Chip Run

When we met in Fitzgerald’s Park at 12, we thought we would not have enough people for a proper chip run, which according to the International Handbook of Rules and Sanctions for Chip Runs, is 10. Fortunately we managed to scrape together a mish-mash of competitors from various units around the county, St. Finbarrs, Ballinora, Togher, and our good selves.  For those of you who don’t know, a chip run is a competition where teams of 2/3 have to get pics of themselves outside various chippers in the city, and score points accordingly. 5 points for a proper, chippery chipper (Lennox’s), and 1 point for  other establishments that sell ‘chips’ (McDonalds). A great time was had by all, and at the end, teams received a complimentary bag of chips as per the rulebook, with a extra-nice meal for the winners. Bon appetite.

Ventact 2011

Down to Kilcully for about six or so. And then up with the tents. Awkward, Jake asking me to hand him the blue beta. But Kevin saved the day and explained it was a tent and not a code for something. On the plus side, the badly put up girls' tent didn't effect me at all, Deirdre's bag absorbed all the water that leaked in, thanks Deirdre! 

Wild evening the first night, the lack of atmosphere in the barn/shed was made okay by the wonderful band, who cares if they only played the same few songs. Over and over... Punctuated by looking for sponsorship for Calszer's beard shave of course. Conor must have some charm and charisma in there somewhere, he got a lot more money than Iollann and I did. Then we got our tickets for activities the next day. Tears were shed, swaps were made, lies were told, bargains were struck and everyone ended up happy. Except for some people obviously, would you prefer canoeing with Nathan or Jerry like? Powerfighting and fireboating for me! Or the other way around. Boats and hose!

 Up at an unholy hour in the morning for a nice bowl of coco pops, courtesy of my mother, the cereal definitely makes up for how delighted you were to be rid of me for the weekend. Firefighting was definitely a laugh, however it must be said that the fireman outfits suited some of us more tha nothers. Back that evening for a free burger and chips, nice healthy scouting way of life. Now for a really wild night, disco time! 

Spent the whole night in my onesie, pyjamas all the way. Once again geting sponsorship but also sending people to get mocktails, fundraising for Vietnam baby! The thick layer of grease on my hair definitely made the bubble machine at the disco totally worth it... Or not, who plans these things for discos? Having to wash your hair at two in the morning under an outdoor tap, not nice. Had to be back at our tent for around two. Deirdre arrived early, shock! However, in true form, she left so that she could re enter after the assigned time. Well played Deirdre! 

Up bright and early again to the sounds of Robin Williams wishing everyone a Good Morning Vietnam, time to clear the site, drag ourselves to the bus and home. You know you've had a good weekend when you go to bed at two in the afternoon and sleep until the following morning. Thank God it was a Monday. What would I have done without a long day of school after a very long weekend.

-Heather

 

County Planning Overnight

So, a County Planning Overnight was held to arrange activities in the County in the coming year. There was good turnout, there were Ventures from nearly all the Groups in Lee Valley. We had some ice-breakers and a BBQ on the Friday night, followed by a small casual campfire...

On Saturday morning, the main event was held, the new ONE Programme among other things were explained, and then a brainstorming session was held. 10 activities have been planned for the coming year, 5 day activities, and 5 overnights/weekends, which will all be organised by different Ventures in the County. Several of our Ventures have volunteered to organise activities, Pádraig and Frank will be organising a big party for next Summer, (God help us all... ) David Lane will be helping with the workshop day, etc.

Hopefully all the activities will actually happen, I'm particularly looking forward to paintballing...

Mahon Falls Hike

Recently, (well recently enough) we went on a nice quick hike in Mahon Falls, in Co. Waterford. The Scouts hoping to go on the MPC came with us as well, even though there's plenty of other mountains around the place, they chose to come with us. Anyway, we discovered the wonder that is a Storm Shelter, where have these been all our lives?

We managed to complete the hike in around 3 hours, and on the way out, discovered something really cool that we'd never seen before, Mahon Falls' ''magic road''.
The idea is you go to the bottom of this hill, and, in neutral, a car will roll backwards up the hill. Or so they say. If you want your innocence destroyed, check this out. If not, take a lookie here.

National Youth Forum

In case anybody doesn't know what I'm talking about, myself, Máire Fitzgerald from Ballinora and Eoghan Calnan from the Lough, went up to the National Youth Forum for Ventures and Scouts in Larch Hill. There were lots of interesting workshops and presentations, very relevant to all of you, so we will be chatting to everyone about that at the County Planning Weekend. One of the main highlights was the new ONE programme, so if you want to take a quick look, check here : ONE Programme. It does look really great, and is definitely worth a look.

                                                                                                
                                                                                     Also, a quick congratulations for the S.S.P.P. Scout Section, who came 1st and 3rd in the County Competition (the Shield). They worked really hard for it, and reaped the rewards in the end. Kevin Creedon was the PL of the Patrol that came 1st, and Conor Cronin was the PL of the patrol that came 3rd. No doubt they will do excellent in the Phoenix Competition also, which is held over the summer.