Celebrating 110 years of Scouting in Mayfield

Old met new at Mayfield Scout Group’s 110th anniversary celebrations on Sunday.

Mayfield is one of the oldest Groups in Australia, having been formed six years after the Scouting Movement came to Australia in 1908. To celebrate, the Group welcomed the community to an event at the hall featuring a wide variety of activities to appeal to all ages.

Adult helper and event organiser Danielle Owens said the celebrations had been her passion project for months.

“The idea of the whole event was to not just acknowledge how long Scouting has been a part of Mayfield, but also getting the whole community together to engage in activities and have a nice day out,” she said.

“We were happy to welcome the Lord Mayor Dr Ross Kerridge and former Mayfield member and Scouts NSW President John Price to our celebrations.

"There were quite a few highlights - me, as a parent watching my son get interviewed for the news and meeting the Lord Mayor, but for the Scout Group, we had a new Joey Scout invested by our new flags. It was really sweet because everyone who was there at the time were part of that ceremony for him.

"Having the Lord Mayor help dig and place our time capsule was really special. He was digging the dirt, but when it came time to put it in, he got all of the kids to put their hands on it so it went in together."

Inside the hall, people stepped into the past with a visit through the “Mayfield Museum” featuring items donated by past and present members. Danielle said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of people donating to the event.

“We had one ex-member whose mum donated all her badges from Jamboree in 2010 and her uniforms. My husband also dug out his old Scout gear from Newcastle, where he had a Newcastle – Waratah Mayfield Billycart Derby badge,” she said.

“One of our first members, Wal, when he passed away his family gave us hundreds of photos from when he was in Scouts. Between him and other people that have given us photos and what was already here, we had more than 500 photos of Scouting through the years.

“The oldest item we have is a photo of the first Scout Group in Mayfield, which was taken at the original building in Church St. It burned down, so that’s when the Group moved to Ida St! Our quirkiest items has to be the wolf heads – we love them!”

John said he was proud to come back to the hall he built as a 16-year-old Senior Scout in 1955.

“We fundraised and the committee and the kids built this hall,” he said. “It was quite an effort we thought at the time, and it’s stood the test of time.”

Outside the hall, there was entertainment and activities for all ages, including live music, STEM activities and lawn games.

Bunnings Kotara donated a range of plants to the Group’s Bush Tucker Garden, with visitors were able to learn more about bush tucker, with Myuna Bay Scout Camp caretaker Dallas Lock and Aboriginal educator Bex Morris on hand to explain about the plants and answering questions.

Joey Scout Leader Alex Lee (Croc), a proud Cabrogal woman of the Dharug Nation, and Rae Phelps, a Gomoroi woman, facilitated the creation of a community dot painting.

“We provided the canvas, the tools and the paints so everyone from the community could contribute to it,” Danielle said. “Croc was guiding them to create something that we can mount on the wall as a memento of our celebration.”

The community also contributed towards the Wall of Kindness – paper leaves with kind messages to help inspire and raise people’s spirits.

Dr Kerridge spoke about his history in Scouts.

“A lot of my core values come from learning in the Scout Movement about trusting others and respecting them no matter what their background,” he said. “There’s still a lot of value in the fun element and the learning and kids getting together. I’d still encourage parents and kids to get involved.”