HI THERE EVERYONE,
After a very successful first term, Bushie is reporting back with a telegraph full of exciting news.
CHAIRMAN’S CHATTER
The new committee had their first meeting on 22 April 1998 where the office bearers were elected and various actions were discussed including the budgeting and finances of the Group, as well as the continuous improvement of the Group and the hall. Also discussed was the Extra-ordinary meeting of 1 April on the future structure of the Group. A questionnaire will soon be sent out. Would all parents please respond to this questionnaire - your opinion is paramount for the future of the Group.
We will soon have our very own group Internet Web Page as well as a quarterly newsletter to keep everyone up-to-date with developments within our group. Congratulations to Bushie for this excellent newsletter. Please continue to contribute.
The committee members are :- Kevin Fah – Chairman, Lorraine Dowse – Treasurer, Dianne Scheepers – Secretary, Mike Lloyd – Maintenance,
Doug Shead – Communication, Carlo Pagani - Web page, Pat Baartman, Jane Bowyer, Fonz Otto, Derek Bester, Cathy Elias.
A WORD FROM THE TREASURER
A new accounting system has been implemented during the 98 first term (Thanks to Griffin and Sabre for setting this up). All of you will by now have received an Invoice for 97 Outstanding Fees, plus billing for 1st and 2nd term 98 fees. In addition, you will have received a Statement reflecting payments received from 1st October 97.
You will also receive monthly statements showing outstanding balances, invoices will be distributed at the beginning of each term. A very low percentage of Bush Hill fees are up to date, so please make good on your outstanding balances. If you do not agree with your balance or are not in a position to pay, please contact me. Those parents who are more that 2 terms behind will be requested to remove their boys from the Group (Whitehorse & Bushhill), unless special arrangements have been made.
A listing of good second hand scout uniforms will posted on the notice board for those that need to replace or wish to purchase, or if you have any uniforms you would like to donate, please contact me.
Lorraine Dowse (792-4040)
TROOP SCOUTER’S TALK
1998 for the troop has begun with a real high, with the baggage of the past now well behind us. The benefit of having additional uniform help in Caracal, Griffen, Kudu and Stevo is also being felt by the troop as new programs and ideas are introduced on Tuesday’s and weekend events.
A number of new challenges will be awaiting the troop in the next two terms from Patrol to Area. These will stretch both the Patrol System and our scouts as we seek to have fun, however ensuring that we are giving of our best to make Bush Hill a proud and respected troop.
It is certainly encouraging to see parents who are willing to get involved and then see and understand the full benefit of Scouting and the positive impact it has had on our boys.
AKELA’S ANGLE
Our cubs had a fun-filled term with a most enjoyable camp, a visit to the Sterkfontein Caves and a pleasant family day at the Footloose Trout Farm. We were thrilled to obtain first place at the District Gala on B.P. Sunday. The Randburg Sun has published some photo’s of our cubs having fun. It is with great pleasure that I welcome Noleen Willoughby who has gone into uniform and taken over the Lion group.
CUB’S CORNER
VIKINGS CAMP
I went to the Vikings Camp at Kloofwaters. I enjoyed the crab catching, the camp fire, stalk the lantern and swimming. When we were there the Lions (me) set a trail for the children and we ambushed them. My clan was the Kari Clan. Jonathan was the leader. I liked it when we went to the ramps. The ramps made good slides. I caught one crab and I got another bite that tore my bait and let go. For the Viking parade my motto was "no mercy". The food there was excellent. I would like to thank Akela and the organisers for a lovely camp.
By: Jae Hong Min
Sixer Brown Six
The theme was the Vikings. I enjoyed the crab catching, rounders, stork the lightern and swimming. We went to a river and swam. We also looked at stars for the Southern Cross and Scorpio. The best part I liked was when we played stork the lightern. My groups name was Vida and Vida won.
By: Wayne Olsen
Second Red Six
On the 30th of January we went to Kloofwaters for a camp. The theme was Vikings. On Friday night we went to bed at half past twelve. On Saturday morning at five a.m. I caught a frog and Karl was most scared. After I had let the frog go we went to wake the cooks by hitting on a sign. On Sunday we went crab catching. I caught 30 crabs an Sean caught 20 and Nicky was the most scared. Our group was called Vida and we won with 30 points. We won coffey biscits and a slab of chocolate. On Saturday night we had the campfire. It stood 5m high. I was so tired I fell a sleep at the campfire. On Sunday morning we had Cubs Own.
By: Adrian Masters
Sixer White Six
The Camp
On the 30th January we went on a cap at Kloofwaters. The theme was the Vikings. We went crab catching and I caught 20 crabs and Nicholas was scared of them.
On Friday night we stayed up until half past twelve and woke up at five o’clock. Dean was scared of a spider, so he threw his shoe at it. In the morning he wouldn’t put his shoe on because he was scared there would be a spider in it. I enjoyed it.
By: Sean Willoughby
Sixer Yellow Six
When I went to the Viking camp I was very excited. When we got there our petrol was running out. We slept in horse stables, which were converted into kind of houses that luckily had lights. The first night was very windy and it was like the door was about to collapse. The next day we went swimming at some slippery rocks and then we had lunch. It was very nice. The next night was better and at that time we did the skies badge and found a satellite. The last day was exciting to go home, but I still loved that camp.
By: Jonathan Dowse
Sixer Green Six
STERKFONTEIN CAVES
On Friday the cubs went to Sterkfontein Caves. I found the caves most interesting. I enjoyed going into the caves that were small. It was very cool in the caves. The guy told us they had found a skeleton in a cave. There was a bat and it was very moist.
By: Karl Steinbrucker
Second Brown Six
SCOUT’S DEN
NEW SCOUTS
Bushie welcomed the following boys into the troop during the first term;
Gareth Elias, Shannon Dengler, Neil Davidson, Lerato Nyamande
PROGRESS
The following badges where achieved last term;
Scoutcraft Swimming
Matthew Fah, Justin Hawley, David le Cordeur, Hadley Niewoudt, Graham Norval, Jaques Otto, Neil Davidson.
Pathfinder
David le Cordeur and Roland Booker.
Well done guys – now lets see some interest badges.
1st term activities
District Fishing Camp (7/8 Febuary 1998)
Our first fishing camp was held at Roos se Oord. It’s about half an hours drive from home. We arrived really hot and sweaty. There were thousands of other leisure anglers all along the river front but we managed to find a suitable spot to camp. Judging by the popularity of the place, we thought that it would be good fishing!
Hope started to dwindle as the day progressed with the only action coming from Mark and me taking a swim in the hot surfaced water. One thing was caught the whole weekend – sunburn! It was indeed a pleasant, relaxing camp and I recommend it for anyone who needs a break and maybe enjoys fishing. There are also eagles providing some excitement and jealousy by being the only ones to catch anything with grace and elegance.
Bradley Glossop
PL Impalas
TONQUANI HIKE (14/15 Febuary 1998)
A beautiful scenic route situated in the Magaliesberg. A group of brave intrepid hikers set off on a wonderful journey. We had some problems with one of their backpacks being shared amongst the rest and others swapping their packs along the route for lighter and more suitable ones.
Once at the edge of the gorge it’s a steep climb down but it’s worth it once you’re down there. We followed the stream till we came to the spot where we all wanted to go to a 7½ to 9m jump into a cold rock pool. All but three happy hikers
(Chokka, Mike and Stevo) jumped in, with a constant challenge of who jumped from the highest point. Edward, Trevor and I jumped from the 9m mark.
We progressed up the other side of the gorge to the campsite and were paid frequent visits by the vervet monkeys (scavengers). A genet made a meal of our spilt mincemeat during the night, compliments of Vaughn, but we thanked him in the end. I lived up to my nickname (Clemo): I was stung by some viscous insect, which attacked me by going for my jugular, but I fought bravely for my life. The majority of us were stung by some plant causing a lot of pain.
I would definitely go on this hike again and I’m sure everyone enjoyed themselves. I would like to say a big thanks to Mike Lloyd who arranged this hike and everyone else who accompanied us and made it more enjoyable and educational.
Bradley Glossop
PL Impalas
BP wrote in his ‘last message’ "Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy." He also said "when you leave your camp or picnic place, all that should be left behind is your footprints and your thanks to those whose place it is."
KONTIKI (6 – 8 March 1998)
Well, we finally did it! We came second out of ±100 teams. No longer are we the little troop in the corner, we are coming into the spotlight.
This year’s Kontiki was the best I’ve ever had. Not only did we come second, we also had the best group of supporters and scouters. If it weren’t for them we wouldn’t have come in any important position at all.
We entered all the competitions except the raft STA (Spare Time Activity) due to very strong winds. We won the land STA with our brilliant model of a flying trapeze. Not only was it a man swinging 150mm above the floor, it was also an internal structure and a circus tent. The supporters and scouters put a brilliant amount of enthusiasm into it and nearly blew a few light bulbs with all their heads lit up with ideas.
This year we had the best raft model as well. An incredible amount of work went into it and it was all to 1:10 scale, including barrels. It looked exactly like our raft but unfortunately didn’t win. Too bad guys, we know we should have won.
The scouters and parents were a tremendous motivation and they all put a lot of effort into it. I
would like to say a very, very, very big thank you for all that they’ve done. It couldn’t have been done without them.
A nickname was found for Roland Booker. We decided to call him Booga. I’m hoping that we can arrange an evening for all parent and scouters where there will be a braai and all the photo’s and videos on display.
I can’t wait for next year’s Kontiki. The badges look very nice, interpreting the new theme "Camelot". Next year will be Mark and my last year at Kontiki as official scouts, but I’ll definitely come and visit after that.
Again…..a very big "THANK YOU" to all parents and scouters involved. Your efforts were unbelievable. This was definitely one Kontiki never to be forgotten.
Scouters and parents involved in the success at Kontiki ’98 were:
Russell Dowse Sabre
Craig Wood Caracal
Rodney Willoughby Griffin
Richard Robinson Kudu
Noleen Willoughby Raksha
Alan Ford Chokka
Lorraine Dowse Tee-Shirts
Kevin Fah The Ringmaster
Mike Lloyd The Chef at Mike’s Kitchen
Kim Fah, Len Norval, Alfonso (Fonz) Otto, George Booker, Cathy and Phil le Cordeur, Kevin and Bev Hawley, Ingrid Glossop, Doug Bruce, George Olsen, Neil and Kim Davidson and the rest of the Dowse family.
Sorry to all those who missed it. It was GREAT! Thanks to all those parents whom donated to our cause. I hope Kudu enjoyed his raft ride. WELL DONE!!
Bradley Glossop
PL Impalas
TEAMWORK
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. Simply stated, it is less me and more we."
Raft Crew: Mark Dunn, Vaughn Wood, Matthew Fah, Craig Lloyd, Justin Hawley, Jacques Otto, Trevor Bruce, Graham Norval, Kudu.
Land Crew: Edward Ford, Bradley Glossop, Neil Davidson, Roland Booker, David le Cordeur, Lerato Nyamande.
Be Prepared for the Weather
Drink before you get thirsty.
Eat before you get hungry.
Rest before you get tired.
Add clothing layers before you get cold.
Put rain gear on before you get wet.
Apply sunscreen before you burn.
Well, that’s all folks – until next term, happy scouting.
Yours in Scouting
BUSHIE
P.S. Bushie Scouts are now on the World Wide Web at "www.oocities.org/yosemite/trails/1671" OR just follow our link on the South African Scouting Page at "www.scouting.org.za/scouts/."