To mark our 60th year we have a new troop badge. This was designed by one of our leaders Simon Hall and it shows a tallship passing Dalkey Island and Dalkey Castle.
We also celebrated our 60th anniversary with an Alumni Reunion at the RIYC in Dun Laoghaire. There was a great turn out to the event and it was a pleasure to be joined by the five original members of the troop, who travelled from afar to be there on the night. They were all presented with a framed photo (by John Fahy) of our sailing boats in Bulloch Harbour. Thanks to Patrick O’Farrell for a very entertaining speech on the night highlighting the era that the troop was set up in, the input from all the families to get the troop off the ground and then many of the adventures they scouts all had together.
From strength to strength the Scouts section triumphant at the Liffey Descent:
Congratulations to Sophie, Sarah & Sinead who won the best overall girls team at the scout Liffey Descent kayaking race in September. They all won a medal in their own class and went on to get the best overall girls team prize. Adam & Abe also won medals in their class.
We also had two teams compete in the Hamill Cup in Howth, as well as another team compete in the scout sailing regatta in Malahide on the first weekend in October.
The 60th anniversary and the Liffey Descent were just two of the highlights of our scouting programme this summer. The Scout section had a very active boating season with two nights sailing and kayaking a week all summer from Bulloch Harbour. They also had a mini camp in Lough Dan in May, Powerscourt in June and a traditional 10 day summer camp this year on Lough Gowna in Co Longford. This was a great success with 24 scouts enjoying the Irish weather in Longford.
Prior to that they were involved with hosting a troop from the UK who were on an Irish tour. The 4th Streatham (Princess Louise) troop spent 14 days on Ireland, 5 of which were in Blackrock where they had loads of opportunity to explore the local amenities, a highlight of which was a visit to Dalkey Island that coincided with the Bray Air Show. What a treat! We also had the perfect opportunity to present a fundraising cheque that we had raised to the RNLI while they were visiting the station.
We would thank all the local businesses who helped us with the joint fundraising for the troop and for the RNLI over the past year. We would also thank Mary Mitchell O’ Connor for facilitating a visit to Leinster House for our English guests and also Dalkey Rowing Club where they got to try out some sea rowing.
We would like to express our appreciation to Dalkey United football Club who gave us a very generous donation in September to mark our big year. It was much appreciated and the funds will definitely go to good use. Thank you to your Board and your members for facilitating this.
Finally, with the boats out of the water and as we move into all the regular scouting activities for the winter season, we are looking forward to great action as the new scouting year continues for all sections.