of America.
For more information about Boy Scouting on the North Olympic Peninsula, contact Derek Ballinger at the Mount Olympus District office, 403 S. Lincoln St., Port Angeles, at dballinger@seattlebsa.org or 360-460-7030.
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County reporter-columnist Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@olypen.com.
