Fun! Fun! and more Fun!

What a week I have had!

I don't think I could have fitted more cubbing fun into it if I tried!

At the 9th Benoni Bambanani Pack, we welcomed, Keegen - a new chum - into the Pack. Here Thoriso and Forest are giving him a good welcome!
The Leopards learnt about an Interesting Place - The Guide Dog Association. Forest - a Labrador Retriever - was destined to be a Guide Dog but ended up being homed with his Trainer.

9th Benoni Cubs

Some more 9th Benoni Cubs

We had so much fun being Pirates this week and trading treasures under the sea!

The Circus was in town at 5th Boksburg and here 2 clowns were acting up!

5th Boksburg's display

Cubs and Akela Sheree outside their hall in Boksburg

What does that taste like? .... mmmmm .. vegetable popcorn! Cubs had to eat popcorn and remember all the different types they had eaten.

Mmmm - now what could that be ..... Some more tasting!

At 2nd Boksburg we were true Sportsmen and with South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup this was a fitting theme! Here the cubs had to walk under the rope and each time it was lowered by about a foot!

Checking their strength..... doing a few head-stands.

2nd Boksburg meet in the grounds of the St Michaels Anglican Church. I couldn't help but take this picture as this Herbert Baker church is absolutely beautiful....

Playing a Kim's Game and tasting all sorts of chips!

Just look at all these different knots!

..... and this is 2nd Boksburg - cubs together with Akela Barbara and Nicky.

Isn't it just wonderful to be a Cub!

You have so much fun at Pack Meetings and play so many games and do so many different activities! I can't wait till next week...

Till then,

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Another term of fun with the Cubs!

Hello everyone! It's time for Cub Scouts again!

We are back after a short school holiday - ready for some adventure and lots and lots of fun!

Today we concentrated on Knotting...

The bunch of cubs at 9th Benoni Bambanani.

Trying to do some basic knots - have we got them right?

How does that Sheetbend go?

... and I can even tie a knot behind my back - simple!

After all that knotting, it was time to relax a bit with a fun game. It was raining outside so here the cubs were doing the "Hippo Waddle" in the hall. A ball (or any object) is placed between the cubs knees and they have to run across to the other predetermined location and back. This is a relay game and when the Six is finished their turn, they sit down declaring themselves the winner!

Our Cheetahs learnt all about Soil Erosion. Here they are pouring water onto soil and onto grass.

Flag folding is very important and here our Leopard group are learning the "ins and outs" on how to fold the flag correctly.

..... and our Lions learnt all about the 16 points of the Compass.

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Alien Attack!

Aliens attacked from nowhere!

As this was our last pack meeting for the term, all cubs came dressed up as an alien for the "Alien Adventure Party."

The bunch of scary aliens!
After many games and fun activities, the cubs played this fun game of passing the "outta-space orange juice". Cubs line up in 2 rows. A bowl of "juice" is placed between them at the front. The front cub is handed a cup. On the word "go", each cub must fill his cup with juice, pass it over his head backwards to the next cub and so on until it reaches the cub at the back who places the juice in a container or bucket. He then rushes forward to the front of the line with the cup and starts the process all over again. When everyone has had a turn. they shout "Aliens Thirsty" and the game stops. The winner, of course, is the one who has the most water in the bucket!

Cubs will resume after the school holiday - 5th October.

Thought I would add this photo of our Scout Troop getting set up and ready for their musical meeting last night!

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Solar Energy

This afternoon's pack meeting was specifically planned to show the cubs how solar energy can be used in our daily lives, how to save energy and a little bit about climate change.

Two "Cheetahs" learning the Outdoor Code.

"I will do my best to protect and care for wildlife, trees and flowers.

I will do my best to keep the countryside, roads and beaches from from litter."

Whilst visiting Kommando's last week, they were playing this game. Musical Chairs but without the chairs! We tried it out today and it was a huge success. The cubs wanted to play it over and over again!
It is very simply to play. Line cubs up in 2 lines. The first line will be the runners and the second line will be the chairs. The 'chairs' need to stand with their right hand on their hips. When the music starts, cubs in line 1 must run around and around. When the music stops, cubs must race around to the same partner and link arms. The last cub to link arms is out. The music starts up again the the game continues.

The Leopards had to learn how to plant a young seedling.

Here are all the Leopards after having planted and watered their young seedling.

We hoped to illustrate the power of solar energy with this little experiment. The idea was brilliant. We took a 15cm square piece of mirrow; some prestik; a pencil with a rubber top; a aluminium pie pan and a pin. We placed the pencil in the prestik in the centre of the mirror. We cut the pie pan to look like a windmill and placed it on top of the pie pan and secured it with the pin. Unfortunately by the time we got outside the sun was already casting long shadows but ideally this should be done at midday so that the sunlight reflecting off the mirror can heat the air under the pan causing the air to rise. The rising warm air pushes against the bent edges of the pan causing the pan to move.

We ended the meeting off with the Cubs doing a Conservation Wordsearch.

Till next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Gilwell Reunion - 2007

Our Gilwell Reunion was held on Saturday 1st September 2007 at Gilwell in Florida (South AFrica). Approximately 110 Woodbadge holders joined together to once again renew their Promise.

The universal Woodbadge Scarf with tartan patch and two little beads.

Happy Birthday Scouting!

As the Ceremony was opened, the oldest person in attendance was asked to blow out the candles on this beautiful cake.

We have a beautiful and tranquil, open-air chapel at Gilwell where our Scouts Own was held.

The log books have pages dating back to the early 1900's! Here one of the guests keeps up this tradition by putting his name to paper.

For prosperity, it was decided that group photos would be taken and each group would do a scrapbooking page which would be framed and hung at Gilwell. Here we have some of the guests busily organising themselves.

One of the 6 completed pages.

Dinner is served!

The entertainment for the evening was provided by Pazzaz!

A show not to be missed!

Till next time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Alien Attack - 31 August 2007

After having fun building their spaceship, deciding what equipment needed to go on board, cubs had to climb out of the spacecraft using the "ladder."

Here they are stepping very tentatively!

This was a fun meeting with many games and activites one of which was when they were blindfolded whilst sitting in a circle and "alien" items were passed around during a story. "It was cold and dark on Planet Kryptolite. As I walked down the ladder I felt something touch my cheeck (pass a feather duster over all the cubs faces). I was scared but nevertheless took the next step. My foot touched something that I was not familiar with so I bent down to get a better understanding.... it felt all mushy (let each cub feel some jelly in a bowl)"........ and so it went on. The cubs imaginations go crazy!

After getting over that scary episode, they settled down to imagine and draw the alien they saw on this planet. A nice way to end off a cub meeting.

Till next time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

Meeting the Planets - 17 August 2007

It was time to meet all the planets..... the cubs learnt the order of the planets and how to remember them.

Planets come in all shapes and sizes - some close by and some far, far away....
Each cub made their own bit of "space"..... the earth was represented by the potato and the planets by the tomatoes, celery and cheese!

Greetings Card were made as part of the Advancement

Working hard on those Greeting Cards....

Till Next Time

Keep Cubbing

Akela Joy

J is for Jamboree

That is right! J is for Jamboree, which one day you may be lucky enough to attend.
When asked why a Jamboree was called a Jamboree, BP said: "Well what else could you call it!" It began in quite a small way. It was hoped to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Scouting in 1917, in some way or other, but there was a war on and it wasn't till 1920 that what was to be the first Jamboree, was held. It wasn't quite like the Jamborees which were to follow as it was an indoor display and exhibition at Olympia, while a camp for Scouts who wished to attend it was held in the Old Deer Park, Richmond.
It was a tremendous success although its pattern wasn't to be repeated: the pattern of future Jamborees was set at the second at which the Danish Scouts were the hosts of the Scouting world. They planned the Jamboree as a camp where Scouts of all nations might meet to become friends to share different ways of camping and pioneering, to entertain one another at camp fires and arena shows and to enjoy just being together.
And this is what the Jamborees - although differeing in detail of course, according to place and time and opportunity - have been ever since.
(The Scout Annual - 1957)

Here are the dates and places of others:
1933 3rd Godollo Hungary
1937 5th Holland
1947 6th France
1951 7th Austria
1955 8th Canada
1957 9th UK
1959 10th Philippines
1963 11th Greece
1967 12th USA
1971 13th Japan
1975 14th Norway
1979 15th Was cancelled
1983 15th Canada
1987 16th Australia
1991 17th South Korea
1995 18th Netherlands
1999 19th Chile
2003 20th Thailand
2007 21st UK (Brownsea Island)

9th Benoni Cubs celebrate with a Party

Happy Birthday Scouting! .... 100 years old and still going strong!

We celebrated with a party..

... afterwich the cubs continued on the journey through space! learning all about the Orion and the Southern Cross.

Till next Time
Keep Cubbing
Akela Joy

Brownsea Island - some interesting facts

Every Scout I suppose knows this about the 500 acre Brownsea Island : that in August 1907 a famous soldier named Robert Smythe Stephenson Baden-Powell held a camp there for boys, what was in fact to be considered afterwards as the first Scout camp ever. But I thought you might like to know a little more about this strange island that is now so well know all over the world.

Unfortunately of its past we know less than we should like to do. We know that at various times it was called Bronnecksey, Brunksea, or Branksea, and we know, too, that as far back as 1154, the King, Henry II, gave the monks of Cerne Abbey the right to worship on the island and they built a small chapel there dedicated to St. Andrew.

Leaping forward to Henry VIII's day, that well-known monarch gave the island to the then Earl of Oxford who built a castle and a barbican - that is an outer fortification - with walls nine feet thick. In her turn the first Elizabeth gave Brownsea to one of her favourite courtiers and statesmen, Sir Christopher Hatten. A certain amount of mining - of sulphate of iron - caused the population to grow and before the Civil War there were probably about a hundred people living on the island.

We know rather more about later owners. For example, in 1722 it was bought by William Benson, who was successor to the great architect Sir Christopher Wren as Clerk of Works to the Government. He was called "Mad" Benson and he was undoubtedly rather eccentric, at one time burning all his books on the shores of Brownsea in front of the castle, which , incidently he enlarged. He is said, too, to have planted about 10 000 saplings and to have employed a botanist to survey and collect the island's plants.

In 1848 another owner cut his throat in the library of the castle and it was thus that the island came to Colonel William Waugh who bought it from the widow. He was a retired army officer. He restored the castle, built the church, and a school and a long sea wall and established a pottery and a brickyard, employing a hundred or so men and even building a railway to carry the clay to the jetty. But alas! there was no white clay to make fine porcelain and the Colonel by now owed over half a million pounds and so had to go bankrupt.

In 1869 the Castle was largely destroyed by fire. Now came what were perhaps Brownsea's best days. In 1901 Charles van Raalte bought the island, restored the castle and spent generously to make it a happy and prosperous estate. There was an island band in uniforms of grey and red; nearly 200 islanders worked in the pottery and on the estate - there were, for example, ten gardeners, 52 children attended the island school and Mr van Raalte had a fine motor car, and yachts and dined every evening in splendour, the beloved squire of a lovely island. It was he who welcomed BP to his island for an experimental camp in the famous year 1907. Mr van Raalte, unfortunately, did not live to see Scouting march forward on its splendid way, for he died in 1908 on a visit to Calcutta. But his body, brought home in HMS Golconda was buried on the island and you can see his marble effigy in the church.

With his death, the island's glory declined. Mrs Mary Bonham Christie bought it in 1927 and lived as a recluse: she used only a few of the castle's roms, abandoned the farms and the pottery and allowed the discouraged islanders to leave. Cottages fell to ruins, and the island became, what Mrs Christie preferred it to be, a sanctuary for wild birds and the wild animals of the island. During her lifetime hardly anyone was allowed on to Brownsea and certainly no Scouts were. When she died in 1961, her ahses were scatted over the island she loved in her own way.

Now Scouts (and others) may visit the island again but it will remain a nature reserve where blackcaps and sedge-warblers and curlews and stonechats and oyster-cathers and terns and heron and even peacocks can be seen and heard. It belongs to the National Trust and funds have been generously given by various trusts and interested people to maintain the island as the beautiful place it ought always to be.

Scouting had its birth there: Scouts may visit and some may even be allowed to camp there. BP's spirit cannot be far away.

Written by : The Editor - The Scout Annual 1966

Sunrise Service - Arrowe Park Benoni

Scouting is 100 years old and still going strong! BP would be very proud.

This morning we met in Arrowe Park, Benoni, South Africa for the Sunrise Service to re-affirm our Promise.

Re-affirming our Cub Promise.

Re-affirming the Scout Promise

Some interesing information on BP and Arrowe Park.

Those that attended the Sunrise Service.

Till next Time

Akela Joy