Open night celebrations for Inverurie Boys Brigade
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The 1st Inverurie Boys Brigade recent;y held their first annual open night where they could have parents, friends and family along for the first time post-lockdown in three years in Inverurie Town hall.
Company Captain Michael Cochrane said: "We were delighted to have ex-Aberdeenshire Provost Hamish Vernal along with his wife Maureen as Inspecting officer , Hamish himself being an ex-member of 1st Jamieson Boys Brigade was delighted to meet all the young boys and officers of the company and gave the boys a talk on how he keeps in touch with his friends that he made in his time in the Boys Brigade many years ago and how the boys should cherish their time in Boys Brigade as it gave him a good grounding for his future life and choices he made .
"He commented that it was great to see Inverurie having a Boys Brigade Company and how it seems to be growing again after a hard few years of numbers dropping and covid not helping in trying to grow the number of boys joining.
"Without the support and hard work of our team of leaders nights such as this couldn't happen as they deserve praise for their efforts in running the sections on a Monday and Friday night to give the boys a varied and fun evening that culminates in the annual parents awards evening when the boys are awarded due badges."
Michael also commented that the last couple of years have been a hard slog in trying to keep boys interested in Boys Brigade and that if they hadn't had BB@Home activities and zoom meetings to try and keep going through the Covid when they weren't allowed to meet inside or face to face during the lockdowns he wonders how they could have continued as a BB company as has been the case in other areas around the country.
Aberdeen and Aberdeeshire have lost a few companies as they couldn't meet anywhere at all where as We were lucky that when restrictions lifted slowly we first had outside activities and thankfully the weather was kind to us and then we eventually were allowed to meet with strict limitations and rules in St Andrew's church halls.
"When we returned last August I had genuine fears as to if we had boys to returning to BB but those fears were soon put paid to as we had an enrolment evening before the schools went back and we ended up having 50 boys in the company at one point this session which was absolutely fantastic to see such numbers wanting to join.
"We also have with the number of boys grow managed to get more leaders join and especially gaining two young leaders to help from the academy which is very much needed to put a younger presence in the leaders and give their ideas and perspective on what works and what doesn't with the boys and they get to put these voluntary hours towards gaining Saltire awards and also gain certificates from Boys Brigade .
"Adding as much as they gained young leaders there comes a point that Uni or College can come in to play and the need to keep trying to get young leaders in and involved with Boys Brigade is a constant challenge to have ones join and stay involved .
"The company are looking at having a fun event to involve all the boys to end the session as a reward to the boys for their hard work throughout the year and allow the boys to go and enjoy the summer break before returning and trying to gain their next badges in August ."
Anyone interested in their son joining Inverurie Boys Brigade can contact them through their Facebook page and register through there or keep an eye out as they will be advertising for another enrolment evening in August before the schools go back again.
Winners at our open night were -
Anchor Boys
P1 Best boy - Harris Gebbie; P2 Best boy - Ruaridh Morris and P3 Best boy - Adam Herd.
Best squad - Dolphins; Cameron Brand (squad leader ) , Franco Carbone , George Martin , Nyall Innes and Ellis Bommer- Pierce.
Overall best Anchor Boy - George Martin
North Area Christmas and Easter Card winners / Third place and top 10 finish arranged and judged by guests of 4th Lossiemouth Boys Brigade and 1st Buckie Boys Brigade
P1 -Ewen Dewer 1st place(Christmas and Easter cards); P2 -Ruaridh Morris 3rd place (Easter card ) and P3 -George Martin 1st place ( Easter card ).
Top 10 placed in Easter Competition ( Each receive a medal ) - P1 Mathew Shanks; P2 Manveer Gora; P2 Nyall Innes and P3 James Phipps and also a 4th place Christmas for Bobby Jordan
Junior Section
Best P5 boy - Jace Borg
Best squad - Tigers; Jack Strachan, Alfie Gordon and Alex Price.
Best boys - P4 - Alex Price; P5 - Jace Borg and P6 - Noel Marwick.
Over all best junior boy - James Shanks.
Outstanding achievement in Juniors - Alfie Gordon.
Company Section
Best Squad - Squad 2; Andrew Strachan and Christopher Kelman
Best Boys - Christopher Kelman and Torin Watt
