The Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America, backed up musically by The Royal Hawaiian Band, kicked off its centennial celebration at çIolani Palace this morning.

“We are honored to have you all join us on this truly marvelous occasion — the launching of the centennial year of both the Boy Scouts of America and the scouts of the Aloha Council,” said John Henry Felix, chairman of the Centennial Celebration Committee, in greeting the crowd gathered next to the bandstand.
The year-long commemoration of the Boy Scouts, founded in the United States and Hawaiçi in 1910, was marked by the unveiling of the Queen’s Flag — a silk flag of Hawaiçi that was hand-embroidered in gold thread by Queen Liliçuokalani, which the former monarch presented to Scouts of Troop 5 in 1913.
Troop 5, which became known as “The Queen’s Own Troop,” kept the flag until the troop was disbanded in 1975.
Ben Henderson, president of the Queen Liliçuokalani Children’s Center, presented the flag, which had been in the possession of the Queen Liliçuokalani Trust, to the Aloha Council. The flag will be officially turned over to the council in April.
Jeff Woolsey, CEO of the Aloha Council, spoke of the good deeds Scouts will be doing throughout the year as part of the organization’s “Call to Service.”
Eagle Scout Mark Ishizu explained the “Call to Service” directive — Käkoço Ka Hana Aloha — that he will issue at the Scouts’ Centennial Recognition Dinner on Feb. 25.
Ishizu said he would be asking all Scouting units “to celebrate this centennial by doing what Scouts do best — giving back to our communities through service.”