|
|
|
The monthly newsletter of the 4th Worcester Park Scout Group August/September 2002(Combined issue due to summer holidays) Sections
Keith DalyGROUP SCOUT LEADERDave SweetlandCongratulations to Dave Sweetland on being presented the Ron Kinton trophy at this year's District AGM. The Ron Kinton award is presented annually to an individual or Group who in the opinion of the judges have made a significant contribution to ' the enhancement of Scouting'. Nobody can be more dedicated enthusiastic or have made a greater contribution than Dave and the award is richly deserved. Hazel RichardsonIt is with much regret that I have to announce that Hazel has decided that due to work and other commitments she has decided to step down as Akela of Brownsea Pack. She has found it difficult of late to dedicate the time the job needs and feels she needs a break. She will step down after the Pack summer camp. Unfortunately it has not proved possible to find a replacement as yet but I am delighted to say that Les Prescott and the current helper team have agreed to keep the Pack going for the time being. I should emphasise that this is a temporary arrangement and a new leader for the Pack is required urgently. Hazel has been with the Pack for at least 15 years and we shall be very sorry to see her go. She has been a great asset to the Group and I am grateful for her contribution. I hope we shall still see her on occasions and maybe see her back with us some day. AGMDespite my appeal in the last newsletter only one set of parents, not already active in the Group, bothered to turn up at the group AGM. This really is very disappointing particularly for the leaders who put in an enormous amount of time for the boys over the year only to find that the majority parents do not appear interested in their efforts. Lack of support in this way makes it very difficult for me when trying to find new leaders. Despite the lack of new faces the barbecue afterwards was very enjoyable. My thanks to the Fellowship for organising the food and cooking it, and to Valerie Clarkson for the usual excellent choice of sweets. TreasurerAt the AGM Geoff Seaton stood down as Treasurer and Alison Thomas was elected in his place. Geoff has been an excellent Treasurer and a first class source of helpful and wise advice. On behalf of the Group I would like to thank Geoff for all he has done for us. He will not be leaving us, he will continue as a member of the fellowship and will be on hand to help in any way he can. My thanks to Alison for agreeing to take on this difficult task. Cub Pack CampsAll three Cub Packs will be holding camps during the summer break and we wish them all very happy, enjoyable and safe camps. My thanks to all the leaders and helpers who will be giving up their holidays to help give the boys what I am sure will be excellent camps. ASPEN COLONYAnne Mays (MAYO) Carol Salter (HOLLY)Firstly, we'd like to say thank you to Keith for helping out when Holly was in France visiting her brother. We decided to have a sports' evening in the field as it was probably one of the first dry Mondays we have had. We had a good time and with two adult men playing (cheating!) it was a lot of fun - thank you! Can we please remind you that if at the beginning of each term you don't get a rota please ask as it's really important for each meeting to plan a programme that we get the help we are expecting otherwise things become difficult sometimes and we have to re-schedule. Please also remember that subs must be paid for August even though we don't
meet. Our last meeting before the summer break will be on July 16th and we will
return on September 10th. BIRCH COLONYAnne Richardson (MAPLE)On June 25th we held our Ten Penny Fair to raise money for the 'Shooting Star' appeal for a children's hospice serving our area. Many thanks to everybody who came to support us and helped to make this a successful occasion, and especially for all the hard work put in by our parents ably assisted by their sons. It was a very enjoyable event and we raised £78 for the appeal. At other meetings, we made shooting stars for our notice board, and we had a
treasure hunt and games evening on the field. CEDAR COLONYValerie Clarkson (CHIPMUNK)In keeping with the World Cup, we have made football pitches with goal posts and goalkeepers, and footballs made from marzipan. Thank you very much to William Eyres' parents who were the only parents who
came to the AGM and thank you to the Fellowship for providing an excellent
barbecue. On the last Friday of the month we took thirteen boys onto the High Street for half an hour to sell programmes for the summer fete and we took £75.00 - well done to all our excellent sales boys and many thanks to Jack Francis, Alex O'Sullivan and Elliott Williams who all brought their parents out for this fun filled evening. When we came back we all had chips freshly cooked. Well done!! ANGLIA PACKBrenda Hunt (AKELA)Many thanks to all the Dads, especially Keith Penfold, who helped with the cycling badge. It was a great success. We spent one evening in the field and one cycling through Nonsuch Park - the weather was glorious and the boys all well behaved. We also enjoyed our joint Jubilee party - well done to all the Leaders who
worked so hard for the evening and made it so much fun. BROWNSEA PACKHazel Richardson (AKELA)Now well and truly into our summer programme, we've made good use of the field. We have been training and testing for the Athletes' Badge and have been learning how to light wood fires. In the first week of training for lighting fires, we learned about kindling and types and sizes of wood for burning and on the second week we cooked sausages over wood fires and then ate them in hot dog rolls. On the last Friday in June we participated in the Jubilee Party for all three of the Group's Cub Packs. It was a very successful evening with the rope bridge, archery, pushball with a giant ball, penalty practice, parachute games, bouncy castle, and other games with a barbecued tea thrown in and ending with a campfire. Thanks indeed to all the leaders and helpers, and Keith with the Scouts who ran the barbecue. Very enjoyable. During June we invested James Wright - welcome James as our newest Cub. Well done to the following Cubs who have gained badges: CHARTERHOUSE PACKMargaret Pennington (AKELA)As well as some excellent games and activities down on the field in the good
weather, we had the AGM. The boys also worked hard selling programmes - well done to you all. The highlight of the month was the Jubilee party with the three Cub Packs working well together to put on a marvellous event. The boys arrived, were put into teams and then had various challenges in the
central arena. Competition was fierce. There were bases around the field, which
the cubs enjoyed in turn. Archery, the monkey bridge, the big ball, beat the
goalie, volleyball, the bouncy castle, parachute and of course lots of food and
drink. Thanks from all at Charterhouse to Anglia and Brownsea leaders and to the parents. Everyone worked very hard before and during the evening and the boys had a wonderful time. Also thanks to Brian and his team for putting up the monkey bridge. PURPLE TROOPAlan Avery (SCOUT LEADER)No news item this month. SILVER TROOPPaul Green (A/Scout Leader)June was a quiet month for the Troop with so many Friday evenings being taken up with other events. However the Troop did go swimming at Westcroft and helped with the Cub section Jubilee Party. Particular thanks to Sam Hanson who cooked all the burgers and sausages for the Cubs. VENTURE SCOUT UNITAlan Avery (VENTURE SCOUT LEADER)No news item this month. PARENTS & FRIENDSTerry GarlickA Brief Report on our Golden Jubilee Summer FeteA few words from Wyn the Stalls and Provisions Organiser ……… On Thursday and Friday evening - the setting up of the field was mostly being
organised and erected by them too. If you feel you would like to join the Parents and Friends Fund Raising Committee, please contact p-and-f(at)4wp.org.uk. And a few words from Terry our P&F Chairman. ………Yes, Wyn is right it was an extremely good and varied fete where the people that did help are worth their weight in gold especially the Fellowship and senior members of the Group who were everywhere to be seen. And not forgetting the member who always takes the Friday off work before the fete, as a days holiday, just to set up the field to make life much easier for everyone. His wife who works just as hard along side him usually accompanies him. Then there are the members who put up the tents……. there are too many to mention and we do thank you all. We feel that the Crafts/Car Boot tables and wood turners were well worth the effort as shown by the numbers through the gate and the takings being up. However, next year we will advertise them better at the fete itself. Sales of the programmes (and advertisements) look healthy (no final figure at present on takings) so a big thank you to all who participated in selling them especially the boys. It was nice to sell all the ice cream for a change, which was in part due to the new layout, which I think, really works well. So a big thank you to the member who persevered in persuading us to do it. FELLOWSHIPGraham SmithOur monthly meeting on the 30th May was purely of a social nature - a visit to the Mansion House in Nonsuch Park. Gerald Smith, the renowned local authority on Nonsuch and its history gave us an enthralling account of the original Palace (sited near to the Ewell gate) and on the history of the Mansion House itself. Being a very wet evening, it was something of a relief to then move indoors to the service wing where our party split into two and each were given a conducted tour. A most interesting evening. Somewhat limited assistance was given at the two jumble sales on the 11th and 18th May, but even so it was, I believe, much appreciated by the P&F. The recently purchased BBQ was assembled during a table tennis morning (has there even been a flat pack item where the instructions are 100% correct?) and was then duly christened at the BBQ, which followed the AGM on Sunday 16th June when it proved to be extremely effective (two of our members might think excessively so!!). My thanks go to the ladies who purchased all our requirements and to all those who had prepared a wonderful range of salads and served them on the day, to Val Clarkson for providing such a splendid selection of sweets and to our male colleagues who assisted in various ways, not least, behind the furnace that the BBQ initially proved to be! I suppose the only regret was that parental turn out was so low - a great pity - as those absentees will never know what they missed! Our meeting on the 27th June followed a demonstration in the field of our archery skills - or lack of - under the supervision of Brian Yearley. Group Chairman Ray had also brought along a colleague of his, John Bean, a skilled archer who was well able to give us all some guidance. During the meeting, thanks were given to all those who had helped at the BBQ following the AGM and then a discussion followed regarding the assistance to be given by the Fellowship at the Group Fete - principally the plant stall, the toy stall, the monkey bridge and last, but by no means least, the Bouncy Castle. This page was last updated on 22 May 2003 |