Santa Sleigh (14 - 17)

This year was the first time that the Annual Rotary Santa Sleigh came to the streets of Ashgrove.

Seizing the moment we showed up in numbers with Samwise, JJ, Chris Go, Rachel, Kerry, Emile, Matt, B1 and B2, Bill, Jono and myself attending across the four evenings.

With a smile on our faces and a tin in hand we swept through the streets to a mostly inviting reception. Knocking on as many doors as we could find we wished everyone a merry Christmas also recieving the quite a few donations as the Ashgrovians were quite generous.

Donation of the week would have to go to Bill for recieving a donation from a second storey balcony *high five moment*

Overall the week was a success for both the Rotary as well as the crew becoming a more connected with or surrounding community. It could also be said that the Rotary have expressed their gratitude and are hoping that the younger generations will assist in continuing and expanding this great tradition.

BRAVO guys and I look forward to next years Sleigh.

Bill's farewell

The crew thought it'd be a good idea to give bill a small party to celebrate commiserate bill's leaving us for 6 months to go to Canada. We wish him the best of luck, and look forward to seeing him again later this year. Some pictures from the night:

Inter-Crew Games Night

I organised a games night,
Between crews from far and wide,
Stafford, Tandara, Camira,
And even some Girl Guides.

First we played the Human Knot,
A game to break the ice,
With twenty-four tangled people,
It wasn't very nice.

Then eagerly holding hands,
We stood in two straight lines,
For we raced two hula hoops,
I lost twice, now I resign.

Then we all sat down,
To play the game Taboo,
Trying to guess some words,
From people's clever clues.

Just before the drinks break,
We played another game,
Of nostalgic Tunnel Ball,
But please, improve your aim!

Despite the games I organised,
There's only one they came to see,
A hot and sweaty game,
Of Ultimate Frisbee.

There's a trophy for the winner,
Right now they're on cloud nine,
I hope to see you all again,
But you better watch out next time!


A big thankyou to Alex, Boo, Timothy and Tracey from Tandara Rovers; Petah and Rachael from Camira Rovers; Peter from Stafford Rovers; Bel, Cat and Natasha from Everton Park Ranger Guides; Kathryn from the Olave Program; and the St. John's Wood Rovers for making the night a success. Congratulations to the winner, Petah.


-Rachel-

SJW Group Break Up

Group Break Up

Attended by Chris "RA" Goninon, Matt, Jono, Jordon and Emile

Meeting Minutes

Minutes of St John’s Wood Rover Crew Hard/ Business Meeting
Thursday, 3rd of December 2009

Meeting Opened:
7:46 p.m. by Iain Laing.

Attendees:
Rachel, Stephen Endicott, Chris Goninon, Jon Wilson, Bill Alexander, Matthew Ray, Iain Laing, Natalie Finney, Jordan Lores.

Apologies:
Sam Ludinski, Kerry Marnane, Stephen Cox, Chris Greener.

Item 1: Welcome
• The Rover Crew wishes to welcome Natalie to the Rover Crew.

Item 2: Christmas Party and Bill’s Goodbye
• It has decided that the Crew’s Christmas Party and Bill’s Goodbye barbeque will be held on the 12th of December, at Taylor Range Country Club from 5 p.m. onwards.

Item 3: Christmas Holidays
• The weeks of the 24th to the 31st of December will be the Rover Crew’s Christmas break, and the week of the 6th of January will be an optional attendance night.

Item 4: Meeting Times
• The times of weekly meetings will stay as they are. Crew members are reminded that they are able to leave early if needed at all rover activities.
• Later nights will be specified in emails.
• We respectfully recognize the suggestions of all crew members.

Item 5: Activity Planning
• All necessary paper work will be completed and sent to the Group Leader, it will then be the responsibility of the Assistant Crew Leader to remind and ensure that appropriate forms have been completed.
• Stephen to send an unlocked copy of the C5 form to all crew members.
• All plans for typical rover night at the den will be fully arranged 48 hours before said evening.
• Iain will make a conscious effort to improve his efforts.

Item 6: Behaviour Code Breaches
• Crew in Council to meet and discuss appropriate action to be taken.
• Crew in Council to discuss the events of 19th of November with Sam and will manage the matter as they see fit.


Item 7: Risk Management
• At any Rover activity when alcohol will be consumed and selected amount of participants will not drink and manage any alcohol related matters.
• Kerry’s suggestions have been acknowledged and alternatives have been put into place.

Meeting Closed:
8:20 p.m. by Iain Laing.

Urban Challenge Meeting + Soft Business Meeting + Nat's Induction

Stradbroke Island trip

The week of November 23rd to the 27th, 2009 saw the Rover crew stay at Emile's place on Stradbroke island; fun times were had, sun cancer augmented and friendships strengthened.

From monday to wednesday, Stephen, Chris Greener, Jordan and Emile were the only ones on the island, supplemented later by Kerry, Matt and Rachel. It has been decided that we will be returning with the crew soon. A camping trip down the main beach is looking good too.

All of the images can be found here.

Casual Get Together Night

At the usual time of 7:30pm the Rovers met down at the den with a night of filling the previously XXXX-dominated rafter with Toohey's Extra Dry bottles (this, amongst a considerable amount of Rovers is less troublesome than it sounds) in mind.

The Rovers congregated on the couches and talked while they had some beverages, later to be followed by a game of Ultimate Frisbee, which was suggested by Stephen Endicott. Some, however, sat out and continued discussion. A wild Sam Ludinski then proceeded to interupt the game by running around disrupting the players' natural course. All then went back inside and joined in the conversation.

The night ended at approximately 10:00pm.

Visit by Robert Bruce (Past SJW Rover)

On 12th November, former SJW member Rob Bruce visited the den. Over the years, Rob had been acting as a voluntary historian, if you like, for the Crew, and this was his night to show what he had collected and propose that he would show the other Rovers (former and current) at the Rover Reunion held in 2010 (when most of the history would be ready).

Also discussed were old SJW traditions and history that was already in the den. Most of the Crew also had their picture taken by Rob Bruce on this night for presentation in the history, although some were missing on this night, so Rob would collect theirs at a later point in time.

-Sam

Inductions

We welcomed Rachel and Steve (B2) to the Crew with the induction ceremony on Mt Cootha. There was a storm brewing all afternoon and we were treated to a fantastic lightning display. There was some mild concerns about conducting electricity, however, no one was killed. A bit light rain and blenty of wind made a fire impossible so everyone was a little chilled by the time we got back to Emile's for a cuppa, and for some, something a little stronger (emphasis on the little).

We were also paid a visit by ex-Rover Tracey and Jordan married Travis Jordan on Facebook resulting in her being Christened "JJ." Everyone is convinced that Travis and JJ should marry for real.

Squire Steve (B2) is Sponsored by Knight Steve (B1).
Squire Rachel is Sponsored by Knight Matt.

Rover Advisor Mystery Car Rally Night

Upon leaving the den, Team 1 went to the Marist College Ashgrove playing field where they took a picture of the team in front of the sign and counted all the metal poles around the playing fields. A great night then unfolded as we went from Ashgrove to a combination of Everton Park, Aspley, Ferny Grove, Newmarket, Kelvin Grove, St. Lucia, Aspley, and quite possibly more. Much tomfoolery was exhibited aboard Sandra Ludinski's Mitsubishi Outlander, including (but not limited to): parking in the opposing team near a relative of chris goninon's house, hiding their refidex (who uses those nowadays anyway? we had a GPS :) ), and competing with the opposition for the prime position on the road near Sci-Fleet used cars. Our tomfoolery (and just plain skill/awesomeness) paid off, and at the end of the night we received the grand prize to be placed on the wall in the rover den.

Phone Books (Continued)

(Part One) Chris, Emile and I (JJ) began our night of delivering phone books. We started at 12:00am as it seemed safest to deliver them along Waterworks Road without the issue of traffic. We began at Cooinda Street near the Ashgrove Golf Club, up to Grimsby Street and ended the night delivering on Romea Street, Nigel Street and Lochinvar Lane. By the time we had finished those last few streets it was 3:30 and we decided to call it a night. We would finish Ashgrove Shopping Village and Hilder Road at a later date.
(Part Two) Emile and I decided we would finally finish the phone books that were left to deliver as Chris was out of action. We started at 3:00pm and began with Ashgrove Shopping Village we had nearly finished the shopping village when we had run out of phone books and go back to the den to stock up. We arrived back at the den to find that there were no phone books left, so we could not complete the remainder of the houses and shops that still needed telephone books. Attempts were made to get more books, but went unanswered.

Emile, Jordan and Chris Greener

Jordan's 18th B'day Party

Everyone arrived for a night of fun and frivolity as we celebrated my 18th. The night started at Frank Waters Park with a few quite drinks, some cheesy one hit wonders, a soccer game or two and a flashback to childhood with a quick play on the playground. Things quickly changed as the strongest jelly shots on record were brought out. Needless to say it led to a few unfortunate events that may or may not have included a swing and some glows sticks. Emile suggested to carry on the festivities at The Shed which he may have regretted the next morning, although the fun did continue well into the small hours of the morning. All in all, it was extraordinary night with a very ordinary next morning.

By Jordan

Rover and Venturer Night

Tonight the Rovers and Venturers attended a progressional-style dinner commencing in Rosalie, at the lively establishment, aptly named Grilled. Not only because we enjoyed some quality juicy steaks.

We had a few laughs, generally delighting in each other's company. Welcomed our newest member, Rachel as we proceeded to the nearby Cold Rock where we indulged in some custom-made ice-cream.

Mmmmm.

While there, Iain, Jon, Stephen and, a brave venturer, Tom, managed to consume a copious amount of cookies-and-cream ice-cream with two mix-ins of Tim-Tams.

Following that, we completed our feast and ended the night upon the ever-so scenic Mt. Coot-tha. There we enjoyed the enchanting lights of Brisbane City.

We then continued to our somewhat traditional retirement to Emile's.

- By Jon and Iain

Hard Business Meeting 8/10/2009

Hard Business Meeting - 7/10/09
Order of content:
2. Program
3. Treasurerʼs Report
a. Current Balance
4. Mattʼs letter
5. Emileʼs Resignation
6. Elections (Matt willing to be Minister for the Interior)
Attendance: Jordan, Iain, Emile, Kerry, Bill, Sam, Stephen,
Jono, Chris
Apologies: Matt
Chair: Emile
Minutes taken by: Kerry
Meeting opened: 7:40pm
1.
• Issues raised (Sam and others):
• Future positions - clarify (esp UpDawg), re-elect
• UpDawg: make sure organisers ready one week prior, if not ready - assist;
make sure Crew aware of activity (though not job to notify); Position for
focus on recruitment
• Deputy Crew Leader - possibility?? or combine with UpDawg??
• Concern that positions may become redundant/not enough Crew members
to fill positions
• Constitution needed - look at past constitutions, current ones; separate meeting at a
later date to address this properly
• Positions:
• Crew Leader
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Minister for Interior-merge with Deputy Crew Leader (vote carried)
• As suggested above under “UpDawg”; Deputy Crew Leader - assist Crew
Leader, support role
• Log Book Monitor (maintain log, ensure activity leaders complete blog)
• Recruitment Officer:
• check recruiting activities are included; representative to other sections
• Crew committed to ensuring Leadership duties are fulfilled (elections later)
• Phone Books:
• Complaint to Group Leader not done appropriately
• Future plan: Crew to formally offer complaint at next Group Meeting
• Program: everyone needs to look at online calendar!! Minister for Interior in charge of
program maintenance
• Begin planning for Tymolum camp/Forest Feast; ? Straddie camp
• Issue of Tymolum camp being organised - need a delegated organiser (some may
not be able to attend full camp due to study)
• Oakleigh Rover Crew: Jenny has asked Iain and Kerry “when will you be coming to
Oakleigh to form an Oakleigh rover crew?”. Kerry replied saying something along the
lines of thank-you-but-we-are-happy-here-for-the-moment. There will always be the
possibility for kerry and Iain to form an oakleigh crew, and feel as though Oakleigh
group are trying to force them to. Kerry has no intention to form a crew. Iain is
undecided, and both believe that Oakleigh group is unfairly trying to force them into
their own crew.
• Kerry is considering joining St Johnʼs Wood group as a St Johnʼs Wood Rover
because of the issues being raised by the Crew
• Kerry and Iain will be attending a group committee meeting with Oakleigh group
with the intention of finalizing the situation and aiming to remain rovers at st johnʼs
wood (Iain as an Oakleigh Rover, Kerry as a St Johnʼs Wood Rover???)
• Joint Crew - we are currently a SJW and Oakleigh joint crew (just without the
name tape); current Oakleigh Venturers keen to start own Crew
• Acceptance of Oakleigh members as fully-fledged members (ie able to hold
positions) - voted 6 in favour, 1 against.
• Debts:
• Possible Anaconda BBQ - book regular dates for 2010 (Emile can arrange);
uniform felt to be best to enhance image
• Squire Training
• Expected timeline - approx. 6 months to complete Scout visits, 12 months finish;
not concrete but should be made clear to Squires to enhance commitment to
training completion
• Significant distinction between Squires and Rover Knights to increase motivation,
eg. eventually (once have more invested Rovers) Squires not hold positions of
office; after this election, Squires not able to be elected to Crew Leader
• Current Squires - personal commitment to training; aim to achieve SOMETHING
every month/few weeks (sponsor to check off online)
• Sponsors to be more visible to Squires (ie. more contact, whip-cracking)
• Visible chart up in Den to show Squire Progress
• Community Service
• Gap Rotary Santa sled - Secretary to officially respond to offer (Crew happy to
help out on some nights)
Treasurerʼs Report
• Issue of Group fees - renegotiate (reduced) amount
• Order of priorities (to repay):
" " 1. Owenʼs group fee
" " 2. Chris
• Subs per semester - direct electronic transfer ($20 per semester);
• Due date for subs - last day of Feb and last day of August (Treasurer to send
reminder 2 weeks prior and to keep track)
• Subs for this semester - due 2 WEEKS FROM TONIGHT
Elections (each term is now approx. 6 months duration)
Crew Leader
• Role:
• Face of Crew (attend Group meetings as rep of Crew)
• Chair Hard Business meetings
• Discipline
• Nominations:
• Sam; unopposed, elected to Crew Leader
Minister for Interior/Deputy Crew Leader
• Role:
• see above discussion
• Nominations:
• Iain - elected to position
• Matt
Secretary
• Role:
• Contact person for Crew
• Correspondence
• Nominations:
• Jordan - elected
• Kerry
• Emile
Treasurer
• Role:
• Fundraising
• Bank accounts
• Nominations:
• Jono - elected
Log Book Monitor (maintain log, ensure activity leaders complete blog)
• Role:
• Ensure all activity leaders blog after activity & quality control
• Take camera
• Back-logging
• Very important role, especially while catching up
• Nominations
• Emile - elected
Recruitment Officer:
• Role:
• Check recruiting activities are included in program
• Representative to other sections
• Responsible for new/potential rovers
• Liaising with other rover crews, venturer units, etc.
• Contact details put on website
• Nominations:
• Kerry - elected
• Mattʼs
For future elections - non-present members not nominated
Meeting Adjourned @ 10:03pm

Father's Night

By Emile

Dinner at Sizzlers with the Venturers

by

September 24th 2009 - Deep Fry Night

The activity tonight was making deep fried ice cream. The activity started officially at 7pm, but the preparation in fact started many hours earlier. From 4:30pm many layers of coating were added to the balls of ice cream and it was frozen for many hours. At 7pm we met at then den briefly, then headed to McDonalds for dinner, then back to Emile's place to do the deep frying. When we arrived and set the oil to boil. Exactly one episode of scrubs later we began the deep frying. The Deep Fried ice cream turned out better then expected, and was enjoyed by all with a topping of caramel sauce.

Stephen

Intro to Rovers

By Sam

Netball

The netball night was one of our more quiet nights, with only a few of us coming to play a very much altered version of the game. We played four on four, and the first half was interesting as everyone got a feel for some of the rules. By second half people were familiar enough to take some impressive intercepts and go for an occasional contact penalty. By the end of the game no one knew the score and was ready for a Macca’s stop. We also were visited by Michael; a new recruit to the crew that came to check out what rovers was about. Overall everyone went away with (hopefully) not too many injuries and a good night.

By Jordan

Programming 3rd September 2009

Tonight the Rovers basically just sat down and planned out the program from September 09 untill the end of January 2010.

Included in such plans is:

Dad’s night

Bill’s 19th

Intro to rovers + Duck Race

Netball

Deep Fried Night (STEPHEN)

Suggested Squire Hike Time

INDUCTIONS + Squire Training

Spy night with Venturers

Jordan and Iain’s 18th Birthday

Ultimate Frisbee vs Stafford Rovers

Tyamolum + Forrest Feast

Staying at Emile’s Place (Straddie)

Group Christmas Campfire

QARM - Matt

Go-away party for Bill Taylor Range

Sam’s 19th

Bundaberg tour and shenanigans

Also included in the night's proceedings was a much more energetic (than previous games) game of Ultimate.

Carpet goes to the dump

After some decision making, the crew decided to dump the carpet that went underwater in the last flood.

Chris dropped in to the den to assist with phone book unloading which finished half an hour earlier, and took the carpet to the dump. So onward with bare concrete floors!

Chris "RA" Goninon

Hangout 26/8/09

The day after the pool table's christening, Sam Ludinski and his friend from high school, Nick Carmody visit the den. Activities involved included casual Frisby, Snooker, and just chilling out on the couch with beers in hands.

We also managed to fix the slant on the table with some left-over carpet from the flood.

The Rover den made a comfortable surrounding in this warm weather (that we're getting in August, which is most curious), as the concrete is probably keeping what cool there is in, and blocking all the heat out.

The speakers got another run for their money and Sam Ludinski may have found a near-future prospective new Rover.

-Sam-

Pool Table's Christening

The Rovers started a bit later tonight, at 8:30pm. This is the first night that the pool table has gotten some use, gratefully donated by the Wilson family (Jon's family). Matthew Ray looked up the rules for snooker (as the balls that came with the table are for that game, rather than the traditional pool) on his phone, while others waited.

As we all learned, snooker can be a rather tediously long game... so we cut it short - Emile and Tim ("Tank") Borlace, an ex-SJW-Venturer, and possible near-future Rover, won the game against Matt Ray and Sam Ludinski, as Iain spectated from the nearby couches.

Rovers then departed (at approximately 9:45pm) to Emile's place for drinks.

Games 13/8/2009

St John's Wood Rover Crew took it easy on the 13th, playing a few board games while drinking a few beers. The 13th also saw Stephen's friend, Stephen (later referred to as B1 and B2, for reasons not quite clear to the writer) visit the crew, and I think we can all say he had a pretty great time.

We started out by playing ultimate frisbee, the first of hopefully many such games. It proved a great success; that is, the frisbee didn't end up in the creek.

The night also saw some of the Rover crew members engaging in epic battles of Magic: the gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh and, that old favourite, Pokemon. It was a very relaxing way to pass the night, especially since the speakers Emile had procured proved to be working, and working well.

The centrepiece of the night, though, was undoubtedly an epic game of Risk. The brave Rovers who undertook the 'world domination' version of the game played continuously through the night. There were gut-wrenching roles, alliances, betrayels and wins against all odds. As with most games of Risk, it was abandoned a few hours after it began. The Rovers realised that there was absolutely no chance of finishing up.

Minutes - 6/8/09

Meeting opens 7:15pm

1. Apologies

• Kerry Marnane – absent
• Emile Victor – will be late due to work

2. Crew Leader’s Report - (Emile Victor)

• No content due to late arrival

3. Treasurer’s report - (Jon Wilson)

• Debts:

- Owen - $240

- Sam - $30

- Stephen - $60

- Chris – Badges ~$200

• Payers of group fees (to be reimbursed):
  

- Sam

- Matt

- Emile

• Fundraising

- BBQ Anaconda - $800-1000

- Freddo’s Sales - $350

- $20/semester Subs

• Chocolate money to be sorted
• Money outstanding needs to be paid
• Write letter to group committee about 2010-2011 payment to group. Will suggest that $500 bee paid (2 lots of group fees. Will also donate (in time or in money) toward new den). [DEBT]
• Send email to crew about BSB, Account Number, and Account Name.
• Change name of account to Scouts Australia – Queensland Branch Inc/St. Johns Wood Rover Crew
• Jon is agreeable to be fundraising coordinator
• Jon will form a budget.

4. Secretarial Report - (Sam Ludinski)

• Post office box disbanded, new address – 17 Kilsby St., The Gap.
• Potential rovers to be looked into
• Group email – Queensland Rovers site signup
• iCrew to be managed by secretary
• Contact detail form to be sent to Jordan Lores.

5. Rover Advisor’s Report - (Chris Goninon)

• Program hasn’t been maintained.
• Urban Challenge planning shouldn’t interrupt program.
• Should keep in touch with Oakleigh more thoroughly. Keeps our flow of venturers.
• Age gap of members.
• Potential new members:

- Stephanie Danslow
- Hamish Davie

• Recruiting Officer?

6. Squire Master’s Report - (Chris Goninon)

• Introduction to Rovers needs to be looked at – they aren’t offered too frequently, should try and get as many squires through it as possible.

7. Log Book Keeper’s Report - (Bill Alexander)

• Last few years needs to be archived.
• Minutes to be logged.
• Joeys to be logged.
• Yearly print and binder of blogs.

8. Updawg’s report - (Kerry Marnane [ABSENT])

9. General Business

• Urban Challenge

- Chairman – Stephen Endicott

- Promotions – Iain Laing

- Catering – Jordan Lores (Chris’s wife to assist with bakery stuff)

- Activities/Bases – Emile Victor

- Administrator – Emile Victor

- Treasurer – Jon Wilson

- Organise meeting – invite Shaun Sandilands

• Program

- Moot at Sydney

- “Wypu”

- Melbourne?

- Organise spy night with Venturers – use as promotion for Urban Challenge

- Organise a forest feast

Meeting closed 10:15pm

6/8/09 - Visit to the Joey Scouts.

Prelude: Following a largely successful group night, Sam Ludinski caught up with Sue Barker (or, Kirra), the Joey Scout leader in order to arrange completion of another part of the SJW Rover Squires' training.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attendees: Stephen Endicott, Sam Ludinski, Iain Laing, Bill Alexander, and Jon Wilson.

The night started with a word search containing words related to the Joey section. Sam Ludinski gloriously finished the search several minutes before the 6/7-year-old Joeys and proceeded to help "Lachy" with his. It seemed almost as if we were expected to teach them English at the same time.

We then proceeded to opening parade, with Joey, "Jamie" being invested, and then the Joeys played a few more games with us.

The first game we played was Baloon Names. The game detailed a balloon being in the middle, and you had to hit the balloon and say another Joey (or Rover's) name. That person then ran to the balloon, hit it, and said another person's name. It was a good way to get to know some of the Joeys.

Following was "Joey scout in the pouch". The joeys "hop"ed around and when Warata said "drop" they had to drop to the ground and close their eyes. "Brumby" (Madeline Davie) then put a blanket over one of the joeys, and they had to guess which one was hidden. By this point in time, we got to know the joeys quite sufficiently.

Then it was their time to get to know us. We told the Joeys about how we went on hikes, how we did gang show, talked about our bash car, and talked about our leadership structure (in lameman's terms) (how good it was to have self-direction) . The joeys were also very impressed with the Rover Sword.

Other games of the night included "Catch the joey scout law" (when Sam aquired the nickname "Hobbit" from Warata), and H.O.P. (a jumping race).

All in all the night was a great success, we got to know what the joeys were like and they got to know us.

The Rovers then bid farewell to the Joeys and went downstairs to the Rover Den, where we commenced our Hard Business Meeting (see: Minutes - 6/8/09).

SJW Group Activity Night

SJW Rovers to run 2010 Urban Challenge

Visit by Shaun Sandilands

Thursday 16/07/2009 - Sam discusses Crew Logs from 70s and music from 80s.

This night was somewhat impromptu, with only squires Jon Wilson, Sam Ludinski, and Rover Advisor - Chris Goninon attending.

At 7:45pm, Sam Ludinski arrived at the Den, only to find departing Joeys in the carpark, and Sue Barker in the upper Den (the Joey Scout leader). For 10 minutes, Sam read the Rover Crew Log from 1974-1977 while waiting for fellow squire Jon Wilson to arrrive on bike. At which point, a casual game of cards occured between the two for approximately half an hour before Rover Advisor Chris Goninon arrived.

At this point in the night, the card game was halted and discussion of various eras of music occured, prompted by Chris turning the radio on, showing off the speakers Emile had installed since the latest flood, when our previous speakers had apparently been destroyed. Sam mistook Simple Minds for INXS (what a rookie error!), and proceeded to blab on about the history of Guns N' Roses, Faster Pussycat, Hollywood Rose, and L.A. Guns. Which decade are we living in again?!

After realising that they were quite off track, talking about music from Chris' youth, Chris and Sam proceeded to discuss the Crew Log. Topics were discussed such as the Charity Concert in '74, and the erection of the gate at the end of the carpark in '77. Though Sam successfully regurgitated events from '74, and '77, there seemed to be a blank spot between the two that was paid little attention to. Therefore Sam has only partially completed this part of his Squire Training.

Talk alternated between Crew History and Musical History for the remainder of the night, as well as discussion about fundraising ideas. Jon chimed in that Cadbury were holding a competition for every client that had fundraised between the start of the year and a month from now, so he is now looking at another round of chocolates being ordered (These will be sold, like the last round, at $1.20 a chocolate, and the Crew will gain half of the money earnt - the other half being returned to Cadbury).

At around 10:00pm all had had enough of the night and decided to depart.

A Reallocation of the Squires

With the investiture of Matt and Stephen, we now have two Rovers to sponsor the 8 squires in the crew.

The new allocations are

Chris (RA) - Emile, Bill
Matt - Kerry, Sam, Chris
Stephen - Jono, Iain and Jordon

Chris (RA) will remain as squiremaster until we have a few more invested Rovers.

Chris "RA" Goninon

Rover Night at Gang Show

Investiture

Investiture of Matt and Stephen

Stephen Endicott Squire’s Hike

This squire’s hike was under taken in two separate parts: The actual hike took place from Tuesday night the 23^rd of June, until Thursday night the 25^th of June. The Discussion and camp with sponsor took place on Friday night the 26^th of June into the following Saturday morning.

The hike took place in Lamington National park, in the McPherson ranges and went from O’Rielly’s, to Echo Point, along the border track (a small not very well defined trail) to Point Lookout, down to the Stinson then down to Christmas Creek. There were three people who did the walk, myself (Stephen), my sister Lucy (a venture) and a Girl Guide Jess. We arrived at the Green Mountains camping area late on Tuesday night and quickly set up camp and went to sleep. On Wednesday morning we rose early and were ready to leave at 8am, but then promptly saw the sign for the tree top walk and took an hour detour to investigate. By 9am we were back on track and blasting towards Echo Point along the graded track system. We arrived at Echo Point too magnificent views and a half hour morning tea stop at 11am.

After leaving Echo point we left the graded track system and went on to the bush trail. This is a very loosely defined track that disappears in places. After climbing many peaks we descended into thick rain forest. At 3:30pm we came to the Rat-a-Tat hut camp site where we were booked in to camp the night. Because we knew that the next day would be very long and arduous we kept going and instead set up camp at 5pm on the ridge after leaving the rain forest. We set up camp on a little clearing on the track, ate our dehydrated food and were in bed asleep by 7pm (even though I was technically in NSW that night, I was still supporting Queensland in the Origin). The Thursday morning we were up and walking by 7:30am. We climbed to the top of Mt Throakban (the highest point on out trek). On our decent we lost the track and it took us over 45 minutes to travel less than 300m. We kept following the track up and down hills all Thursday until we arrived at Pt Lookout at 2pm. It was then that we had to make an important decision; to descend, and risk getting caught on the cliffs in the dark, or to camp out another night and make sure that we could descend in light.

We chose to walk on. We left the border rangers at Pt Lookout and headed down a side ridge that would take us out to Christmas Creek and our ride home. At 3:30pm we came to the turnoff to the Stinson wreck, but could not go down due to time constraints. By 4pm we had reached the top of the cliffs, and found that they really were cliffs! For the first section we had to lower our packs down the cliff, then navigate our way down. While we were descending the cliffs night fell, and we had to start using torches to get by. After 2 hours of rock climbing and sliding down steep hills we arrived at Christmas creek. After a small break we head off along the side of the creek, but soon realized we were in the wrong stop, because the creek we were following was flowing the wrong way! After an hour of map reading and compass baring taking, and lots of frustration, we realized that we needed to cross that creek and follow the one it flowed in to. After finding the correct creek we followed the rough track along the creek for 3 hours, stopping along the way for a quick dinner. At 10pm we came to national parks signs facing away from us warning of the dangers of walking off track, it was here that we celebrated the finish of our walk…. Too soon. We soon realized that we needed to cross the creek, and after 30 minutes of walking up and down the creek looking for a place to cross and a track on the opposite bank, we gave in and waded through the waist deep water. From there it was less than 5 minutes back to where the car was parked and waiting for us with clean dry cloths and warm drinks. This was near the location the VenMX2009 was hosted, which the crew attended earlier in the year.

The Squire camp took place on the following Friday night at BP park Samford. After arriving at BP park in the dark and while it was raining Chris (Rover Advisor and Squire Master) and myself quickly set up tents and left to go to the Samford Tavern. Although Squire talks are normally done around a fire whilst on the hike, an exception was made because of the difficulty of the hike done in this case. During the Squire talk everything from the meaning of life, crew organization and what it meant to be a rover were discussed. After over two hours of discussion, we returned to camp and slept, leaving early the next morning (7am) to head home.

Chat by "Digger" and Jordon's Induction

Thursday night drinks

Thursday night saw the entire crew at Emile's place having an awesome time; drinking long islands, playing board games and enjoying the fire. We also welcomed Jordan to the crew, who we will have to induct soon. No Rovers next week due to University committments.

Matt's Squire's Hike

Sunday 7 June 2009 at 2:30pm Chris picked me up from my house and we made our way up Waterworks Road towards Mt Nebo.

We reached the Scrub Road track at approximately 3:30pm and began the descent through the dense eyucalypt and dry rainforest until we reached the Enoggera Creek headwaters. The track was damp and the creek was flowing well due to the considerable rainfall in the three days before the walk.

We reached the creek after 4:00pm and noticed that there was a decent looking swimming hole downstream from where the road crosses the creek. The water was very chilly
but crystal clear.

The road began an immediate ascent out of the valley. The forest began to thin and move into open sclarphyl forest spotted with many beautiful eyucalypts.

We found the Lander’s Pocket Campsite easily and set up our tents for the night. We were not aware that there would be a shelter shed and water tank. There was also an open fire pit and hot plate.

I cooked minestrone soup for entree and we had a traditional Backcountry Honey Soy Chicken with fried rice for dinner.

There was a considerable amount of wind overnight and a bright moon.

Monday 8 June 2009 we woke reasonably early. Cooked porridge for breakfast. I did not know that Chris does not like porridge, however, it was the best open fire cooked porridge that I have ever tasted.

Walked out via the same track not wanting to bush bash through the tick scrub on the proposed route (marked on the map in light orange). There were many mountain bikers out in the park as we walked back to the car. We were back in The Gap by 9:00am, ready for Gang Show dress rehearsal.

Clean up from the floods (Again)

Today the following tasks were performed my Matt/Emile/Sam/Bill:
• Karcher'd one pile of soiled carpet, they are now drying in the den.
• Installed two smaller speakers as placeholders for new ones
• Sorted books from flood
I probably have tuberculosis from the fine mist of vaporised river mud now, so I will make arrangements with matt for my last will. Bill can witness.

We still need to clean the other piles, so if you are free tomorrow please organise it among yourselves. I'm pretty sure Chris has a Karcher himself.

XXXX Tour - 27/05/2009

Present:

Squires - Sam Ludinski (organiser), Kerry Marnane, Iain Laing, Emile Victor, Matthew Ray.

Rover Advisor - Chris Goninon

At the 5:45pm all arrived at the Den, bar Chris Goninon, who met us at the Milton XXXX factory. We all then travelled up the hill to the 385 stop to catch the bus to Roma St. Station, and to then catch the train from Roma St. to Milton station. Following the travel, we arrived right on the dot at the XXXX factory (a punctual lot, we are!).

The factory commenced at around 6:15pm, opening with some history of the factory, which lasted around 15 minutes. Following this, we were taken for a tour through the factory, where we saw both the employees and the machinery hard at work, filling and creating countless cans (and bottles) of beer. There was quite a bit of spillage on the ground floor too! It's a wonder the workers don't get pulled up for drink driving (even if they don't intentionally consume any)! We also found out that Tooheys Extra Dry and Hahn Superdry beer was made at the XXXX factory.

After the tour, we were given a drink card that allowed us 4 free drinks from the bar (for those of age), including one glass of XXX Sparkling Beer (that's right, triple X, not four X). Sam and Emile quite enjoyed the Carbine Stout (which, as well as the XXX, was exclusive to this particular bar), while Kerry and Iain favoured the XXX (yeah, Kerry drank beer!). With our drinks, we had ordered three lots of XXXX-Beer-Battered Chips, which tasted even better than expected (not just a side-effect of the beer, that's for sure!).

Following the drinks, and the food, we all trudged off back to the train station and commenced our journey home.

Den Claen Up

ANYWAY, thanks Jon, Chris (goninoninininin x5) and Stephen for turning up on the Saturday to help out, it's a shame you couldn't have put in a bit of time this afternoon as well, as we could have got a lot more done.

Jobs that have been done:
Stripping up the carpet and cleaning the floor (even though some mud was trudged back in by workers)
Getting rid of now-useless furniture
Washed the lower shelves of the kitchen, as well as the stuff that was on said shelves

Jobs to be done:
Recarpet (if we want to - do you really wanna risk it flooding again?)
Organise the stuff behind the couches etc. so that it's similar to how it was before the flood
Put things that are currently drying away (such as books, smaller plastics that were washed up, etc.)
Sorting out pots and pans in the Rover Q-Store that may be waterlogged - there are also nuts and bolts in there that will be rusting.

And look, there's probably more to add to both lists, but that's what i can think of at the moment. I've also put some tiny speakers people can plug their ipods into in the den. They really are pretty shit, but at least it's something.

Sam.

PS: If you see Russ around, make sure you thank him for all the work he has done to help me and the other guys with sorting out the Rover den yesterday.

PPS: In a way this has been good - as strange as that may sound - we now know where certain things around the kitchen are :)

Induction???

Operation: Cadbury Fundraiser

The freddo frogs have arrived, hoorah!

What:

There are twelve boxes worth of cadbury goods to be sold but there's
8 carrier boxes the non-freddo goods (i.e. timeouts, cherry ripes
nougat logs and summer rolls) have been added to each carrier box.

That means there's around 1 box for each family. I think it's best that we only sell one box
each to begin with to see how long it takes for them to sell as - other than the fact that
we are all very busy - I've spoken to some people already in the business who say that
they're selling at a steady but not-as-fast-as-they-could-or-should-be rate.

Prices:

The unit selling price is $1.20 (including time outs, crunchies, cherry ripes etc.). Inside each
carrier box is an envelope for the money made and details for you to fill out. Once you've sold
as many as you can within the next 28 days then that envelope is to be sealed and returned to
me along with the freddoes that didn't make it. :(

Implications of this operation for the Crew:

We're expected to make around $360.00 from this drive which really shouldn't be that hard to do.
Once Cadbury have been paid their $360 we can bank ours and use $240 to return Owen's money
which leaves us with $100.

If this is a successful operation and people are still keen to fund raise this way then we shall do it again
and sell more boxes. But i'll see the full details for the maximum you can sell with Cadbury and how
often you can do it.

Tips For Selling:

The site has some good tips for selling them http://www.fundraising.com.au
One idea is to give the box to you're parents who can sell it at work (which is what i plan to do) and
they seem to sell quite well there. But i'm sure most of you have a good idea of what do, if not have
already done it before.

IMPORTANT DETAILS:

Cadbury need to be paid 28 days after today so i'll need the money back before than as
well as a tally of the freddoes and other goods you sold but i'll know what you originally had in your boxes anyway.
(Obviously this is important as the boxes have to be mixed for variety.)

I've got a tally sheet to keep a record of sales and money made. Could everyone please send
me their telephone numbers so i can ring you if necessary before the due date of Monday the 8th of June.

To make things easier, it'd be great if you could bring the money and unsold goods the thursday we meet
that is Thursday the 4th of June. Otherwise get i'll need the day before that Monday.

If there are any problems please give me a ring or email me.

They shall be ready to be collected at the den this thursday.

-Jon

Night at UQ HMS Gym + Pizza Cafe

VenMX 2009

Just a follow up on VenMX for those who were unable to be there; the weekend was a great experience which we will be repeating in 2010. Stephen E was first on scene when a venturer dislocated his knee an hour from a checkpoint. He radioed into Bivouac (VenMX/Army lingo for base camp) to let them know of the situation. Matthew and Kerry were soon there as well with ambulance paramedics. We ended up evacuating the venturer by helicopter after first aid. I'd particularly like to congratulate Stephen in particular for some cool blooded professionalism when first radioing in the emergency.

Kerry MC'd the bonfire on sunday night, which was a great success. All rovers were involved in skits, firelighting and other small tasks on the night.

Apart from that little experience, the leaders on the hike were very pleased to have our presence, and it was also a PR coup for us with the venturers. Our venturers in particular, who cleaned out the hike, winning almost every trophy.

Cheers, and thanks to everyone involved, including Bron & Mark for making our venturer team so successful.

Emile Victor

Intro to Rovers

INTRO TO ROVERS COURSE - Matt, Emile and Chris "RA" G

When Sunday the 26th of April
Start 9am finish 3pm
We will provide lunch
Where building in the park opposite scout hq
Cost $10 must be payed before entry

Anzac Day

ANZAC day and the dawn service is at ANZAC Square in the city at 4.00am then the service at Ashgrove then back to the city!!

If you are attending as a rover you can ware full uniform, but please look presentable as you are on show to the rest of Brisbane

Our Second Flood

Hi all,

I have received an email from Russ saying that power has been cut to the den for safety reasons; hence it would not be advisable to clean it up today.

It is expected that a working bee will be held on Saturday to clean up all the dens including our own. This could pose a problem as Bill/Matt/Iain & myself have gang show committments for Saturday.

I would say that cleaning up the den is more important than gang show, so I will see what can be done about that.

IN the meantime, tonight is cancelled. Do not go down to the den. You will be expected on the weekend.

For those who haven't got the slightest clue how bad it is in the rover den...

New Carpet

We have finished laying the carpet for the night (I am posting this from the den).

Upside, we have new carpet. Downside, you need to leave your dirty shoes at the door.

LEAVE YOUR SHOES AT THE DOOR.

Tonight; my place, 8pm. BYO. We'll be playing poker & Risk (if someone brings it)

Tonight @ my place @ 8pm. Emile

The Start of the Blog

Welcome to the St John's Wood Rover Crew Blog. We will be using this as our log book in future (and may well spend a little time catching up for last year)

Hope you all enjoy

Chris "RA" Goninon

Business Meeting

Crew Camp: 'The Shed'

Arrived Friday night at 2130 after an educational dinner at the Caboolture BP “Superstation.” The Crew promptly proceeded to engage in the obligations of youth, woth recently inducted Rover Squire Stephen Endicott having his first taste of ethnic pride juice.

Frivolities continued into the ‘wee’ hours of the morning. Crew Leader, O Gracious and Loyal, Emile Alenandre Victor, the púnce, severely sprained his right ankle whilst attempting to bust some moves.

Topics of conversation revolved around Stephen’s exploits with the fair sex leading to his being christened ‘the Abrogator.’ Jono Wilson made his personal life orientations unequivocally clear. Sam Ludinski made several contributions to the compost supplies by way of the traditional technicolour yawn.

Sleep was the next natural progression for all. A ‘symphony of snores’ managed to entertain Kerry. The morning came with enhanced alacrity.

Coco pops were a most suitable breakfast. A brief trip to the beach was ended by the weather. Much ‘Scrubs’ and ‘Red Dwarf’ were watched in the late afternoon. BBQ dinner and poker occupied the evening before conversations theological, philosophical and pyscho-sexual.

A fantastic weekend was had by all. Many thanks to the Marnane family for this generous offer of use of the ‘Shed.’


With thanks, we remain,

Squire training at Oakleigh Scouts

When: Thursday night, 7pm
Where: Meet at Oakleigh Scout den
What: We will be given all equipment and instructions for the wide game when we arrive. No preparation necessary.
Wear: Non-uniform

SJW Rover Crew 50th Birthday

On 6 March, St Johns Wood Rover Crew celebrated the 50th anniversary of its establisment. An Anniversary dinner was organised by Russ Davie at the Ashgrove Golf Club, with well over 60 current and past rovers from across the 50 years in attendance.

While it would be difficult to name everyone that was there, there were SJW Rovers from across the entire 50 years.

One of the hightlights was the donation by the Crew (Presented by Russ) to the SJW Scout Group of $18,000 to assist with proposed new group den. These funds were raised through countless garage sales and catering at scouting events during the late 1990's and into the 2000's.

A great time was had by all, and great hopes were placed on the shoulder of the current crew members to keep the Crew going.

Chris "RA" Goninon