The officially un-official newsletter of the Birkdale Scout Group! Birkdale Bugle Volume 1 Issue 1 Term 1, 2015 FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE Our Group Executive Committee meet every 4th Thursday of the month at 7.00pm at the den. Have you considered coming along and having your say about what happens in the Group? We welcome all parents/carers to attend. Any input or involvement you can make will be greatly appreciated as we are always looking for fresh new ideas. THANK YOU The Committee holds regular fundraising activities such as Mary Street Fair, sausage sizzles at Bunnings, raffles and food drives etc. The funds raised are a vital benefit to our Group and reach all levels of our youth members. We give a BIG thank you to all the parents/carers who gave their time to assist with fundraising efforts and offering their assistance at Section meetings in 2014. WATCH THIS SPACE to be involved in fundraising opportunities This year the Committee hope to come up with a fresh fundraising idea. If you have ideas and would like to be involved, please contact Andrina on 0402 810774 or Emily on 0435 522958. We are now on Facebook! www.facebook.com/BirkdaleScoutGroup FEEDBACK LEADER OPPORTUNITIES Do you have any for us? • Do you have a New Year’s resolution to become more active with your kids and not let them have all the fun? • Are you looking for something different for yourself in 2015? • Why not consider attending the leadership course to become a leader? What can we do better in 2015? For more information, please contact Gareth on Mob 0412 199437. Skills of parents We as parents and members of the Birkdale Scout Group come from a wide variety of backgrounds and occupations. It is always a bonus for any organisation to know what skills, trades and business activities each of its members possess or are involved in. If you have any skills/equipment/ resources that you are willing to share with the Group at one of our events, Section meetings or just to help with upgrading our den, please let one of the Section Leaders / Committee members know. If you have a ride-on lawn mower, are a painter by trade or have skills with writing grants, we would certainly like to hear from you. Please contact Andrina on 0402 810774. Regardless of what Section meeting you are in, your Joey, Cub, Scout or Venturer shirt and scarf must be worn unless the Section Leaders advise otherwise. UNIFORM S When attending Section excursions and formal scouting events such as Founders Day and ANZAC Day, the formal uniform must be worn. Whilst we do not request youth members to wear a particular type/brand of shorts, the formal colour for shorts and pants is fawn/sandstone. It is however accepted that black/navy may be worn at weekly Section meetings. Bright coloured board shorts and short shorts are not appropriate. If you have any queries regarding the suitability of your shorts, please approach a Section Leader or Committee member. Thank you This year our Annual Presentation of Reports will be held on Wednesday, 29 April, 7.30-8.30pm We request that each family be represented by at least one parent. The meeting is simply to reflect over the past year, look forward to what’s coming up in the new scouting year and to review the financials of the Group. Furthermore, if you want a say in how we run the Group and want to vote on any proposed Notices of Motion, you will need to be present. This meeting will not be involving any of our youth members and there will be no supervised activities for children. We therefore request, if possible, that children not attend the meeting. Thank you. Come along and meet some other parents Easter Monday, 6 April – 9.00am – Noon We invite parents, leaders, venturers and scouts who do not have any plans on Easter Monday to come and help out at our working bee which is for the purpose of clearing and sorting out the camping supplies shed and one or both offices inside the den. For health and safety reasons, we do request that young children not attend working bees. For more information, please contact Andrina on 0402 810774. On 21-22 March at Karingal, our Scouts took up the challenge of Butterfly, a competition wide game which involves a navigational hike using a map and compass to hike from base to base. To further enhance the hike, the Scouts need to complete skill based and very adventurous activities. Adding to the adventure, shortly after the competition commenced, the skies opened with a downpour of rain lasting several hours into the night with lots of thunder and some lightning. Our Scouts did themselves proud including our newer and younger members as it was extremely difficult in wet and muddy conditions. It proves that the resilience of the Scouts, no matter what the conditions, they can still find joy in what they are doing and get a real sense of accomplishment on completion. This year we didn’t make the top ten but who cares, they were there for the absolute fun of it! (picture was taken at the final parade) REDLAND SUNRISE ROTARY ART UNION As part of our scouting community service, we have agreed to sell 200 Art Union tickets for the Rotary Club of Redland Sunrise Inc. Art Union ticket books have already been handed out to families. If you are unable to sell your book, please return it to the den so it can be reallocated. All Art Union books must be returned to the den with money by the beginning of May. Please ensure that you sign your ticket stubs/money in with a Committee member. In exchange for our efforts, Rotary will be making a donation to the Group. Can Cage Life Line Bin In the den car park there is a Life Line bin. Our Group receives a donation when the bin is emptied. If you are having a clean out at home, please remember the Life Line bin in the car park. Again, in the den car park there is a Can Cage. Our Group receives a payment when the cage is full so please save your empty cans to put in the cage. Empty aluminium cans can be put into the Can Cage at any time. Please do not leave items outside the bin. Please, do not crush the cans. One of the greatest things about Scouts is that it is truly international. During a recent family trip to the USA, we planned to visit a Boy Scout troop in New York City. One cold, wintery evening, we visited Troop 414 of Manhattan District, of Boy Scouts of America. The Scouts also invited their Cub Scouts, and we were invited to join in their formal opening ceremony. After introductions, I gave a presentation about Australia, Scouts in Australia, and what the difference is between scouting in the two countries. We had some formal presentations – we presented an Australian Scout shirt (complete with genuine crooked Scout sewing!), scarf, woggle, green book, and various badges; we were invested as honorary members of their Scout Troop, presented with a Troop scarf and badges. The Scouts then had a knot relay race to prepare for a camp they had on that weekend (camping in the snow! How fun does that sound?) which Mitchell and Lucy participated in. To round the night off, we were treated to a meal From the Group Leader’s Desk prepared and cooked by the Scout Master and parents. It was a fantastic night, and we made some new friends. If you ever have the opportunity to travel overseas, we can highly recommend making the effort to visit a scout group in that country – it will be an amazing experience! Gareth, Kathy, Mitchell and Lucy Oliver FOUNDER’S DAY - 22nd February What is Founder’s Day? It is the birthday of the founder of the worldwide Scout movement, Lord Robert Baden-Powell. It is also coincidentally the birthday of his wife, Olave Baden-Powell, who started the Girl Guides. What a great Founder’s Day service we had, albeit with the short-notice location change! It made for a busy morning with one Joey going up to Cubs, four Cubs going up to Scouts, four new youth investitures, and three Adult leaders being invested! Thankfully the weather was better than the previous days. Thank you for attending our small Founder’s Day service. Photos of the event follow on the next page.