Seven Scouts from Scouts Scotland visited the United States from July 9 to July 23, and, in between their many adventures, stayed at Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue’s substation.

Sarah Riddle, the Scouts Scotland District Team Lead 14 to 24 Glenrothes and Levenmouth, said she, and her Scouts girls and boys ages 15 to 17, had a mission to visit as many places as they possibly could.

In just two weeks, they binged food at diners, enjoyed a week-long stay at a Scouting camp, explored beautiful sites at New York City, and met the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel, C.B. Cebulski. Suffice to say, the Scotland Scouts have done everything they can to see their goal through.

There waiting for the Scouts when they landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport was Steve Agnew, a Sandy Hook resident and the International Scouting Representative for the Connecticut Yankee Council.

The Scouts’ first experience after their drive back from JFK was Blue Colony Diner, where the Scouts were taken aback but happy at their meals’ large portion sizes.

“We were very tired because it was a long day, I think we were up for about 24 hours by that point, so to be able to go to go to a 24-hour diner was great,” Riddle said.

They did laundry at PJ’s Laundromat, rode rides at Six Flags New England, dipped into the Long Island Sound at Silver Sands Beach in Milford, dined at fast food joints they do not have back home, and much more.

All throughout their trip, the Scotland Scouts wore their international “necker” or neckerchief — an indication that they are traveling overseas for an international Scouting experience. Since they are from Scotland, their neckers are white and light blue, and feature Scotland’s flag on the back.

The Scouts used Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue’s substation as their “home away from home” during the trip, a place where they could store their belongings and sleep in between locations and activities.

“We are very, very thankful for the opportunity to come here in the first place, but the fact that they’ve offered us a place to stay has been invaluable to our trip,” Riddle said. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without these guys.”

Leading the trip was none other than the Scouts themselves.

“We wanted to give the kids the ability to pick what they wanted to do and see,” Riddle explained. “So this trip has literally been organized by our young people.”

Riddle said everything has had the Scouts at the front of it, even the finances. The Scouts raised over £25,000 — over $33,000 — to visit the United States and check every box off their bucket list.

Seeing the Scouts not only lead the trip but enjoy themselves is what Scouting is all about, according to Riddle.

“It’s about being able to give young people the chance to develop their leadership, their creativity, and build their confidence,” Riddle said.

She added that the Scouts needed to gain that confidence, independence and maturity. To be able to live somewhere else for two weeks with people that are not family, Riddle said, is an achievement.

Memories In America

A big highlight of the Scouts journey was their week-long stay at Camp Sequassen, a 600-acre camp that has served Scouts in Connecticut and the surrounding area since 1927.

During the summer camp, the Scouts had no phones for the entire week — no contact with home, no social media, no texting. Their stay featured various sports competitions, misadventures with raccoons, and enjoying the light of campfires.

The camp itself was separated into different sites or subcamps, where different troops stayed together.

It did not matter that the seven visiting Scouts were from Scotland; when they hung out with the dozens of other Scouts at the camp, Agnew said they “were just kids.”

Even though there are quite a few competitions at the camp, and even though the Scouts fought against American troops, nearly the entire camp shouted “Scotland” or “Scotland forever,” according to Riddle.

“For our Scouts to feel so appreciated and involved in something just shows you what Scouting is all about, how inclusive Scouting is and how it brings the best out of everybody,” Riddle said.

Riddle said on Thursday nights Camp Sequassen has a “friendship fire,” where people can invite anybody they want to enjoy a campfire and sing a couple of songs together. Normally, Riddle said camp staff expect five to seven people to come in, have a chat, and sing a song.

During this trip, around 200 people — including the seven Scotland Scouts — gathered around the fire, held hands, and sung a camping vesper song — an end of the night song sung traditionally at campfires.

“At the end camp staff said that will stay with them forever because they’ve never seen such inclusivity together from International Scouts,” Riddle said. “It can be hard to merge when you’re from a different country ... but our kids had such an amazing time.”

The Scottish Scouts got to put themselves out there, make friends, share Scottish words and songs, and even had other campers try on their kilts.

Calvin Davidson-Kelly and Grace Gibbons, two of the Scouts on the trip, both said they loved the camp. Not having phones, Davidson-Kelly said, was a change of pace. Gibbons, meanwhile, said it made it a lot easier to make friends.

They both also loved visiting New York City and seeing the shift from the quiet suburban areas to the hustle and bustle of the city. Davidson-Kelly made it his mission in New York City to try Raising Cane’s, while Gibbons was the resident bug and spider catcher during their stay at camp.

When asked by Riddle what they enjoyed the most, Davidson-Kelly and Gibbons said “all of it.”

“[I enjoyed] all of it,” Davidson-Kelly said. “It’s all been good. I don’t have one favorite bit.”

Sophie Anderson, another one of the Scouts on the trip, said she was happy to see certain sites like the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and Edge Observatory, as well as try a root beer float for the first time.

“It was really good, and I’m so sad that I’m leaving,” Anderson said. “I’ve had to message all of my friends and be like, ‘Don’t remind me. Do not message me and ask how I’m feeling about leaving.”

Bonds From Scouting

Riddle said she and Agnew became good friends through scouting.

He and other Connecticut Scouts visit Scotland every two years for the Blair Atholl Jamborette, a biyearly international camp that brings together hundreds of Scouts and leaders from across the globe for fun activities and challenges.

Connecticut Yankee Council, a Boy Scout Council that serves Fairfield, New Haven, and parts of Hartford county, has sent a contingent to the jamborette every other year since the late 1990s. Agnew is the most recent iteration of Scout leaders who manage the trip.

“Steve’s contingent and our kids got put together in a subcamp, so that then made us work together even more,” Riddle said. “The kids got along really well ... and we’ve just stayed in touch since then.”

Riddle, as one of the Blair coordinators, checks in with Agnew for the event and has him stay in one of their Scout halls afterwards. They made a tradition where she will take him and his contingent out for bowling and other activities.

“[Riddle’s] group has been gracious to host us for a very long time and build that rapport,” Agnew said.

When Riddle said they have been dying to return the favor, Agnew said the council has been dying to have them visit.

Agnew asked the Scottish scouts and leaders to visit the US for over ten years, according to Riddle. The trip finally started coming together last year, when Agnew asked and schedules aligned for a summer 2025 trip.

“And so he asked me again and I said, yes, let’s do this,” Riddle said.

She did a selection, got Scouts to apply, and then had them touch base with Agnew to sort the trip itinerary.

However, the trip would not have happened without Rob Sibley, the assistant chief of Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue, and letting the Scotland Scouts stay at the substation.

“Otherwise, [the Scouts] could come, but finding some place for them to stay on either side of summer camp wouldn’t have been possible,” Agnew explained.

Sibley is a Scoutmaster with Agnew for local Boy Scout Troop 370, and the pair have been friends for almost 20 years. Sibley himself has been interested in the trip ever since his wife and Scouts went on it themselves.

So when Agnew mentioned the contingent in Scotland was interested in visiting, Sibley asked the membership at Sandy Hook Fire if they would be willing to host and got a resounding, “Absolutely.”

He said that, more than anything else, the community wanted to support their international Scouting neighbors and give them a fun experience.

“It’s become a great reciprocal friendship in the different things the Scouts get to enjoy and experience that they couldn’t without these relationships,” Sibley said.

Riddle called the substation an “invaluable base” to have before and after they went to Camp Sequassen; a place for them to stay, keep coming back to, and store their belongings as they traveled from place to place.

Before the trip some of the Scouts had never even been on a plane. Nevertheless, she said they jumped on a plane to a different country and threw themselves into American Scouting, despite its differences from Scouts Scotland.

“So to be able to say that we had a role in supporting them to get here is probably one of my biggest achievements yet, and I’m very proud to be standing here as their leader,” Riddle said.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.