The Sea Dragon Sea Scout Group is an open group registered in the Richmond, Vancouver, Burnaby and Coquitlam Areas of the Pacific Coast and Fraser Valley Councils of Scouts Canada. The group was founded by Mr. Manfred Chan in 1985 and officially formed when the group charter was signed on March 1, 1986. Mr. Manfred Chan served as the Group Scout Leader until 1989, when Mr. William Chan assumed the leading position. Since then, Mr. William Chan has endeavored to develop the group with the support of each and every leader under his guidance. In our group's 25 years history, we have earned a very high reputation in the community for its excellent and high standard of service. The group consists of close to 500 members, 70 active leaders, 4 Beaver Colonies, 6 Sea Cub Packs, 5 Sea Scout Troops, 4 Venturer Sea Scout Companies and 1 Rover Sea Scout Crew for a total of 20 sections. We are the only complete Sea Scout group in the entire province of British Columbia. To encourage the progression and development of the Sea Dragon Sea Scouts, Commodore Manfred Chan has written and implemented guidelines providing standards, values and a unified direction. These guidelines stress the importance of educational, practical and physical training programs for leaders. Through these guidelines, existing leaders, new leaders in training, and all members of Sea Dragon Sea Scouts work together efficiently and successfully. As an effort to encourage leaders to offer their best to the organization, Sea Dragon Blue Medal has been presented since 1998 to leaders who offer outstanding services to the group and to individuals who supported the group financially or offer other valuable assistance. To date, 9 blue medals have been presented. Everyone involved in the Scouting movement must acknowledge the importance of community service. Sea Dragon Sea Scouts frequently participate in various community services such as the Walk-with-The-Dragon, the annual SUCCESS Fundraising Gala, the Dragon Boat Festival, fundraising events organized by the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and Timmy's Telethon for B.C.'s disabled children. In 2002, Sea Dragon Scouts volunteered over 5000 hours of their time at the Richmond Tall Ship Festival. A few lucky members had the opportunity to take on a 5-day expedition aboard the tall ship Europa. In 2003 and 2007, our group was responsible for the sailing program at the Provincial Jamboree. In 2007, Our group took on a major role in volunteering our services when the Pacific Coast Council was hosting The Centennial Scouter Conference in Richmond. Over the years, our group participated in many international events. Recent highlights include attending a Sea Festival held in Seattle, Washington, under the sponsorship of the Boy Scouts Of America Sea Scouts in 1998. In the same year, we organized an International Deep Sea Expedition and an International Sea Scout Regatta. Year 1999 will be remembered as a year of high adventure and friendship as our group attended the Haarlem Jamborette in Holland and we took this opportunity to visit many Scouting historic sites in England where Scouting was originally formed by Mr. Balden Powell (also known as BP) more than 100 years ago. These sites include the Brownsea Island, the Gilwell Park and the BP International House. In year 2000, our group participated in the BC Heritage Adventure, paddling along the Fraser River. In 2004, we attended the first ever Dragon Jamborette in Toronto. In the past 25 years, our group had visited Scout groups in places such as Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Japan, U.S.A., Singapore, Germany, England and Scotland. In the past few years, there has been a strong focus on training. Commodore Manfred Chan was responsible for the first ever Cub Pack Woodbadge II Advanced Training conducted in Chinese, as well as the first Sea Scout Woodbadge II Advanced Training. Both training courses, as well as numerous others, have been conducted by Commodore Manfred Chan and Commodore William Chan to promote Scouting training in the Chinese speaking community. In 25 years of existence, the group is proud of the achievement of our members. We have had more than 100 Venturer Sea Scouts earning the Queen's Venturer Adward and more than 100 Sea Scouts earning the Chief Scout Award. Up until 2009, more than 100 Sea Scout leaders have earned the Woodbadge. Among them, 9 are Trainer II's, and 2 of them are Trainer III's. The achievements of the Sea Dragon Sea Scouts have relied heavily on the assistance and services offered by their diligent leaders and on the guidance given by those who support Scouting in the community January 2010 |
