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30th Group Home Page
Latest news from other Scout Groups in East District
January-June 2004
50th Anniversary Celebrations draw to a close...!
30th Group rounded off their 50th Anniversary celebrations with a packed programme of activities during 19th-21st June. The Beavers held a birthday party at the Jack Britton Hall on Friday evening, also attended by the Gilnahirk Squirrels and our Group President, Audrey, who entertained the boys with some traditional games before everyone set to demolishing a specially made birthday cake and a mountain of food.
Over 40 of the Cubs and Scouts camped over ‘on our own backdoor-step’, down the road at the Morrow’s Farm near Streamvale. On the Saturday afternoon, we staged a Medieval Family Fun Day with assistance of staff from Medieval Ireland Inc. We were joined by some of the other Gilnahirk Youth Organisations, families and friends, along with members of 4th, 10th and 33rd Groups. The 10th Cubs and Leaders in particular are to be commended for entering into the spirit of the occasion- their costumes were a magnificent sight to behold as they came charging up the field. Activities included chariot racing, medieval cooking, horse-shoe throwing, Norman football, dress the knight and demonstrations of archery, falconry and medieval combat which kept the boys and adults alike enthralled.
Later there was time for a tour of Streamvale Open Farm and some fun and games in the hayloft before our evening BBQ and campfire. We were delighted to be joined despite the bitterly cold wind and heavy rain by some friends from the District, particularly Vice-Presidents, Rhoda and Ernie Sharp. Undaunted by the weather we pressed on with our celebrations, with Colin McLenaghan raising the boys’ spirits with a rousing campfire while the Leaders, sheltering under a gizibo, were cheered in a somewhat different fashion by a rather delicious if unexpectedly potent Black Forest gateau!! Finally, we rounded off the evening with a Bat Hunt around Streamvale, led by a lovely lady named ..wait for it… Robin… from the NI Bat Group and amazingly, despite all the noise and excitement, we did actually manage to detect some bats on the farm!
On Sunday morning we welcomed the Gilnahirk Crusaders’ Leader, Julie-May Noteman, who led our Outdoor Scouts’ Own Service. This was followed by outdoor games and a tug-of-war for the Cubs, while the Scouts played a fiercely contested football match against the combined forces of 27th Troop and Deputy DC Alan’s dog (we can’t quite decide if the dog should’ve been given a red card or offered a contract with a premier league side!). Finally there was just time to invest a number of the senior Cubs into the Troop, and to present some badges and awards, including Best Junior Cub (Gareth Thompson) and Cub of the Year (Ryan McKnight). We were delighted too that the Deputy DC was on hand to present much deserved Thanks Badges to Cub Scout Instructors, Jan Adair and Lorna Thompson, who have each now notched up almost 8 years’ service with the Pack.
Many thanks to all who made the weekend possible, including the staff of Medieval Ireland, the Morrows and their staff at Streamvale Open Farm, Michael and Alyn who arranged the BBQ, Colin Turtle for the loan of the Crawfordsburn marquee and Billy Robb for all his help in the decoration of our medieval site for the event. We would also like to thank all of our friends and fellow Scouters in East for their support and good wishes during our Anniversary Year.
David
50th Anniversary Celebrations underway...!
The last few months have been very busy for 30th Pack. We have had visits from the RSPB and from the local vet, enabling us to complete the Animal Carer badge, and also from Paint Me Glaze Me, with all of the Cubs making gifts for Mothers’ Day, and finishing off the Artist Badge, which we had started last autumn, by making poster displays for our 50th anniversary celebrations. We recently arranged an activity badge exam night, with over 50 badges being earned in one evening for Collector, Hobbies, Book Reader, My Faith, Sports Enthusiast and Musician- many thanks to our examiners, Will and Hilda Hamill, David McDonald, George Johnston and Rev Cheryl Reid. We also held an ethnic dance and drumming workshop, led by Tura from Artfrique, through which the Cubs undertook part of the Entertainer Badge. 4 of the Cubs, Philip, Richard, Andrew and Craig, along with Akela and Haithi, also visited Belfast Citybeat Radio Station and were interviewed on the Owen Larkin Show on 20th February, which was a great opportunity to promote our 50th Anniversary events and also Scouting in Belfast generally, particularly as the visit was the day before the Party at Stormont
The Gilnahirk Road Race 
A very big thank you to everyone who supported the Gilnahirk Road Race during 30th Group’s 50th Anniversary celebrations on the weekend of 5th-7th March. The inter-Troop relay race saw teams from 10th, 30th and 73rd Troops, along with 20th (West), 62nd (South-East) and no fewer than 5 teams from 104th (South East)- our spies inform us that South East DC, Ann Cowan, had them out training for weeks beforehand- tackle the demanding 1.5 mile course, which this year started with a steep ascent up the Rocky Road, and continued along the Upper Braniel Road before returning back down the Gilnahirk Road to the Jack Britton Hall. The individual race saw an assortment of 20 hardy veterans, Leaders, Young Leaders and Explorer Scouts tackle the course with varying degrees of success, but thankfully neither the Police Search and Rescue nor the First Aider from St. John’s were called into action! Congratulations to all of the runners for completing the course, and our thanks to the marshals, police, first aider, and our catering team and those who helped out on the registration desk, and also to Phil Holland and Billy Jenkins who lent their support and to DC Ian for presenting the certificates and medals to the winners. Looking through the archives of Scouting East, it seems to have been a very long time since the race was last held at Gilnahirk; judging by the very positive response this year, maybe we will be able to turn this back into an annual event for the Scouts, Explorer Scouts and Leaders in Belfast County?
Inter-Troop Relay:
1st: 10th Troop (25 min 23 sec)
2nd: 104th Troop ‘A’ Team (26 min 03 sec)
3rd: 20th Troop (29 min 33 sec)
Explorer Scouts and Young Leaders’ Race:
1st: Barry Fletcher (McMordie Explorer Unit)
2nd: Chris Foye (Young Leader, 30th Colony)
3rd: Chris Spears (Stormont Explorer Unit)
Leaders’ Race:
1st: Andrew McKinney (ACSL 3rd Pack)
2nd: Chris Hardacre (ABSL 10th Colony
3rd: Alyn Adair (Instructor, 30th Pack)
Veterans’ Race:
1st: David McHendry (overall winner)
2nd: David Pollock
3rd: Graham McClure
We would like to thank our fellow Scouters, members of the District Team and District Executive, friends and former Leaders for joining with us on Sunday afternoon 7th March at Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church for our 50th Anniversary Service. We were very pleased by the turnout at the service and have been touched by the many generous comments and anniversary greetings we have received from across the District. We would particularly like to thank Rev Tom Reid and Rev John McVeigh who led the service, the organist, Alf Casement, and Doris Magill and her band of helpers for the terrific spread they put on for us in the Church Hall afterwards. We are also very appreciative of the support we received from DC, Ian, particularly for making the effort to be with us for all of the events held during our anniversary weekend, and for his kind words on Sunday afternoon. We were all very moved by Ken Calvert’s speech during the service, especially his fitting tribute to his skipper, the late John McCay, and were delighted that Joy McCay and the family were able to be present with us at the service and later when a tree was planted by the 30th Group in memory of John in the Garden of Remembrance in the Church Grounds July-December 2003 In the autumn, we completed the requirements for the various Challenge Awards. This included a workout session with a gym instructor from Fitness First, recycling rubbish to make model rockets, and a visit from one of the keepers at Belfast Zoo who brought along some snakes and other cuddly reptiles for the Cubs to stroke! We also made various crafts as part of the creative challenge, including stone and shell ornaments, scented oranges and decorative Christmas cards. At half-term we had our traditional party with all the usual messy games and team challenges, while at Christmas we decided to celebrate Christmas down under style with an Australian and New Zealand Night; challenges included a Rolf Harris Art Competition, All Blacks War Cry, Didderie Doo playing, dressing a team member as an Aborigine Warrior and a series of Bush-tucker trials! January-June 2003 38 Cubs and Leaders from 30th visited Dundonald Ice Bowl in March for an ice-skating session. Some of the Cubs had been going along regularly on Saturday afternoons since before Christmas, and keen to attempt the new skater badge had persuaded the rest of us to come along too. Akela had some difficulty with the requirement ‘demonstrate how to fall safely and regain your balance (dignity)’ much to the amusement of the Cubs who revelled in my embarrassment. His humiliation was complete however when the DJ gave him a special mention at the request of some 2nd year medical students and he realised that a group of them had been there watching all along!!! Well done to Philip, Chris, Andrew, Ryan and Michael who put Akela to shame by completing all the badge requirements with ease. 30th Pack recently completed the requirements for the new Emergency Aid Activity Badge, with a total of 29 Cubs successfully completing the badge. On hand to help with the badge examination were Dr Vivienne Crawford and Dr Bob Taylor (of BBC NI Children’s Hospital fame) from QUB Medical School. April to June was a busy time for 30th Pack. All of the Cubs completed the Navigator badge (with a little help from our ACC Cubs, Paula). As well as getting to grips with local maps and street directories, we followed trails of sawdust, wool and sugar puffs scattered along the streets of Gilnahirk by imaginary sheep, woodpeckers and honey monsters (this might provide an explanation for DC Ian who we gather observed Akela merrily scattering cereal all around as he drove past the Lower Braniel Road that evening). We rounded off the year with a visit to Crawfordsburn Scout Centre, with Cubs, parents and Leaders all taking part in our individual and team assault course challenge where our suspicions that the Cubs were much fitter than the adults were sadly confirmed! A muddy, tiring but very successful evening! Congratulations to sixer Ryan Harbinson who was presented with the Cup of the Year Cup and his younger brother, Adam, who received the prize for best Junior Cub Scout. July-December 2002 In early December, 30th Pack were treated to a beginner’s class in Break-Dancing, facilitated by one of Castlereagh Council’s instructors in contemporary music and dance, Kai, originally from Zimbabwe and previously a Cub Scout in his own country. He soon had everyone limbering up on the floor of the Jack Britton Hall; even Akela took part, much to the amusement of the Cubs (I gather that there is a video of us all in action although I’m not exactly keen to view it!!!). Just before Christmas, the 30th Group also took part in the Gilnahirk Presbyterian Carol Service along with the Colony and Troop at which all of the items collected by the Cubs for donation to the orphanage in Zambia were dedicated by our assistant minister, Cheryl, before being parcelled and packed for the container leaving for Africa in mid-January. All about tree sparrows... 8 members of 30th Pack recently completed the Global Conservation badge. As part of the requirements for the badge, the Cubs had found out some information about tree sparrows, and had undertaken a project to design an information leaflet about this and build nesting boxes for the birds with the help of Karen Sheil from RSPB. At the end of October, three of the Cubs, Michael, Ryan and Kyle, visited the new RSPB facility at Portmore Lough with Karen to deliver their boxes to the warden.
30th Belfast (Gilnahirk) 50th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service
Torvill and Dean eat your heart out!
We also tried our hand recently at ’miniature indoor cooking’. For those of you who haven’t tried this before it’s an excellent activity which I stumbled across at conference several years’ ago. Basically, it involves cooking with almonds- these can be placed on the end of a piece of wire and once lit, the oil in the nut burns for a very long time and gives out a lot of heat; this can be placed underneath a small pan made out of tinfoil and used to cook an Ulster Fry, or for the more adventurous, banana, apple or even mini-pancakes! Why not give it a go??
30th Pack held a martial arts evening at the Jack Britton Hall in January with a visit from the Twae Kwon Do Association. Many thanks to instructor, Adam Askew, for a super evening in which the boys enjoyed trying out the various chops, kicks and cries and especially the punching gloves! If any other Packs or Troops would like to arrange a visit from the Twae Kwon Do Association, just let one of 30th Leaders know and we will pass on Adam’s contact details. The Cubs are now working on their Communicator badge- special thanks to Paula Bryson, our former ADC (AT), who came along one evening to teach the Cubs sign language.
In May, we attended the NI Cub Fun Day at the Ulster American Folk Park, camping at Omagh District Campsite for the weekend. In early June, the 30th Pack and Troop joined together for an evening of Dragonboat Racing at LaganWatersports, with the Cubs and Scouts working towards the Water Activities and Dragonboating badges respectively. This provided a good opportunity for the two sections to work together and we hope that the senior Cubs will be encouraged to move up to the Troop in the autumn. The Pack also entered two teams, managed by one of the parents, Billy ‘I’ve got a famous brother’ Jeffrey, in the Castlereagh Borough Council under 12’s 5-a side football competition and were delighted when our B team reached the final of the competition, narrowly loosing out to the eventual winners. The Pack were recently visited by David Hutchinson (DC Antrim and District), a keen amateur radio enthusiast who often runs a radio station at Scout Jamboree Events. Many thanks to David for an excellent evening in which the Cubs were allowed to try out some of his equipment as part of the requirements for the Communicator badge. In the photo below are Haithi, together with Cubs, Robbie, Andrew and Findlay.
’I’m a Cub Scout, get me out of here!’
This year, 30th Pack were joined for their half-term party by the Cubs and Leaders from 9th Pack, along with a rather apprehensive AGSL, Ann, and GSL, Roly. This year’s theme was adapted from the hit ITV show hosted by Ant and Dec, ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here!!’ However, Ann and Roly needn’t have worried, despite the best efforts of the 30th Akela, they both survived the night without crying ‘I’m a Cub Leader, get me out of here!!’ Games included ducking for apples and a very messy relay with sticky toffee apples covered in syrup and jelly babies drowning in basins of gunge, in which even Akela and Haithi inevitably had to take part. This was followed by a series of Cub trials, including one in which the blindfolded Cubs had to retrieve tokens to exchange for party food later by placing their hands in ‘gunge bags’ containing cold rice pudding, dog food, ketchup etc., and eat from a menu containing mushy peas, cold custard and marmalade, and of course the Chubby Bunnies Game, in which a new world record was set by a Cub who managed to keep 11 marshmallows in his mouth! After the party, we rounded off the evening with the ‘commando course’ in which Cubs had to crawl over obstacles in the dark avoiding enemy searchlights to reach safety. The evening ended with one of the 30th teams defeating 9th by a very close 43 points to 42, to win the prize of chocolate and toffee apples. Many thanks to 9th for joining in the fun.
30th Pack also recently had a visit one Thursday night in November from ‘Big J.D’, a basketball coach employed by the Education and Library Board. Towering over the Cubs at an impressive 7 ft, JD was ‘cool’ and soon had the full attention of his admiring audience as he proceeded to run a one hour basketball training session for the Cubs teaching them how to pass and shoot and how to spin the basketball on one finger, before rounding off with a fiercely contested match- everyone naturally wanted to be on J.D’s team, which inevitably won! Many thanks to J.D. for a super night.
Italian Evening
30th Pack recently held an Italian Evening. Activities included a series of relays including a Venetian Water Taxi race, Gondola race, and a relay game in which the Cubs were different types of toppings for various varieties of pizza and had to jump onto giant pizza bases if they thought they were one of the ingredients needed! We also made skeleton pictures by gluing pasta shapes onto card, tied ‘spaghetti’ knots, built a leaning tower of Pisa out of junk-craft, held a Mafia v Cardinals game and a quiz which included a very tricky question where the sixes had to attach the correct names to different types of pasta- along with spaghetti and tagliatelle, we threw in a few red herrings such as Pavarotti, Ravannelli and Confetti with hilarious results. We rounded off a successful night by making our own home-made pizzas.
January - June 2002
30th Pack BBQ
30th Pack ended the season with a BBQ and games at Streamvale on 20th June, including go-karting, walking the plank and pyramid building! Many thanks to all of the family and friends who supported this event, and especially to Lorna and Michael for arranging the BBQ and to Hillary for letting us have the use of Streamvale. Congratulations to all the Cubs who earned badges on the night, to the 7 new Cubs who were invested and to Philip and Rob who were joint recipients of the award for Best Junior 2002 and to Stuart who was awarded the Cup of the Year Cup.
Golden Jubilee Celebrations
30th Pack celebrated the Queen's Golden Jubilee with a Commonwealth Theme, holding a Carribbean Night, complete with traditional costumes, limbo dancing, reggie music and drums and an island hopping-game rounding off with home-made fruit cocktails and Jamacian ginger cake. The following week we held our own World Cup Competition which saw Germany and Urugary reach the final. Unfortunately neither of our own 'England' nor 'Ireland' teams did any better than the teams out in Japan!
Lock'em up and throw away the keys!!
Over the Easter break 8 of the Cubs visited the RSPB hide on the harbour estate to continue working on their Conservation badge; many thanks to Karen Sheil, who organised a superb afternoon which included a few games and some craft as well as a chance sighting of the very very rare ‘Oops’ bird (if you don’t know what this is, don’t ask Akela, he doesn’t either!!) 30th had their annual Easter Egg treasure hunt on our first night back after the holidays. This was as hotly contested as ever with the added bonus that this year Akela hid one of the clues in the garden of Karen, our AGSL; Karen generously came out of the house and shared all of her son Stuart’s (not her own!!!) remaining Easter Eggs with the teams as they passed by, charging up the hill and leaving breathless leaders in their wake! The following week, we had a tour of Strandtown PSNI. The station must have had advanced warning that we were coming since the officers had donned full riot gear for our arrival and had weapons at the ready! We were also fingerprinted, bundled into a police land-rover. Needless to say the Cubs had a great time (as did Baloo who somehow managed to run her hands over one of the PCs; apparently she wanted to feel what sort of material the new uniform was made of or so she told him- don’t worry they got her fingerprints too!!)
30th Pack recently completed the Kinship Award of the Scoutlink project and are planning to link up with a CSI Pack from 5th/22nd Killaloe to work on the Citizenship Award during our summer camp in August at Curragh Chase Scout Campsite in County Limerick.
30th Pack step back in time...
30th Cubs have been working on the Local Historian Badge recently. In March, we held a Medieval Night based on the theme of the Legend of King Arthur with an urban wide game ending with the chance to prise Excalibur (wrought from the finest cardboard and bedecked with tinfoil!) from the rock (hewn from the finest polystyrene!). The Cubs also had the chance to design heraldic shields for their sixes and to find out about their own family coat of arms as well as those of Castlereagh and Belfast. Just before Easter we visited the Public Records Office at Balmoral Avenue to finish off the badge. We had a chance to look at some old records and maps of the Gilnahirk area dating back to 1800, and discovered that the current Church is built on the entrance to an old quarry, hence the Rocky Road, and discovered that Niall and Patrick’s ancestors, the Morrows, owned extensive land in Ballyhanwood even in the 1830’s. Many thanks to Dr.Ann McVeigh who organised the evening. The Public Records Office is well worth a visit for any other Pack thinking of undertaking this badge. Please let me know if you would like any more information.
New Flag for 30th Colony
30th Beaver Scout Colony and Squirrel Dray recently dedicated new Flags at the joint Founders’ Day Service organised with 155th Guides on Sunday 24th February at Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church. Neither section had previously owned their own Flags and we are very grateful to all those whose financial support made this possible. We were delighted that Group President, Audrey Beggs, and former BSL, Heather Stephens, were able to join us on this important occasion.
St.Valentine's Night Disco
This year, 14th February fell on a Thursday, and what better excuse did we need to hold a joint evening with 155th Gilnahirk Brownies… a St.Valentine’s Night Disco at the Jack Britton Hall. So with bouncers in place on the doors, our resident DJ, Graeme Booth, on hand, and the tuckshop fully stocked, it was on with the show. The Cubs appeared, having smothered themselves in hair gel, reeking of deordorant, and sporting their trendiest Levis. Shortly afterwards, the Brownies started to arrive, in multicoloured outfits complete with spangly handbags and hair-bands and seated themselves in little huddles around the hall to giggle as a few of the more adventurous Cubs got up to make fools of themselves warming up on the dance floor while Graeme cranked up the music and released the ‘smokescreen’ for the first song. Akela and Kaa stepped in with an ice-breaker to get things moving, demonstrating how to dance to the tune of the Birdie Song while trying to keep a balloon in the air between yourself and your partner. Soon the dance floor was crowded as everyone boogied away to Britney, Kyle, Westlife, ‘Saturday Night’ and ‘It’s Raining Men’, in between frequent trips to the tuckshop (the Cubs) or to the loos (the Brownies…to talk about the Cubs????). Despite many requests for records to be played for various ‘couples’ and the revelation that Niall was ‘two-timing’ two girls in his P5 class, we doubt if any romances started this Valentine’s Day. There followed a rowdy Conga, detouring via the tuckshop and almost knocking Brown Owl to the ground as she arrived at the Hall, and of course ‘YMCA’- and yes once again, Akela failed miserably to get the actions right. Unfortunately, he was not alone – his ineptitude on the dance floor appears to have been passed on to a few of the sixers and seconders! We rounded off the evening with a short ‘Pop Idol’ competition; while most of the Cubs should come with a Government Health warning and free earplugs, we reckon that young Chris could give Gareth and Will serious competition in a few years’ time. Many thanks to all the parents, to Adam and to Graeme for a super night, we look forward to an return invitation from Brown Owl next year.
New Year in Gilnahirk's Chinatown 
30th Pack celebrated the Chinese New Year in style with a Chinese Night in early February. Having dressed up in traditional Chinese costume complete with bin-bag coats, hats and moustaches, we checked out the Chinese 12 year calendar and discovered that by coincidence most of the Cubs were either Monkeys, Rats or Snakes, while Kaa was a Dragon ! Then followed a series of team challenges including the ‘Mandarin Orange Game’, ‘Grab the Tail of the Blind Dragon’, chopstick and tea siphoning relays, crossing the South China Sea, Noodle Knots and‘Prawn Cracker’ (a version of Chubby Bunnies!) as well as seaweed eating!! This was followed by a hilarious sumo wrestling competition and rounded off with a traditional Chinese Take-Away of Chop Suey and Fried Rice, Chow Mein and Banana Fritter.
July - December 2001
Trip to the Odyssey
Instead of the usual Christmas party, we ended the year by joining with several hundred other Cubs from Belfast County on 20th December for a trip to the Odyssey Arena taking in a meal at Soda Joes', followed by a chance to view the latest release 'Everest' at the Imax Cinema before rounding off the day by watching the Belfast Giants beat the Ayr Scottish Eagles 4-2 in the ice-hockey arena.
Christmas preparations 2001
The Pack made Christmas crackers and 2002 calendars for inclusion in the Christmas hampers that we delivered to members of the Gilnahirk community as part of our Christmas goodturn. The Cubs also attended the District Christingle Service in Knock Methodist and the Youth Organisations' Carol Service in Gilnahirk Presbyterian. Many thanks to Julie-May Noteman who helped Patrick, Tom and Jeff to rehearse our Christmas sketch 'Light of the World'.
Murder Mystery Evening
The Cubs had an indoor ‘Murder Mystery Night’ in late November, with each Leader taking the part of one of the characters from Cluedo. Bases included ‘Poisons’, ‘disguises’ ‘deciphering secret messages’, ‘invisible inks’, chemistry experiments in Professor Plum’s study and soil testing with Colonel Mustard outside in the Conservatory. Eventually our ‘murderer’ was unmasked as Haithi, our new Leader, Donna, who had apparently committed her gruesome crime with the water-pistol in the minor hall!!
Slot-Car competition(Belfast Heat)
5 members of 30th Pack (Ryan, Ryan, Paul, Tom and Michael) represented East District along with Cubs from 99th Pack at the Belfast Heat of the Cub Scout Slot Car Championships in early December. After a number of nail-bitting heats during which many cars crashed off the track, both Ryans managed to secure places in the finals of the rally and formula one classes, finishing in 1st and 4th place,respectively. Special congratulations to Ryan Harbinson, who finished in 4th place overall at the end of the event.
County Flag Presentation
Our Winning County Flag Team of 2001 were invited together with their parents and 30th Leaders to a reception at Belfast City Hall on Wednesday 28th November for a guided tour of the City Hall before joining the Lord Mayor, Councillor Jim Rodgers, in his Parlour where team captain Chris Wilson offically received the County Flag from the Lord Mayor. We were also given a special framed medallion set as a momento of our visit. Well done again to the team who all looked very smart on the night!!
More Competition Success!
Congratulations to those members of 30th Pack who took part in the recent Junior Ardnavalley Walk on a wet Saturday in October, raising over £200 in sponsorship to be split between Group funds and SE District at Ardnavalley. 30th Pack also entered the Belfast County Alexander Swimming Competition in November. We managed to muster one of our largest turnouts in recent years at this event, with footballers and rugby players alike racing straight from the pitch and into the pool. Unfortunately this still wasn’t enough to steal the trophy from perpetual winners, 1st Carryduff Pack, but we went home well pleased with second place.
30th Pack Bat Hunt!
Many thanks to Mike Rendle, Chairman of the Northern Ireland Bat Group who came along to Gilnahirk in late September to give 30th Cubs a talk and slide show about bats as well as introducing them to a few of the little creatures in the flesh much to the horror of some of our Leaders (and also a visiting Akela from Belmont!!), before we all headed out in the dark and drizzle on a Bat Hunt along the Rocky Road. Unfortunately, the local bats must have heard us coming and taken cover (after all 30 something excited and noisy Cubs and Leaders on the move are hard to miss!!), so we failed to register a single bat. If anyone would like to invite Mike to their Pack or Colony we’d be happy to pass on his contact details.
Crawfordsburn Cub Scout Challenge
Congratulations to 30th Belfast team of Chris Cahoon, Conor Winning, Ryan Harbinson, Paul Gibson, Jordan Douglas and Ryan McKnight who fought off fierce competition from teams from across Belfast, Counties Down and Antrim to win the Autumn NI Cub Scout Challenge event held at Crawfordsburn on Saturday 13th October, despite managing to smash both of their eggs which would have been worth 5,000 bonus points each intact. Well done and thanks to Wardens Vic and Eric and their team for another super day at the Burn, and for coming up with yet more new challenges to stretch the Cubs to the limit. If YOUR Pack hasn’t entered before, why not get in contact with Crawfordsburn and book your place for April 2002.
January - June 2001
Cubs take to the River....
With continuing improvement in recent years in the quality of the water in the once badly polluted river flowing through the heart of the City of Belfast, there has been a steady upsurge in the use of the river by rowing clubs and other watersports enthusiasts. So it seemed about time that 30th and 27th Packs from Gilnahirk should come together for a night's dragon boat racing on the River Lagan, ending with a series of fiercely contested races between the rival teams with all the atmosphere of the Oxford v Cambridge boat race. Well done to 30th Leader, Stuart, who perched precariously on the bow of his boat nonetheless managed to beat out a steady pace on the boat's drum guiding his team to a 3-0 victory over Akela and co. in the other boat (even if at least one of the races was a photo finish!). No one could out do 30th Cub, Jeff, though. He arrived late and had to be ferried out and deposited into one of the Dragon Boats by the rescue speedboat! Many thanks to Eamon and all the staff at Lagan Watersports for a super night.
Cubs visit the New Terminal at Belfast City Airport
The Pack recently visited the new Terminal at Belfast City Airport in advance of the official opening on 1st June. Many thanks to Linda and all the staff at the airport for a very informative and enjoyable tour, and especially to the airport emergency services team who gave the Cubs a guided tour of the tower and fire-fighting facilities.
Congratulations
Congratulations to ABSL Pauline and AGSL Karen who were recently presented with their Leader Warrants by DC, Ian, and to Akela, David, and Ameek, Betty, who received Long Service Awards.
Lord Mayor's Show
6 members of the 30th Pack along with Cubs from 99th and 109th Belfast Packs represented Belfast County Scout Council on the Scout Float at the Lord Mayor's Show on 26th May. Many thanks to Paul, Ryan, Ross, James, Patrick and Jordan. We also had the opportunity during the day to meet the Lord Mayor and local TV personality, Olivia Nash, as well as some members of the Forces who have invited us to our local barracks in the autumn to try out the army assault course.
Cub Scout County Flag
Congratulations to our victorious County Flag Team of Chris Wilson, James Thompson, Chris Harvey, Ross Clark, Stuart McGilton and Patrick Morrow who did us all proud at the day long competition at Ardnavalley Scout Centre on 19th May to return the County Flag to Gilnahirk for the second time in three years. Well done, lads!
Gilnahirk Academy Award 'Oscars' Night
Following on from the Camp which some of the Cubs attended at Lisnaskea in March, the other Cubs and parents were 'subjected' on a Thursday night in May to the Movie Premiere of the four short films we made at camp. A hotly contested Oscar's Ceremony saw David Jackson scoop the award for Best Actor and Chris Wilson for most dramatic performance, with the Film 'James Bond' voted Best Picture. Well done to all the winners!
Gilnahirk Easter Egg Hunt
The annual Cub Scout 'Easter' Egg Hunt was postponed until after the Easter Holidays due to the torrential downpour just before the Easter break. Well done to the eventual winners, Red Six, who had more than a little help from Patrick's Mum Hiliary who was glad of the excuse to miss her training for the forthcoming Belfast Marathon to help on the night
Founder's Day Service at Gilnahirk
30th Group took part in the annual Thinking Day Service on Sunday 4th March with 155th (Gilnahirk)Guides. The Cubs and Scouts performed two sketches based on the Old Testament Prophets, Jonah and Moses (well done to Colin and David, and especially Jonathan who was very convincing as the drowning Jonah!). The Cubs attempted to teach the congregation a new chorus 'God's people aren't superbrave superheroes' although they were unexpectedly overcome with stage fright and at times it seemed like Kaa and Akela were performinga duet (could they be the next Robbie and Kylie???)
Hopes and Dreams, Easter 2001
Well done to Cub Scouts Patrick, Rory, David, Niall, Stuart and Tom who, together with ACSL Lorna and AGSL Karen, joined the ranks of the Choir in the recent production of 'Hopes and Dreams', a contemporary interpretation of the Lord's Prayer set to music and drama. This production, which was undertaken in aid of Dr. Donald Brownlie's work at Livingstonia Hospital in Malawi, also featured Chris from the Troop and Cub Instructor Stuart in the Drama Group and saw Akela make his acting debut on stage playing against Tom's Mum, Julie-May.
NI Cub Scout Challenge, Crawfordsburn
Well done to our Team of Ross, Ross, Rory, Patrick, Jordan and Paul, who came home in 3rd place with a haul of bronze medals at the Cub Challenge held at Crawfordsburn at the end of April. They all had a super day trying out the new climbing wall, practicising their archery skills and of course managing to get plastered in mud as they made their way around the assault course. Thanks to the Warden's Team for a super competition
July - December 2000
Christmas Goodturn and Panto
30th Pack missed out on the District Christingle this year as it coincided with our own Youth Carol Service in Gilnahirk Presbyterian. 6 of the older Cubs took part in a short sketch during the service called ‘The Wally’s Guide to Christmas’ in which we reflected on the true meaning of the festive season. Many thanks to Robbie, Chris, Ross, Max, David and Chris who put a lot of effort into preparing for this play which was well received on the night by the congregation. The following Thursday we delivered Christmas parcels including groceries and Christmas decorations made by the Cubs themselves to 10 sick or elderly members of the congregation. Both the parcels and the visits from the Cubs were much appreciated by the recipients. It should be noted though that things did not always run smoothly. Each Leader took one six, intending to visit two homes. For the record, only Akela managed to run into any difficulty (twice!). Firstly, much to his embarrassment and everyone else’s amusement, he misread an address (it must have been Baloo’s writing, it’s much too soon to need to visit the Optician again!!) and gate-crashed the wrong house with a group of Cubs singing carols and bearing gifts! At the second house, the recipient offered all of the Cubs orange juice which they politely accepted and dutifully drank becoming progressively quieter and looking increasingly uncomfortable as time went on. Only when the lady apologised for forgetting about him and then insisted on offering Akela a glass as well, did he realise what was wrong with the Cubs… she had forgotten to dilute the orange! Like a true Leader to his men, Akela also dutifully downed his drink neat, before we all made a hasty exit and hot-footed it back to the Jack Britton Hall gasping for pints of water!
We rounded off the year with a visit to the pantomime Cinderella at St.Mark’s, Dundela. Many thanks to Richard (ACSL, 10th) who not only arranged tickets for us but reserved seats at the front in prime position for the Cubs to scramble for the sweets thrown regularly from the stage by the cast. The Cubs were delighted to meet up with Richard again whom some of them had not seen since our joint summer camp in the Isle of Man, particularly Max who greeted him enthusiastically at the door with the words ‘Cool make-up, which Ugly Sister are you?’ (It should be noted however that Richard wasn’t actually acting in the play at all but was in charge of sound and lights!’)
St.Andrew's Night
The Pack celebrated St.Andrew’s Day on 30th November in style with a Scottish Night including Highland Dancing, a Scottish Quiz, and Indoor Highland Games tournament, ending off with haggis and highland toffee washed down with Irn Bru. In December, 27th and 30th Packs came together at the Jack Britton Hall one Thursday evening for a visit by two paramedics, one of whom was Nigel, one of the ACSLs at 27th, to tell us all about the work of the NI Ambulance Service and give us a guided tour of their ambulance. Many thanks to Nigel for arranging this visit.
Twae Kwon Do
At the beginning of November, we decided to 'try a new sport or hobby' for the Adventure Award and were joined for the evening by Keith Farrell from the Northern Ireland Twae Kwon Do Association. This was a superb activity and all the Cubs enjoyed practising the war cries and moves as well as trying out the punching gloves and watching Keith breaking wood with his head and feet!
The Cubs are also working on their Health and Fitness Badge and our thanks go to Michael Thompson (Optician), Paul and Hilary Blundell (Dentists) and Bob Taylor (Consultant Paediatrician) who all recently spent some time at the 30th HQ helping out with this. The Leaders were very amused by the sight of the Cubs trying on the surgical masks to extract teeth with plyers from a dummy's mouth!
Half-term Party
30th Pack had their traditional half-term party on the last Thursday in October. There was the usual mix of ample amounts of syrup, nuts, apples, instant whip and flour, ensuring a messy and fun-filled night of team games. What made this year particularly memorable though was the inclusion of food colourings in the 'gunge' to produce mixtures resembling blood, vomit etc! This was particularly effective-of course there always has to be one Cub who gets a little carried away and plunges his whole head in! Another addition was our 'sand mine' game - teams of Cubs armed with just teaspoons and torches raced against each other to transport sand through tunnels constructed from blankets, tables and chairs to be the first to fill a bucket at the mouth of the tunnel. By the end of the game when we switched the lights back on the Hall floor looked like Helen's Bay beach but the Cubs seemed to have enjoyed themselves!
Junior Ardnavalley Walk
30th Beavers and Cub Scouts were amongst those taking part in the annual sponsored walk organised by SE-Belfast District. Well done to all who completed the 5-mile route and our thanks to Jack Moore and the organising team from SE for a job well done. Money raised will be split between Ardnavalley Scout Centre and 30th Group Funds.
Welcome back, Stuart!
Welcome to our new Cub Scout Instructor, Stuart Gibson. Stuart is the first of Akela's own former 30th Cubs to make a comeback as a Leader so Akela is starting to feel very old and decrepit. Already Stuart has been thrown in at the deep end, helping the seniors who are making planes from model kits as part of the Adventure Crest Award. Thankfully Stuart survived his first night without getting covered in as much glue and paint as the Cubs!
Handyman Badge
Ten of the Cubs recently completed their Handyman Badge. Many thanks to ASL, John Harvey, who ran the badge course. 15 of the Cubs also finished off their Naturalist Badge. Akela had his assistants and the parents in stitches when he mispronounced this word while awarding the badges (think about it!)
Cairn Wood
30th Pack finished the year with some backwoods cooking and shelter building at Cairnwood. Many thanks to all the parents who helped out on the night. Meanwhile 30th Troop finished the season with 18 Scouts visiting the Ice Bowl for Bowling and Burgers. Well done and thanks to Warren, Marty, Louise and Harry for all the hard work which has seen them through to the end of a very successful first year
Car Treasure Hunt
There was a large turnout at the 30th Group's Car Treasure Hunt and BBQ in June. This year the venue was Crawfordsburn and thanks are due to Colin and the Warden's team for organising the abseiling, grass-sledging and assault course, greatly enjoyed not only by the Cubs and Scouts but by the parents as well. Many thanks to Jan, Lorna and Fiona for their help with catering and to Warren who set the clues for the treasure hunt. Congratulations to our winners, the Blundells, and to Andrew Thom and Chris Foye who were presented with their adventure crest awards on their last night before moving to the Troop. Andrew was also awarded the Cub of the year Cup at the BBQ.
January - June 2000
New tents for 30th Group
Many thanks to Norman Wright (ex 73rd and 114th) who has generously donated two Icelandic tents to the new 30th Troop.The tents were originally bought for 114th Group in memory of Norman’s late wife, Mary. We’re sure that they’ll be put to good use up in Gilnahirk.
Meet Buster the new 30th Pack mascot
As part of their work towards the Animal Lover badge, 5 Cubs from 30th Pack are now sponsoring a cat called Buster who lives at the Cats Protection League Shelter. Poor Buster, who has no tail and looks a bit sorry for himself, has been showered with all manner of toys and presents,not to mention a state of the art personalised scratch-post hand crafted by one of the Cubs. If any other Packs would like to visit the Cats Protection League, contact details can be obtained from 30th Leaders. Get well soon to 30th Cub, Christopher Wilson, who was bitten on the little finger by a stray field mouse during a visit to Streamvale Farm to complete….wait for it....another part of his Animal Lover Badge!! Poor Chris!
Cub Scouts complete the World Faiths Badge
30th Pack recently visited the Belfast Synagogue on the Antrim Road to discover more about the Jewish Faith as part of the World Faiths Badge. Many thanks to Mr.Rosenburg and Mr.Engelmeyer who organised our tour. ACC Anne Jackson is keen to set up a scout-reach project among the Jewish Community of Belfast so we hope that 30th Pack were effective ambassadors for Belfast County.
Slot-car success
When filling in the entry form for the recent slot-car competition, two jokers from among the new recruits to 30th Troop called out their names to Harry and Warren as ‘E.Irvine’ and ‘C.McRae’. The entry form was forwarded to Sinclair at HQ, only later, on the day of the event, was it noticed that Harry and Warren had been duped!!
Congratulations to Matthew McErlane (30th Pack) who won the NI Final of the Slot Car Competition (Cub Scout Section) held at Crawfordsburn on Saturday 11th March and to Alan McKee (30th Troop) who was runner-up in the Scout Section Final held on Sunday 12th March.
"Can’t cook, will cook anyway!"
30th CSL, David, hot-footed it back from the Scouters’ Conference at the Slieve Donard Hotel itching to try out a new culinary technique he had seen demonstrated during the Saturday morning’s activities. Next Thursday, the 30th Cubs were soon engrossed in ‘indoor miniature cooking’ using flaming nuts on wires (the high oil content means that they burn really well for at least 5 minutes). By the time Rev.McVeigh arrived up at the Hall for a visit, he couldn’t see the Cubs or the cremated remains of the Ulster Fries sizzling in the make-shift foil pans for all the smoke generated by the burning almonds! This makes for a super activity for Pack or Troop night. If anyone wants more information, please contact one of 30th Leaders. Thinking Day with the Flintstones! Yabba Dabba Doo!! Plans are also well underway for 30th Group’s joint Founders’ Day Service with 155th Guides at Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church. The Cubs are dressing up as cavemen to sing a lively chorus to the theme tune of the ‘Flintstones’. This promises to be a memorable occasion….!
