Scouting, 1908-1983

From July 4 to 14, 1983, the Fifteenth World Scout Jamboree will take place in Kananaskis County, Alberta, an area of mountains, foothills, lakes and forests eighty kilometers west of Calgary. The Jamboree completes celebrations marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of Scouting. Approximately 15,000 Scouts from about 100 countries will attend the World Jamboree, the second Canada has hosted. Robert Baden-Powell, affectionately known as B.-P., founded the Scout movement. He had served in various part of the British Empire as an army officer. In 1899 he published Aids to Scouting, a military training manual outlining reconnaissance, tracking, map reading, observation, and camouflage. Existing youth groups began using the book and Baden-Powell decided to adapt it for boys. To test his ideas, he ran an experimental camp in 1907 and in 1908 published Scouting For Boys. That same year Scouting appeared to Canada, although it had appeared in Newfoundland in 1907. Two separate but affiliated organizations run Scouting in Canada today. These the Boy Scouts of Canada and L'Association des Scouts du Canada. The movement involves young people aged five to twenty-three and many volunteer leaders. Scouting offers numerous enjoyable outdoor and indoor activities while promoting spiritual principles, loyalty to country, peace, cooperation and understanding among peoples, community service, and self development. Baden-Powell best summed up the ideals of Scouting in his last message, when he said, "I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life .... Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best." As a special tribute to the scouting movement in this country, Canada Post organized a nationwide poster contest on the theme "What Scouting Means to Me" for all scouts between the ages of 5 and 17. The winning entrant would have his poster featured on the scouting commemorative stamp. From the thousands of entries submitted, the judges selected finalists in the Beaver, Cub, Scout, and Venturer categories from across Canada. The winning poster, drawn by Edmundston, New Brunswick, Scout Marc Fournier, aged 12, illustrates an evening flag-lowering ceremony at an overnight camp. Montreal graphic designer François Dallaire prepared the stamp design using this poster. The poster entry of six-year-old Michael Timms, a Beaver from Delta, British Columbia, was chosen for the first day cover cachet design.