The 1st Werribee Scout Group celebrated its centenary last week with a book launch detailing its history.
Former scout leader Kim Monk and co-author Jim Mitchell spent the past 22 years collecting documents, photographs and personal recollections for the tome, which was originally meant to be released for the group’s 80th anniversary in 1995.
“There was too much to do and not enough information on hand,” Mr Monk said.
Two decades later, the book was finally launched last Thursday.
The 1st Werribee Scouts was founded by The Reverend Ash in 1915, and included 15 boys. Girls first joined the ranks in the 1970s.
Today, the group has almost 100 young members and leaders, and is the third-largest in the Werribee Plains district.
Mr Monk said community support had kept the 1st Werribee Scout Group going.
“In the old days, the town was very supportive of all its community groups, and scouting offered a lot of the outdoor things that people were involved in anyway, so it was not an alien concept,” he said.
“The leaders can make or break a Scout group. If they’re not good leaders, numbers dwindle and, if they are good leaders, the numbers grow.”
Copies of the book are available at Wyndham’s libraries and Werribee Historical Society.
