Issue 106 Issue 106 August 2016 August 2016
From the Courtyard
From the Courtyard Sac Scouts Newsletter
GSL’S NOTE In this issue Cubs.. Aosta Adventure Scouts.. Scolympics Rovers.. We had a plan...
Our Group Scout Leader tells us what’s on!
Pasta Night On August 27th we held on annual pasta night. This was co-ordinated and organised by the rover crew who one again did not let the Group down. Two hundred and fifty –five persons attended and from the feedback we got regarding the food and entertainment all was very positive and encouraging. I will not mention names for fear of forgetting someone but even the troop and Unit helped out on the day making this event truly a Group fund raiser. We’d like to thank all those that attended as the surplus funds generated will go a long way to pay off the expenses we are incurring to finish of the works at HQ.
Coming up Campfire -16 September 100 Year Anniversary Celebrations—15 October
Summer Camp Summer camp is fast approaching. It will be held between Sept 12th to the 17th. Campfire will be held on the 16th. Circulars have been issued and we encourage all members to attend. Please ensure all consent forms are filled properly.
From the Courtyard
GSL’S NOTE
Issue 106 August 2016
100th Anniversary th
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On 15 October we shall behaving our 100 year anniversary celebrations. All members are expected to be present. We shall be having mass at 18:30 at the college chapel followed by a commemorative plaque unveiling ceremony for which H.E Dr Marie Louise Colerio Preca, President of Malta will be attending. Then at around 20:30 shall be having a gang show in the college hall. Members should wear their uniforms. If they do not have a uniform they should wear the blue activity wear and scarf and tidy trousers and shoes.
Last quarter
GSL’s note
Having had three business months of activities and planning (works at HQ, Aosta trip, Pasta Night, summer camp, 100th years anniversary, sectional activities, team building events)I hope that the last quarter will be calmer. The major events for the October-December period are sectional ones and there are no major Group events on schedule. Needless to say, school will start again in September and this will bring some turbulence in our members’ lives until they adjust to the new scholastic year. We shall carry on with meetings anyhow and all members are encouraged to keep up the momentum generated in summer.
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Photos re summer trip. All those members that would like to get copies of the photos taken in Aosta are to ask their leaders for the link so they can download them. For data protection purposes the link is not being publicised here.
From the Courtyard
Cubs’ Aosta Adventure
Issue 106 August 2016
Our cubs tell us what they thought of the Adventure holiday in Aosta in celebration of the group’s 100th anniversary.
“This summer we went on a wonderful adventure to Aosta with the scouts.
From the Pack
One of the activities we had was white water rafting. The water was very cold and there were a lot of rapids. It was very exciting and I enjoyed it very much. We also did a high rope challenge, which is a rope course constructed in the trees. On another day we went canoeing and learnt raft building. We also did rock climbing and abseiling. On one of the Tuesdays, we went up Mont Blanc which is the highest mountain in Europe! In the evenings we had generation games and a bonfire night. I would love to go on another adventure like this if I get the chance!” Ryan Chetcuti, 10 years - Cub Scout “This summer I had the most amazing adventure holiday of my life. I was with friends of Cub Scouts and learnt many new things and skills in a far away place from home. We did many activities that cannot be done in Malta, like jumping near a waterfall in freezing water and when we went on the top of a mountain. What I liked the most were the high ropes and the white-water rafting. We also had fun times at the campfire and during travelling. It was a good experience that if I could I would do all over again!” Michael Azzopardi, 10 years – Cub Scout
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From the Pack
From the Courtyard
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Cubs’ Aosta Adventure
Issue 106 August 2016
From the Pack
From the Courtyard
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Cubs’ Aosta Adventure
Issue 106 August 2016
From the Pack
From the Courtyard
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Cubs’ Aosta Adventure
Issue 106 August 2016
From the Courtyard
Scolympics
Issue 106 August 2016
From the Troop
Our troop is put through their paces in our very own take on the Olympics—The Scolympics Scolympics is an activity were in different teams, or in patrols, you compete against each other to see who is best. It has the same concept of Olympics but instead of competing in events such as running or high jump, you take part in more scouting related events. This year’s edition of Scolympics was held on Sunday 21st of August at the SAC Scouts HQ. This year the patrols were split up into three groups. Each event was a best out of three. As done in the real Olympics, the activity starts with the lighting of the torch. The three teams followed the torch for a jog around the parking area. The first event was fill the bottle race, were the teams had to transport water from a bucket to a bottle using a sponge and the team who fills the bottle up after everyone has done it wins. The second event was a Dizy Basin Race. The team member would need to run from one side of parking area to basin, turn round 5 times with one finger in a basin filled with water. This was won by Team3. The third event was a Water Power Ball Tournament. This included two open barrels filled with water and two teams competing against each other to transport water balloons in the opposing barrel. Each time a balloon is put into the opposing team’s barrel they get a point. However, if the balloon is burst, the opposing team gets to take a penalty from 3 steps away. A member from each team may defend the barrel using a stave outside a drawn circle but no member can enter into. Team 1 won this event. The fourth event was Jelly Baby Dunking. Members sit in a fall-in formation and in relay, one member runs to a basin full of water and gummy bears and has to grab it between his teeth, run to the patrol and eat it. Then another member goes, and the process is repeated until a team’s gummy bears finish. This event was won by Team 1. The fifth event was Burst the Balloon. In this event the members had to share a towel between two and by launching the balloon using the towel, transport it from one side of the parking are to the other. The team to go to the wall and back were the winners. This event was won by Team 1. The sixth event was transporting water from one bucket to the other, just by holding a cup in your mouth. The winner was the team with the most amount of water in the bucket. Team 2 won. The final event was a quiz. The patrols were put into groups and were asked trivia questions about the Olympics and scouts. If they get a wrong answer the next team will be given a chance to take their points. Team 3 won this event. Whilst the events were taking place, mike and the renegade patrol (ex Pl’s) set up a barbeque and started cooking burgers and sausages. After a day of running around, everybody was hungry and not long after, all the food was gone. The watermelon, which the leaders had taught fully brought was soon gone as well. After counting all the points of the events the score ended up to be a three-way tie. As a tie breaker, a member from each patrol was chosen. This member had to race across the parking area, grab the marker first and answer the question asked right. This didn’t work either as no one knew the answer. Therefore, as time was pressing, it was deciding that the winner would be chosen by luck and the leader from each patrol was to play a game of rock, paper, scissors. The final winners were team 3 and they were awarded with medals and a trophy. Bernard Maniscalco
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From the Courtyard
We Had a Plan….
Issue 106 August 2016
We get an update on the dubiously brilliant bottle kayaks the Rover crew had planned. Cast your minds back to when you read the last issue of the newsletter (if you haven’t read it – shame on you, as the educated folk of today like to say) and you may remember that the Rover Crew was in the midst of planning an adventure of seismically stupid proportions.
From the Crew
To cut things into a very concise few sentences – we planned to cross from Malta to Comino in an amphibious contraption made mainly from plastic bottles and powered by a homemade bicycle paddle system. You may also recall that we set a date – the 20th August – to launch our creation and sail the high seas and embark on a noble quest to remove Comino from under the rule of the treacherous deckchair salesmen. However…and yes, as specified in part one of this article last month…there is always a however, the more observant leisure swimmer would have noticed that on the 20th August there was in fact no sight of any plastic-based contraptions gracing the Mediterranean waters. This was because, to put things simply – the idea did not work. It all began to unravel on testing day, a week before launch day. We had spent the previous two days sourcing materials and creating the mock design of the catamaran in the HQ car park and on this fine morning we decided it was time to test out the contraption. We made for Mistra Bay with each kayak and all other materials strapped to the top of the writer’s car – much to the bemusement of the people sharing the road with us. The problems began however before we had even arrived at Mistra. The wind that was battering the islands at the time began to wreak havoc on our kayaks and the clingfilm began to tear in places. Despite this we got to Mistra in one piece and set about setting the catamaran up in the water – once again to the bemusement of the people occupying the beach with their illegal camper vans. The reservations that some of us had on the structure soon began to come through as one kayak began to take on water when weight was put on it. However the crux came when the other kayak decided it wanted all the attention and buckled so suddenly that it sent David scurrying off it in more or less the same way you would scurry towards your double-parked car as a warden reared his head round the corner. The buckled kayak was ir-repairable and we did not have enough time to build a new one from scratch. The plan had sunk quicker than you can “please be reasonable” to the aforementioned warden as he inevitably tickets your car. The SAC Rover Crew, however, does not give up so easily! We soon decided to abandon the plastic idea and to instead build a normal raft out of barrels and pallettes but still use the bicycle paddles as a propulsion system. We also decided that we would launch from Mistra and paddle in the direction of St. Paul’s Islands where we would camp for the night. Launch weekend arrived and on the Friday the crew met to begin building the raft at Mistra Bay. The raft was only finished the next morning and after a night frequently interrupted by a rave party emanating from one of the caravans. With the safety boat (gratefully provided by Malta Yacht Charters – thanks guys!!) now present, we set off towards the island – soon realizing that we were paddling against the current. It took a long 4 hour slog to get to our destination, but indeed we managed and moored at the islands. The night was spent fighting off the boot sized rats and
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From the Courtyard
And We Changed It!
Issue 106 August 2016
From the Crew
pesky boat parties whilst picking up the bottles of alcohol the drunken delinquents threw into the sea.
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The unfortunate thing was that to create a shelter in which to sleep in during the night – we had to dismantle the raft and use those materials. This made for a tough time the morning after as the raft had to be rebuilt. Once it was, we set off once again back to Mistra. As luck would have it we found ourselves once again paddling against the current and this time also the wind. To add further insult to injury – we had an issue with one of our paddles. As Albert rather comically attempted to hammer the offending pole back into place – the other paddle decided it wanted all the attention (much like it’s more plastic counterpart the week before) and failed completely in an instant as one of the wheels sheared off from the frame. Having drifted off into the fish-farms twice, we decided it would be best to get towed in by the safety boat. A test further on from the route with just oars ended with one of the rowers – Albert – slipping off the raft and taking a dive into the water. We were towed all the way into Mistra where we dismantled and made for home.
From the Courtyard
Issue 106 August 2016
From the Crew
Whilst this activity didn’t turn out quite as planned, we still managed to have fun and our resourcefulness was also tested in the building of the propulsion and in the dealing of the monster rats on the islands. The SAC Rover Crew most certainly is a crew that never gives up no matter the problems it may face somewhere down the line.
The SAC Rover Crew – a group of people with varying degrees of facial hair, the will to never give up and now, varying degrees of sun-tans as well. Albert Galea
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