Tucked in at the edge of the site, there's a small pile of wood set up ready to host campfires for all who wish to attend. There was a great turnout on Tuesday evening, with many sporting their camp blankets and voices ready to sing.
The evening was coordinated by James, Welfare Officer for Seine Subcamp and campfire leader at Thriftwood Activity Centre, after being “conned” (asked very nicely to just take on one little extra thing… something many leaders here will be familiar with)! James has been drawn to campfires since his Cub leader taught him his first songs. For James, this has lead to him becoming the go-to guy for campfire entertainment, “I do various ones through my group, district events, I’ve even been asked to do a centenary recently.”
There is an undeniable sense of tradition that goes with attending a campfire and as much as the shouting, silly actions and jumping up and down makes for a good laugh, the act of gathering around a fire to share stories and sing songs goes back to the deepest roots of Girlguiding and Scouts. “All the silly stuff is great but it links to the earliest parts of Scouting”.
At the beginning of the evening, some members of the Canadian contingent sprinkled some ashes from previous campfires into the blaze, linking the fire at EIJ to fires from all over the world. The tradition of collecting and sharing ashes goes back to the very start of our shared movements and was really moving to witness.
We all have our favourite songs so of course I had to find out what James' favourite was in his certified campfire expert opinion. His verdict was “Boom Chicka Boom! It’s so versatile and you can meld it for that particular group.”
When I caught up with other attendees, they were very clear that a campfire is an absolute must when coming to events like these. “You’ve got to come to a campfire on jamboree! You have to!” Lucy of Pheonix Guides Darwin and Shinano Subcamp told me. From another angle, Jemima leader with 1st Tollesbury Guides was eager to get some new ideas, “I know I can learn some new songs, steal them and take them back!”
When pressed for their favourite songs, Lucy told me hers was “Edelweiss, hands down” (excellent taste Lucy) and Jemima told her Brownie’s favourite “involves a dead bumblebee so I can’t sing it in polite company!”
As the night continued, we were treated to lots of firm favourites including Fred the Moose (very much approved by the Canadians), Ging Gang Goolie, Boom Chicka Boom, Pirate Ship many others. All those present were up, joining in and in very fine voice! The evening ended with a spine-tingling rendition of Kum By Yah which brought the evening to a beautiful end in the gathering darkness of the camp.
As James correctly says, “If you hear that young people don’t like campfires it because they’ve been to a bad one!” The campfires being held at EIJ2024 are sure to be lots of fun so make sure to pop over one evening.
