Paradise Point Sailing Day

One of the joys about being a Cub Leader is being able to expose young minds to new things. On 19/11/2011, the Beenleigh Cubs went on an outing that they will remember for a long time. The Cubs were taken sailing at the Paradise Point Sailing Club, and through the wonderful efforts of John Murphy and Peter, from the club all those that attended will earn their Sailing Level 1 achievement badge.

These cubs were faced with having to capsize a small sailing craft and working together to upright them in the water. The photos that we have do not really relay the tail, but the looks on the faces, as they we upturned and thrown into the Broadwater was one of those moments that make you know why we are Cub Leaders.

Apart from upending and refloating the crafts, the cubs were exposed to setting the sailing and rigging, learned about the safety requirements before heading out on their adventure. It is rare when we have so many cubs sitting quiet throughout a safety lesson, but they were all intently listening, and taking in the information.

For us leaders, it was a day that did not go as planned. We had intentions o having a nice day on the beach, watching the cubs go by. However, that disappeared very quickly after the first couple of vessels capsized and cubs were having difficulty getting the crafts back upright. Most of the leaders and helpers on the sidelines jumped in to assist – and i personally think they were enjoying it, even though it was challenge!

In the end, 26 cubs were exposed to a new challenge and provided another magic opportunity that will see them coming again, with their families on Dec 11, when Paradise Point Sailing Cub hold a free sailing day for a Gold Coin donation to the Children’s Hospital.

In all, we had only one craft that did not upturn and these cubs showed everyone how to really sail. By the end of the day the leaders we provided the opportunity to get onboard and I think most of the cubs enjoyed that experience.

Thank you to all the leaders and parents on the day, it truly was one to remember, and we have plenty of photos to prove it. Our deepest thanks to John Murphy and the Paradise Point Sailing Club for allowing us to experience the joy of sailing, your patience and truly great attitude towards our Cubs is to be commended. Beenleigh Cubs will be back again, you can guarantee it!

Grandparent night

This is a night where we invite our grandparents to come along and have a little bit of fun. As November is grandparent month it is the prefect time to thank them and be acknowledged.

The cubs were challenged to put together a sock bear. They were to sew and stuff a pair of socks and then place buttons for eyes.

Unfortunately we ran out if time to complete the task so their were takeaway bags at the end with eyes and stuffing. More inatructions on how to complete it will come out this week.

Supper was served and everyone seemed to really enjoy the night.

Investing new cubs

We welcome aboard our cub pack, Shayden, Kori, Damien and Matthew. Three of these new cubs have moved up from Joeys and the othe cub is a new chum that has happily decided to stay.

Welcome to our pack. We now have 32 cubs and 1 more will join us by the end of the month and we have one who is linking.

McDonalds Fundraiser Night

On November 8, Beenleigh was invited to McDonalds Beenleigh to have a pack night and fundraise for Cuboree 2012.

Between 5:30pm until 8:00pm, a portion of the sales were to be donated to our cause. We would like to thank Stacey and McDonalds Beenleigh for allowing us to have so many cubs there and take up a one section of the restuarant.

The cubs were tasked with 5 bases,
+ knot tying
+ making poppies for rememberance day
+ making invites for grandparents to come along for a night on Nov 15.
+ road sign bingo
+ woggle making.

The Cubs were also treated to a McHappy meal for attending, which was put on by the Cub Leaders.

They all had a heap of fun, and I know Stacey and McDonalds were very pleased with numbers that showed up (25+).

I , for one, am proud of our cubs and I know the other leaders were too. Yes we can be noisy but the behaviour of our cubs is why we are being asked to attend community functions. I had some friends come along they were surprised at how well they behaved, considering the numbers we get.

Well done cubs you have earned the thanks and appreciation. We are still awaiting thw final numbers on what was raised. But McDonalds are keen for us to do it again.

As for our section it is really important to be out in the community and showing what we do and how well we do it.

Thanks to Grizzly and Rikki for organising the night.

Environment night

Well it is a 2 weeks late, but better late than never, so here is the wrap from our Environment night.

To finalse the work started earlier in the year, the cubs were provided an opportunity to complete sections of thier Environment badge.

The first activity was to identify how trees absorb the pollution from the air. The trick here is to grab leaves from trees that are close to traffic or in parks. As trees and plants turn carbon dioxide or carbin monoxide into clean air, the gunk that is deposited on leaves after it absorbs the oxygen are easy to extract.

The experiment saw the leaders collect leaves from trees around where they work in and around Brisbane and the Gold Coast. There were a variety of leaves and locations provided a great bevy of things to test.

Cubs using clear sticky tape placed the tape on the shiny part of leaf and peeled it off to see what was left behind. I must say it even surprised me the levels of gunk on the leaves. Some of the tape was at least 50% black with what was collected. Obviouaky trees nearer to roads were dirtier than trees in parks and backyards.

The next experiment was to learn how to build a water filter. Using 1.25lt bottles, sand, small rocks abd a serviette we turned muddy water to clear water. the idea is to cut 1/3 of the bottle from the top, creating a funnel. Add serviette to funnel to prevent sand and rocks falling through, but also provide a layer of filtering, then add a cup of sand and rocks.

Taking a clear plastic cup and taking a cup of muddy water fro a bucket prepared earlier,the cubs ran it through the filter several times. The results were amazing and after several run throughs the water was clear enough to drink. I took a finger taste and even though sandy tasting it would be ok to drink if you boiled it. But in desparate need could be drunk.

The cubs had a ball, due to a long parade no games were played but thet still enjoyed the night.