Hurrah!
I walked in today for the meeting, and it was so cozy and warm, I thought I was in the wrong hut. It was only when I saw the half completed sections of wall, that I realised that I was indeed in 1st Fareham HQ.
A massive thank you to Mike Farmiloe (Danny’s dad) who spent a long day at the hut yesterday, wiring up all the heaters to the mains and installing a new fuse box…all for free! Well, we paid for the bits, but he volunteered his time and effort, and for that we are all extremely grateful.
I should also take this time to acknowledge all the hard work that Tiffy has been putting into the hut over the past year, giving up many weekends and evenings (not to mention summer and Christmas holidays) rewiring all the lighting, laying out the wiring for the heaters and new plugs, ripping down walls and replacing them with new insulated ones, patching holes in the roof, and so on and so forth. We should all be very relieved that he has vowed to stay on and assist with the continued refurbishment of the hut, even when he retires as GSL.
Diamond geezers both!
As well as doing the Acorn on the 3rd of November, the Group spent a large part of the day at Sainsburys in Broadcut, packing bags for customers and running a collection at the door. It was a long day (10 - 4) and not the most interesting of tasks to perform, but it is most definitely all worth it, as we managed to raise a total of:
£969.50
Which is as fantastic total - our best yet if memory serves!
A good turnout from the Troop played no small part in this total, so all 18 of you that attended - give yourselves a pat on the back!
A very big thanks should go out to Angie, for not only organising the thing, but for staying there the whole day - a marathon effort!!!
I’ve had a chance to look at the final scores for the competition, and another ‘well done’ goes out to Paul, Simon, Chip and Jack for coming fifth out of twelve teams - only eight points off getting second place.
This feat is made all the more impressive when you consider that the average age of the team was 11!
Also, looking at the breakdown of scores for each base, it looks like Paul’s team won the ‘Tents’ category - what was this about, speed of erecting them or something?
We won!!!
A very big ‘well done’ to Spud, Joe, Ben, Tyler and Josh for winning this years District Nighthike competition.
Lets have some comments from you about the night.
For my part, it was a cold night, as the base we were asked to run was placed on the ridge of a hill, with no shelter, and a constant chill breeze running over us, which got even colder the moment the clouds decided to leave us. To make matters worse, there was no firewood around, so we had to ration what we took with us, and kept only a small fire going all night - not enough to keep us warm. To cap off the evening, we all crashed in our cars, which, as anyone who has done it will tell you, are possibly one of the least comfortable places to sleep ever created.
The standard of teams was wildly erratic - some teams (and not just from our Troop!) were excellent, while others were….well, I wondered if they actually wanted to be there! I mean, I know it was getting late by the time the last teams got through our base, but the hike was so short, and only four bases…….come on!!! Now when I were a lad, we used to take part in
- real
hikes. Seventy plus miles through snake-infested tundra, with naught on our feet but strips of chewing gum. Fierce mongol hordes would hunt us down and beat us with the flats of their swords if they found us. Checkpoints involved taking part in a full triathlon, or wrestling anacondas, or developing theories on quantum mechanics….all in twenty minutes per base.
The youth of today….they’ve got it so easy!
Exaggerate? Moi? Mais non!
…..well OK, maybe I did embellish the truth a smidgeon….but still, nighthikes used to be a lot harder than they are now!
To finish, thanks to John, Martin, Limpet, Adam and Rob for manning the base with me.
See what ‘The News’ thought of our District Camp:
Scouts reach for skies at camp to mark movement centenary
A Mountain Ash was officially ‘dedicated’ at 6:45pm on Monday 23rd April, St George’s Day, marking 100 years of scouting, by the Mayor of Fareham, Councillor John Bryant and Mr Alfred Breeze the President of the Fareham District Scouts.
The tree, a Mountain Ash has been provided by the council, together with a plaque and sign to celebrate the centenary year of scouting. The tree and plaque are located on the Civic Walk between the Civic Offices and the Library.
Executive Member for Community, Councillor Brian Bayford, said: “As a Queen’s Scout, I am pleased to congratulate all those involved in scouting on celebrating their centenary. I am delighted that the council has been able to pay tribute by planting a special tree, and erecting a plaque and sign to mark the occasion.
TODAY IS ROBERT BADEN POWELL’S BIRTHDAY
OUR FOUNDER
AND HE WOULD BE CELEBRATING HIS 150TH BIRTHDAY TODAY IF HE WERE ALIVE!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BP!
That there is a meeting on Monday night, usual time (7:30-9:00) for Patrol Leaders to discuss patrol camp and for people who want to plan their expeditions that have been set the task of doing so.
Just to remind Tim, Joe, Turnip, Andy and Tom that they need to meet at the hut tonight to discus and start our expeditions.
See you there!