30th Belfast Scout Troop (Gilnahirk)
The weather was great on Troop nights in May and June so we were outside every Thursday night. We were at Cairn Wood to practice our axe and saw handling and fire lighting, up the Rocky Road to practice putting up tents and in Gilnahirk Park for touch rugby, football and rounders. The Scouts also followed and orienteering course from the hall to Stormont and then followed a compass course around the grounds. The Troop tidied the path beside the graveyard and for their end of term outing went to the pictures to see the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ that prompted some thoughtful observations about the rich western countries having to move their populations to the Third World when an ice age struck after misuse of the planet’s resources caused global warming.
Two of the Scouts gained sailing badges with our Sea Scout neighbours at St.Dorothea’s; Jack McGarrity earned two nautical skills badges while Jordan Douglas gained these and also the dingy sailor badge as well. The Scouts attended two camps in June. One was at Streamvale where the boys moving up from Cubs were invested as Scouts. The other was at Crawfordsburn with 800 other Scouts and Guides when the Scouts were taken by bus to various activities in Greater Belfast, attended a karaoke /disco and took part in a fun run.
The Troop numbers have risen sharply with the arrival of 9 new Scouts from the Cubs. After the summer break this will mean that we will have 22 Scouts in the Troop. Simon Toland will unfortunately be leaving as he has got too old (and too big!!- we can’t have a Scout taller than the Leaders). We wish Simon well as he has always been an enthusiastic Scout and has also been a great help to Betty in the Beaver Colony.The Troop meets in the Stye Brae Centre on Thursday evenings from 7-9 pm and will resume on 23rd September. New members will be very welcome!
John and Louise, 30th Troop
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