Scouting offers new adventures

Post date: Apr 15, 2012 11:53:45 AM

Saturday, April, 07, 2012

http://www.flamboroughreview.com/community/scouting-offers-new-adventures/

By Anne Clock , 3rd WATERDOWN CUBS

SNAP! Oh, no, not again!

We were trying to make a fire to boil water, but the matches kept breaking. Sometimes, we got a flame, but when we put it close to the tinder bundle, a pile of ripped newspaper and the fluffy insides of bulrushes, it wouldn’t catch fire. Maybe it was too damp. Finally, Akela, the leader of our Cub pack, used his lighter. It worked! Soon, we had a nice fire and boiling water.

I’m a second-year Cub with 3rd Waterdown Scouting. We went on an amazing winter weekend camp recently. To earn part of my Canadian Camper Award, I had to start a fire and boil water. The night before, we watched a movie and made pine needle tea. It was good and tasted like a Christmas tree (not that I’ve ever tried to eat a tree).

Later that day, we built shelters. We worked in teams and leaned a big branch against a tree, then leaned smaller branches against the big one and weaved pine boughs through the branches to keep out wind and rain. Finally, we got to explore the inside. It was bigger than it looked!

At Cub camp you do a lot in one day. We made trail mix and went on a hike. We had to identify trees. A few minutes into our hike, we spotted something on the ground. It looked like chocolate chips. It was deer poop. Shortly after, one of our leaders pointed out a beech tree. We saw that someone had carved initials into the bark. I wonder why they did it because it must have hurt the tree.

We hiked for about an hour. Along the way we saw a huge uprooted tree (the roots were taller than us) with a puddle where the roots had been, a teepee built by unknown hikers before us, lots of mud and streams that we had to jump over.

If all this sounds like fun to you, join our Cub pack and let the adventure begin. You can sign up on April 24, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at Sealey Park Scout Hall on Main Street South. Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and Rovers are for girls and boys, ages 5 to 26.