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Scouting East
The Journal of East Belfast Scouting
No. 360
APRIL 2015
From the Editor
Hello everyone, it was great to see a good turnout at our annual St George’s
Day Parade last weekend. Our founder Robert Baden-Powell chose Saint George
(patron saint of England and incidentally also Georgia and Malta) to be the Patron
Saint of Scouting. While the life and death of St George is historical fact, returning
Crusaders also fuelled the legend of a dragon (or perhaps crocodile) blocking
access to a water supply in a town in the Holy Land. The citizens became
accustomed to sacrificing first sheep and then maidens, chosen by drawing lots, to
the creature to obtain water. One day, a princess was chosen. St George, calling on
God for protection, slayed the creature and rescued the princess. The people
abandoned paganism and converted to Christianity. What is more firmly
established is that in 303 AD Emperor Diocletian decreed that all Roman soldiers
should sacrifice to the Roman gods, and that Christian officers refusing to do so
should be arrested. Baden Powell felt that Saint George, a Roman solider born in
modern day Syria and later tortured and executed for steadfastly refusing to
abandon his Christian faith, set a good example of faith, courage and perseverance
for future generations of Scouts. The story of St George tied in perfectly with the
message given at our Service by Paul Brown, the Youth Pastor at Knock, who
spoke of the life of Daniel, who also refused to abandon his faith despite the threat
of imminent death, and also reminds us of the persecution today in many countries
of the world, sometimes openly and sometimes more subtly, of those who have the
courage to take a stand for their faith despite the cost. We were all prompted to
consider at the Service what our Scout promise means to us personally. Although
many Districts do hold an annual event at which promises are renewed, many now
do so as part of a fun day or camp. East Belfast is one of the few Districts to retain
a traditional Parade and this is an excellent PR opportunity to show the local
community that Scouting is alive and well, still relevant to modern society and
hopefully generate some interest and even recruit some new members. At the time
of writing I am hopeful some photos will be published in the local press, and am
trying to build contacts with journalists. I would encourage Groups to nominate a
publicity officer to send me regular copy both for Scouting East and which
potentially I could also forward on from time to time to local newspapers.
Remember to obtain parental permission for any photos used. Best wishes, David
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From the District Commissioner
Hi Folks,
Many Thanks to all who attended our St. George’s Day Parade, and to 4th Group
for hosting us and helping with arrangements. Our Thanks also to Rev. Moore,
Paul Brown and the Musicians for all their help. We are grateful to the bands for
their help also and to the Executive and SASU Members for stewarding. We were
lucky with the weather considering there were hailstones the next day. All Groups
and Units were represented which was excellent, with over 510 on Parade plus the
bands. We have been able to send £550 to the Street Pastors for their very
valuable work which I know will be much appreciated. Please Thank all Readers
and Flag-Bearers for taking part so well.
Our Congratulations to the 3 Queen’s Scouts who received their Awards from our
County Commissioner at the Service – Rachel Pollock, Victoria McKechnie and
Michael Cousins all from Stormont Unit. There were also 3 Queen’s Scouts at the
Parade in Windsor Castle – Sara McLachlan and Morgan Shaw from Stormont
Unit and Victoria Bates from Knock Unit. I’m sure they had a great day and well
done to them also.
Thank You to 33rd Group who have offered to host our AGM this year on 11th May
at 8 p.m. A separate notice will be forwarded to Groups in the next couple of days,
but please make a great effort to attend.
Best Wishes, Ann,
Tel. 9065 3226, [email protected]
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EAST BELFAST DISTRICT BEAVER SCOUTS
Beaver Rally Day and Sleepover
NI Beaver Rally Day Saturday 16th May 2015 Crawfordsburn Scout Centre
11:00am to 3:00pm £4.50 per Beaver Application via www.scoutsni.com
Sleepover option £5.00 per Beaver Crawfordsburn tent pitch, beach walk,
campfire, supper and fun together with other Beavers and Leaders. Deadline for
receipt of application is Monday 4th May 2015.
District AGM
Monday 11th May (venue TBC) -hoping to see a good representation of Beaver
Leaders.
Beaver Scout FUNDAY! Saturday 6th June 2015, Ormeau Park, Belfast
11:00am – 3:00pm
We would love to see a great turnout from East, it promises to be a great day out
for Beaver Scouts in Belfast County!
Please see the flyer and information below. Booking forms have been sent to you
already by email. We need to have confirmation if your Colony would like to
attend and confirmation of numbers etc. as soon as possible, but no later than
MONDAY 18th MAY 2015 this is to enable final stage planning for the numbers
expected to attend. (Beavers and Leaders).
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to
hearing from each of you soon to confirm your interest.
ADCs (Beaver Scouts)
Gareth 07884411354 [email protected]
Betty 02890 658388 [email protected]
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DON’T LET YOUR BEAVERS MISS OUT!
BOOK WITH YOUR ADC NOW...
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What can Beavers expect from their Fun Day?
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Bouncy Castle
Bouncy Slide
Campfire sing-a-long
Bird feeders / nesters
Scavenger hunt
Games
Nature trail
Character mascots
Penalty kick net
50th birthday cake
Open space
Face painting
MORE ACTIVITIES ADDED
CLIMBING WALL
ARCHERY
ENTERTAINERS
CIRCUS ACTS
BBQ LUNCH
Booking forms are available through your ADC now...
Booking and further information has been sent to you by email – please
reply to Beaver Scout ADCs within your own District. Please return
booking forms etc. to confirm places at this event with your ADC asap
or before Monday 18th May 2015. Thank you.
ACC Beaver Scouts
GARETH McAULEY
[email protected]
07884411354
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St George’s Day Parade 2015
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30th Pack at Gosford, Easter 2015
At the end of the Easter holidays, 30th packed our rucksacks, loaded up the minibus
and headed to Gosford early on Friday morning to make the most of the last
weekend before schools resumed. First stop, Tayto Castle at Tandragee. Suitably
attired, the Cubs were given a tour of the factory, observing all the steps in the
production of Northern Ireland’s favourite crisps, and the opportunity to taste a
fantastic range of flavours before emerging 2 hours later with a literal mountain of
crisps, having been given a free six pack each of a flavour of their choice.
After lunch, we travelled on to Armagh for a visit to
the Planetarium. There we toured the exhibits, booked in to the star show and
completed the Astronomer badge afterwards with the help of the Planetarium staff.
Highlight of visit was the opportunity to make and launch rockets, which Cubs and
Leaders alike entered into enthusiastically, with fierce competition to fire their
creations deep into outer space and far off galaxies, or at least over the brow of the
hill to oblivion but further than anyone else.
After the mandatory stop at the local garage to refuel (the Cubs as
well as the minibus), we arrived and settled into Gosford Guide House before
venturing out for a hike ‘through’ the forest with Scout Leader Davy putting the
Cubs through SAS training scrambling over muddy banks and through
waterlogged ditches. A number of new games were on the agenda for the weekend
including Vampires as well as old favourites including Smugglers and Generals.
Indoors we played Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and the cereal box game with
Leaders conceding after valiant attempts that they just were no longer as agile as
the Cubs and really should have more sense at their age!!
On Saturday after breakfast and inspection, we made the
short journey down the road to Lurgaboy Activity Centre. Some of the Cubs were
learning first hand some words of wisdom a wise old woman (well Olive Dobson,
former ACSL at 10th) once shared with me at a Cub camp when I was a student –
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Don’t hoot with the owls at night if you can’t soar with the eagles in the
morning!!!- having attempted to do an all-nighter, they were literally dead on their
feet, wandering around like zombies. A fantastic day of activities at Lurgaboy
with our enthusiastic team of instructors saw the Cubs tackle high ropes, leap of
faith, crate staking, rafting, orienteering and zip wire all in quick succession.
Back at Gosford and refuelled once more, there was yet
another hike, more outdoor games including a new game – Flintstones, in which
the Cubs attempted to drag blocks from the quarry to build Stonehenge while
protecting two of the leaders aka Barney and Fred from a pack of dinosaurs aka the
young leaders! Back indoors, we made model rafts from lollypop sticks and sock
puppets. And so the stage was set for our evening’s entertainment – not quite your
regular Saturday night viewing, and probably not in the same league as Britain’s
Got Talent – but the Leaders were treated to a series of puppet plays as one by one
the sixes took to the stage (well the kitchen hatch)- most of the plays had vague
plots containing lots of senseless violence that probably should have carried at
least a 15 certificate, with more deaths that a Midsummer Murders script, and lots
of not yet glued firmly on body parts falling off puppets at inopportune moments
as they died slow and agonising deaths. Great entertainment! Despite the rain, we
rounded off the night with a short outdoor campfire and a brief attempt to toast
mallows.
The next morning was quickly filled with more games, another
ramble through the forest (in the bitter wind and sleet!), Cubs Own and packing
which always takes much longer than expected. There was just time for a
backwoods lunch before the eagerly awaited launch of our little flotilla of lollypop
stick rafts on the raging river. In truth, the University Boat Race could not match
the enthusiasm of our little band of spectators, who all had a vested interest in
ensuring their raft won and were willing to resort to any lengths including
torpedoing their rivals, dislodging their own grounded rafts with long sticks or
discreetly re-launching them through the air, travelling like flying saucers before
crashing back into the sea a considerable distance ahead of the field. We followed
the rafts much further than we initially intended along the river, as at each bridge
we came to we disputed the winner so had to continue a bit further. We’re still
debating the outcome weeks later. Tired but happy, we finally headed for home.
Many thanks to Scout Leaders Davy and Simon, and to Ballyhanwood Explorer
Scouts David, Jonathan and Joshua for all their help during the weekend.
David and Gareth, 30th Cub Leaders
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Events in April
24th
East Belfast District St George’s Day Rehearsal
Venue: 4th HQ, Knock Presbyterian 7pm
Contact: Ann, DC
26th
East Belfast District St George’s Day Parade
Venue: Leaving from Stormont Gates at 2.30pm
Contact: Ann, DC
ADVANCE NOTICE
East Belfast District AGM
33 HQ Stormont Presbyterian Church
Monday 11th May at 8pm
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News & Views, Letters & Comments,
Reports & Announcements to the Editor:
David Bell
Email: [email protected]
Not later than 30th April for the May issue please!
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