Issue Issue 9191 February February 2015 2015
From the Courtyard
sac scouts newsletter
From the Courtyard feature of the month
WHEN CUBBIE MET B-P
What’s on Mar 28—April 2 Troop Easter Camp Mar 29—31 Cubs Easter Camp April 3—4 Ventures & Rovers Easter Camp
February marks the important remembrance of two great figureheads of SAC scouting. 22 nd February marks Founder’s Day, Lord Baden Powell’s birthday, whereas the 5th of February commemorates the recent passing away of our own Cubbie. Baden Powell was very fond of Malta and its people and visited the islands on many occasions. Rumour has it that on one of these visits, B-P and Cubbie met. Who knows if this is true? - Andre Brincat Our young readers will surely know that B-P first came to Malta during his term of office as Assistant Military Secretary to his uncle General Sir Henry Smyth, who was the Governor of Malta from 1890 to 93. During his time on the Island, Baden Powell showed concern for the welfare of the soldiers who were bored and thus organized various activities for them such as stage shows, sports events and even opened a gymnasium that he dubbed 'The Poultice'. He also thought the art of military scouting to soldiers which eventually led to his writing the book 'Aids to Scouting'.
With his strong connections with Malta and his many Maltese friends, it was only natural that The Scout Association of Malta would be the first overseas branch of the British Association to be formed barely months after the first camp on Brownsea Island held in 1907. Lord Baden-Powell had a special affection for Malta. He made it a point to pay visits, even if just for a short while during his many Mediterranean cruises.
From the Courtyard
WHEN CUBBIE MET B-P
Issue 91 February 2015
Feature of the Month
On Saturday April 7, 1934 Baden Powell, convalescing after two severe operations, sailed into the Grand Harbour as part of a Mediterranean Cruise. His health did not permit Baden Powell to land, but did not hinder him from going up to the upper deck and seating himself in a chair facing Valletta. The resulting welcome which the Maltese Scouts gave him on his appearance is said to have touched him that tears ran down his cheeks as he penned a letter of regret to the Island Commissioner, in which he is quoted to have said: " ... I have, as you know, a soft place in my heart for Malta and the Maltese people through old and happy association, and hence my joy at seeing the success of the Movement and my sincere hope for its further development. " B-P’s last visit to Malta was in April 1937, when on their return back from India, Lord and Lady Baden Powell sent news that their ship would be stopping on the island by chance later that day. The scouts of Malta quickly got organised and assembled in Valletta at a very short notice. The scouts were quickly spread out, lining the Valletta breakwater, the Fish Market and St. Barbara Bastion with a guard of honour at Customs House Steps. When the ship entered Grand Harbour, the Chief Scout and Chief Guide were cheered from the moment the liner passed the breakwater arms until they reached the palace in Valletta. The welcoming guard at the Customs House was formed from the groups of the Acorn District: Valletta, Floriana, Lyceum, Lascaris and St. Albert School. In those days, Cubbie was a young 11 year old scout in the Lyceum Group. Could that be him on the far left looking at B-P? Upon arriving at the Palace many Scouts gathered around Lord Baden Powell, who greeted them saying; “...As you know I am very fond of Malta because I was here before any of you were born or even thought of... What I have seen has pleased me very much. I shall have great pleasure in telling Col. Worral (then chief commissioner) what I think of you. Also I shall tell somebody even higher and that is His Majesty the King!” “Remember the promise you made. Carry it out in all you do in your daily life. When you grow up, don’t chuck the Scout Law; carry it on just the same and you will find that it will help you to make yourselves good citizens... it has been a great joy to me to see you all. Stick to your work. Make yourselves into good Scouts.”
To the Commissioner, Baden Powell later wrote: “I was greatly touched and very pleased indeed to find such splendid spirit among the Boy Scouts, as well as their numbers and smartness in appearance... this very satisfactory condition of the movement, of course reflects the good work of your Scouters”
2
Feature of the Month
From the Courtyard
WHEN CUBBIE MET B-P
Issue 91 February 2015
“From very long acquaintance with Malta and a great interest in its people I can say this – that I see a great change for the better in these boys as compared with the boys of the old days. Now as Scouts they have interests, hobbies and aims in life and I would like your Scouters to realise that the time and energy which they put into Scouting is not time and energy thrown away... I would urge them to press on with good heart o give the boys all the adventure and novelty of outdoor life that they can devise. It is in camping, expeditions, community service dramatic displays and so on, that the Scoutmaster not only gets the enthusiastic work out of his boys but also he gets the insight into the individual character of each one of them and thereby knows how to handle him d make a good man and citizen out of him.”
Shortly after this trip, Baden Powell moved to Kenya where he lived till he died in 1941. At that time Malta was bearing the brunt of the enemy bombings during world war two. The role played by the Maltese Scouts during the Second World War provides some of the brightest pages in the annuals of scouting. They were employed as coast watchers, messengers, telephone operators; they manned A.R.P. centres, worked in the censor's office, in the hospitals, and those who were old enough, in the Volunteer Defence Force or the Army. The bravery of the scouts during the frequent air raids became a byword among the population. Early in the war they adopted as their motto 'Scarred but not scared'. In 1943, they were collectively decorated with the unique honour of the Bronze Cross 'in recognition of their courage and devotion to duty in the face of continuous enemy action in the war for freedom'. The conduct of the Maltese Scouts against such adversity caused them to be specially and fondly remembered by Lord Baden Powell, who,then in the last year of his life and what was possibly his last letter, written from Paxtu in Kenya on July 21, 1940 stated: " ... I would like to congratulate my old friends, the Maltese, on the plucky way in which they have stood up to the infernal bombing of the Italians… I know they have the spirit of fearlessness and patience, which enables them to face danger with a smile and to stick it out to the triumphant finish... I expect the Maltese Scouts are doing good war work, in spite of bombs. To all I wish Good Luck and a happy issue out of your afflictions."
3
From the Courtyard
GSL’s note
Issue 91 February 2015
Parents ' Meeting and Investiture Ceremony
GSL’s note
The Group Leaders would like to thank all those parents and members that attended this year's parents meeting and Investiture ceremony. During the meeting the GSL, SL and Akela provided an overview of the Group's activities over the last year and also spoke about matters of interest and concern for members and parents' alike. An investiture and going up ceremony was also held for troop and pack members. For the first time, the Group awarded two members the Best Scout and Best Cub Award for their dedication and commitment to the Group. Nigel Grech for the Troop and Neil Borg from the Pack were the first recipients of the certificate. Finally, we would also like to thank Fr Rector Jimmy Bartolo for letting us use the sixth form hall and amenities for this meeting. Uniforms & Activity wear For the time being we are recommending that members who do not have a scout or cub uniform not to buy any part thereof as its seems there may be some changes to the uniform in the near future. We will provide further instructions on this subject once we have a clearer picture of what is going to happen. Regarding activity wear, we have currently run out of most stock and here too we are expecting some changes. We shall soon be ordering the new activity wear as directed by the Association and therefore ask members to bear with us until things are settled on this matter too. Activities The Troop and Rover Crew have been the busiest this month. The Venture Unit understandably slows down at this time of the year due to the impending O and A Levels but meetings are still held on a regular basis. The troop had a rafting event on February 28th and they were very lucky weather-wise. It was a very successful event and all went well. The Rover Crew also held an overnight camp that weekend and I’m sure even this was a great success. Read more about these events in the following sections. Easter Camp Easter camp will be held at Ghajn Tuffieha Campsite between March 28th and April 2nd. Campfire will be held on Tuesday 31st March. As usual all parents are invited to attend and enjoy the campfire and fund raising dinner we shall be organizing. Circulars for the camp will be issued shortly.
4
GSL’s note
From the Courtyard
5
GSL’s note
Issue 91 February 2015
5th February The 5th February happened to be the second anniversary of Cubbie’s passing away. For this purpose the Group held a brief memorial service at its HQ on February 4th wherein the GSL reminded the younger members who John A Mizzi was and provided a brief overview of his contribution to the group over the last decades. A brief prayer session was then held and four candles lit by his monument at the HQ representing each section. The ceremony was closed off by the Group joining in together before flag down singing cum-ba-ya, a campfire song close to Cubbie’s heart over the years.
From the Courtyard
FOUNDER’S DAY
Issue 91 February 2015
February 22nd marks the birthday anniversary of Baden Powell. To the interest of our founder the cubs had a related activity dedicated to him on a typical meeting. This was aimed to teach the young cubs about how scouting was invented by him and a history explanation of his entire life.
From the Pack
The first activity was colour drawing where the cubs had a blank picture of Baden Powell and the most creative one filling in the blank spaces would earn points to his six.
The second activity consisted of a brief lecture on Baden Powell’s life, from when he was a teenager , to his events in the army until finally establishing the scouting movement until moving on to a better life. The cubs were to remember as much as they could from the lecture because they were to be quizzed on it. The third and final activity consisted of a multiple choice quiz, Raksha and Kaa held the quiz and asked each six one question at a time. If a six got the answer right they would receive points for it and move on to the next six. If the particular six got the answer wrong then the same question would be asked to another six. If all the sixes got it wrong then the answer would have been told including a brief description why that was the right answer.
The people who helped organise this activity were; Liam (Kaa), Ilaria (Raksha), Luke (Assistant QM)
6
From the Courtyard
RAFTING
Issue 91 February 2015
From the Troop
Tiger Patrol Leader Nigel Grech tells us the story of his patrol’s feat against all odds during this year’s Rafting Competition.
7
The yearly rafting activity was held without fail this year on 28th February, 2015. As usual, the PLs and APLs met up at the SAC HQ at around 08:00 to help load the truck. As soon as most of the people arrived at the HQ, we waited together for the truck itself to arrive. When the truck finally arrived, we quickly started gathering up the barrels and loaded them up onto the truck. As we finished loading the barrels, there was not much space left and many of us had a bit of a nervous look on our faces. Without wasting any more time, we formed a chain and began to load the spars that would be used for the raft building. First off the 3m were loaded, then 2m and 1m and finally the 4m. Next up were the pallets and the 35 life vests that we acquired due to safety purposes. In the end, we had enough space and safety belts were tied over the top of the equipment to keep everything in place. The scouts were then divided between the leaders’ cars and when we all had a seat, we set off to Mistra Bay. When we arrived, most of the participating scouts had already arrived and were chatting on the pebbles by the sea. When we had our fall in, we were welcomed to the activity, given instructions about what we will be doing and were advised of the rules we had to follow so as to preserve our safety. We then put in a team effort and unloaded the truck. Once everything was unloaded and each patrol had its necessary equipment, we were given a time limit and set off to construct our rafts. Most rafts were of the traditional T design, very stable and structurally strong if constructed well but not very original. On the other hand, the Tigers, being only two people, had to construct a smaller raft than the one planned out due to a shortage of members. When we finished building the rafts, we moved them to the edge of the concrete platform and one by one gently dropped them into the water. All was well as they all floated. This small victory was short lived as when we boarded our rafts, the Tigers’ raft was not managing to balance well with both of its two passengers. As the race started, the other patrols paddled with all their might to achieve victory while the Tigers were losing hope to even board their vessel for an extended period of time but refused to give up.
From the Courtyard
RAFTING
Issue 91 February 2015
When all hope of both people doing the race together was unfortunately lost, they both decided that the lightest one should try and do the race on his own, and so happened. By the time the Tiger PL’s raft had started its long tiresome journey, the other patrols having left considerably earlier had already reached the half way point. As they were turning around the buoy which marked the middle of the course, the Tigers’ raft had miraculously caught up.
From the Troop
The Tiger PL, determined not to give up paddled with all his might, caught up with the closest raft and actually managed to outrun it. In the end, it was a fun race, and everybody enjoyed it very much.
8
We then had to hurry up and get dry clothes on to avoid catching a cold. Once we were all ready from changing, we had a small break and ate some food. This was a much needed break as many of the members required some time to rest. Next up was the dismantling of the rafts. This was done quite quickly as every patrol helped each other when it was done with their own raft. After that, the truck was loaded once again with all the equipment and sent back to the HQ. As always, the members left for home while the PLs and APLs went back to HQ to unload the truck; everyone with smiles on their faces. In my opinion, this year’s Rafting Activity was once again a great success. We all had a great time together and also improved our team skills. Overall, this event was worthy to be added to the great number of successful events we took part in and is definitely an event to remember.
From the Courtyard
OPERATION SAUSAGE STEW
Issue 91 February 2015
Mike Psaila and James Caruana write about what has become the traditional cold weather activity for our Venture Unit—Operation Sausage Stew. It was decided that on the 9th of February (Monday) we would meet up at HQ (Headquarters) at around 6 in the evening. This activity was organized by Matthew Zarb, our leader. So on Monday the 6th we met at HQ at 6 in the evening. We were only going to be six ventures. Once arriving at HQ, Zarby explained to us what the evening’s activity would hold. We were to walk to a certain location; this was circled on a map that he gave us. During this walk we had to find several objects (such as, a Y-shaped twig, a tomato and a glass jar), take pictures of places (such as, a church, dog and a ‘Pastizzi’ shop) and answer riddles. By answering the riddles, finding objects and taking the pictures, we would be earning points. These points would then be transferred into ‘money’ with which we would be able to ‘buy’ the food to cook with, once we have arrived at our destination.
From the Unit
We left HQ at around half six. We walked along Valley Road (Birkirkara) to take a picture of the ‘Pastizzi’ shop and then of a Church. Throughout this hike, we kept our eyes open to see if we could find any of the objects listed that we had to find. We then crossed ‘Triq L-Imdina’ followed by Mrieħel bypass. We then walked through a country road that let us straight to our destination in the Zebbug Valley.
9
Upon arriving at the destination it was decided that with the money obtained from the 'riddles' and the treasure hunt itself, James and Luke were to buy the food with rice paper money given to us by Zarby to buy the food needed for us to make the stew. Before we could actually cook the food, mike and Daniel Pace prepared the fire while Daniel Vancell and James started cutting the food, while Luke found decent fire wood. It took only a couple of minutes for our fire to get started and our sausages began to sizzle. We then added the rest of our ingredients and made our own interpretation of a sausage stew. Despite it looking more like an ugly soup, our ‘stew’ turned out to be quite tasty, and the fact that we are still alive to write about it means it was also nourishing! After we had eaten and the fire was put out, we cleaned the equipment with the water from a stream nearby. We then squashed ourselves in Zarby’s car where we made our way back to Headquarters.
From the Crew
From the Courtyard
10
OVERNIGHT CAMP
Issue 91 February 2015
Ilaria Zammit, who has just joined the Rover Crew, shares her experiences of her first activity with our Crew. As we drove to Mistra, the shining shimmering sun was the perfect ingredient for a 24hour Rover Night Camp. Excitement built on as we made our way to the area Pierre found for us to camp in. The tents started being pitched as the sun started setting across the horizon. We all made ourselves comfortable whilst setting the respective environment while sharing stories and jokes. Laughter filled the air, as we were ready to release any tension built up during the week. Gabriel, Joanna, Pierre, Luke, Liam, Andrew, George, Simon, Albert and myself were in for a great night spent by the fire. The silence in the air was beaten by laughter and the smell of tasty food – from pasta to burgers and sausages to chicken curry with Maltese sausage. Conversations were shared as we got to know different sides of each other I didn’t know, as a newbie to the group. Going to sleep should have been the best part, but I ended up with front row tickets to the Opera of Snoring. Different pitches of snoring, high and low, were performed to kill the silence given during the night.
A 6am wake up call was in order, as my feet were about to fall off with the cold. As we gathered back into our common area and out of our tents, we kept on sharing more stories – the main topic was about what happened during the night. We may have had slept too little, but we still all had smiles on our faces as we knew we were in great company and had preferred no other way to spend the weekend. Coffee, tea, biscuits and cereal were devoured in the morning to make ourselves feel better. Some enjoyed a nice walk through the fields, and some of us preferred to sit and have deep conversations about certain issues watching the calm sea sit comfortably on the shallow reefs. The sun was still shining and shimmering, warming us up after the rainy week we had. A sigh of relief was the last thing I did before leaving, as I had had a great time and finally felt at peace ending the week in a great way.
From the Courtyard
MALTA MARATHON 2015
Issue 91 February 2015
From the Crew
This year’s marathon was yet another wet and miserable one, however we all stood up to the job and kept runners on the good track, stopped cars from running them over, and cheered and made fun of the runners as they passed by :)A special well done goes to two of our Rovers, Andrew Agius and Edward Sciberras who completed the Half-Marathon.
11
Andrew ZM tells us about how the day infolded for us marshals in Ta’ Qali. The Rover scouts joined the troop and Unit to assist in the marathon at Ta' Qali. Most of the scouts arrived to prepare at 7am, dividing into groups of 2-4 scouts and positioned at various checkpoints to help show the runners the correct turn off they had to take. During this marathon it was noted how certain runners had caught the attention of the scouts such as what was guessed to be a Scottish runner wearing a bright green kilt and another runner dressed in a vintage costume which sparked discussion between the scouts with some saying he was dressed as Benjamin Franklin and others thinking he was dressed as Robespierre. The scouts helped to keep runners on the correct road and in good spirits by cheering them on, even when it had started to pour for a brief moment. By 11am the runners passed the last check point in our assigned area and we all awaited the famous last runner ‘the lady in red’ followed by the stragglers’ minivan which marked the end of this year’s marathon for us and allowed us to converge at the sports pavilion to exchange remarks before leaving.