Century of Scouts on display

SCOUT'S HONOUR: Allan Giles has helped put together an exhibition at the Bulls Museum on 100 years of Scouts in the town. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY

A century of adventure and education in Scouting is being celebrated in Bulls.

The Bulls Scout Group was formed in 1916 in the midst of World War I, and with few men around to pick up leadership it was Bulls woman Nancy Wilson who became warranted on January 1 and helped form the group.

Now an exhibition detailing the history of the local Scouts is on display at Bulls Museum to help mark the centenary.

The exhibition was the idea of museum committee member Allan Giles, who had been involved with the Scout movement in various locations for most of his life, including in Bulls as a child.

"I met a lot of interesting people and did a lot of interesting things as well," he said. "It's a fellowship."

The information for the exhibition had taken a few months to collect and was completed last week. Mr Giles said it had been well received, with visitors from as far as Argentina and France.

"We had some young ladies from Argentina come in, and they were Scouts in Argentina."

The display tells the story of Scouts in the town through newspaper cuttings, photos, scarves, badges and memorabilia such as menus from camping trips.

"There were a lot of good times," Mr Giles said. "Camping way down the river; trying not to burn your tea when you're cooking on an open fire; bush craft; how to make a bivouac when you're in the bush. You make friends all around the world."

Mr Giles said people were happy to come forward with items for the display. "While we've been putting it together, people have been coming in. The community's come together and the response has been terrific," he said.

Mr Giles' passion for Scouts came from wanting to give something back to the community.

"A lot of these kids just needed something that little bit different," he said. "It was just a lot of fun."

While the Bulls group is not currently active, Mr Giles hopes it will return in the future. "We're not going to give up on it, that's for sure. It's got to happen - it's too good to miss."

-The Bulls Scouts: 100 Years exhibition will be at the Bulls Museum for about four months.