Newspaper PAGGS 2006, #10

Wednesday 9 August: International Games, Banquet Meal, Closing Ceremony
[A technical problem delayed this issue]


Weather 50/50. Last day. In the morning there are games that every country offered to organise for everybody. You can play English and Danish croquet, Twister, a Dutch clog game and spijkerpoepen (handicapped nail putting in a bottle neck), a Czech sort of draught table game [maybe the English Nine Men's Morris?], Scottish wrestling, and caber games. In the meantime starts the putting down of the big pioneering works on the subcamps, like kitchens, tables, benches and gates. It is disturbed by showers. But carry on. Keep “singing in the rain, be happy”. The tents must stay till tomorrow to sleep in the last night. There are about 50 wet tents to put down tomorrow and later to hang out to dry in Scout huts in Apeldoorn. It will become a big operation. Cross fingers it will be dry tomorrow????

In the afternoon starts preparations by each country to produce a national meal for the international banquet. Scotland starts the meal with “cockaleekie soup”. It contains leek, chicken vegetable mix. Also a speciality “cranachan”, a desert. England produces a main course of sausage bangers and mash, green peas and onion gravy. Czechia cooks “bramburak”, potato pancakes. Holland “oliebollen”, currant doughnuts. Denmark “roedgroed med floede”, fruits of the forest with milk. The menu produced by the PAGGSorganisation is meat from a pig turning above a fire and bread rolls with warm ham and nice sauce. And of course Dutch speciality “haring”, salted herring with onions. You take the fish by the tail and let it disappear in the mouth to let it go down. Typical Dutch.

In the big white tent Arena are all the children and leaders sitting on benches with tables. Imagine 280 people sitting at a banquet meal. In the middle of the woods it takes some time and organisation in the queue to get your food. The quality is good some people come for seconds. The banquet time has to be extended.

After that quick the closing ceremony in full uniform. Colourful all the different greens, blue, khaki, special with the kilts of the Scots. Because the country flags have been stolen from the flagpoles we can only let down the PAGGSflag by two Dutch Scouts. Every delegation leader thanks with a word and present the organising team. It is getting late but the children want the tuck shop open before the farewell party starts at 9:30.pm.

The Scottish leader Leckie organises an excellent Scottish party with dances and live music of two bagpipes and singing. Everybody joins in. Let's party. A happy crowd. The Danes also do their Danish dances, which you can join in. The Czech boys and girls are very brave to sing a long song for the big audience. The closing happens with the traditional Scottish farewell song “Should all acquaintance be forgot”. The circle of all PAGGS participants hand-in-hand is too big to fit in the tent and is extended outdoors. Very impressive and emotional. The music is of a combined Scottish and English band with two bagpipes (Leckie and Will) and singer and English drummers.

For some it is emotional to say farewell to old and new friends. We have to do it now because tomorrow morning it will be not possible. The Czechs leave first at 5:30am already, the English at 8:30am, the Scots at 10:00am and the Danes at 11:00am. All by coaches. It becomes a short sleep, or no sleep at all for some. The PAGGS spirit/feeling is high tonight. Farewell kisses, a laugh, tears. See you next time, we e-mail, thank you for the nice time, bye bye….

[Sorry for all the language and type mistakes of your non-English reporter Jan Jansen.]

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