Specialtrip
Local scout leader Frank Conlon has chalked up 50 years in the movement and plans to undertake a special journey down memory lane next year by attending the World Scout Jamboree in West Virginia in America.
This will coincide with the Golden Jubilee anniversary of his first annual scout camp with the then Saint Patrick’s troop in Dundalk of which he was a member, having started out in the movement with the cubs.
Frank vividly remembers the camp to Liverpool, the main part of the journey being by sea. As when the troop docked in Belfast on the way home the Troubles had erupted in Northern Ireland and the scouts had to cover up their black uniforms.
A lot of changes have taken place since in the scout movement, including Frank joining as a leader of the then new sea troop in Blackrock, and the two national scouting bodies joined forces under the name of Scouting Ireland.
But Frank has been constantly involved serving at one stage as District Commissioner for Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan for four years, and is now Group Leader in Blackrock.
What’s more he intends to continue to be actively involved, as he has enjoyed all his time in the movement.