By Leah Klemm
Photo: Kevin McQueen
For the past 15 years Scout Groups from around KwaZulu-Natal come together to build rafts and race against each other. This years’ Raft Race was held in honor of our Scouting Founding Father on BP Sunday, the 21st of February in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
To celebrate Lord Baden-Powell’s birthday, 680 people came together at the Midmar Dam. They set up camp and built their rafts using materials like wood, bamboo, poles or tubes. To make sure that everything was safe and secure they had qualified life guards and skippers at the dam. Experienced Scouter and event organizer Kevin McQueen was delighted with the results! “The children were happy and all in all it was a big success. Each Cub and Scout had the opportunity to take part and have fun, and everyone was a winner at the end of the race!”
The Scout Group who was crowned the winning team with the most creative raft was 4th Pietermaritzburg. Group Scout Leader Malcom Trollit was very proud! “The Scouts built a pirate ship called ‘The Flying Dutch’, which was created by our Assistant Troup Scouter Matthew Burnett. Last year we won the endurance race but failed at the other categories. It is so exciting for us to now be the winner of the most original Scout Raft this year. We had a lots of fun and it was a great triumph for the Scouts”, explains Malcom. “The best part was definitely that everyone could see our raft and we were very proud of ourselves.”
There is no doubt about it! The KZN Scouts definitely made B-P proud on his birthday!