1st Merrickville Report for Area Meeting February 16,
2006
Events To
Date
- Scouts
participated area in the area camp
Zero. Only -2C overnight, so sleeping outside was pretty
easy. Largest troop in attendance.
Scouts had fun. I think it would be advantageous if the activities could
be a bit more challenging and exciting. We had fire lighting, first aid
scenarios, and a tree identification walk. The Bubblegum tree (yellow birch)
was a hit! The Scouts appeared to spend hours pulling little twigs off the
tree and chewing them. Some Scouts from other troops appeared to have trouble
with basic compass and navigation skills. A lot of heavy camping equipment
brought in by many troops, including hay bales by ATV; not what I would call a
Scout setup.
- Cubs participated
in area Winter Challenge. Cubs had a great time. Wet conditions were
unfortunate, but beyond control. Whispering Pines was a great location; much
better than a backyard of a church in a town. Major improvement over the last
time this event was run.
- Over a two week
period, Cubs built Canadian Cub balsa/tissue rubber powered
airplanes.
- Cubs did St. George
the Dragon (galloping with a lance to pop balloons on a dragon), skating, and
a Smarties based memory game.
- Cub winter camp at Rock Dunder Scout camp. Beautiful camp and log cabins. Cubs had a riot.
Lots of climbing and sliding. Highly recommended location for both packs and
troops.
- Cubs held a United Nations
night based on an article in the Leader magazine.
- Beavers: Skating, visit to local nursing home, What I
Want to Be When I Grow Up, Valentine Christmas Ball.
Future
Events
- Scouts to hold second winter camp. Will be linking camp
where senior Cubs are invited to participate for the day and overnight if they
desire. Cubs and Scouts are providing their own food for cooking over the
fire. Orienteering, pioneering, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, star
gazing, and shelter building on the agenda.
- Scouts to work on modeler badge.
- Beavers: Pancake day, Games, World Day of Water, Wilderness
Survival.
- Beaver sleepover at the Brockville
Museum.
- Annual banquet with slide show and demonstrations by the
kids. Pioneering structures by the Scouts. History of B-P play from the Leader
magazine by the Cubs.
- Annual church parade and activity day (Olympic theme) in
conjunction with the local Guide organisation.
Miscellaneous
- Website
http://www.1stmerrickville.ca. Lots of pictures, documents, event
information, etc.
- Merrickville
Remembers (list of Merrickville residents who died in the wars) is being
cross-referenced against the old registration lists. Of the 12 men who gave
their life in World War II, five of them were Scouts
(42%).
- Winter event idea for
next year. This is done by Area 9 in Manitoba. Combine the Cub Winter
Challenge and Scout Camp Zero into a Klondike Derby for both. Have the Scouts
do the full event including camping outdoors; and have the Cubs come for the
day and do a subset of the activities. This would spread the effort of
activity organisation over a large number of leaders and
kids.
- Routing campsite number
signs for Whispering Pines. Rough cut cedar from Ken
Richardson.
- Hobbies & Wheels.
- Smiths Falls has
indicated they will not be participating this year.
- No interest
has been expressed in getting automobile dealers to compete as a method
of generating revenue to reduce the cost.
- Several people
have expressed concern over the $10 fee versus the fee of $5 in previous
years.
- Recommend that
the $500 budget be re-instated to allow the $5 fee to be maintained to
encourage participation. These funds are put towards the capital cost of the
event, and are thus re-used from year to year.
- Vote for democracy in Scouts Canada, see http://scouteh.ca for
details.
Issues
- Voyageur Council
office has misplaced several recent years worth of registration files. While
this does not cause any immediate problem, it could be disastrous if any legal
or insurance investigations are instigated. This is from a Council that
charges us $5,000 a year for the privilege of being
Scouts.