Portal:Scouting/Scouting news archive/2006


 * December 26: President Gerald Ford died today. Ford joined the Boy Scouts and attained that program's highest rank, Eagle Scout. He always regarded this as one of his proudest accomplishments, even after attaining the White House. In subsequent years, Ford received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in May 1970 and Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America. He is the only US president who was an Eagle Scout.


 * December 1: The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and UNAIDS have launched a joint project to tackle HIV and AIDS worldwide. Full Story


 * November 20: Girl Scout troop 5140 gathered 75 bags of clothes for charity from what was thrown away by athletes during the New York Marathon. Full Story


 * November 20: An American Girl Scout has been awarded the Girl Scouts of the USA's Bronze Cross after risking her life to save another in a tubing accident. Full Story


 * November 17: Philippe Pijollet died today. He will be remembered for his innovative work at the World Scout Bureau and his sense of hospitality. In 2002 he had received the Bronze Wolf. Full Story


 * November 8: Controversy has erupted over a decision by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines to allow girls to join the organisation. The Girl Scouts of the Philippines oppose the move. Full Story


 * November 7: Three Scouts and a leader die in fiery car crash in the USA. Full Story


 * November 6: New Zealand's Guides and Scouts are suffering group closures nationwide due to lack of volunteers. Full Story


 * October 27: Gilwell Park's local government authority has rejected plans for a Muslim worship centre on the site. The application will be resubmitted after alterations have been made, with the intention that the centre be ready in time for the 21st World Scout Jamboree. Full Story


 * October 22: Young people who attend clubs offering the sort of rigorous character-building activities promoted by the Scouting movement do better in later life. This is the finding of research published by the Institute of Public Policy Research, a Think Tank in the United Kingdom. Full Story


 * October 21: The Scout Association of the Cayman Islands today installed their new Chief Scout, Governor Stuart Jack. Full Story


 * October 16: A new educational style comic book called The Right to Food: A Window on the World has been launched by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. The purpose of the book is to raise awareness of nutrition and the right to food amongst children worldwide. Full Story


 * October 6: A British Scout is aiming to become the youngest person to sail across the Atlantic Ocean singlehanded. Aged 14, Michael Perham will sail from Gibraltar to Antigua and will be raising money for charity. Full Story


 * September 30: Wayne Perry replaces Steve Fossett on the World Scout Committee. Full Story


 * September 21: Jack Cornwell, Boy Scout and recipient of the Victoria Cross, featured on a set of UK postage stamps released today. Full Story


 * September 7: Scouts in Ireland have been collecting abandoned tents at the Electric Picnic music festival. It is estimated that about 500 of the tents collected will be reusable. These will be sent to Scout groups in need in Africa. Full Story


 * August 28: The Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), Dr. Eduardo Missoni, today completed his mission in Lebanon, launching the International Scout Solidarity project in support of the rebuilding and Peace process in Lebanon and in the Middle East region. World Scouting with its 28 Million members in 215 countries. Full Story


 * August 23: Boy Scout troop saves drowning toddler in Nebraska.Full Story


 * August 1: Cyprus Girl Guides are assisting refugees from the Middle East in their country. Working alongside agencies including Médecins Sans Frontières, they are helping with tasks such as food distribution and child care. Full Story


 * July 22: A Boy Scout who was inside his tent was bitten by a bear. The bear was killed when it returned to a Boy Scout campsite in Utah a short time later. Full Story


 * July 21: A Lebanese Scout, Fawzi Ali Jaffal (age 24), was killed when the ambulance he was driving was hit by a bomb. At least 9 other Scouts have been seriously injured.  In addition the Arab Regional Jamboree to have been held in Lebanon in August has been postponed and moved to Egypt. Full Story


 * June 20: His Majesty The King of Thailand was presented the Bronze Wolf award, WOSM's highest award, for his support and development of Scouting in Thailand by His Majesty Carl XVI Gustav, King of Sweden and Honorary President of the World Scout Foundation. The presentation took place on June 20, 2006 at Chitralada Palace in Thailand and was witnessed by Chairman of the World Scout Committee Herman Hui. Full Story


 * June 12: Secretary General of the WOSM, Dr. Eduardo Missoni joined leaders of the labour and sports worlds in symbolically waving a 'Red Card' against child labour to mark the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL). Full Story.


 * May 31: The U.S. Supreme Court rejects a lawsuit by an atheist who objected to the BSA recruiting at public schools. Full Story.


 * May 27: As an immediate response to the disaster, the Scouts Care Task Force of the Gerakan Pramuka National Headquarters, sent five scout leaders to Yogyakarta, one of the areas most affected by the earthquake. The Chairman of Gerakan Pramuka, Prof Azrul Azwar, the Vice Chairman, Scouts Care Task Force Chairman, Parni Hadi, and the Secretary General of Gerakan Pramuka, Joedyaningsih, give full support to the five scout leaders. An ambulance and doctor who is a Scout leader was also sent. Full Story.


 * May 17: Rhys Jones, a Network Scout from Hampshire today successfully reached the summit of Everest, the world highest mountain. In climbing Everest Rhys becomes the youngest ever person ever to climb all seven of the highest peaks on each of the worlds continents. Rhys completed the Everest climb on his 20th Birthday. Rhys reports, "Despite deep snow, the weather continues to be very good" which has enabled this to be the first successful summit from the south side of the mountain this season. Full Story.


 * May 11: Royal Mail has unveiled the six stamps that will mark the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross on 21 September and one of the featured recipients is Scout Jack Cornwell. Boy Seaman First Class Jack Cornwell was 16 when he died at the Battle of Jutland, remaining at his gun turret even though he was fatally wounded. He was a Scout and the Cornwell Scout Badge was introduced in his memory after his death 90 years ago.


 * May 5: Venerable Master Hsing Yun, of Taiwan, founder of the Fo Guang Shan temple, welcomed the participants of the 2nd World Scout Interreligious Symposium. 90 leaders from National Scout Organizations and Scout Religious Alliances (CPGS, DESMOS, ICCS, IFJS, IUMS, WBSB, Won Buddhism), from 15 countries, have come together near Kaoshiung, in Taiwan, to reinforce the value of Scouting as an institution promoting interreligious dialogue. Full Story.


 * May 1: Reader's Digest magazine has ranked the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) 9th under the "Legacies" category for the Cub Scouts' annual Pinewood Derby as "Best Mother-Son Finish".   - The BSA, based in Irving, Texas is the nation’s leading youth service organization. Full Story.


 * April 16: Be sure to pay your Internet fees...Cub Scout Pack 216 and Boy Scout Troop 216 of Roanoke, VA learned this lesson.  Pack 216's Internet address was bought by a pornography promoter and Troop 216's was bought by an advertiser when they didn't renew their domain name registrations. Full Story.


 * April 1: Scouts in the Australian Capital Territory will celebrate their 25th anniversary with a party in Glebe Park, Canberra and they will be presented with the   Key to the City of Canberra.


 * Mar 8: World Scouting calls on women and girls to support International Women's Day Full Story


 * Mar 3: More than 320 Girl Scouts register for eurolife.02! International Women's Day Full Story


 * Feb 20: Scouts in Mexico City collected more than one million (1,155,670) cans and created the world’s biggest Scout emblem that is 1000m2 Full Story


 * Feb 12: Officials in Hamilton County, Tennessee have renamed a historic trail Boy Scout Road Full Story


 * Cocoa Beach, FL, USA, Feb 08, 2006: Distinguished Eagle Scout and World Scout Committee member Steve Fossett took off from the NASA Kennedy Space Center to attempt another world record, this one to fly further than any other aircraft in history. Look here UPDATE: He successfully broke the record.


 * Richmond, VA, USA, Jan 16, 2006: Scouts have launched an RSS news feed for Scouting-related news; Look here


 * Irving, TX, USA, Dec 30, 2005: The Support Our Scouts Act of 2005 was passed. This means youth organizations such as BSA, GSUSA, etc. can not be barred from using government property and if they do, they can lose HUD funding. Look here