NOT FORGETTING THE FOUNDERS DAY WHICH IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER LETS US ALL CELEBRATE THIS DAY AND PUSH SCOUTING FORWARD. As a Valentine present and in preparation of the celebrations i want to share with you our founders life history not because my name was mentioned in it hahahaha but because it is worth sharing ................ Lord Baden-PowellS DAY 22ND OF FEBRUARY................... Lord Baden-Powell If Scouting is about fulfilling your potential then Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (or B-P) certainly fulfilled his. B-P, or ‘Stephe’ as he was known as a child, was born in Paddington, London on February 22, 1857. He was the eighth of 10 children of the Reverend Baden-Powell, a professor at Oxford University. Baden-Powell preferred the outdoors to the classroom and spent much of his time sketching wildlife in the woods around his school. His irrepressible personality infuriated and impressed his teachers in equal measure. After school, he went into the army, where he led a distinguished career through posts in countries including India, Afghanistan, Malta and various parts of Africa. The most famous event in B-P’s military career was the defence of Mafeking against the Boers In 1899, after which he became a Major-General at the age of only 43. Baden-Powell retired from the army in 1910 at the age of 53, on the advice of King Edward VII, who suggested B-P could do more valuable service for his country working on developing Scouting and its sister movement, Guiding. In 1912, B-P married Olave Soames and had three children (Peter, Heather and Betty). Chief Scout of the World B-P wrote no less than 32 books, the earnings from which helped to pay for his Scouting travels. As with all his successors, he received no salary as Chief Scout. He received various honorary degrees and the freedom of a number of cities, along with 28 foreign orders and decorations and 19 foreign Scout awards. In 1938, suffering ill-health, B-P returned to Africa, to live in semi-retirement in Nyeri, Kenya, where he died on January 8, 1941 at the age of 83. He is buried in a simple grave at Nyeri within sight of Mount Kenya. On his headstone are the words, Robert Baden-Powell, Chief Scout of the World alongside Scout and Guide emblems. He was later commemorated in Westminster Abbey, London. B-P is remembered on Founder’s Day, which is celebrated on his birthday (22 February) each year. To this day Scouts continue to enjoy activities in the outdoors and live out B-P’s ideas. As the great man once said, ‘life without adventure would be deadly dull.’
Posted on: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 22:11:33 +0000
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