When Lord Robert Baden-Powell conducted the first (experimental) Scout camp on Brownsea Island in England in 1907, he started one of the first Scouting traditions. When the camp was over, he gave each attendee some of the ashes from their camp fire and kept some for himself. Baden-Powell did this throughout his years in Scouting. Each campfire he attended, he would sprinkle the ashes from the previous campfire. After the embers and ash of that campfire had cooled, he would take some of the ash with him for the next ceremonial campfire he attended. The ashes from the original Brownsea Island campfire have been passed from one to another now for 100 years. Imagine. 100 Years of campfires, friends and fellowship.
The tradition of campfire ashes is a personal tradition. From the time you recieve your first Scouting campfire ashes, it becomes your Scouting story. Members of a Scout unit will all have the same story as their ashes are combined into the same campfire. You see, campfire ashes have a pedigree, of sorts. Part of the tradition is to keep a list of campfires the ash has come from, starting with the first campfire where no earlier ashes were spread and continuing to the last campfire they were added to. When ashes from more than one campfire are added to a new campfire, the lists are combined and provided to the recipients when they get their ash. Remember only those in attendance at the campfire receive its ashes because the ashes tell a tale of connection from one moment in time to another. The tradition of campfire ashes is a personal tradition… that can be shared.
Does your unit have a tradition of campfire ashes? It is easy to get started. Talk to the leaders in your unit. Perhaps one already has ashes from a Scouting campfire, maybe from a Wood Badge class they attended. You could invite a Scouter from the district or council or from another unit who has Scouting campfire ashes. Maybe you won’t find any ashes to add to your next campfire, but that doesn’t stop you from starting your campfire tradition by distributing some the ashes to each person in attendance at the campfire ceremony to be used the next time they attend a Scouting campfire.
