Miramichi Scouts Honored

Sunday, 15 November 2009 16:18 |

Written by Daniel Martins |

Daniel Martins/Miramichi Leader

Apolline Savage shows off the patches from the scout troops she served in, starting with the 1st Gretna Green, at the top.

Daniel Martins/Miramichi Leader

Denis St. Germain of the 1st Gretna Green scouts shows off his Master Scout’s Award, second from the top.

MIRAMICHI - Two young Miramichi scouts are being honoured for their years of service.

Apolline Savage is the recipient of the Medal of Maple for Distinguished Youth Service, while Denis St. Germain, a Grade 9 student at Miramichi Valley High School, has earned the Chief Scout's Award.

Both attended ceremonies in Fredericton last Saturday.

"Its nice to be recognized," Savage, 23, said of the honour. "I don't think I've done everything I'm supposed to do yet, but it's still nice."

Savage has been involved in scouting since Grade 10, when she joined the Venturer program with a friend.

At the time, she said, that was quite something.

"We were the first girls to join, so that was pretty big," she said. "Scouting hadn't been coed for that long, so it was a big deal to have girls in the crew and in the company."

While she said the male scout members were a bit wary, and her adviser joked he didn't want any girls in the troop, things turned out well and she didn't feel unwelcome.

"We ended up doing a lot of good work," she said.

When she graduated high school, she moved on to the Rovers, before moving to Fredericton and joining the Fredericton-area Rivorton Rovers, and getting involved in the scouts organization on a provincial level.

She graduated university in May and is currently the youth commissioner for the New Brunswick council of Scouts Canada, working in Miramichi.

One of her best memories of the past few years is getting involved in youth camps.

She laughs as she remembers one camp where she led the young campers in making cardboard cars.

"It might sound kind of geeky, but it was a lot of fun," she said.

She recently represented New Brunswick at a leadership summit in Ottawa and after her three-year term is up, she says she won't be done with scouting.

"I'm sticking around after that for sure, and then I'm sure I'm going to stay involved after that," she said.

Fourteen-year-old Denis St. Germain has been in scouts for nine years, from Beaver to Venturer, and he doesn't show signs of slowing down.

"My dad signed me up for it, and one of my friends was in it," he said.

When he was due to be awarded the badge representing his Chief Scout's Award, he was in the annual 'Star Trek' nighttime outdoor skills competition at the Fundy National Park.

Rather than have him wait, the event's organizers surprised St. Germain with the award, in front of more than 100 other scouts.

"I didn't really want to go up and walk in front of them all," he recalled wryly.

He noted he almost didn't qualify for the award, which is the highest level of achievement at scout level.

To qualify, he had to earn his Voyageur and Pathfinder activity awards, as well as 10 challenge badges and loads of other activities, including outdoor skills.

"One thing I had to do was sleep in a tent or a lean-to in the winter," he said. "And I did it on the last day of winter."

As rough as it was, he wrapped up, brought his dog for warmth, and made it through.

He also said he doesn't expect to leave scouts any time soon.

Last Updated (Sunday, 15 November 2009 16:32)