The First Oshawa Scout Group reaches 100th anniversary

By Katie Strachan
The Oshawa Express

It was created as a way to challenge, excite, foster a love of the outdoors and create a deep
spiritual satisfaction. And that was more than 100 years ago. The First Oshawa Scout Group, also the longest running Oshawa scout group, is celebrating a momentous occasion this year, its 100th anniversary.“We are proud to be the oldest group in Oshawa and one of the oldest groups still running in Canada,” says Mike Hurley, group commissioner of the First Oshawa Scouts Group. The group was founded in 1909 just two years after the birth of the scouting movement in England by Lt. General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell. Scout Master Mac Soanes, who was one of Baden-Powell’s original leaders in England, founded the First Oshawa Scouting Group in October. Upon Soanes’ arrival in Canada, he started the scouting group with only eight members, although he did have the support behind him
from one of Oshawa’s foremost families, the McLaughlin’s.

George McLaughlin, brother of Colonel Sam McLaughlin, was instrumental in aiding Soanes with the first troop in the city. The McLaughlin family went on to become major supporters of the scouting movement. In the 1940s they purchased a 160-acre parcel of land and donated it to Scouts Canada. This area is now known as Camp Samac in North Oshawa and is widely used by different Scout groups. This is where the group hosted their birthday celebration last weekend where many past and present members along with their families came together to celebrate. Games were played and the band blasted music loudly as everyone reflected on their years in scouting.

“There have been many youth and leaders whose lives have been enriched by the skills they learned, trips and adventures they went on while participating in our group over the past 100 years,” explains Hurley.“Some current leadership and their youth represent the fourth generation in a family involved in scouting. My grandparents were involved directly with Baden-Powell.” A newspaper article from the Oshawa Times in November of 1929 reveals that, “a Scout’s duty is to be useful and to help others.” That’s exactly what the First Oshawa Scout Group strives to do to this day.

They have received a number of awards in all their age groups, from Beavers to Rovers and Ventures. The group is community-minded and actively participates in ScouTREES, Pitch-In week and other conservation projects. They have been a part of this for more than 50 years, explains Hurley. Scouts begin at age five with beavers. At age eight they move on to cubs. A participant becomes a scout at 11 and then moves on to ventures and rovers until about the age of 26. Scouting is for both boys and girls.