18 April 2009

The meeting started with the formation of the horse-shoe. Senior Sixer, Foo Yi Wen, and Asst. Senior Sixer, Bryan Wang, were unable to lead the flag raising ceremony as they were involved in the Batucada dance rehearsal. It then fell upon Akela to lead the ceremony.

The flag break went without a hitch. Well done, Marcus (Tong), who stepped up to do the colour party.

Today's meeting promised to be an exciting one. Akela explained that Disney Pixar had approached the Singapore Scout Association to commemorate the opening of the film "UP' with a special programme, after which Cub Scouts could earn a special "UP" badge. The film is about a man who wanted to explore the world by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, which then floated on his adventure. A Cub Scout, Russell, who happened to be at his front porch, was inadvertently carried away with the house, and joined the man in his adventure.

Marcus Tong, Sherman Khoo, Koh Wei Wen, Nicholas Heng and Jonathan Pang conducted a game with 30 Cubs as part of their test, while the other Cubs proceeded to the AVA room for a briefing about the programme.

Marcus briefed the Cubs about the game - dog and bone. They lined the teams of 15 each and numbered them. When Sherman called out a number, the Cub would rush and pick up a bean bag in the middle. If touched by the opposing Cub, he will have to drop the bean bag and allow the other Cub to snatch it away. The Cub who successfully gets the bean bag back to his line wins a point.

The briefing was reasonably conducted. However, questions could have been taken to clarify the rules of the game. Numbering the Cubs could also have been more positive. While the game was on, the 5 facilitators should have spread out to better observe the game and pick out any unfair play, and ensure the safety of the participants. Overall, it was successfully conducted. Well done, boys!

Activities proposed by SSA included balloon sculpture and flying hoopsters.

The Cubs did not waste time in the balloon sculpture, twisting the long balloons into dogs, under the watchful eye of Akela, Raksha, Baloo, Bagheera, Grey Wolf and Rei. Well, some did look like dogs, while others required a very vivid imagination to 'see' the dog! Murielle did a really cute poodle. Good job, Murielle. But she was shy when we tried to take a photo of her with her creation. There were also the occasional sharp pops when the balloons burst. No worries, plenty of balloons to go around. Some Cubs had colour preferences! Oh well, it is a free country after all.

The flying hoopsters involved sticking a straw with cylindrical strips of paper to help it 'fly'. A competition followed to see whose hoopster could fly the furtherst. The Six with the most points after several attempts would win points for the week.

Some hoopsters could glide quite far, while others could only crash and 'burn'. Koh Wee Tee's hoopster glided the furtherst. Wonder what his secret was?

The programe will continue next week, and the Cubs will submit a log to qualify for the special badge. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to receiving the badge. ' Jia Yau'

Bilby eventually emerged the winner with 15 points, 9 ahead of the nearest Six, while Wombat 2 had the best Scout Log for the week. Congratulations to the winners. Keep up the good work!

We assembled at the Kidz Zone once again for the sunset party.

Looking forward to next week when we conclude the "UP" programme.