MY AGOONOREE STORY – BY DANIELLE GREENWOOD
In the last September holidays, I headed to B.P. Park in Samford to participate in
Agoonoree. This was my second time. Four other scouts from Helensvale troop,
Katherine Tribe, Jade Carter-Murphy, Drew Sardeson and Harrison White also went
to Agoonoree. Agoonoree is a camp for disabled kids to show them what scouting
really is. Girl Guides and the scouting community volunteer their time in running the
weeks activities. At Agoonoree the guests have the choice to participate in things
such as, Abseiling, water activities and many more. Last year I was very new to the
whole experience on how to look after disabled guests but by the end of the camp I
was a pro at it, which made it easier for me this year. At Agoonoree the guests
disability can range from as something as little as a speaking problem ranging to up
to being in a wheel chair and not being able to control their arms or legs. This year at
Agoonoree I was allocated to a guest called Desley. Desley could not talk properly.
She could say the basics “yes and no” and that was it, after that she used sign
language. I was very privileged this year to get put into yellow troop for the second
time. The people in yellow troop were all caring and made me laugh and gave me a
hug when I needed it the most after having a challenging day. Now I am not going to
lie to you and say that Agoonoree is easy, because to tell you the truth it isn’t. What
most people struggle to realise is that Agoonoree is not a camp for them and that
they are there for their guest and to give them a good time. By the end of Agoonoree
we all looked back at what times we had had with our guests and the things they had
done. One of the guests in yellow troop loved to sing in the shower and you could
hear him from miles away. Just to remember what Daniel had done whilst at
Agoonoree all brought a smile to our face. I really hope that this article inspires you
to think about coming to Agoonoree next year to challenge yourself and see what a
difference you can make to someone else.
JAMBOREE – CATARACT PARK NSW
This year we saw 11 of our
Scouts head off to
Jamboree. They all flew
out of Coolangatta airport
with hundreds of other
Scouts from all over the
Region, what a sight of
blue and green. It was a
well organised
administrative exercise
with everyone being
accounted for and planes
getting off on time.
Shortly we’ll be able to
give you a first hand
account by one of our
Scouts who attended but in the meantime here is a picture of their return.
CURRUMBIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
On Sunday 22nd of November, 3 of my patrol
members (Drew, Jayden and Jacquelyn) and
myself headed down to Currumbin Wildlife
Sanctuary to try out their new green challenge
ropes course. We met at the entrance at 8:00am
where we organised our entry. The ropes course
was not open until 10:00am. This gave us time to
look around the Sanctuary to get up close and
personal with the wildlife. We all headed down to
the green cauldron where we thought we could
tackle a snake, well that didn’t work as Jackie and the two boys Drew and Jayden got
caught in the snake. After getting ourselves out of that we decided to go for a nice stroll
down to feed the kangaroos and emus. When we arrived at the Green challenge after
visiting the kangaroos, we were all shocked to find
out that we had to wear overalls on the ropes
course as it was such a warm day. I think that all
of us can agree that the ropes course was a very
challenging course to do. We found that during the
course we used lots of team work in that we
supported each other and helped each other out
when needed. Strength and balance was another
big issue as we had to pull ourselves up ropes or
hang onto a rope whilst doing the Tarzan call –
“ahhhhhhhhhh” Balance was a huge issue sometimes as you would be walking on top of
planks of wood that would move very easily if you were not careful, causing you to fall
off and just hang in mid air from the safety of your harness. After doing the ropes course
we had lunch and then the rest of the afternoon we walked around checking out the other
animals and going on the train ride. Thanks mum for being a great bag handler. The next
day we all found muscles that we didn’t think we had.
Danielle Greenwood :-}
Scout Group B Friday night Camp
In November last year our Scouts
from Friday night went on their first
camp. According to all who went it
was a fantastic weekend with
nobody getting hurt?
Friday night Scouts.
An official welcome, this time with pictures, to our Friday night Scout group. Here’s a
few shots of our newest group with temporary leader Chris Hills (yep same one from
Wednesday night), uniformed helper Brian Golden and parent helper Mark Fannin
I am now desperately searching for two new Scout leaders.
So if you have ever wondered about taking up the challenge now is the time. I am
looking for leaders who can run the group over the next two to three years with the
expert guidance of Brian and Chris.
Unfortunately Les resigned 2 weeks ago, which has escalated the need for more
leadership. Remember all training costs (except travel and some food) is paid for
The group is about 18 strong with about 5 more coming so please give me a ring if you’re interested.
Dingo Patrol Activity.
On the weekend of the 16th Wednesday Scouts Dingo Patrol had a patrol activity
starting at the den and ending up at Helensvale High for a game of Laser Skirmish. I
was lucky enough to be the chosen adult to look after the boys at the den, the hike and
the skirmish and in return I was cooked a wonderful breakfast, got an opportunity to
clean up a few den cupboards and take a pleasant little amble down the road.
Unfortunately it was in the wrong direction for my favourite coffee shop in Maccas but
I survived none the less.
The activity is run purely by the Patrol themselves. From organising the weekend
agenda, shopping for the food, cooking the food, running the games, booking the
activities, collecting the money and ensuring their safety. It was a pleasure to see how the boys all came together to help each other and have such a wonderful time.
Butterfly 2009
This year we had 6 of our adventurous Scouts and two intrepid leaders head off to BP park Samford [North Brisbane] to take on the 100’s of other patrols in the Butterfly challenge.
This two day event which asks all participants with a full pack on their back to orienteer their way through the bush to get to activity stations. Score points saw Helensvale just miss out on a top 10 spot.
A big thanks to Balloo [Les] and Skip [Chris] for helping out on the bases during the event as well as ensuring the patrol got up and back safe.
Well done, team.
Gang Show – another great success
The gang show is now finished for another year and again was a lot of fun.
In the holidays Harry, Tom and Drew completed 13 shows in two weeks of intense theatre.
Numbers such as China, Nana-Technology and the Dance kept the audience clapping over a very entertaining two hours of fun
With Drew all smiles and song on the stage Harry and Tom spent most of the show with the orchestra in the “pit”.
This year was the first time the “Gang Show” has used mostly Scout youth in the orchestra and due to its success will be looking to repeat the set up next year
Big thanks to the families who supported our Wednesday performance trip we’ll definitely repeat it next year.
Tom and Harry in the pit.
Forensic Investigations come to Helensvale.
This month saw Constable Natalie Gorman from the Police Forensic Investigation Unit visit our Scout Group. Constable Gorman was lucky enough to be on call and treated the Scouts to a look over the forensic vehicle as well.
Our Scouts were entertained as they were taken through a re-enactment of a crime and what the police did to track down the killer. Some even got to play dress up or play the part of the killer and we even had a body.
More Scout Investitures
With our Scout numbers going through the roof, it is great to see some of our cubs now being invested into Scouts. The Wednesday night group has over 30 youth members hence the starting of our second group on a Friday night.
Big thanks to our existing leaders Chris (Skip) and Les (Baloo) for enabling this to happen.
Another big thanks to Wayne (Cane toad) and David (Rissole) for their support in helping in getting the second group started. With over 16 youth on our waiting list this is a great opportunity to bring even more kids to Scouting
To support our second Scout Group we are looking for two leaders to help Chris, Les, Wayne and David so if you know someone please put them in touch with us.
Scouts Queensland
For assistance please call our office on (07) 3870 7000, 8:30am - 5pm [EST], 5 days a week or email: qldhq@scoutsqld.com.au
Visit the Scouts Queensland website at http://www.scoutsqld.com.au for information about uniforms, Promotions, events and lots more.
