New programs for cubs and scouts have been finalised for the upcoming term which culminates in District Camp activities for everyone! The new program is now online and can be accessed via our Google Calendar – joint cubs and scouts activities are listed here.
If you’d prefer you can download a copy of the calendars here:
Scouts term 3 2010 calendar- download here.
Cubs term 3 2010 calendar – download here.
Cub leader Tim Wedlock would like some help from parents on badgework night on Monday 2nd August. Please contact him via the website by emailing info@firstgordonscouts.org.au
Scouts will resume after the July School holidays on Friday 23rd July at 7:30pm as usual
Cubs will resume on Monday 26th July at 7pm, please note there is no meeting Monday 19th July
On the 6th of May this year six Scouts from 1st Gordon attended a Citizenship ceremony at Kuring-Gai Council chambers in Gordon . As part of the ceremony the scouts placed a flag representing each of the 24 nationalities attending the ceremony. Afterwards the Scouts helped out by handing out lamingtons and sandwiches. For their efforts they each received a thank you letter from the mayor and have earned hours that will they can count towards their citizenship badge.
Naismith’s Rule is a rule of thumb that helps in the planning of a walking or hiking expedition by calculating how long it will take to walk the route, including ascents. The rule was devised by William W. Naismith, a Scottish mountaineer, in 1892. The basic rule is as follows:
Light easy going – 5 km per hour.
Easy going – 3 km per hour.
Heavy going – 1½ km per hour.
Thick bush, heavy going – ½ km per hour.
Climbing 500m add 1 hour.
Descending 1000m add 1 hour.
For every hour after 5 hours add 1 hour (for fatigue).
(1/3 reduction for fit experienced walkers).
For more information please visit the Wikipedia here.
Three patrols of our scouts went to Scout Hike in Wingello State Forest last weekend. One patrol of our older scouts were there for their last Scout Hike. The competitive spirit went out the window, but they had a lot of fun. Thanks to Cotter Erickson for shooting this video and sending it on to us.
First Gordon Scouts would like to acknowledge a significant donation of two Personal Locator Beacons (EPIRB’s) for use by the scouts. They were donated by Sea Trucks Australia and Russ Layton, one of our scouting parents.
Russ Layton and his wife Mary have had a long association with 1st Gordon as their elder son Tom worked his way through Cubs and Scouts, culminating in Tom being one of our triple green cord recipients in November 2009. This is only the second time that this has happened in the District.
As a ship’s Captain and a keen outdoors man Russ knows the value of these devices as great insurance if you are in a remote location and some emergency crops up that you just cant cope with on your own. First Gordon Scouts are a very well equipped troop and the EPIRB’s will ensure that when our scouts venture into the bush they are at the highest levels of safety. Thanks Russ for the donation! We are always grateful for any donations to the troop!
After two weeks of practice our scouts got up extra early this morning and built two rafts which they raced at Narrabeen Lakes. They planned their race, competed well and they DOMINATED! Congratulations everyone and special thanks to the leaders Phil Colebourn and Stephen Dwyer for dedication above and beyond (again). More photographs can be found here.
It was an action packed Sunday for cubs who traveled to Ourimbah to do some climbing at the Treetop Adventure Park. Many of the under tens managed to get around the course ten times – mastering it forwards, backwards and blindfolded! The over tens negotiated a more challenging course which included long flying fox runs. A great day was had by all.
Once again 1st Gordon has managed to put on a really successful Open Day at our hall on February 21st. Not only did we have lots of interested potential Cubs and Scouts and their respective parents but those of us who were there had a whole lot of fun. The Scouts built two ballista’s (giant catapults) and launched heaps of water bombs at each other, showed off their new canoeing equipment and guided many of the visitors around the hall. While this was going on our leaders Spike and Rikki helped lots of kids to practice their climbing skills while doing Crate Stacking in the hall. To top things off some of our mums put on a tasty sausage sizzle.
In the end though the true measure of success for a day like this is not how many lookers you get but how many New Chums come along in the weeks following. Well, on the Monday night straight after the Open Day we had five new Cub chums come along to the hall and a sixth boy will start next Monday night. I think we can call that a success.
My thanks to all of the leaders and parents who pitched in and helped prepare for and run the day and a special thanks to the Cubs and Scouts who represented both 1st Gordon and the Scouting movement so very well.
Stephen (Skip) Dwyer.
Group Leader
You’re welcome to attend our Open Day on Sunday 21st February 2010 from 11am to 2pm at our Scout Hall at the end of Cawarra Place in Gordon (map  here)
We welcome girls and boys between 8 and 15 years of age who are looking for fun, freedom, friendship, excitement and challenge. We’ve just had a group of scouts at Jamboree 2010 and the experience for all of them was fantastic. Scouts from all over Australia attended along with some international attendees. The activities offered at Jamboree were fantastic: boating, hiking, bushcraft, a live radio station, video workshops and water slides. But the experience of being self reliant and the opportunity to meet people from all over Australia were definitely highlights.
For more information about First Gordon Scouts please contact us by email. We hope to see you at our Open Day where you’ll be able to experience a sample of some of our activities and meet cubs, scouts and leaders of our troops.
We are holding our Annual General Meeting at 2pm immediately following Open Day. Please consider nominating to assist us as a scout leader or on our organising committee. Cubs and Scout troops can’t operate without the assistance of parent volunteers and we encourage you to nominate. Many hands makes light work we the community of people we build in the local area is part of what it’s all about.
