Rover SARSI: 1948 Report
Nahoon Mouth, East London: 4th SARSI
26 to 29 March 1948 – Easter week end
This was the first SARSI following the second world war and coincided with East London's centenary. The Camp Chief was A J Small, Deputy CC E A Maree and Secretary E English.
The campsite was situated at the mouth of the Nahoon River in a most beautiful setting. The weather was kind to them affording opportunities for swimming in the lagoon and sea. The Camp opened on the Thursday with groups arriving through most of the day and time was spent getting to know each other and rekindling old acquaintances.
Friday
After Flag break, prayers and notices the morning was free for the participants to chat to their fellow Rovers. The official opening was in the afternoon and it was performed by Sir Herbert Stanley, the Chief Scouts Commissioner.
Official Opening of the Indaba
A fairly large crowd of visitors was present when Sir Herbert Stanley arrived together with His Worship the Mayor of East London, Councillor Lazarus and Mrs. Lazarus, the town clerk and Mr M T Flemmer, the chairman of the Border Scout Council.
Skip then called upon the Mayor to say a few words. Mr Lazarus spoke very highly of the value of Scouting to the community and extended a warm welcome to Sir Herbert Stanley on behalf of East London. Sir Herbert himself then stood up and gave a most interesting yarn on his experiences and memories of Scouting. His references to B.-P. in the early days and also of Scouting in Ceylon were interesting and humorous. He concluded by declaring the Indaba open upon which the three flags were broken and the assembled Rovers saluted and were dismissed after a short prayer."
One of the very special guests was "Umhlanga" Bill Baker, the very first Scoutmaster to be appointed in South Africa.
After supper the first two papers were read.
Saturday
The morning was relaxing with many having a swim in the lagoon. The afternoon was taken up with a sight-seeing tour and a Camp Fire was held in the evening.
Panoramic tour of the City
On leaving Camp we went through Nahoon, then on to the Esplanade via the Nahoon Race Course and Bunkers Hill Township. From the beaches we went over to the West Bank over the Buffalo Bridge to the Prince George Circuit where the SA Grand Prix is run. They then went through the Buffalo Pass and had tea in the tea garden. The Buffalo Pass was built during the war as an alternative route to the West Bank in the event of the Buffalo Bridge being bombed! Driving through the pass they visited Gilwood Scout Camp and returned to camp via Cambridge and Nahoon.
Campfire
After much speculation as to whether the strong wind would blow away any the chances of holding a camp-fire, the 4th SARSI campfire was eventually opened in grand style. In spite of the weather, a large and appreciative public audience was present. The impressive opening of the camp-fire was carried out by torch bearers appearing from the four points of the compass. While the sparks flew up into the night, the voices of those present rose into song.
The camp-fire came to a successful conclusion with an amusing item given by the Cape Westerns, followed by prayers led by the Camp Chief.
Sunday
A traditional 'Rovers Own' was held in the morning and this was followed by three papers being read and the afternoon also having a further three papers being read with all sessions having time for question and answers.
Monday saw the winding up of the Indaba and after lunch the Camp closed.
Ed: Thanks to the Grahamstown Rovers logbook preserving the SARSI News, we can present this synopsis of the event and thanks to the late Richard Dey, for the photos who at the time was a member of the 1st Belgravia – Kensington Rover Scout Crew.
- Scout Heritage 2018