{"id":19851,"date":"2018-02-16T09:52:09","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T14:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=19851"},"modified":"2018-02-16T09:52:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T14:52:09","slug":"third-aurora-scouts-celebrate-diamond-anniversary-of-youth-enrichment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/third-aurora-scouts-celebrate-diamond-anniversary-of-youth-enrichment\/","title":{"rendered":"Third Aurora Scouts celebrate Diamond Anniversary of youth enrichment"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

They say that variety is the spice of life, but, if you ask a Scout, they light beg to differ.
\nSPICES, in fact, very well might be the spice of life and it is a philosophy that has served Aurora Scouts well into their seventh decade.
\nYou might not have known it, but this past Tuesday, February 13, was Scouting Day in Aurora, a day declared by proclamation of Mayor and Council to mark the 60th anniversary of the 3rd Aurora Scouts.
\nMayor Geoff Dawe proclaimed February 13 in their honour, recognizing Scouts Canada as Canada\u2019s \u201cleading not-for-profit youth organization, offering challenging programs for youth across Canada.\u201d
\nScouts, he said, provide programming and activities facilitated by \u201ca network of caring, dedicated volunteers\u201d as well as provide \u201cvolunteer-driven opportunities that enrich the lives of local youth by giving them a positive and constructive outlet for building self-confidence, learning life skills, contributing to their community and the world around them.\u201d
\nThe proclamation was received by long-time Scouter Kyle Munro, now a Beaver leader who started off as a youth in the 3rd Aurora group.
\n\u201cThe Scouting Movement has a long history in Aurora providing quality volunteer-driven opportunities for enriching the lives of local youth by giving them a positive, constructive outlet building self-confidence, learning life-skills, the importance of teamwork, and contributing to the community and the world around them,\u201d said Mr. Munro, who was joined by his son Henry, in showcasing an array of historic scouting mementos now on display at Town Hall. \u201cAt a time where Scouting Canada faces many challenges in remaining relevant as an activity in the lives of youth, the opportunity to be here today to recognize the longevity of this group is one that should be truly celebrated.\u201d
\nFor Scouter Cheryl Stoltz, Commissioner of the 3rd Aurora Scouts, this relevancy has always been clear.
\nMs. Stoltz first became involved in the organization 18 years ago when her husband and elder son were actively engaged in the group.
\n\u201cAt the time, they needed leaders,\u201d she says. \u201cI saw how much fun they were having and how much fun my husband was having as a leader because there are so many opportunities. \u201cThere are so many wonderful social activities through Scouting, but there is also a lot of training I have been able to transfer into my job that has really impressed my employers as well. I\u2019m a teacher and I learned things that I take back to my job about getting along with other people, dealing with bullying, about sporting activities and coaching.\u201d
\nBut what the leaders get out of the program is just gravy \u2013 the real measure of success is what it brings to the youth they lead.
\n\u201cScouting allows youth to experience the world in a way they never would have a chance to,\u201d says Ms. Stoltz. \u201cThere are so many unique opportunities through scouting \u2013 jamborees, international work experience, international volunteering, national and international camps, meeting other people from all the cultures right across Canada and the area. Third Aurora actually hosted 33 Venturers from the UK this summer and we put them up. It allowed our youth to find out about other countries and make connections and friends that they can go visit in other countries.\u201d
\nThe club focuses on teaching values ranging from environmental stewardship through cleanups and tree plantings, providing leadership opportunities for kids as young as five, chances to learn new skills, and hone a sense of belonging.
\n\u201cWe have six areas of Scouting that we like to call the SPICES \u2013 Social, Physical, Intellectual, Character, Emotional, and Spiritual \u2013 and we balance it out by looking at the environment, leadership, healthy living, citizenship, creative expression, beliefs and values,\u201d says Ms. Stoltz. \u201cScouting is a personal journey of growth that develops the whole person with a great support system.\u201d
\nAs much as it is about personal growth, working together the 3rd Aurora Scouts have solidified deep roots within the local community which continue to thrive and, according to Mr. Munro, these roots run alongside even deeper ones.
\nAurora United Church, with celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, has sponsored the 3rd Aurora Scouts since the very beginning , a relationship which barely had a hiccup in the aftermath of the church\u2019s disastrous fire in 2014.
\nTo ensure this relationship continues to thrive, however, those leaders are all important \u2013 and they are always looking for more.
\nIf you are a parent who has a child enrolled in any level of Scouting or have children around that age, Ms. Stoltz encourages you to become involved.
\n\u201cParents today just drop their kids and run, but one of the benefits of scouting is when you join, you get to spend very intimate time with your child doing things as you grow together,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is really worthwhile, it is like a breath of fresh air. When you\u2019re at work and you\u2019re taking a walk out in the woods and clear your head. Here, if you have a bad day at work and then you have this time with your child it is just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They say that variety is the spice of life, but, if you ask a Scout, they light beg to differ.
\nSPICES, in fact, very well might be the spice of life and it is a philosophy that has served Aurora Scouts well into their seventh decade. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/2018-02-15-05.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5ab","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 11:13:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}