Valley Highlands Area: Scouts Canada
|
|
“Notes’N’News”
Volume one #7
Editor: Chris Tyler. Email: FirstscoutKim@aol.com
Last New
First Full Last New
April
29th May 6th May 13th May 20th May 27th June 4th Sunrise Moonrise
Editorial… Congratulations to the 3rd
Jim’s little bit of Wisdom… Camping season
is upon us, Scouts, take charge, let your leaders know that you want to be out
to trying new adventures. Seek and
accept the challenge of braving the out of doors. Enjoy the experience of the campfire, good
friends and nature all around.
Upcoming Events…
June 04 – 6th
Camporee. Theme – “Lord of the Rings”
July 15th –17th Patrol Leaders Camp – Bass lake. Details to follow.
Useless Trivia… In July
1984 Readers Digest printed exerps from “A Victorian lady’s Diary.” In the Diary the lady had written six simple
steps to happiness. They are-
1.
Do something for
someone else every day.
2.
Do something for
myself every day.
3.
Do something that I
do not want to do, that needs doing, daily.
4.
Do some physical
exercise, daily.
5.
Do some mental
exercise, daily.
6.
Do an original prayer
that always includes counting my blessings, daily.
Even if it’s only a simple, but heartfelt “Thankyou Lord.”
Helen Keller once wrote; “ All the best and most wonderful things in life cannot be
touched…They have to be felt”
Marie Curie wrote
about life thus; “Life is not easy for any of us. In spite of it, we must persevere and have
confidence in ourselves. We must believe
that our gifts were given to us for some purpose, we must attain that purpose,
whatever the price we have to pay for it.”
This month’s Riddle… It takes
but a moment but the memory of it usually lasts a lifetime. None are so rich that they can get along
without it. None so
poor that they cannot give it away, or be made rich by receiving of it. It cannot be begged, borrowed or stolen, for
it has no value… unless it is given freely away. What is it? Answer next month
Answer to last
months riddles. Add the letter P in
front off each word and they all make new words.
“A House is made of Walls and Beams; but a Home is made of Love and Dreams.” William Arthur Ward.
East, west, home’s best. H.G.Bohn
“The
true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no
good.” Ann Landers.
The Argument… The term Argument is
often misused to mean a dispute. The
dictionary describes an argument as – “ a discussion
in which there is disagreement and suggests the use of logic and the bringing
forth of facts to support or refute a point, Whereas a dispute is basically a
contradiction of an assertion and implies vehemence or anger in debate.
Dale Carnegie wrote in “How to win friends and influence people” a book published by Random
House UK ltd.
The
following story:
“At a banquet one night the man
seated to my right told me a story in which he used the quotation “There’s a
divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we may” and attributed the
quotation to the Bible. He was
wrong. And to display my superiority, I
corrected him saying, “It’s from Shakespeare” He stuck to his guns… “From Shakespeare? Absurd!
That quotation is from the Bible.”
An old friend of mine seated next to me on my Left was a Shakespearean
Scholar. The storyteller and I agreed to
submit the question to him. My Friend
listened, kicked me under the table and said “Dale, you are wrong. The gentleman is right. It is from the Bible.”
On our way home that night my
friend explained: “Of course the
quotation is from Shakespeare, Dale; but we were guests at a festive
occasion. Why prove to a man that he is
wrong? Is that going to make him like
you? Why not let him save face? He did not ask for your opinion, so why argue
(dispute) with him?” He went on – “Nine
times out of ten an (argument) ends with each of the contestants being more
firmly convinced than ever that he is absolutely right. You cannot win, because even if you win (the
argument) you will never again get your opponents goodwill. So few people are convinced by (argument) I will always
avoid the acute angle rather than lose a potential friend.”
Find the cricket…. Among the
chickens! Let me know how you get on.
Shrew-ed Kid…
A youngster went with his mother to
the local grocery store. It was cherry
season, and the grocer told the lad to reach into one of the huge baskets of
cherries and take a handful. The boy
hesitated for a moment and the grocer said “here- let me,” and pulling out a
large handful placed them in the boy’s hands.
A little later as they walked home the mother asked the lad why he had
hesitated. “Because his hand was bigger
than mine” came the quick and sage reply.
Pride comes before the fall… The Three Little Pigs.
High up on my office wall hangs a picture of three very
scruffy little piglets. It is not a
pretty picture by any means but it is a very special picture to me. It is a reminder of my first District Patrol
Leaders Expedition after becoming District Scout Leader, way back in the ‘60’s.
After months of meticulous
planning we were to spend a week in the beautiful English Lake District with
all the bells and whistles of exotic activities. As Expedition Leader I had also been voted
both Casualty mover and (because of the need to man the base camp at all
times,) Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.
“Base” being a brand new, state of the art, stone built, residential
center for disadvantaged youth owned by the Rotary Club of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. The views across Lake
Windermere were breathtaking. The
weather couldn’t have been better. Our
job was to test all the facilities before the camp opened later that summer for
it’s first year of operations. The camp
was far better than any five star hotels I’ve ever been in, and the kitchen was
as they say ‘to die for.’
I had planned a menu for the 30
odd people in camp that was not only very varied but also one that would put
all the equipment to the test. Six
different ways of serving Egg, Bacon pancakes and toast for breakfast. A huge picnic Ham, Mountains of Sausages,
Spare ribs, Meatballs (made from real
hamburger) and spaghetti, A Loin Roast, and Butterfly Chops made up the entrée
for the main meals with a medley of vegetable dishes that would do any dinner
table proud. Homemade French bread Pizza
and Subs for packed lunches… Lots of
pies and fruit for desserts with real fresh dairy cream … Ah yes… we had it all.
The Rock-Climbing, Caving,
Canoeing, Paracending, and Gliding all went without a hitch. The sun shone every day; the accommodation
was just fine. I was ecstatic, My first
Expedition and everything had gone so well, and I was a proud man.
On the last day of the camp, at
the closing ceremony, everyone had expressed the joy of attending such a
perfect camp. Then just before lowering
the flag and departing for home, the picture of the three little pigs,
(complete with the youthful scrawl of the patrol leaders and the adult’s
signatures on the back) carefully wrapped in Gold paper and tied up with Scout
Green ribbon, was presented to me. To
commemorate, they said, “the one and hopefully – only week
long camp at which they would ever be fed a very varied diet of PORK.” – Ah…
Planning at it’s finest. Chris Tyler.
Useless
Trivia… Building
Boys and Girls is better than mending Men and Women. (Author unknown.)
The truth about
lying… A lie is the falsely spoken word, A Fib, intended to
deceive or mislead.
A lie is
a lie … no matter how little or how white it may seem.
A lie
is always by choice, not by accident.
. A lie
is always an attempt to deceive
Deception is fraud, dishonest.
Evasion
is the indirect method of deception
It could happen to
you… “Fatal
Canoe Outing.” Early Saturday afternoon a Georgia school
group sets out in Three kayaks and three canoes led by a motorized catamaran
raft. The goal, a 4.5-mile treck to Coon
Island, Florida, where the group planned to camp for the night. As forecast, the weather deteriorated, high
winds from the northeast and rough seas soon became a problem and one of the
canoes lagged behind and became separated from the group. Two fourteen year old youth fought 3 – 5 foot
waves as darkness fell. The catamaran
lost it power and tethered the other kayaks and canoes to the raft then lit a
lantern to serve as a beacon. One leader
and another youth set out in another canoe but became disoriented, later after
paddling close to the shore they got a signal on the cell phone some time
between 11.00p.m. and midnight and
called the school in Georgia to get them to call the coast guard. – Too late for the two youth, who were found
dead* two days later. The coastguard
found the group tethered to the raft at 3.00a.m. Five miles offshore Sunday. They then found the chaperone and youth in
their canoe at 4.00a.m Sunday. The two
perished youth were located at 11.40a.m.
And 12.10p.m. Monday more than
seven miles offshore and more than five miles north of Coon Island.
This
story raises several questions.
1.
Were the leaders
adequately trained to make the trip?
Answer – yes/maybe. The main
leader was an experienced canoeist and wilderness adventure leader but was not
a certified outfitter.
2.
Was the group
adequately equipped? Answer – Yes/No.
All members of the group were wearing life jackets and carried torches and
whistles. The youth were dressed in
shorts and tee shirts. They should have
been wearing clothing suitable for the cold water, as low as 58° not the
warmish daytime air temperature.
3.
Why didn’t the
chaperone call 911 instead of the school?
Answer, The chaperone said he “thought it prudent to let the school deal
with the problem.”
4.
Did the youth carry
compasses? Answer, No, Didn’t think they
would need them for so short a trip.
5.
Did the group hear
the forecast of deteriorating weather?
None of the group would answer this question.
6.
Did the group carry a
VHF Radio in case of emergency? Answer –
No.
7.
Did they leave a trip
Plan? Yes in Georgia, at the
school. They should also have left a
copy with the local authorities, had they done so the two youth might have had a better chance at
survival. They might also have been
warned about the weather forecast.
A
spokesman for the fish and wildlife rescue team said, “It is not a good idea to
mix canoes and kayaks. Kayaks are faster
and more stable in rough water, whenever you mix the two people are going to
get spread out. This tragedy exemplifies
the importance of checking the weather with the coastguard before setting out”
* At the time of writing - whether they died
from drowning or hypothermia is yet to be established.
Maybe
there are some lessons for us to learn from this tragedy. If you, or your group, are
planning a canoe trip with your youth, please be sure to discuss it with our
DAC Training – Roger Nuttall, long before you discuss it with your youth
and parents. Let us not be next in line
for the loss of life.
How True… Everyone seems normal – until you get to
know them.
Childhood
comes with an expiration date – Make the most of it !
No
matter what prescriptions are handed out, the best medicine is laughter. A dose of it’s essential to be taken every
day.
“We are more curious
about the meaning of dreams than about things we see when awake” Diogenes
Good friends are
like stars – You don’t always see them, but you always know they are there.
An Epitaph…
Here lies a woman, who was always
tired,
She lived in a house where help wasn’t
hired:
Her last words on earth were:
“Dear
friends I am going
To where there’s no cooking, or washing, or
sewing,
For everything there is exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washing
dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be
ringing,
But having no voice I’ll be quit of the
singing.
Don’t mourn for now; don’t mourn for me
never,
I am going to do nothing…
…. For
ever and ever.” Anonymous
“Pursuing Money
beyond the point of sufficiency only degrades life. Blessings to all”
“The kiss of the sun for
pardon… The song of the birds for
mirth…
One is nearer to God in the garden - than
anywhere else on earth.”
And finally… Always
remember “No one can make you feel
inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt.