Issue 110 Issue 110 January 2017 January 2017
From the Courtyard
From the Courtyard SAC Scouts Newsletter
FROM AKELA TO AKELA In this issue From Akela to Akela GSL’s Note Cubs.. Cubs Christmas Party Cubs’ Weekly Activities
Rovers.. Do it Like the Romans Did
Change comes to the SAC Pack. “Akela, I feel homesick and miss my parents!” “Akela, they stole my wallet!” “Akela, I forgot to study my Law and Promise!” “Akela, I lost my cuttlery and bottle” I never thought I’d say this but I guess that, with time, I will gradually start missing the above phrases from our cub scouts. I believe that from time to time, scout groups – like all other organisations - need to have new leaders in order to remain dynamic and innovative and that time has come for the SAC Pack. Scout Groups need to renew themselves by giving opportunities to the younger generation of scouters to lead themselves. To date, I have been a Cub Scout leader with SAC for the past 23 years and for 16 of these, I have held the title of Akela, or the Cub Scout Leader and at this point, I would like to introduce David Pace, a scouter who has grown up within the group and has spent the last four of his eleven SAC years acting as my assistant within the pack. With effect from February 2017, he will be SAC’s new Akela and I am confident that he will lead the pack forward o the best of his ability, while withholding SAC’s values. I also have no doubt that the transition will also be
Outgoing Akela, Stefan Pullicino (left) with incoming Akela, David Pace (right).
From the Courtyard
FROM AKELA TO AKELA
Issue 110 January 2017
a smooth one for out cubs as we have planned an official announcement and would be happy to answer all and any questions they may have about the process. I have honestly enjoyed every minute in the role of Cub Scout Leader, with all the challenges and rewards it brought with it along the years. My heart still lies with the pack, so I will still be around to give a helping hand, whenever needed. I would like to extend my special thanks to all cubs and parents, but especially the Group Scout Leader Edward Cassola for the trust shown in me, as well as to my predecessor Mark Cassola, who was my mentor during my initial years. I now hope I will be a good mentor to David, our new Akela. I am sure he will carry on from where I left
Feature of the Month
and he will certainly do his best, in line with the cub scout motto.
2
Until then, good hunting! Stefan Pullicino Outgoing Akela
From the Courtyard
GSL’S NOTE
Issue 110 January 2017
Our GSL tells us what’s on. New Year brings significant change to the Pack It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Stefan Pullicino, our Akela for just over sixteen years, will no longer be our Cub leader. He will be replaced by David Pace who has been part of the Group for over ten years and a pack leader for nearly five. Stefan will oversee the transition and will remain part of our Group to ensure all the good work he's done in the past years will be further consolidated by our new Akela and his fellow cub leaders. A very big THANK YOU goes to Stefan for all the hard work he put in the Pack and the commitment showed to the Group and it's members. Fundraising This year we shall focus on carrying out fundraising events, large and small, to start filling the "hole" in our funds due to the nearly twenty thousand euros we spent last year on our headquarters. If members and their parents and friends have ideas of how to generate funds for our Group, besides the subscriptions we are collecting, please come forward and speak to us about them.
GSL’s note
Hoodies for activity wear The Hoodies for our activity wear should be ready by the beginning of February. Those members that pay the full subscription fee will be given the Hoodie "FOR FREE". Hoodies should be in hand within the coming weeks and we will inform members when they are in hand. Store works Towards the end of 2016 we decided to reorganise the store. Works are not quite complete but we hope they are ready by the beginning of February. We plan to have new shelving to make the limited space we have better organised. We are also planning to buy some new tents as the ridge tents we have were seriously damaged during last Easter's camp. Forthcoming events Once again, in the next weeks we shall kick off with our sectional programmes. Each section has its own programme and members will be informed accordingly. At Group level we shall be helping out at the Malta Marathon at the beginning of March and later on in April we shall be holding our Easter camp. Dates will be advised in separate circulars in the next few weeks. Leader training At the moment many of our leaders are undergoing training courses to formalise their leadership position with the Association and others are attending revisionary courses in first aid, food handling and subjects that are related to children that require special attention.
3
From the Courtyard
Issue 110 January 2017
CUBS CHRISTMAS PARTY
This year the SAC Cubs were invited to a joint Christmas party at Hamrun HQ along with cubs from other groups.
This year the Hamrun Cubs extended an invitation to numerous groups to join them during their Christmas party. We thought this would be a great opportunity for our cubs to meet kids from other groups and attended the party, held on 28 December 2016. Arriving at Hamrun HQ, the cubs were welcomed with a fun and music-filled atmosphere. Other scout groups accepting the invitation were; Santa
From the Pack
Venera, B’kara and Qormi groups. The party’s entertainment was run by Tony, a popular entertainer in Malta. The cubs danced and played along with the music, eager to gain his and their leaders’ attention, trying to win the regular competitions Tony organised for the kids. These included, the Best Dancer or Best Impressionist (Christmas themed) and many more. The cubs also had the chance to play games such as limbo stick or musical statues. All winners were rewarded with sweets! Later in the day, party food and drinks were abun-
Cubs with Blue Smoke at Hamurn HQ.
dantly offered to all cubs, with a little help from the leaders. This party also gave the cub leaders an opportunity to have a little chat and get to know one another. At the end of the party, the cubs moved outside where everyone had the opportunity to take a photo with Santa and were treated to a goodie bag. We also used this time to sneak in a group photo. In time, the parents of the cubs arrived taking their kids with them, wishing us a Happy New Year! Cubs strike a pose!
4
From the Pack
From the Courtyard
CUBS CHRISTMAS PARTY
Issue 110 January 2017
SAC Cubs and leaders outside Hamrun HQ.
Michael Psaila Blue Smoke Assistant Cub Leader
5
From the Courtyard
CUBS’ WEEKLY ACTIVITIES
Issue 110 January 2017
New year, new ideas! Towards the end of 2016 all cub leaders agreed that, in order to bring more substance and variety to the weekly meetings, we should all participate in a roster of activities which would help us, as leaders, to present a hands on, practical and fun approach to the cub program and ensure that our cubs understand and foster scouting values and knowledge from a young age. Each week a roster system places a different leader in charge of organising a 45 minute or hour-long session in which part of the arrow work or badge work is covreed in a lively and interesting way, rather then the usual lecture. With this renewed energy, the SAC Cub Leaders have taken the task of coming up with new fun ways for the cubs to learn by doing and these sessions have so far proved to be very successful! This new roster means that each leader is only assigned an activity once every couple of months, which is both pleasantly surprising, and surprisingly easy to keep up with, workload wise. This also means that each weekly meeting will include the usual fun games, but will also be infused with at least one scouting related topic, value or skill set. In this section of the newsletter, we hope to keep you up to date with the skills learnt or improved during the weekly sessions.
From the Pack
January 2017 On the 11 January Baloo prepared an activity for the cubs. This activity consisted of a 15 minute lecture about the 'scout sign' and it's importance as well as the 'stand at ease' posture. Once the lecture finished a 45 minute game was played. The game was essentially a mix of catch and stuck in the mud, were cubs who got caught had to say the cub law/promise correctly to be set free. This helped the new cubs memorise both. Scouting skills taught: teamwork in freeing other players, scouting knowledge in the form of scouting signs and elements. It was Bagheera’s turn on 18 January 2017 and she chose to hold an interactive session on campsite logistics. The entire session lasted about an hour and introduced the cubs to all the necessary elements of a campsite, and the importance of each element. After this, cubs were divided into three teams and given flashcards of all the previously mentioned elements. Each team was given ten minutes to come up with their own campsite plan and explain why they done so. After a group critique, we created a final campsite plan using the best parts of each team’s plan.
Campsite logistics session
Scouting skills taught: teamwork in creating a team campsite, basic organizational skills, cleanliness and hygiene. Incoming Akela, David Pace took the last session for January and put the cubs through their paces during a cooking session. Cubs were split into sixes and, under the watchful eye of accompanying cub leaders, were tasked with preparing omelettes—both for themselves and for their leaders. Apart from omelette ingredients, cubs were also given toppings and condiments accompany their omelettes. It was up to the cubs to decide how to combine the ingredients and wow the leaders with the results. While the focus was on learning a basic cooking skill, importance was also given to kitchen safety and hygiene.
6
From the Courtyard
CUBS’ WEEKLY ACTIVITIES
Issue 110 January 2017
Cubs, cooking and eating their omelets.
From the Troop
Scouting skills taught: Basic cooking, safety and kitchen hygiene. Teamwork to present the best possible omelette to leaders as a six.
7
Emma Gauci Bagheera Assistant Cub Leader
From the Courtyard
DO IT LIKE THE ROMANS DID
Issue 110 January 2017
SAC Rovers indulge in some healthy, Roman style competition, sans brutal consequences for the losing team. The Rover Crew emerged from its mandatory, exam and coffee induced January hiatus to partake in a pioneering activity following our Wednesday meeting. These activities will now begin to take place every month, with each month’s activity having a different organiser. The first activity of 2017 was organised by Simon Gauci and in its simplest of forms it consisted of building our own chariot and racing it against each other. This was the welcome return of a pioneering activity which many of us hadn’t participated in since our scouting days. The crew was divided into two teams; Albert Galea, George Zammit Montebello and Emma Gauci making up Team One, Matthew Zammit, Edward Apap Bologna and Andrew Zammit Montebello making up Team Two. This was to be an interesting competition as, since the end of our scouting days, we have, naturally, devel-
From the Crew
oped a keener sense of innovation. Or at least that is what one would hope. Team One, with Matthew, Edward and Andrew, displayed that this was not always the case. Their design centered around sticking their victim-passenger, Andrew, onto a cross and effectively dragging him along. How such a contraption can be interpreted as a chariot of any form remains a mystery to us. The other team meanwhile showed great craft and ingenuity to create what was an actual chariot. Having unearthed two old car rims from inside the temporary store, they set about fashioning a crude axle out of a small spar and some natural rope. To this axle was attached a small platform for the passenger to sit on and a dual spar frame for the trusty steed, George, to give some horsepower. With the latter contraption being built in the parking area, and the former in the courtyard – it took a while for Team One to realise the ingenuity that they were up against. When they did notice however, they resorted to what was a blatant break of the rules. Put simply, they strapped their cross (for that’s basically what it was) to HQ’s only functioning wheelbarrow and proclaimed it finished. Simon was feeling magnanimous and for the sake of a close competition allowed the infringement to pass. The task that needed to be undertaken by these chariots were simple; a time trial on two different courses would be run. The course ran from the parking area, down the passage, in a circle near the chapel and back down the passage, and it would be marked out using mini traffic cones. The chariot must then end the run by reversing into a square bay. The rolling crucifix went first. Indeed the general fear with this course was that the chariots would create such a racket that we would be faced with a mob of angry priests from behind the chapel. Thankfully however, we never did find out if the cross was loud enough to accomplish such a feat. This is due to the fact that as Matthew and Edward pushed their chariot over the bump and into the passage, their run was intervened by the presence of a bush on the side of the passage. Not ones to give up however, the chariot (with Andrew still on it) was hauled out of the greenery and launched up the passage once again; only for that effort to be halted a couple of metres later by the bush on the other side of the passage. It was a sham and with the chariot suffering damages, the run was stopped. To prevent the said mob of priests, Simon altered the course to stay away from the chapel. Indeed it was
8
From the Courtyard
DO IT LIKE THE ROMANS DID
Issue 110 January 2017
the turn of Team Two and their chariot (which was actually a chariot) to attempt the course. Without any incident whatsoever in fact, aside from the passenger having to smack a wheel rim back upright mid-run, the run was finished in 28 seconds. The now repaired cross rolled up to the start line next. With Andrew still the (unwilling) passenger, they set off and managed the course (minus a corner they unceremoniously cut through) in 32 seconds. Victory indeed belonged to Team Two in this round. The course was then edited once more to include a slalom to further test the manoeuvrability of our crafts. Team Two’s chariot once again made its way through the course with grace and control (and an extra rounding of a mini traffic cone). All was not well in the opposite camp however. The wheelbarrow was suffering under the strain of the chariot, and Team One’s passenger was making his displeasure more vocal by the minute. An executive decision was therefore taken by the team to not partake in the course. This meant that they had forfeited from the competition. The victor in the end was clear. Team Two used initiative and resourcefulness to approach the task, whilst the other team attempted to use illicit means in their approach. The former team triumphed over the
From the Crew
latter despite their best attempts (and disgruntled complaints). Bravo for a fantastic activity!
Team One and their wheelbarrow chariot (left) not to be confused with Team Two and their (relatively) balanced, comfy and controllable chariot.
Albert Galea Rover
9