The Scout Brigade
of Fort George

Established in 1984

Gone Home

January 22, 2005

Farewell Old Friend

1937 - 2005

Bruce was a Scouter for more than 40 years and was also one of the founders of the Scout Brigade of Fort George.

He served as its Registrar, Adjutant General, and do everything no one else wants to do guy.

The Scout Brigade, with the permission of Parks Canada, planted this Red Oak tree in 2005, in memory of Bruce.

It is planted quite near the Korean Barracks where Bruce spent most of his time while at the Briagde events.

With the planting and dedication of this tree, we hope  the spirit of Bruce will attend all future Brigade events.

This is the plaque marking Bruce's Tree

Delivered in honour of Bruce Sellors on Wednesday January 26^th, 2005 by David Randle, Camp Chief - Scout Brigade of Fort George

We have come together today, to honour the life of Bruce Sellors. 

To his sister Lynn and her family he was a brother and uncle, to his firefighting colleagues he was a brother firefighter, to others here, he was a friend, a neighbour or perhaps even someone you did business with. Each of us has our reasons to be here today. For me and the other members of Scouting here today, Bruce was also a brother, a brother Scout in the World Wide brotherhood that is Scouting. 

 It is as a Scout, that I will talk about Bruce.

 Bruce’s involvement with Scouting began forty years ago, and there are many here today that came to know Bruce in those earlier years and you all have your own memories of those times.

 I first met Bruce on Friday 14^th September 1984 at Fort George and at that time, I learned a very valuable lesson – you mess with Bruce on Friday night of a Scout Brigade weekend at your peril!

 The scout leader who brought me to that first Fort George campaign - himself a fire fighter - already knew the score and sent me - the “new” guy - to register in with Bruce – my proverbial “Baptism of Fire”.

 However, what impressed me so much about that camp in 1984, was the level of organization, the attention to detail, the little things and the wonderful spirit of those in attendance.  Over succeeding years, I came to know that none of this happened by accident. It was all because Bruce devoted countless hours of hard work into making it happen and making it special. 

 I became more involved in the event, and consequently had more and more direct contact with Bruce.  Who of us in that position will ever forget his early morning calls at the office – every morning.

 Bruce also had a rare gift and that was the ability to orchestrate an event, to know in his mind, what would work and what would not work. His creativity never ceased to amaze me.  Despite his advancing years, he never lost the ability to know what would appeal to a child.

 The Scout Brigade of Fort George was Bruce’s child. He was one of those responsible for its birth. He babied it, He changed its diapers and he nurtured it. He saw it through its growing years and off to school, high school, college and into adulthood. It started that September in 1984 with 205 scouts and leaders and went on to become one of the most successful annual Scout events in the country. In the last six years it has consistently attracted more than 1,200 scouts and leaders each year from Ontario. Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. A lot of those people are here today.  Over its twenty one years of operation I can say that the Scout Brigade has hosted some sixteen to seventeen thousand Scouts and their leaders and without Bruce this simply would not have happened. Bruce saw his child come of age and now it is the duty of those of us that cared for him to ensure that child lives a full and healthy life.

 Over those years, Bruce and the others on the organizing committee faced every human emotion, from joy through tears, from calm through the fiercest tempests and no matter what occurred, Bruce had the rare ability to wipe the slate clean, forget and move on.

 Knowing Bruce as I came to do, I knew that his dedication to Scouting was a lifelong commitment. He signed up as a leader in 1964.  He undertook training for the Scout Troop Section and subsequently as a Service Scouter. He was awarded the Medal of Merit in 1984 and received a bar to that distinction in 1989. He received his pin marking forty years of service in 2004.

 I can tell you all that at the time of his death, a recommendation was being drafted for Bruce to receive one of Scouts Canada’s highest awards – the Silver Acorn. I am extremely sorry we were too late to give Bruce that recognition which he had wholeheartedly earned and deserved.

 Over my years with Bruce, I came to learn about and appreciate his finer points. Not only his attention to detail, but his sense of humour – ever looking for something funny he could pull on anyone – and everyone.  He was always honest, sometimes perhaps too honest. If he saw a wheel that he thought was proverbially squeaking, he would bring it to everyone’s attention, and if oil was not immediately forthcoming, was not averse to jabbing a spoke into the wheel, sitting back and saying – there I told you it was broken.

 Bruce never liked being the spotlight.  He was content to work in the background and shy away from any public recognition, but he thrived on the recognition of his peers and would be gladdened that so many of you are here today.

 As the world entered the computer age. Bruce was resolute in hanging on to the world of ledgers and pencils, typewriters and telephones. I think back at the years we tried to persuade Bruce to get “on line”, thinking it would make communications so much easier. Eventually he succumbed and only when he discovered the power of e-mail, did we realize our mistake, and then he discovered the art of “blind carbon copy” e-mails. Although only a user of computers myself and by no means a computer expert, Bruce would call me the moment any glitch or error occurred on his machine and expect me to be able to fix it.  I remember a desperate call from him one day because he had lost the cursor on his monitor. I talked him through checking this and that, ascertained that yes he did in fact have the monitor turned on and after ten frustrating minutes I discovered that although he had powered up the monitor, he had not turned the computer on. 

 Bruce never lost an opportunity to remind everyone that his pencils and ledgers had never crashed or been inadvertently erased, or that his “windowless computer” – his typewriter - never got viruses.

 I will miss my friend.

 Bruce - Thank-you for your wit, for your ingenuity, your sense of humour, your sense of mischievousness and your friendship.  In an ever faster changing world it was good to have an anchor.

 It is often said that God has a special place in heaven reserved for volunteers. If that is so, then surely Bruce must have a front row seat and I am prepared to bet he has already got the place organized.

 Well done old friend and farewell. 

Who hath smelt wood-smoke at twilight? 

Who hath heard the birch-log burning?

Who is quick to read the noises of the night?

Let him follow with the others, for the Young Men's feet are turning

To the camps of proved desire and known delight!

 These words from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, The Feet of the Young Men, written in 1897 are inscribed on the parchment that each of us earned when we were awarded our Gilwell beads. 

Bruce embodied the essence of those words as he worked with us to develop and run a Scouting programme that has few equals and no betters.  Over the span of 20 years, these efforts have touched the lives of many thousands of Scouting youth and leaders.  While saddened that he has gone home, we are heartened that we came to know him and to share in the development of his Scouting dream.

 Ron Nicholson