Riverside Scout Troop Rumbles Magazine 1977 (Zimbabwe)

 
    
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D                        November 
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11th Bulawayo (riverside) Group

DID YOU KNOW
The 11th Riverside Scout Group was first registered on 28th March, 1956? Scouts and Cubs have been run in the Riverside area for the last 21 years. This is something to be proud of and we thought you might be interested to see what is behind it all
AND
What are we really trying to do?


       Gone home
Gone Home
   Nicholas John Coom
Sadly we had to bid farewell to Nick Coom on the 4th November 1977. He was killed while on active service.
Nick was an active member of the 11th Riverside Scout Troop for some four or five years. He joined the Troop in 1969 and became a member of Kudu Patrol. In 1970 he was transfered to Impala Patrol where he became the Assistant Patrol Leader. In 1971 he was appointed to Kudu Patrol as Patrol Leader, a position he retained until July 1972, when he was appointed Quarter-Master and an Instructor. He retained these positions until 1973, when his chosen career took him out into the lands.
Nick worked his way through various tests and achieved the Advanced Scout Standard Award. He was particularly active in all aspects of the Troop and led the 11th to victory in 1972 Rolling Stone Competition. He was especially interested in First Aid, being a member of the Red Cross Society, and it is to him that we owe our present first Aid box, which he made himself. He participated in several Selekwe Camps, where he always assisted willingly. Indeed, Nick was a good Scout and a great friend of the 11th Riverside. He will be missed, and to Mr and Mrs Coom and family we extend our heartfelt sympathies in your tragic loss.

Marandellas Camp:
This years annual camp was held at the farm of Mr Felgates parents-in-law just outside Marandellas. On 27th April 1977, 15 scouts under the supervision of Mr & Mrs Lawson, left for Marandellas by the evening Salisbury train. The train arrived 90 minutes late at Salisbury station and luckily the Marandellas train was held for us as it was due to leave at 8:30am, not 9:00am. We arrived at Marandellas at 10:50 and were met by Mr and Mrs Felgate; all of us and our kit were transported by pick-up truck to Riversmead FarmE On arrival we offloaded the kit and fell in and the patrol names were given out. The camp was run as a competition to keep standards up.
Nyambuya
P.L. Mol (Richard) Millar    
A.P.L. Niel Dempsey
Bradley Craven
Frank Cundall
Tony Irvine
Chillowy
David Garriock
Keith Danielson
Ocket Theron
Stephen Broomberg    
Terence Low
Crondall
Hylton Garriock
Robert Smith
Gerald Minnaar
Grant Wallace
Pierre Joubert
Dave had the brawn, Hylton had the brain and I had a bit of each! The names of the patrols were just names of a local river, dam and hill. We were also given these intructions:
1. Complete a log of the camp
2. Make a horse or Cows hoof print (plaster cast)
3. Copy of a bushman painting
4. A list of all animals seen on the camp
5. A project on the life of tobacco
6. Photographs of the camp.
Numbers 1 E5 to be handed in on Tuesday evening, the photographs to be handed in two weeks later.
Each patrol was given some camp erecting to do, eg. Hylton the kitchen, Dave the Q.M. Stores, flagpole and notice board, and myself the latrines. If I was to describe all the meals and what we did every hour of the day (or night!) I would write my own short story, so I shall just tell what activities we enjoyed. The erection of camp took the rest of the day and evening.
I shall describe an average day. 6:45 Rise and Shine, 8:00 Breakfast, 9:00 Inspection (it was always a rush to wash up and be ready before 9:00), 9:30 activity, 12:30 spare time,13:00 lunch, 14:15 activity, 16:30 spare time, 18:30 dinner, 20:00 activity, 21:30 showers, 22:00 lights out. During the Spare timeEwe would either do the cooking if we were cook patrol, or sort our kit out. The inspection was in full scout uniform, and our tents and constructions were checked daily. In the evening spare time, those who werent cooking could go and watch and try milking the cows and shower.
A bit about the farm before I continue. It is a 2,000 acre farm, the main products of which are tobacco and maize. There are also beef cattle and 20-30 dairy cattle. There are turkeys and fowls and wild game on the farm.
On Thursday afternoon we had a gala in the pool on the farm. Dave came first, then myself and finally Hylton (I refer to the patrols by their leaders names). It is custom on our camps to have a P.L.s meeting with the Scout Leaders after each days activities.
Friday mornings activity was a hike to some very good bushman paintings. In the afternoon there were three projects to do. These were:- mapwork, tea making in a tree, and then first aid. In the evening we had a wide-game which culminated in IzidwadwaE This is a walking tree that attacks people. It is our method of initiating new scouts. We were lucky because we had an ex-scout there and he scared the wits out of the young scouts!
On Saturday the 30th we all went to town in the morning. Five chaps went to the horse show while the rest walked the town seeking the answers to these questions:-
1. What time the Salisbury train came in and how many coaches were on it?
2. Find the number of bottle stores in Marandellas.
3. Find the number of supermarkets in Marandellas
4. Find what was showing at the cinema and what time the film commenced
5. Name the main Street
7. Name the circular playground in the centre of Marandellas.
Once all these questions had been quickly answered and we had bought some biltong, we then went and played on the green (answer to number 6).
In the afternoon we played soccer and in the evening we had a campfire to which Mrs Felgates folks, Capt. and Mrs Spotswood came.
We were rudely awoken on Sunday at 5:30am and given these instructions:-
From camp, proceed to 418946 then to 414966. Look for something unusual at the first point, proceed along the tributary from Easting 420 to Easting 440; continue till your reach 442966. Do not reach there before 10:00 am where you will receive further instructions withing 12 hours. Fishing competition between patrols.
We all managed to arrive at the same spot at about 9:50. By that time we were feeling peckish. Before we left camp, we were given a freshly slaughtered duck, flour, eggs, potatoes and tin foil. We skinned, gutted and jointed our ducks. Everyone roasted their own piece. It was quite tasty, but the flesh needed salt. From 10:00 to 14:00 we tried to fish, but caught nothing. Then a warden came and told us not to fish. To pass the time we played clay-latties and made twisters with our flour and eggs. At 16:15 the Felgates and Lawsons came and instructed us to go back to camp. In the evening the PLs and APLs cooked a braai and sadza.
In the evening we had an investiture (the first ever in the 11ths history on camp) and then we had a Scouts Own.
Monday morning after inspection we 3 PLs made an oven. Then we had 3 tasks to do:- First, make catties; second, test passing; third, make a cake. I burned my cake a bit and so did Dave. Marks were Me (10), Dave (10), Hylton (10 ).
In the afternoon we had a catapult competition in which my patrol came first. Then we played volley ball and for tea we had cakes. In the evening we had a wide game, but we didnt play it properly, so Mr Lawson and Mr Felgate made us run 3 kms, do bunny hops round the pool, swim ten lengths, and finally run on the spot till we were dry. That evenings PLs meeting ended at 23:30!
On Tuesday morning we had another 3 activities; firstly decoding a message; secondly, cross a river without getting wet and using only a rope; the third was a very difficult blind mans trail. In the afternoon we were told how tobacco is made, then later on in the afternoon we had our mini Olympics which included javelin,six-legged race, a one kilometer stretcher race, vertical rope climbing, wheel-barrow race, tennis-ball dribbling-race, and finally a press-up competition.
In the evening we sat around the fire and people imitated other scoutsEactions during the camp. It was incredible to see what was done behind the scenes.
By 11:00 on Wednesday everything was packed up. We were then given lunch by Hylton. The train left Marandellas at 16:30. The rest of the journey was uneventful. (ed. I seem to remember having a grand party that night - on the proceeds from Mol's "fines jar" - he fined us a tickey each time we had lifted a cup, to drink, with our right hand!) THIS IS SCOUTING!
Richard Millar
P.L. Impala Patrol

ASSEGAI
on 23 July Eland Patrol, which consisted of:- Steven Broomberg
Pierre Joubert
Guy Cunard
Gary Rimmer
Paul de Sousa
Gary Rae (A.P.L.)
and my (P.L.), arrived at Hillside Dams at 1:30pm to take part in Assegai '77. It was in the form of a weekend camp, and once we had been allocated aour campsite, we set about putting up our tent, making a kitchen, and erecting out latrines (which we did not use!). At 4:30pm we had a camp inspection and were given instructions to make a wind-vane, carve our patrol emblem out of a potato, burn our patrol name on a piece of wood supplied (using a nail), and draw a poster advertising "Assegai '78".
We bagan cooking supper at 6:30pm. Every patrol had been given a set menu to cook and was told to expect a visitor at any meal (ie a tester). Ron Griffin had supper with us and gave us full marks for the meal. We then had a short campfire, amusing ourselves whilst another troop tried to light the fire (they even tried using their entire stock of paraffin to get it alight). Afterwards we wrote our days log and then turned in. We were up rather late in the morning, had a filling, hot breakfast, cleaned our campsite up and got ready for the morning inspection. After that we were given these instructions: to cook an egg without utensils or aluminium foil, to decode a coded message, to answer all the questions in a quiz, to make a tripod using 3 staves and a 15-inch rope, to make a pair of stilts. We had all morning to do this in and at 1:00pm Bill Sewell (the District Commissioner) came and had lunch with us. In the afternoon each patrol had to raise a flag pole 18feet high, using staves. The whole patrol was blindfolded except for the Patrol Leader, who was not allowed to use his hands. We successfully completed this, then dismantled and had our campsite inspected, then fell in for final inspection at 3:30pm. To the entire patrol's surprise, Eland Patrol (which was our patrol) was asked to step forward and receive the Assegai for winning the entire Assegai competition.
Hylton Garriock

Winterhoek : 1976/77
Last year on Boxing day, I, along with 13 other Matabeleland Scouts, left by train for Cape Town (South Africa). After 46 hours of uneventful travelling we arrived 3 hours late. The transport from Cape Town to the campsite in the mountains 110km N.E. of Cape Town was by Range Rovers. The beautiful site is situated among some fir trees.
After splitting up, I met my patrol who had to hike up the 500 meter high mountain in the morning. Our Patrol leader and 2 other scouts were from Maritzburg. Also in our patrol, Number 33, we had scouts from Salisbury, Que Que, Fort Victoria and 2 from Bulawayo, thus making 8 of us. We were then given provisions for the nights meal. The main stipulation made was that no fires were to be made; only gaz cookers could be used.
At 20:00 all 300 of us assembled. After the traditional camp fire, we collected our stores for the whole camp and sorted them out. Food could be kept at the base camp. The next morning we went to archery and spent a most interesting time learning the in's and outs of archery. In the afternoon we went to motor engineering, where we learned the theory of the motor. Then we had to find faults in a 1600cc enging before starting it. Later in the afternoon we were driven to the marksmanship base where unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse and we were forced to stop by the side of the road and camp in an old farmhouse. The next morning at 6:00am we moved out and arrived at the marksmanship base at 10:30. We were forced to camp there for a day and a half owing to the excess of rain and guti. During the non-raining periods we did clay-pigeon and pistol shooting. My shoulder and I were gluttons for punishment, and I went back for a second five shots with the shotgun. I managed to get 6/10, which was above average. Owing to the excessive rain, the river on which a Rhodesian patrol, Patrol 31, was kloofing, rose 3 meters and patrol 31 were forced to attempt a 300 meter sheer cliff climb. At one stage the P.L. slipped and fell 20 meters and injured his knee badly; two other scouts also sustained injuries. The patrol was forced to stay above danger level while one member of the patrol hastened down the kloof to the pioneering base where a helicopter was summoned to take the P/L to Cape Town. On arrival at Cape Town he was rushed to the hospital and operated on. By the time we had finished the camp he was able to walk on crutches.
On 31 December, 1976, patrol 33 set out very cheerfully as the rain had stopped. From thence onwards we sang our song on arriving at or departing from a base. It went like this:-
Verse 1:-
I dig a 33, 33, 33, I dif a 33 any time of day
33 we are the best
33 we'll beat the rest, rest, rest, rest, rest!
Verse 2:-
Short of Rations, short of rations,
Very tired, very tired,
Sore shoulders, sore shoulders,
33 we are the best, we are the best.

Verse (1) was sung to the tune of "I Zig-a-Zumba" and verse (2) was sung to the tune of "Brother James". We arrived at the Dutch Oven Cooking base at 4:30, having first had to cross two flooded streams. On New Years Day we were taught how to cook dutch-oven style, and had roast chicken, roast Potatoes, Peas, Carrots, and beans. For pudding we had apple tart.
The following day we went rock climbing and were taught how to climb properly. After the theory we went back to work on climbing a 20-meter face and then had to climb a rock chimney which is where there is a fissure in a rock and one climbs between the two faces. The rock-climbing took all day, so on the morning of 3 January we hiked back to base. In the afternoon we went down the kloof, which had now subsided, and swam in the big pool which was 200 meters in diameter and said to be 30 meters deep.
Early on the 4th January we were transported to the nearby sailing dam where we could sail or canoe as and when we wanted to. The following day we were transported just up the road to the Pioneering base. On arrival there we had to cross the river; There was a cableway which, when our patrol leader was halfway across, collapsed and he fell 25 meters into some rocks. Most fortunately, he fell between two rocks and his rucksack padded his fall, and so he came out with only a graze. The rest of us had to cross by foot, so we stripped to the waist and with our rucksacks on our heads, we crossed the river.
In the afternoon we started our pioneering projects. We had to build a bridge across the river. Unfortunately, the river was flowing too strongly and kept washing part of the bridge away. Just above the base was a weir where we could swim. the wall of the weir was sloped and about 10 centimeters of water flowed over all the time. We had a great time trying to climb the wall. At 18:00 that evening we were transported up the mountain again and had to hike 25 kms to Comando Base. By full moon we hiked at a steady 6km/hour and arrived there just after 1:30am. We awoke with the sun coming over the hills. By 10:30 we were ready for the Commando Course. We completed it in 32 minutes. The record was 28 minutes. On the course we had to climb trees, slide down "foofy" slides, walk up fallen-down trees, walk through green, slimy troughs, and to cap it all we all had to go through a house which was made into a maze and filled full of smoke. While we were finding our way through, they threw 'Flash bombs' near us. It was only by lunch time that we had recovered. We were then on the last day of the camp. We hiked back to H.Q. and in the evening had the final camp-fire. For the second time running a Rhodesian pulled 10 out of 10 for Clay-pigeon shooting at the Marksmansip base, and he was presented with a prize.
The next morning we fell in at 8:30 and after being thanked and giving our thank-yous, we made a sweep of the camp for papers, then hiked up the mountain and down the other side where busses were waiting.
After the camp we had three days to kill in Cape Town. On the first day we had a tour of Cape Town and the Cape Peninsular. On the second and third days we shopped and swam in the freezing water at Camp's Bay, as we were staying at the Camps Bay Scout Hall.
The train journey was also uneventful, except we had a 17-hour delay at Mafeking due to a head-on train collision in Botswana.
Richard Millar
(P/L Impala Patrol)

Patrol Leaders Training Camp
I arrived at Whitestone Scool at 7:30am to attend the P.L. Training Course. We had a welcom meeting, where all of us, the Patrol Leaders from every troop in Bulawayo, were put into patrols and were given equipment to set up our campsites. There were four fatrols and at 10:00 am we had a camp inspection and were given lectures on "camping standards" and on "organizing your patrol". Evry two hours a new patrol leader was elected to lead the patrol so that by the end of the weekend each P.L> attending the course had had a chance of leading the patrol he was in. We cooked lunch at 12:30 and had Mr Sewell the District Commissioner come and comment on it. At 2:00pm we had a very interesting talk on lifesaving round a swimming pool (showing us ways to make it almost impossible to drown - even if your hands and feet are tied up), and personal survival. We were given from 5:30 to prepare our supper, as certain important people had been invited to come and join different patrols for supper. After every member of our patrol, including myself, had burnt our fingers in cooking Soup, boiled ham, 3 veges and gravey, apple crumble and custard, and finally tea and coffee, all within 2 hours, we had a very interesting lecture on "How to make your P.L.'s Council Hum", which ended at 9pm. Finally, at 1:30am whilst visiting another campsite, we observed them still washing their pots from supper time, poor guys! The following morning, 12 June 1977, we had inspection, a Scouts Own, "how to deal with problem boys" and teamwork in action where the R.T.V. came along and filmed us for the first "Double Deal" program on TV. We then had lunch, a discussion to clear up any problems that anyone wanted to ask. the weekend camp had also been a competition between the four patrols, and after striking camp and having an inspection, our patrol (Leopard Patrol) was awarded first place.
Hylton Garriock

Meeting with the Guides
A meeting with the 12th (Northend) Guide Company was arranged at the Riverside Scout Hall.
The Guides arrived at 7:30 pm when the meeting began with flag-break. The Guides were split up into their own patrols; each of their patrols visited one of our patrols in our seperate patrol corners. This enabled us to get to know eachother. The leaders were busy sorting out the program for the evening.
Afterwards we were split up into four even-numbered patrols and we were given four tasks:-
Task 1:-
To light a candle using two staves, one match a short length of rope and string. The sulphur was pinned on the board two meters away.
Task 2:-
Measure out a given quantity of water and estimate weights and heights of objects.
Task 3:-
Do a deamans crawl between two trees and make a stretcher.
Task 4:-
Identify differently yasting liquids.
The evening ended with a stretcher-race followed by a small party. The winning patrol was announced at the end. It was a evening well spent and enjoyed by all.
?

Motor Car Lectures
A few weeks ago at a P.L.'s Council the idea was broughtup that a series of lectures would be a good idea. Over the next four weeks we had the pleasure of Mr. Tolbert talking to us about the workings of a motor car engine.
The commencing lecture was designed as an outline of the basic parts of the engine, ie. we were told that the most important part of the motor is the battery as it corresponds with a persons heart. After the basic outline of the motor, we trooped outside to peer inside the engine of a land-Rover. Here Mr Tolbert showed us precisely what he was talking about. He also indicated to us how one could, if the need arose, test to see an engine is being starved of fuel or, on the other hand, whether there were any signs of a spark reaching the sparkplugs.
In the second lecture, Mr Tolbert was primarily concerned in showing how the petrol started from the petrol tank, and moved all the way into the cylinders. Firstly, he concerntrated on the fuel pump and gave us a brief outline on it. He then went on to the carburettor. He stripped a small one to indicate some of the parts.
The third lecture revolved around the electrical side of the motor. This entailed working from the battery to the coil and to the distributor and finally to the spark plugs. Once again we were all interested when we half stripped a distributor and went into the workings of how it functioned.
Throughout the duration of the lectures, I am sure many of the scouts learned a tremendous amount and they even picked up some very useful tips about internal combustion engines.
?

Explorers Badge
On Sunday 19th Dec 1976, Mr Welsh, David, Glen, Shawn and myself, left for a two day hike over the Kalk Bay mountains. After a tiring climb of 1 1/2 hours up a steep mountain we found a cave in which to spend the following nights. The opening was South facing and protected us from the wind. We were over one and a half thoudasnd feet above sea level and could see almost the whole of False Bay. We set about making ourselves comfortable, had a lovely hot supper at 8:00pm (the sun sets only about 8:30pm) and went to bed at 11:00pm. We woke up early the following morning, tidied the cave up, left our rucksacks in a corner, and started climbing to one of the highest mountains in the range. (not Table Mountain!). It took us another 2 hours to do so, and when we reached the top we took some photographs, and had morning tea. We then started down the slope collecting as many wild flowers as possible. We returned to the cave for lunch, then went exploring another high mountainside, and crawled through it on our hands and knees to find at the other end a large cave with a waterfall running through it. We crossed down and up on to another mountain, while collecting flowers, and started back to our campsite at 6pm, only to find 10 interloopers there who tried to make life impossible for us, so with the weather threatening and as we couldnt sleep out in the open, we decided to return down the mountain and caught the train home.
H. Garriock
P.L. Eland Patrol

Eland Patrol Report
Eland Patrol was once again reformed at the begining of the year to take the overflow of extra Scouts out of the existing patrols. I was elected P.L., with Niel Dempsey as A.P.L. and the rest of the patrol consists of Guy Cunard, Robert Smith, Stephen Broomberg, Darren Kotzer and Jamie Danielson. As soon as scouts began, however, the latter two faded away. Our first main project wa to make a partition to go around our Patrol corner. This project was extremely successful even though we did not win the trophy. Being a brand new patrol with not much experience, we have a proud reputation of being able to come last in almost everything. Unfortunately, we havent managed to win the inter-patrol trophy in the many attempts we've had at it. Niel Dempsey has only a few more tasks to pass before gaining his scout standard badge, and the same goes for Guy Cunard. Unfortunately Robert Smith has been left behind.
Hylton Garriock

Kudu Patrol Report
As of late there has been some little progress, but this is to be expected because of the many other activities that have been arranged at Scouts, i.e., there have been some interesting lectures on a motor-car engine and on army radios; also great preperations were made towards J.O.T.A. competition, including our having our scouts' meeting at the Hillside Dams campsite one evening.
Lately there has been, as I have noticed, a sharp decrease in patrol spirit, but I am sure that this is not going to fall any lower and that it will soon increase. A vital factor for this increase is the difference in the scout meetings of late and it is my thinking that this will contribute a great deal towards patrol spirit and hopefully some good troop spirit. I have notices that the young are more interested towards the end of the evening as that is when we play games, but this is also to be expected as we do have a great number of young scouts but I would like to emphasize that I am pressing them to advance in passing tests for the various scout standards.
When you look at the achievements of the boys, the bulk of them are busy on the Scout Standard Sections of their cards and are doing some good work in this field. There are some, however, who are slacking and in future I shall be chasing them up. I have only one member in the patrol who is working towards his Basic Scout Standard, and within a few weeks I hope he will be able to be awarded his link Badge after passing this section. I myself am still working towards my Advanced Scout Standard and hope within a short while to achieve this.
Lately there have been a couple of new-commers to the troop and we, the troop, welcome them and our Patrol would like to make them feel very welcome, especcially if they are allocated into our care.
Gary Rae

Impala Patrol Report
Members of the Patrol are:-
P.L. Richard Millar (Mol)
A.P.L. David Stone (Rocky)
Brad Craven
Grant Wallace
Gerhard Minnaar
Alan Robinson
Tony Irvine
Impala has been doing well this year and is coming second in the inter-patrol competition. I have been on an exciting expedition to the Winterhoek Mountains 110km NE of Cape Town. I have passed on some of my knowledge from the expedition to the young scouts. I led a patrol at Assegai, which came 4th out of 14 patrols. Rocky, Brad and Grant were in my patrol at Assegai.
I am close to getting my Chief Scout Award. rocky and Brad have nearly earned their Scout Standard. Grant and Gerhard are also doing their Scout Standard. Tony and Alan are both going for their Basic Scout Standard. With a little more effort and tidiness, Impala should be able to catch up and overtake Kudu Patrol in the competition.
P.L. Mol

Sable Patrol Report
P.L. David Garriock
A.P.L. Gary Rimmer
Terrance Low
Theo Botha
Frank Cundall
Russell Smith
At the beginning of 1977 P.L. Peter Watson left the patrol to become Patrol Leader Instructor. Keith Danielson left Sable and joined Kudu, where he has remained. Steve Broomberg joined the newly formed Eland Patrol. Sable has won the inter-patrol swimming gala for several years in succession. We have won the Inter-patrol Challenge Trophy on many occassions. Last year we won the Patrol floating Trophy for the most points. A member of Sable Patrol made up the winning patrol for Assegai. I hope in years to come the patrol will remain as strong as it is.
P.L. David Garriock

J.O.T.A. Camp
JOTA means Jamboree-On-The-Air, when scout all over the world send messages by radio. this year was the twentieth JOTA. When we went to Cubs on Saturday we were told we were going to Hillside Dams where Scouts and Guides were camping for Jota.
When we arrived we saw tents of all sizes and colours. Scouts and Guides were in small groups sending messages to eachother by field radios which were carried in packs on the backs of the Scouts. Scout and Guide leaders were also persent.
At last we went into the largest tent of all, which was the communications tent. Inside a man was seated by a much bigger radio, different from the little ones we had seen outside. It had a red handle which moved as he spoke, showing the volume of sound. While we listened he made contact with Kenya and we were told that he had spoken to Marion Island earlier in the day.
Then we were invited to send a message, a most exciting moment. I went forward and was told what to do. I felt shy, but pleased. I said "This is Mathew Rowley of the 11th Cub Scout Group. All the Cubs send their greetings". I couldnt think of anything else so I said "If there are any girls, we send our 88's". Everyone laughed as I didnt know this means "Love and Kisses". My message went to Guides in the Cape and they were very pleased to hear from us.
I was surprised to be told that I was probably the first Cub Scout in Matabeleland to have made contact by radio as Cubs had not before been allowed to send messages.
When I got home, I stitched my JOTA badge on to my shirt right away. It is a reminder of a very exciting and interesting afternoon.
Matthew Rowley
Cubs

Our Camp - Sat 22nd - Monday 24th October
When we arrived at 10:00am, we read the rules, put up our tent and had tea. After tea, we did some map reading. Then we had lunch (prepared by 2 scouts) and washed our plates. Then we had a rest for an hour. The hathi came and told us to get dressed into our Cub Uniforms, ready for the Pack Meeting. While we were there, we played "Bombs". When we got back to camp, we were allowed to swim. After that we did some knotting. Then we had supper of rice, meat and vegetables. Then we washed our plates, brushed our teeth and changed into pyjamas. After this we climbed into our sleeping bags and went to sleep but after a while because we were talking.
On Sunday we woke up at 6:30am. We got up at 7:00am and dressed. Then we had breakfast; hard boiled eggs, sausage and toast. We then washed our plates. We got ready for inspection. After we had done that, we said prayers and sang a hymn. Then we had flagbreak. After this cam inspection.
We spent Sunday doing woodwork, swimming and playing games. Then following a lunch of macaroni and cheese. Then we had a rest for an hour, reading comics and doing puzzels. After rest hour, we swam again. Then we got dressed in camp unifor (T-Shirts, shorts and jerseys). After that, we had a campfire. Each Cub had to do an act. Brian and I did "The Tooth Brush". Then all six of us - Jason Luff, Brian, Kerr, Philip, Shaun and I did the "Lazy bunch of Soliders". This was followed by a poem, which was said by Kerr and Philip. Then we sang some songs, put out the campfire, went back to the house and had a hot drink. Whilst we were drinking, we looked at Hathi's stamps and her badges. Then we washed our cups, changed in pyjamas and climbed into our sleeping bags.
The next day was Monday. We woke at 6:15am. We got out of bed and talked. Then Hathi came to our tent and gave us some books to read. We got up at 7:00am dressed and had breakfast. Then we aired the tent, hung our sleeping bags insideout on the line with our groundsheets. Then we got ready for inspection. After this we played games, and did some knotting. Then our parents arrived for tea. they inspected our things and had their tea. Then we had our tea. After this we had flag-down. We did the Grand Howl, said prayers and went home. It was all very exciting.
M. Emslie

Camp
When my father dropped me off, I saw the others tying knots, so I joined in. At the same time the cooks were cooking nice food, which I liked very much.
After supper we made first-aid kits. Then we looked at the stars. I liked the story, too. Then we went to bed.
In the morning we played armies. Then we aired the tent and made things out of wood - I made a bird-stand. We had a swim and then lunch.
After lunch we had a rest. Then we had our campfire and we sang songs and we did plays, and then we went to bed.
?

Cubs Camping
Last weekend we went camping in Hathis garden. We slept in a tent and ate in the dining-room.
These are all the things we did. We had campfire and sang lots of songs. We did a lot of swiming. We were taught how to do knots and how to be tidy. We also did woodcraft; I made an aeroplane. We had lots of nice things to eat and we all had a nice time.
Two Scouts were there to help Hathi with the cooking. On the Monday my Mom and Dad were invited to tea and to see how we were camping. After that we did flag-break, and all went home. I was very sorry to leave.
Bravo for Hathi
Jason Luff


Looking Back
My first association with the Riveside Scout Group was the Fete held at Centenary Park in 1959 to raise money to build the Scout HAll. The main instigators were Cecil Wright, who started the Cub pack and her assistant, Mrs Wilson, because at this stage there were no Scouts. Incidentally, it was Mrs. Wright's husband who built the hall. I was asked at about this time to assist on the Group Committee, but it was at the official opening of the Scout Hall in October 1961 by District Scout Commissioner Dave Edgar that I was "conned" into the G.S.L.s job, being told "there was nothing to it".
The first task as G.S.L. was forming a new committee, as at this stage there wasnt one functioning, and I am pleased to say that until my departure in June 1977 this committee met every month with tremendous enthusiasm, assisting me in raising funds for equipment, maintaining the Scout Hall, supplying transport for camps, infact anything I asked. The longest serving member on the G.C. was Mrs Ruth Hatfield. Philip, her husband, was one of the first Scout Leaders, and the most "explosive" character was undoubtedly A;ec Pascoe who, as Chairman for several years, was a past master at getting things done for the Group for nothing!!
My first Scout camp was at Gordon Park in 1962 with S.L. Bruse Charsley running it - the smartest uniformed Scouter in Bulawayo. Although I had assisted at several Cub Camps with C.L. Vernon Hochuli (in those days Riverside cubs went camping regularly), it was not until 1963 that I took the Cub Pack, with the assistance of 3 senior Scouts (who?), to a district camp held at Heany.
Several occasions remain in my memory. I can recall Riverside's first attempt in Matabeleland's premier Scout Competition in 1965: it took me two years to get the senior scouts to enter the Assegai, where we came second to the amazement of Bulawayo Scouting in general, and to the thrill of our own Scouts when it was announced at Gordon Park. Since then we havent looked back!
The annual Easter Scout Camps were held at Selukwe from 1970 to 1974; these grew in nummbers each year, with the mass of organisation needed to transport, equip and feed anything up to 35 people. This was only possible by transport being loaned by parents Cecil James, Phil Hatfield and others, with senior scouts doing the driving.These camps were a tremendous success under all weather conditions.Who will evr forget 1973 when 7" of rain fell at Selukwe? And there was not a word of complaint from anyone who slept under canvas!! I was never so embarrassed at on of these camps when I was presented with a giant Easter Egg at Scouts Own by Colin Anderson, with a mischievous grin, as he knew I had forbidden Easter Eggs at the camp. You could hear the guffaw of the scouts for miles!
To send three of our scouts to the World Jamboree in Norway in 1975 was 18 months of fundraising by scouts and parents, from selling old newspapers to a sponsored cycle ride by the three scouts concerned, Ian Gardner, Peter Watson and Richard Millar.This world event I feel is the ultimate in a boys scouting career, where he meets the friendship of scouts from all parts of the world. The only regret of the boys was that it was too short and that they had to give a lecture to parents and scouts on their returnn.
In 1967, the year of Bulawayo's 75th celebrations, a national Scout Jamborally was held at Hillside Dams. We sent a Patrol, and Scouts came from Mozambique, bringing with them their girl guides which raised a few eyebrows! For the record, the guides were not allowed to join the camp. We sent a patrol of Scouts to the Lourence Marques Jamboree in 1971, where our Scouts excelled themselves by taking the major prizes for Rhodesian Scouts.
The Venture Patrol of Senior Scouts, with Mike Halgreen, Brian Nicholson, Mike Franklin, Angus 'Charlie' Lawson and Stephen Reed, gave me quite a few headaches with their 'enthusiasm and boisterousness', but it was wonderful and worthwhile when they came as a group to say farewell to me before they left Bulawayo for their future careers.
It has been a great privilege to lead the 11th Riverside Scout Group over the past 15years and I enjoyed every minute of seeing the boys benefiting from the Scout Movement. This would not have been possible but for the assistance and help given to me by my wife, for which I thank her, especially at the Easter Camps.
I wish the Group well in the future and if any boy has the time to drop me a line with the troops latest news, I would be delighted.
Hudson (Rocky or Pops) Felgate
35 Downview Ave
Ferring
Worthing
West Sussex
England

EDITORIAL
This little publication has had a chequered career since being first published in December 1969. Originally it was the intention to bring out a newsletter three to four times a year, but the 1970 edition laments that the "original good intention" had become "practically impossible because of the relatively small number of people available to write articles, the pressure of other work and interests. I think a regular newsletter IS important - by showing people what we do, and plan to do, we advertise Scouting to everyone who is interested, particularly the parents - and the more people interested the stronger will the movement be, and in particular the 11th Riverside.
The programme is interesting enough - who will write the articles? Who will edit them? Who will plan the next edition? I think the newsletter is a worthy project for the Patrol Leaders Council to discuss and to establish an editorial committee of their own to ensure THREE newsletters a year from now on.

Group Scout Leaders report
The various items following serve to show how successful have been the activities of the Groupthis year, so there is no need to elaborate. My association with the 11th is still very recent, but I have been impressed by the emnthusiasm of the Scouts, and Cubs too, a number of who will be moving up to the ranks of the Scouts in the New Year. Infact nummbers are steadily growing, and it is a pleasure to see new faces among the Cubs and Scouts.
I feel the evident success of the Group must be attributed to those capable and keen personages, Mr J. Felgate, the Scout Leader, and to "Hathi", Mrs H. Dickens, the Cub Scout Leader. What we need more than anything else at present is someone to assist both these good people. Parents, do we have any volunteers?
I must also pay tribute to the excellent Group Committee who tirelessly raise funds which the G.S.L. promptly wants to spend! Give them a task - how well do they cope with it under the chairmanship of Mr A. Garriock, who is himself a tower of strength. At present the committee is engrossed in re-equiping the Cub Pack. Below is a list of wanted items which will be carefully kept in wooden boxes, with each SIX having its own box. If you can help with one, or a few, or all (!) of the items, please send it/them along with your son to Cubs or Scouts or directly to me at 52, Cardwell Rd (tel 889126). If necessary, I'll also collect.
Here is the list of wants - its fairly extensive!
4 triangular bandages
8 skipping ropes
24 knotting ropes
8 bean bags
4 boxes crayons
4 bottles of glue
4 balls of heavy duty string
5 pairs of scissors
4 finger bandages
4 handkerchiefs (small)
4 handkerchiefs (large)
4 polish dusters
4 shoe brushes
4 rolls brown paper
1 football
1 sponge
Lots of scraps of material, needles, cotton, buttons
3 neters rope
A Rhodesian flag
1 telephone directory
Finally let me assure you that the activities of Scouts in Bulawayo are kept constantly under review at meetings every second month at meetings of the District Scout Council. there is also an interesting publication called "FIRE LIGHT" which you might care to obtain from the Scout Shop (open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 4:00 to 5:00 pm). I believe it is possible to subscribe to this : it really would be worth it for your interest in Scouting and can only be furthered by the excellence of the articles.
The Festive Season is upon us once more - to everyone, a Merry Christmas and may 1978 be a year of peace and understanding.
Robert McGeoch

Dates For your Calendar
Cookout 27th January 1978
Group A.G.M. 24th February 1978

From The Scout Leader
The 11th Riverside Scout troop has seen a successful and a sad year. Firstly, on the success side; we won the premier Scouting competition in Matabeleland this year, namely the Assegai Competition. The boys worked hard for this and my congratulations go to Hylton Garriock and his patrol. Not only did we win, but we also achieved 4th place and congratulations go to Richard Millar and his patrol.
We too, achieved 2nd place in the Rolling Stone Competition. Unfortunately, we lost it by seconds to the 3rd Air Scouts. It was an exciting finnish. The Cook-Out competition has been postponed till the new year, and we look forward to this. However, a word on Competitions. They are there to inspire competition and keeness amongst the boys and we enter them with a spirit of participation and, ofcourse, a desire to win. BUT this is not the essence; indeed, whether one wins or looses is irrelevant. Provided we do our best and enjoy it, both of which 11th Scouts do, then we only benifit by it.
The highlight of the years activities was the Troop camp held in Marandellas. It is on occassions such as this that Scouts can put into practice all that they have learnt. We had a most enjoyable camp.
On the sadder side, we have had to say farewell to two "old stagers" from the troop. The Group Scout Leader, Mr Hudson Felgate, who was with the Troop for 17 years and left for England in July. Our Assistant Scout Leader, Mr Andy Lawson, who was with the troop for 11 years, was transferred to Johannesburg. The three of us enjoyed great companionship and leadership of the Troop for several years and it was sad to say "au revoir". We wish them both all the best and you will be remembered over the years for what you have done. Thank you.
From the boys articles which follow you will receive a fair picture as to the troop's varied activities. We continue in traditional Scouting vein of the 11th Riverside.
To you parents, I should like to express my thanks for all your assistance to me and the troop over the last year. With your continued support we can only "rumble" forward successfully! May I wish you all the best for a very Happy Christmas and New Year.
Jimmy Felgate

Andys Farewell
Before leaving Rhodesia I would like to express my gratitude to all the scouts who have given me a great pleasure over the past few years. I have enjoyed every minute of it and find one of the hardest things about leaving is leaving the Troop behind.
May I wish each scout every success in the future not only in Scouting, but also at school and later on in his chosen career.
When I return for a holiday, I hope to see a few Sable Awards, the Assegai, Rolling Stone and Jota shield, so keeep working as well as you have in the past.
I would like to thank all those parents who have assisted so much with running the Troop. Your assistance has been greatly appreciated.
I enjoyed being part of the team and working together with you, Jim. I hope that some day we shall se you and the troop down "South" for a camp.
Should any of you wish to correspond, my new address is:-
P.O.Box 7400, Johannesburg, 2000, S.A.
Good luck and Good Scouting!
Andy Lawson


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