Will Long Remain as The Highlight of You Scouting

Greetings From The Heart of Scouting

Having experienced a series of heat waves, interrupted by a few light showers prior to the beginning of this year's wet season, the heavens opened up on Wednesday 23rd November when 3,5 inches (87,5 mm) was recorded in two hours. The result was that the grass on the "Skipper" Knapman Training Ground and the Activity Area of the "Bowl" Camping Ground have been transformed from burnt-out waste lands into green 'lawns' of bush grass. Completing the transformation, the trees that had already put out their new buds came out into full leaf and in so doing provided a patchwork of shaded areas. However, for this transformation there was a price to pay, as the ground cover having been completely destroyed in the veld fire of a few months back, has been subjected to serious erosion. The steep sides of the dongas were washed clear of all loose gravel, sand and vegetation, causing sand bars and deep ruts to be formed. These areas remain devoid of growth and will no doubt remain so for some time to come.

The track into the Heart of Scouting for most of its distance of 500 metres from The Gordon Memorial Gates to Headquarters, follows the Mtsheleli Valley. Owing to the damp conditions in the vlei, the grass and reeds in this area have grown quite rapidly following the fire and were beginning to obstruct the track. The digging out of the roots of the reeds with their spear like tips and needle tipped leaves has taken up some of our time and in the process inflicted a few injuries. Likewise the digging out of the tubers of the stud thorn, (Pretrea zanguebarica) whose seeds have twin spikes and are not very friendly when trodden on was accomplished. As Chris walks around bare foot, he is the one who finds them. Ouch.

Another result of the fire was the destruction of tonnes of fuel wood within the boundary's of Gordon Park which is used by us at headquarters and the Scouts in their cooking fires. In time there will be an over supply of fuel wood as a large number of trees have not recovered from the fire and have died, but for now we have very little fuel wood. In order to overcome our immediate problem, we obtained permission from the Warden of the Matobo National Park in which Gordon Park is situated to collect fuel wood out side our boundary. Chris and I spent a Saturday morning two weeks ago scavenging the woodland adjacent to Gordon Park for fuel wood in preparation for the National Inter Provincial Patrol Competition, that was held this past weekend. We filled "Emma", my three tonne truck twice before calling it a day. I can assure you that we did not have much energy left at the end of this task as we had to search over a wide area for the wood and then load whole dried out tree logs onto the back of "Emma". Back at the Park, Chris chopped up the trees into useable sized pieces for use in the fires. One load we left at the Naomi Conolly Lodge for use in preparing the meals for the competition judges and the second in the Bowl campsite for the competition participants. Why we spoil them, I don't know.

Early on Friday morning, 25 November 2011, under an overcast sky, Chris, Declan, Kevin and I set out for Gordon Park to prepare the Park for the Scouts coming later in the day who were to participate in the 2011 National Inter Provincial Patrol Competition. Our early morning arrival was necessary to open up the buildings, erect a tarpaulin over the outdoor kitchen and dinning area adjacent to the Naomi Conoly Lodge and a host of other tasks in preparing the Park for the event. My Troop was not competing in the competition, but had been tasked to undertake the catering duties for the Staff. With Chris as our head chef, he had drawn up the menus, bought the provisions and was responsible for directing this operation in the catering for twenty-three people over the next three days. Liam, our newest invested member at twelve years, joined us on the Saturday morning.

The first contingent to arrive, were the Mashonaland Patrols, followed by the Patrols from the Midlands and finally just forty kilometres down the road, the Matabeleland Patrols. Unfortunately, no entries from Manicaland nor Masvingo Provinces.The competition kicked off at 08.00hrs on Saturday morning on the Bowl Parade Ground and closed at 11.30hrs on Sunday morning. The early closing of the competition was necessitated because the visiting contingents had to get back home several hundred kilometres distant, by Sunday evening in preparation for school on the Monday morning.

Our congratulations to Midlands Province who were the winners of this year's competition.

On the Saturday evening the Matabeleland Provincial Scout Council hosted a dinner for the Judges and the nine Patrol Leaders of the Patrols competing in the competition. Our honored guests were, The Chief Scout of Zimbabwe, Mr. Morris Mosses and The Chief Scout Commissioner, Mr. Christopher Bwanali. These gentlemen had as recently as September taken over the helm of Scouting in Zimbabwe and this was their first function in their new capacities. Congratulations gentlemen. I am sure that attendance at this competition, meeting and interacting with the Scouts for the three days that you were with them, the very people that the Scout Movement exists for and the fact that it has been held in "The Heart of Scouting", will long remain as the highlight of your Scouting.

Congratulations are extended to Chris, Declan, Kevin and Liam on their high standard of catering, including that of the special dinner on the Saturday evening for thirty-four people. Assisting on the catering team was Adam Moyo, the caretaker of Gordon Park.

Cheers
Norman
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This Past Week...

Matobo Conservation Society
www.matobo.org/
The Annual General Meeting of the Matobo Conservation Society was held yesterday at Camp Dwala, which is adjacent to the Matopo Mission.
Jean Whiley
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1st Bulawayo (Pioneer) Scout Troop Programme of Activities for:-

December
11 Gordon Park Service: 12.00 noon
25 Christmas Day

Activities may be Deleted/Added to the Programme

The 2012 Troop's fundraising Calendar is being currently printed...

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"A Thought For The Week"

You know youre getting fat and overweight when...
... your husband goes to lift you but first counts 1, 2, 3...

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Matabeleland Scout Website http://matabele.altervista.org/
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Bulawayo, 28th Nov 2011