A scarf worn around the neck does not seem like much. It would be a wardrobe accessory or a festive accessory. Perhaps that is why scouts prefer to talk about a scarf, the scarf with which they proclaim their own identity. The same scarf that they solemnly placed on Blas Irañeta on July 19.
The geographical setting was the banks of the Aragón River, in Marcilla (Navarra). And the chronological setting was for his 50th anniversary of priestly ordination, which he had celebrated in the convent church the previous Sunday, July 14, together with his companion Paco Legarra.
The Gundemaro scout group from Marcilla had taken an active part in that liturgical celebration but had also prepared its own act of homage to the person who had been its founder, 40 years ago. And all the symbolism and affection of the act was concentrated in the scarf that was placed on Blas.
On the one hand, he looked back to the past, saying “Thank you”: for having founded the group and having brought it forward in a pilgrimage of four decades. And on the other hand, he expressed the present and the future with a statement that implies a commitment: “Here we are, 40 years later.” This statement was not an empty boast, as was shown by the six boys who, in that same act, received their first scarf, after making the scout promise.
Forty years is a long time. It is a long time in the life of a person; it is the distance between youth and old age. And it is even longer in the life of society, which sees people, generations, mentalities, races, fashions… parade by. In that constant flow that is the world in which we live, Blas’ group provides children and young people with a backpack of civic and religious values without which –very possibly– they would faint on the march.
Marcilla is a town with less than 3,000 inhabitants; a town like so many in the south of Navarre. But it has a unique feature, which is a scout group, non-existent in the other surrounding towns. Almost all the children and young people of the last few decades have been part of it. It is currently made up of 110 boys between 10 and 17 years old, led by 16 monitors.
And the town is aware – and proud – of this wealth. It officially recognised this when, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the group’s foundation, the municipal corporation awarded it the honourary “handkerchief”, highlighting its meritorious work. And it recognises this this year, by nominating the scouts as candidates to launch the rocket to inaugurate the San Bartolomé and San Agustín festivities.
As said: “Thank you, Blas.”
