Issue 118 Issue 1182017 September September 2017
From the Courtyard
From the Courtyard SAC SCOUTS NEWSLETTER
GSL’S NOTE In this issue Cubs.. - Fun Times Ahead
Scouts.. - Summer Camp
Our GLS tells us what’s on. September This month was one of the busiest for all sections. Summer camp was held between August 31st and September 6th. It was a really good camp for all and we count ourselves lucky, weather-wise. A large
Ventures.. - Summer Review
Rovers.. - Rover Joint Activity - Saving the World!
number of activities were ably organised for all members by the respective sections leaders and I am sure many enjoyed their time at camp. The fund raising BBQ was also very well attended with around two hundred and fifty persons present. Camp fire followed the BBQ and all sections contributed towards a successful event. Thanks to all leaders that made this possible.
National Camp Right after summer camp ended, a number of our Troop members took part in the National Camp between 7th-10th September at Ghajn Tuffieha Camp site together with other Scout Groups and Girl Guide Companies. Feedback from the boys was positive and it looks like it was a good basis to build upon for next years planned Euro-Med jamboree.
Coming up - 14, 15 October— Hospice Charity Collection. - 1 November—Cubs Halloween Party
Team building Our Rovers and Unit organised another teambuilding event for St Martin’s Sixth form students on September 22nd. It turned out to be another well planned and happy event for all participants. Thanks to the Rovers and Unit that helped to make this event possible. Our Group also organised its own teambuilding event on September 29th. Albeit being a short event with the intention of getting together and focusing on having fun, it was very ably organised by our AGSL Mark P. Borg. Then following the event, we organised a BBQ for all twenty eight members in attendance in recognition of the work they carried out throughout the summer.
From the Courtyard
GSL’S NOTE
Issue 118 September 2017
October October is usually a regrouping process were many members seem to reappear after the summer months and new members join with the starting of school. There is also the process wherein members start to prepare for the “going-up” transition to another section. Hence, October is usually not loaded with activities but it is a preparatory period for all for the subsequent months which are usually very busy. Leaders are also heavily involved in training and getting their courses and certificates in order or updated. Needless to say it is also the start of “open season” for meetings at District and National level where leaders are involved in additional long hours of meetings relating to various administrative issues with the
GSL’s Note
objective of improving things or planning for future events.
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From the Courtyard
FUN TIMES AHEAD!
Issue 118 September 2017
Here’s a recap of the Pack’s summer camp, as well as lots of activities for them to look forward to in Autumn and Winter Summer has finally come to and end, and it’s back to school for our cubs! With that thought in mind the cubs can look back to a summer of successful activities, with the highlight, as always, being the group summer camp! Summer Camp seems to get tougher every year with the weather and the heat being amongst the main challenges. However it can be safely said that cubs who attended all enjoyed it and the activities it involved, amongst which one could find, night games (always a cub favorite!) , open fire cooking, swimming, badgework, archery, an obstacle course, Ready, Steady, Cook Competition and Shelter building.
From the Pack
Here are a few pictures from Summer Camp 2017 for you to enjoy:
Cubs face the megaobstacle course, surmounting the pit of Tartarus, the stepping stones to Olympus among others.
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FUN TIMES AHEAD!
From the Pack
From the Courtyard
Cubs at the beach, preparing for open-fire cooking and competing during the chariot races
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Issue 118 September 2017
From the Pack
From the Courtyard
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FUN TIMES AHEAD!
Issue 118 September 2017
Top: Left—Cubs’ camp craft—making temple lanterns. Right—In change of flag down.
Bottom: Left—Ready, steady...cook! Right—Pack photo in front of the flagpole.
From the Pack
From the Courtyard
FUN TIMES AHEAD!
Issue 118 September 2017
First fall in of Summer camp 2017 However cubs can also look forward to a scholastic year which is going to be even more jampacked with activities. Amongst the plans in the pipeline one can find: A sixers overnight sleepover at HQ! – This is aimed towards new Sixers and Second-Sixers which are currently being chosen, and it will provide the new Sixers with some essential knowledge and training in order to better help them in their roles as six leaders! A number of hikes, cookouts and Joint-activities. – It’s not just our cubs that have to train, our Leaders are also constantly keeping up to date with their training by attending several courses and amongst the requirements one can find organising several activities with other packs! We also have a number of Ventures helping out with the pack,in order to prepare them for future roles within the group, who have also taken initiative in planning such activities. The details of one of these activities we will hold back for now and keep as a surprise! With halloween at the end of this month, Cubs can expect the return of a firm favorite, the Cub Halloween Party! This will be held at our HQ on Wednesday 1st November, the details have already been sent out via circular! This activity will serve as the last activity in which our older cubs, who are currently doing their link badge, will take part before fully becoming part of the Scout troop the older section within our group. Cubs can as a result expect a number of new cubs to join their ranks! With a number of new cubs having recently joined our pack and plans to introduce more, a Tenderpaw
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From the Courtyard
FUN TIMES AHEAD!
Issue 118 September 2017
basic knowledge required as a cub within our group. With Christmas soon round the corner, doing our duty and helping out in some community work, for example by collecting money for the Hospice movement. With all these activities coming up, we encourage cubs to keep attending as regularly as possible as their is loads to look forward to in the Scouting lives! David Pace,
From the Pack
Akela, Cub Scout Leader.
Badge work—in the shade!
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From the Courtyard
SUMMER CAMP
Issue 118 September 2017
Here’s a snippet from the Wolf Patrol Summer Camp Logbook 2017. Day 3—Saturday 2nd September 2017 We had flag up extra early and we all woke up at around 6:45hrs and had flag up at around 7:00am. The flag was hoisted by the Bull Patrol. We were told from the previous day to pack a towel and be in our swimming trunks for the fall-in. We left the campsite and went off to do Lumbering Up at the beach. As soon as we arrived, we were advised to remove our shirts, towels and flip flops, and do several exercises. We then jumped all together in the water and swam for around 15minutes, but we shortly had to leave since we had a jam packed programm. A soon as we arrived at the campsite, we were split in 2 groups. The first to take a shower, and the other group to eat breakfast. This helped hurry up the process. By 9:00am we had finished up, and we continued with the scheduled plan of the leaders. We did 30
From the Troop
Challenges and had great fun. We had lunch at around 1pm and we afterwards carried out our usual duties. Afterwards had some activities carried out by the leaders. They were split in 3 groups and so were we obviously on our own due to our size. The first activity we had was Archery. Since most of us had already experienced it before we hit both the bulls eye and the Olympic targets several times. We afterwards had to play the game Senseless which works with team work. The Patrol Leader cannot see, the Assistant Patrol Leader cannot move and must be transported to a desired location and ALL the members cannot talk. We performed very well and in fact we came second just seconds behind the Tiger Patrol. Then we had the last activity that we had to make a fire, and boil and egg in foil. We successfully lit up the fire and it worked. We obviously ate the Egg after all the hassle. Right afterwards we had an Orienteering lecture with Mike and Paolo, helping us revise the bearings, Map References and even the uncommon Field bearing. This took most of us at least a few minutes to get a grip of but at the end we all had understood the basic concepts. Afterwards, the PL’s and APL’s had to continue strengthening their mapping skills whilst the rest of the members had to do the obstacle course. Once that was done, we had Mass made by Fr Rector Jimmy Bartolo. We were also told that right afterwards we were going to have the Expedition. We weren’t surprised since we had already the lecture. After mass we were advised to prepare our swimming trunks, snorkels, towel sunscream, water, flip flops, high visibility vests, sleeping bags ,sleeping mat, and also we were advised to put on talcum powder before, use 2 pair of socks, and obviously were hiking boots. As a patrol we split up all of the equipment: map kit, bivouac, ropes, staves,stove,gas and first aid Kit. In a matter of 15 minutes we were all ready and packed our bags to the brim. We were given the papers and we started to find the checkpoints. We had found the checkpoint exactly with the Hound Patrol, but they were allowed to go first. The checkpoint was The Roman Baths. As soon as we had arrived we saw the hounds right ahead of us and we arrived less than 5 minutes late, meaning that we had not lost time but gained just a few minutes. We instantly had found the next checkpoint which was Mgarr Church. We
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From the Courtyard
SUMMER CAMP
Issue 118 September 2017
made the route and off we went to follow it. Unfortunately, due to a small mistake we fell just about 3 minutes late and we tried to make up time by hurrying a bit. Although we had made that small mistake we had caught up to them and we arrived at the checkpoint just a few seconds behind. This gave our patrol the chance to get in the lead by the next MR. In fact we had come in the lead and we were on our way to Wied il-Palma. On our way, we faced some difficulties, and in fact we weren’t the only patrol to face this problem. We had met to Meli and Baron in the car and we had told them what seemed to be the problem. We then noticed that we were given a wrong MR and the leaders desired location was to be somewhere else. We had no intention of passing through this route but to complete the checkpoint. All the patrols had met by the time of 10minutes and there was a lot of confusion. The leaders had unanimously decided that we shall eat over there. They gave us seasoned and baked potatoes, and burger patties so we cook them on the stove. We were also given the next checkpoint paper and we found it first in an’S’ shaped road. Since we finished first we were supposed to leave first but allowed a patrol to go before us since they had
From the Troop
finished eating before us. We noticed that we had started to slow down the pace by quite a lot at the end we were all very tired. We were given the next checkpoint and the place was a bay very close to Popeye's Village. The next checkpoint was obviously our sleeping location and it was It-Torri l-Ahmar. Since we knew the route by heart, we allowed some of the members to lead the way. This serves as an experience booster, and also to make them feel better. We arrived at our sleeping location, and we were slightly tired. We assembled our shelter and slept next to the tigers who arrived shortly after us. Afterwards came the Buffs and finally entered the Hounds which is contrarily to what was expected since they started off first. We afterwards went off to bed since we didn’t have any energy left stored us after such a long walk. All in all it was a great expedition and we enjoyed every second of it!
Matthew Zammit & Alex Siegler Scouts
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From the Courtyard
SUMMER REVIEW
Issue 118 September 2017
The unit gives us a review of their eventful Summer. Summer has been a busy one for most members of the Unit, who have taken up summer jobs, pursued their studies and travelled abroad. Some also took up leadership roles to help with the cubs and scouts. Nonetheless we have kept our tempo and held regular meetings and events.
From the Unit
Summer camp & Campfire This year’s campfire was organised by the Venture Unit. It was the first time the current unit has ever organised a campfire. We took the opportunity because we had just learned about hosting a campfire from our trip to Sicily this summer. So, with fresh memories of songs and stunts in our mind, we gave it a shot. It was quite a successful activity with the help of the Sections Leaders and its members. Tasks were divided between the Ventures and everything went as planned. Two ventures were taking care of the fire, others planned stunts, and with the help of Andre we planned a variety of camp fire songs which the audience sang along to. A couple of stunts were also well practiced and acted out, such as the “Vending Machine stunt” and the grand finale “synchronised swimming stunt” which was enjoyed by everyone in the audience. The Rovers also put together a couple of well-acted stunts, as well as the main leaders’ stunt by Mani and Andre. The food was delicious and group members, friends and family who joined that campfire left well united, satisfied hunger wise as well as mood. Throughout the rest of the camp the Ventures helped around as camp staff as well as aiding the scouts and cubs in their daily activities as many of the venture members are conducting their Systems of Knowledge Project with the group. Weekly activities Throughout many of the Wednesday meetings the ventures have all sorts of activities. Following the recent success at playing basketball, lately the ventures played a game of volleyball by pioneering two tripods and a long rope as a net. The game was enjoyed by each member and we went home with an open mind towards new sports activities. The next meeting planned was chariot racing with one wheel used. Two chariots both having a single wheel were constructed and raced all in the span of a meeting. Although we did not manage to reach Formula 1 speeds, let us say that we created a few new concepts in car design. Future activities are being planned to welcome the new Ventures, such as a scavenger hunt and oven cooking. A farewell party is on its way for the 6 ventures going up to the rover Crew in November. Without the Unit’s contribution and hard work at HQ and during camp the group wouldn’t have been so hard working, organised, committed and well planned throughout the summer’s Wednesday activities and main events.
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From the Courtyard
SUMMER REVIEW
Issue 118 September 2017
From the Unit
The two, rather creative, chariot contraptions.
By Johnny, Buzu & Luke, the JBL trio.
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From the Courtyard
ROVER JOINT ACTIVITY
Issue 118 September 2017
Aspiring leaders from St Aloysius college Scout Group teamed up with their St Michael’s School Scout Group counterpart for a compulsory part of their leadership training, the fabled ‘Joint Activity’. Is compulsory necessarily boring? Read on to find out! As part of the final section of the scout group before becoming a leader, members of the Rover Crew are underway with preparations for this last hurdles involved in obtaining that coveted certificate, and are in the process of attaining qualifications and badges in accordance with Island Headquarters (IHQ) policy. Two of our aspiring leaders, namely Luke Maistre and Matthew Zammit were set to undertake a joint activity with Rovers from St. Michael’s School Scout Group, one of whose senior Rovers is also going through the same process. In order to bolster attendance, it was decided that the activity would be held on 21st September. Pre-activity discussions resulted in the events of the day being divided into two main segments, the first being a car treasure hunt (planned by Luke Maistre) and the second a cooking competition (under the
From the Crew
remit of Matthew Zammit), with the participants being divided into teams at the beginning of the first activity and which would remain consistent through the whole day. The teams were as follows:
Team 1
Team 2 George Zammit-
Team 3 Andrew Zammit-
Nicole Mifsud
Montebello David Pace
Montebello Daniel Busuttil
Liam Curmi de Gray
Jonathan Pace
Alex Ripard
Michael Psaila
James Caruana
Andre Brincat
Team 4 Albert Galea
Emanuel Lewis The event commenced at 10.00am at Ta’ Qali where, following team allocations each team was provided with the list of items they had to either retrieve or obtain photographs of by 14.00. With a final caution regarding the advantages of safe driving, as told through an abridged retelling of the classic ‘The Rabbit and the Tortoise’, the organisers bade the teams a fond ‘bon voyage’ and set off themselves, keeping one ear attuned to the car radio so as to be alerted if anyone was seized by the sudden and irresistible urge to attempt an Team 2 taking a photo with a Llama - no folks, we don't know where they found one either...
audition for the next ‘Fast and Furious’ sequel. Whilst the teams gallivanted about the central
portion of the Maltese islands, the organisers set about preparing for the cooking activity, making a trip to
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From the Courtyard
A.K.A. THE BIDDING WAR.
Issue 118 September 2017
the supermarket to purchase a random assortment of ingredients and indulging in a gas truck chase in Hamrun in order to purchase three canisters of the item, with the exchange happily occurring after the driver was flagged down somewhere in the inner depths of Imrieħel. This done, we happily rattled our way back to SAC HQ with the occasional resounding clang of two gas canisters slamming together in the boot of our driver’s Daihatsu Sirion (which, should you be wondering, is a car quite unsuited to the hefty task), Upon arrival back to SAC HQ, and with the teams soon inbound, our organisers set about clearing a space in the courtyard and setting up tables and stoves for our cooking activity. The setting up done, our teams trickled in one-byone - brandishing what in any other setting would have been a bizarre assortment of objects. We at SAC however, are made of
From the Crew
sterner stuff, and aspiring leader Luke Maistre bravely
battled
acrimonies,
through
the
counter-accusations
shouting, and
brandishing of brungiel with abandon that each team indulged in (with the notable lack of Team 2, whose lack of a brungiela to brandish was more than made up for by the cacophony of indignant sound produced) so as to gain an advantage over the others. Battered and bruised but with thankfully all of his extremities still firmly attached, Luke Maistre managed to award each of the teams a number of points according to their relative success in the treasure hunt, with Team 1 emerging as the victors and second, third and fourth place coincidentally It's all fun and games until the Ottomans show up...
going to teams 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
It was now time for Matthew Zammit (and your humble author) to step forward, as in the famed Bard’s production; ‘into the breach’ (although our dear readers will be relieved to know that there was no wall to pile up with English or even Maltese dead). Although each of the participants, thanks to their long years of association with their respective Group, had participated in numerous types of this activity before, this was to contain an unknown twist. Half of the purchased food was brought and laid out on a table in front of the teams, who were informed that they were to prepare a starter and a main course. However, in order to do so, they would have to ‘bid’ for individual items of food with the number of points they had
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From the Courtyard
ROVER JOINT ACTIVITY
Issue 118 September 2017
won in the treasure hunt. Whilst this undoubtedly conferred an advantage on those who had done well in the former activity, strategic thinking and proper planning would allow all the teams to have a fair shot at winning this competition. The teams were also informed that a second round of food would be presented after the first round was completely purchased, and that whilst some items would be repeated, others would be unique. After a few minutes to confer and decide on their strategy, the teams were ready to start the first round of bidding. It became immediately clear that whilst some teams had decided upon their chosen items of food and decided to pursue them at all costs, others had taken the more opportunistic view and decided to acquire anything they saw going ‘on the cheap’ (although with the currency used being points, measuring what was ‘cheap’ was very subjective). The only team not to indulge in any of the above approaches was Team 4, who ended the first round of bidding with several small mushrooms and assorted
From the Crew
packets of lettuce.
The teams busy at work bidding.
As the second round commenced, the teams began to focus on what they felt was lacking in their acquisitions, with Team 3 vigorously pursuing some spaghetti, Team 4 breaking their vegetarian streak by snapping up (not literally) a couple of turkey drumsticks and Team 1 continuing to sweep up the remainder by virtue of both their abundance of points as well as the other teams’ incompetence to spot a bargain. Tactical bidding (egged on in no small part by yours truly) also came to the fore, and all agreed it was mightily enjoyable to see Team 2’s David Pace turn red as he was bid-up on the items he wished to acquire – it went well with the colour of the inconceivably large amount of carrots his team had purchased.
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From the Courtyard
A.K.A. THE BIDDING WAR.
Issue 118 September 2017
As the teams all finalised their purchases, they were given a time limit of 1.5 hours to complete their dishes, as the organisers paced around and offered suggestions and observations at various points – although the helpfulness of these comments was disputed by the participants and were at times met with counter-suggestions of their own. A novel feature was that halfway through the cooking process, each team was presented with a ‘mystery item’ which they had to include in their starter or main course. In order not to make life more difficult for the participants, the mystery items chosen were as obscure and specialised as possible, two examples being a can of pineapples and a carton of Greek yoghurt. As the dishes were completed, the organisers tasted a small sample of each dish before allowing the now ravenous team members to descend upon them and finish them off. For the sake of completeness, it should be recorded that whilst Team 1 also came first in the cooking competition, Team 4 managed to acquire second place, whilst Team 2 and Team 3 finished 3rd and 4th respectively. However, the organisers wish to record that they were deeply impressed by all the teams’ dishes, especially in light of the limited ingredients and other pressures which they were faced with, and that the final rankings were compiled
From the Crew
only after much discussion.
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Matthew Zammit Rover (and aspiring leader-to-be)
From the Courtyard
Issue 118 September 2017
SAVING THE WORLD FROM NUCLEAR WAR
From the Crew
On Friday 29th September, the leadership team attended a team building activity organised purposely for them. In contrast to activities on our annual calendar, this time round, our leaders got to participate in an activity rather than organise it. So this one just had to be special.
In fact our young adults and section leaders were tasked with solving the rising nuclear tensions between Presidents Trump and Kim Jung-un, by using both their scouting skills and their creativity. Tasks included funny lip-synch videos to humour Kim Jung-un, thus distracting him from pushing the big red button and locating USS submarines and stop them from firing nuclear missiles. At one point the infamous Mac Gyver also popped over to give us a helping hand asking for a variety of items (treasure hunt) to disarm all nuclear missiles. Most of the items on that list are of national security and can therefore not be published in this newsletter. All videos from the evening are being held by AGSL Mark P. Borg in a classified location while other material has been destroyed. This has been done to avoid a potential sacwikileaks which could once again result in an escalated nuclear tension between US and North Korea.
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AVSL Matthew Zarb, showing us that there’s no upper age limit for the display of overzealous enthusiasm .
What we can tell you is that following the successful diffusion of tension between the two tempremental presidents, all participants enjoyed a comparatively civilized celebratory BBQ
From the Crew
From the Courtyard
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Issue 118 September 2017
SAVING THE WORLD FROM NUCLEAR WAR
Top: The Rover team, mid-lip sync in a display of absolute composure, as is typical of their average age bracket.
Bottom: The Cub team, getting it spot on first time around
From the Crew
From the Courtyard
Issue 118 September 2017
SAVING THE WORLD FROM NUCLEAR WAR
Top: The Troop team, although we can’t tell whether this photo was taken before or after the creation of particularly incriminating evidence.
Bottom: The Venture team
Mark Borg AGSL
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