You can only imagine what a shock I got a week before when I found out that we will now be hosting over 120 kids! …Organized chaos came to mind & I also started doubting my own abilities a little for this event now.

On the last meeting my best plan of action was to go on the advice I was given & to divide the kids into groups with a Youth member & Scout as leaders and then going around to the games we have planned as set bases. Our Scout way of planning might have scared some of the Youth, as I can only imagine how intimidating I had to sound when mentioning bases & rambling on about groups, safety rules (like NO eating & jumping) etc. But the Youth Leader and I both agreed that our plans can work as one & to wait till Saturday morning, see what comes our way and then deal with it together.

We were met with great spirits & big smiles on Saturday morning as we arrived & started pioneering and setting up. A lot of the other volunteers were very inquisitive about what we were building & us singing out loud while doing so as well!

At 11am kids were streaming through the gates, hectically excited & us, as prepared as we could be…

Obviously there was some obstacles to conquer, like language barriers, age groups, cultural differences and so much more. But the mass was called to order quickly by some adult volunteers that have done this already in the past thankfully.

Groups were made, leaders was assigned & for those that weren’t Scouts with obvious reference to the uniforms running around, they were marked with colourful bandannas. The Grease pole we pioneered was amongst the favorites. All the kids had so much fun on it. From face painting to tug-of-war, along with ring toss. We were almost trampled for the 3 legged soccer. And not wanting to be wasteful, we had ping pong ball races in place of egg races. So the wind had more fun with
us all. There was a jungle gym and 2 jumping castles sponsored for the day. Many more games was inside as well. And each volunteer & Scout had their work cut out for them by keeping up, controlling and even loosing some of their group members every now and again.

Thankfully lunch came as a supposed break time for all, but the kids barely gave enough time for that and we had to go running around again. And that was the highlight of it all, that was the reason we were doing this! For them to be spoiled in a way they may never have, thanks to others donating in other ways, each child also received a gift box to take home.

Everyone got to enjoy some well-deserved sweet treats and the day came to an end. We
slowly started cleaning up, with some of the kids even helping us. Taking down our pioneering, moving a bit slower than we started the day, but thankful & humble for what we were part of…
Be the reason someone else smiles!

I would like to thank from the smallest cub to each & every Scout, parents & Scouters that assisted, endured & survived this awesome day that these kids got to experience. Not only did we learn more from each other like Lindiwe knowing languages we never knew she did… How helpful a little cub Kenneth
could be to so called experienced Scouts… Getting whacked with pool noodles… Or hearing one of your Scouts moan about the extra kids they got out of no where…

But no matter the scene,event, camp or hike, we Scouts will always be prepared for what comes our way…

Caitlyn Nolan

Southern District came together for BP Sunday for a cooking challange.

The day started off with an awards ceremony where PLTU Badges were handed out as well as Troop and Star Awards.

The Scouts had to lead and teach cubs to cook a 3 course meal from a mystery box of ingredients.

They learnt a lot and presented well cooked meals that could put adults to shame.

The day was enjoyed by all and parents got to see what Scouting is all about, 1st hand.

Our AGM was held a little late, on the 28th of January 2022. As we all know Covid changed a lot things in our lives and certainly played around with Scout & Cubs evenings, camps & meetings that needed to be cancelled all together or moved to another date.

Thank you to ALL

Firstly I would like to thank the Scouts & Cubs for all their hard work in reaping the benefits from being a Scout/Cub. To the parents that took time out of there very busy schedules to drive their kiddos up & down and to meet up with us on the night of the AGM, thank you.

Then I would like thank our Rovers for doing such a great job at cleaning the hall before the meeting took place. I would also like to thank the Committee Members for their huge input and for the help on the said evening with serving the Boerie Rolls and cleaning up afterwards.

Last but not least, thanks to our braai chefs doing their bit in the rain!

Our evening was a great success and our Boerie Roll Honesty Box made R763 profit! Thanks to all who ordered their Boerie Rolls.

We discussed serious matters such as the Scouts/Cubs monthly fee increase for 2022, Capitation fees, Tamzyn’s Springbok journey and how to use Scouts digital. We thanked and greeted Dennis Southee as District Leader (for many years) and welcomed Jeanette Angus as the new District Leader.

Prizes Galore

Afterwards our leaders gave out a lot of great prizes to individuals, patrols, etc, etc. Some of the ones that stood out significantly is mentioned below:

• Phoenix patrol walked away with 43 badges – WOW!

• ‘Hiker of the year’ with 115.6km is Tamzyn Haskins.

• ‘Best Survivalist’ prize went to Nicholas Viviers.

• ‘True to Scout Law – Whistles under all difficulties’ went to Megan Gleeson.

• ‘Jokes in every serious situation’ prize was given to Keena van Heerden.

• The ‘Best Cook of the Year’ prize went to Erynn van Heerden.

Some of the trophies can be seen below

And, at the end of the evening we lit a virtual bonfire (because it was still raining) and the kids & parents enjoyed a few skits! That’s always the best part of the evening.

This is a challenge

Do you need a shower?

Activities along the adventure can be a little challenging. Scaling down and all the way back up a Kloof just to get to a single location can be a tiring experience. After experiencing all of this multiple times over the course of the adventure, you begin to understand what you have signed up for. These mountains are unforgiving to scouts no matter how skilled they are. At times you have no motivation to continue, more so when others are unable to help you in dire situations. Out there you only have access to items that are being carried along with your patrol. Bathrooms don’t exist out there, you cannot use any toilets or showers or event taps for water. Showers are to be carried out in the greatest cold natural pools that you can imagine, fresh water is collected at designated streams or rivers.

A warm plate of food

There are also various water activities such as fishing, canoeing, rafting or even just swimming. This can also be difficult in its own way as many people have not done these activities before. At the end of the day all you would hope for is a delicious plate of food and a good night’s rest, however unfortunately for all scouts taking part, this is an impossible request!

Nicholas Viviers

Kingfisher Patrol Leader

It was a bright and early start for everyone who met up at the hall to pack all the equipment, before the scouts took a stroll up the road to the bowling club. The cooking commenced at 10h00, once their potjies were on the go the scouts set to work pioneering. They pioneered a full sized camp table and flag pole which flew the 1st Henley flag high for all to see.

At the end of the day, the scouts won the spirit and theme competitions. Well, of course, our theme was Scouts.

A special thanks to all the parents and our Scouters ‘Otter’ Katherine Downes, ‘Kestrel’ Kirschner de Villiers, ‘Panther’ Lucrecia Haskins and ‘Wolverine’ Richard Haskins for the help and support. As well as the Serendipity Farm Stall and the Henley Deli for sponsoring all the ingredients for our potjies and the Henley Bowls Club for sponsoring our entries to the competition.

Let’s not forget our Scouts – WELL DONE!

Thank you ALL for a great day. It was a great learning experience for everyone, I hope you all remember how to do square lashings.

Last but not least – it seems that Wolverine is quite the fan of Mr. Johnny Verbeck.

By Elizabeth Downes

The rules are:

• 5km cycled = 1km walked
• Get your families to join in and log their walks as well
• Weekly challenges will be posted to the patrols
• Make sure to log the distances you’ve walked using the link posted on the whatsapp group!

Hike to Brownsea Island pdf

Before

And after we burnt down our classroom

Thank you to Alsabe & Molly’s for the arrangements.

Over the 27th & 28th of April 2019 the 1st Henley Scout Troop undertook the task of pioneering the Lion’s Club Henley on Klip a “tree house” , of sorts in order to raise money as funding for community uplifting.

Their goal was to remain in the tree until R5000 was raised.

The 1st Henley Scouts team consisted of Elizabeth, Lindiwe, Chesson, Erynn, Keena, Ben, Christopher & Nicholas with their quests Nsika, Katherine, Caracal and the leaders of our 1st Henley Scouts, Inkwazi, Moose & Kite.

This was great success for both parties – the Lions were able to raise R9600 and the Scouts have developed their skills further.

Well done 1st Henley Scouts and The Lion’s Club.

Written by Caracal (Rachel)

As usual the Henley scouts arrived at around 5:00pm. Once arrived we all had our brunch, and started construction of the raft. We began by laying the frame using barrels to hoist the poles up. The work was a simple task as it was only framework, decking and then the shelter. Late around 10:00pm the younger scouts were sent to bed to get some rest for the following morning. Construction on Friday ended at around 12:00pm. The scouts had managed to complete the framework & some decking on Friday night.

Saturday morning was rather relaxing. We started by cooking breakfast and then continued to work on the raft more. Construction continued at 8:00pm. At 10:00pm we had finished the framework and deck. We then began building the shelter. The shelter consisted of two triangular frames with poles holding the two together. Eventually we finished the raft by securing a ground sheet to the top of the frames, using it as a roof.

After completion of the raft, all Scout groups were required to have all rafts in the water by 12:00pm. Once the raft was safe in the water the ground-crew returned to camp & started relaxing. The raft-crew had many tasks that were available to them but were not required to complete any. Raft-crew were tasked with cooking a meal for the judges. 1st Henley raft-crew completed a cooking task that required a prepared meal on the raft and is to be judged. There were many other tasks that could be done but were surprisingly difficult to complete.

Sunday morning was greeted by fresh dew. All the rafts were to return to land and be deconstructed by the end of the camp. Ground-crew had to pack up the campsite and then head to the raft for disassembly. Deconstructing the raft is much quicker then assembling.