Great Scot September 2018 Gt Scot_154_September_online | Page 91

In the spirit of rugby
The Old Scotch Rugby Club’s annual match
day fundraising event, held this year on 26
August at Scotch College, was once again
highly successful. Included on the program
were a traditional old boys’ friendly game,
a father-son game of touch rugby, rugby
sevens games and a traditional lunch and
refreshments.
Formed in 2013, the Old Scotch Rugby Club
offers Old Boys and their families a social link
back to ‘the game they play in heaven’. The
club was launched by a group of dedicated
Old Scotch Collegians and parents to continue
what they saw as a great match day tradition in
the global game, and to support the presence
of rugby union within the Scotch Family. We
believe that the values of Scotch College and
the values of rugby union are aligned.
The first match day was held at Kiwi
Hawthorn (former home of the original Old
Scotch Rugby Club) with recent Old Boys
taking on the School in a friendly game.
The club decided to support the annual 1st
XV Scotch versus Melbourne Grammar School
game with an award named in honour of Bill
Morgan (‘35). Bill is the last surviving member
and Captain of the 1935 Scotch 1st XV. He
continues to take a keen interest in the Scotch
teams’ progress.
The annual match day was expanded in
2015 to include Melbourne Grammar old boys,
renewing a fierce rivalry with a hard fought
game that ended in a classic Barbarians-style
draw. In 2017 the old boys’ match day
expanded further to include teams from four old
boy networks: Scotch, Melbourne Grammar, St
Kevin’s College and Haileybury College.
The club uses funds raised to help aspiring
Old Scotch Collegians to further their rugby
careers. In 2015 it provided funds to support
Rian Olivier (‘13) who toured with the Victorian
state team. Old Scotch Rugby Club thanks all the
players, volunteers, parents and supporters who
have contributed to the cause over the years.
RICK BOYKETT ('81) —
OLD SCOTCH RUGBY CLUB
Rover Crew
A
centenary
reflection
JAMES O’NEAL, EMMA STENT, CHRISTOPHER BRACK (‘12), NICK PIKE,
NICK KAY (‘12), MICHAEL YOUNG (PHOTO: TOM HOWISON-HAWORTH)
Rovers, a Scouting section targeted at
young adults aged between 18 and 26, is
celebrating 100 years since the very first Rover
Crew was formed. We have been reflecting on
the history of our movement and our group on
this significant occasion. The Old Scotch Rover
Crew was itself formed in June 1931 and has
been meeting continuously ever since. This year
we celebrated our 87th birthday with cake in the
Rover Crew’s den.
Part of our rich history is found on the banks
of Chum Creek in Healesville, a property which
was donated to the Scout group by Major
General Harold Edward ‘Pompey’ Elliott in 1928,
90 years ago this year, in appreciation of the
role Scouting played in the development of his
son, Neil Campbell Elliott (‘30). A year later, a
hut known as Elliott Lodge, named in honour of
‘Pompey’ Elliott, was built on the property and
officially opened by Harold Elliott in 1930.
Late last year, the Old Scotch Rover
Crew added to this history by ‘knighting’ (a
full investiture) Nick Pike and Tom Howison-
Haworth into our crew at Elliott Lodge. More
recently, the crew has held another investiture
ceremony in Melbourne to ‘squire’ (a partial
investiture) two of our new members, Emma
Stent and James O’Neal, into the crew.
The crew recently visited Elliott Lodge for
a couple of weekends, the first of which was a
service-based weekend where we split firewood
for the approaching winter and stacked it in
the woodshed to dry. When the Scout Troop
goes up there for their main camp it will make
it much easier for them to start their cooking
fires. During the second weekend the crew
celebrated Christmas in July. During that
weekend we decorated a tree in the lodge,
had a Christmas-themed feast and watched a
movie, The Hogfather.
Earlier, over the Australia Day long weekend,
the crew enjoyed camping out with hundreds of
other Rovers at Eumeralla Scout camp, located
just outside Anglesea. While there we tried our
hand at archery, kicked back on the beach,
and danced late into the night. Prior to the ski
season, the crew attended the Rover Ski Expo
to make sure we had the right gear to hit
the slopes.
Our new online treasury system and
transitioning to online banking has made
keeping the books in balance that much easier.
The crew has also updated our website, using
a fresh new wordpress template and adding
a footer to each page with all our contact
information and social media links. We’re looking
to update and flesh out the history of the Scout
group and Rover Crew on the website, so if you
have any old Scouting photos or knowledge to
pass on, please don’t hesitate to get in touch
with us. Our website is still at its old address:
www.oldscotchrovers.org.au.
CHRISTOPHER BRACK ('12) — CREW
LEADER, OLD SCOTCH ROVER CREW
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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