Light of the Peace Video!

The AVSC Scouts made a video of peace from Scouts all over the world.  Check it out at Ciao Padua - Welcome the Light of the Peace!

Thanks from Romero House!

The folks at Romero House sent us a nice thank you for the coats we sent!

Upcoming Camps and other Event Dates 2008-2009

Here's a list of dates for the 2008-2009 season:

• Last meeting of 2008
  • Beavers - December 17 (*)
    
  • Cubs - December 16 (*)
    
  • Scouts - December 10
  • Venturers - December 16 (*)
    
• (*) Bring food bank donations of non-perishable goods to last meeting
  
• First meeting of 2009
• Beavers - January 7
• Cubs - January 13
• Scouts - January 7
• Venturers - January 5 (To be confirmed)
  
• Cubs - Bowling Night - January 13
  
• Beavers - Bowling Night - January 14
• Beavers - Skating Night - February 4
  
• Cubs - Winter Camp & Operation Snowman at Woodland Trails - January 30-February 1
• Everyone - Church Parade at St.Luke's - Sunday February 22 or 29 (To be confirmed)
• Cubs - No Meeting - Februray 24 17
  
• Everyone - Annual Baden-Powell Banquet -Wednesday February 25 18
• Everyone - March Break - No Meetings - March 16-20
  
• Everyone - Hobby Show - Saturday April 4
• Beavers - Loblaw Outing - April 15
  
• Everyone -Year-End Swim-Up camp at Rocky Ridge Riding Camp - June 12-14

Or you may find the Events listed by section:

• Beavers
• Cubs
• Scouts

2009 Hobby Show Date and Details

The annual Hobby Show for The Alders, Humber West , and Old Mill will be on Saturday, April 4th from 1-3pm at St. Lukes United Church.

The Hobby Show is open to all sections. There are individual and group projects. Only one project can be entered per category - there are over 120! Youth compete within their section and age. There will be lots of awards.

For details about the hobby show click here.

The package above includes:

• Hobby show flyer
• Details on the classes (categories)
• Details on the Venturer Digital Challenge
• Details on the competition rules

We will be receiving entries the evening before the show. (Time to be updated).

2008 Weston Santa Claus Parade

On Sunday November 23rd, 2008 the 433rd will be participating in the Weston Santa Clause Parade as the guests of the 1st Weston who are organizing the float.

If you are looking for the OTHER Santa Claus Parade, they're over here.

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This is an optional all sections event. Please let your section leaders know if you plan to attend.

Here is a map to the parade.

Parade Times:

• Arrive - before 1pm due to Road Closures for Parade
• Meet at Float (Weston & Church, North of Lawrence) @ 1pm
• Float enters parade @ 2pm
• Parade ends (estimated) @ 3:30pm
• Pizza and hot chocolate at/near Sidney Belsley Cres School (est. 3:30-4pm)
• Pickup (est.) 4-4:30pm
  

Just a word, I just got caught in the road closure last year. Everything from Royal York/St. Phillips down past Sidney Belsey is closed. The only way in after that is to crawl through the traffic from near the Super Centre or from the Jane/Lawrence side.

Parents should be able to pickup their kids near the school as the roads open after the parade ends.

Please ensure that all participants are in uniform and dressed appropriately for the weather

2008 Christmas Tree Sales

For more than three decades, the 433rd Toronto Scout Group has been selling Christmas trees to raise funds to support their Scouting programs offered to Etobicoke boys and girls. This year our trees will once again come from the renowned Drysdale Tree Farms and we will have four beautiful varieties for you to choose from:

•• Fraser Fir •• Balsam Fir •• White Spruce •• Douglas Fir ••

Please support our Scouting programs by buying your Christmas tree from the 433rd Toronto Scout Group. This is one of two major fundraising activities we conduct throughout the year and is how we can keep delivering successful programs for the 433rd Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Venturers.

Where:

St. Luke’s United Church Parking Lot
Southeast corner of Kipling and The Kingsway

When:

Last weekend in November and the first 3 weekends in December

• Saturdays: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
• Sundays: 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm

For information about the 433rd Toronto Scouting programs please visit our web site at www.433rd.com and our blogs.

For a printable version of this notice please click here.

Again we are seeking parent volunteers to help with sales. Please click here for a printable information sheet.

Christmas tree sales (and Apple Day) are the two major annual fund raisers for our group. Unlike our annual registration 100% of funds raised through these campaigns go to our group. Here are some of the things that these donations get used for:

• purchase and maintenance camping equipment
• subsidizing group events, outings, and camps
• purchasing badges and crests

We need your help to make it happen.

Hobby Show Crest Design Competition

Every year for the Humber West Hobby Show, the Cubs are asked to design the crest.

• hand drawn designs
• 4 inches in diameter
  
• 3 foreground colours
• include Scouting symbols
  
• Don't add the lettering in the design
  

I've included some examples of crests from previous years. The centennial year crest was special and used more colours.

Coat Drive for Romero House

As one of our community projects this year, the 433rd Toronto Scout Group is collecting clean, gently-used or new coats/snowsuits for Romero House.

Romero House is a charitable organization in Toronto that has provided shelter and support to refugee claimants since 1992. Using a community based approach, volunteers and refugee claimants live together in three houses in a middle-class neighbourhood of west Toronto.

Please bring your coats/snowsuits (adult, youth, children, toddlers, infants) to any meeting in October. The Venturers and Scouts will help deliver them to Romero House.

Apple Day Reminder 2008 !

The Event

Just a reminder to all Cubs, Scouts, and Beavers that this weekend October 18-19 is our annual Apple Day fundraiser. Everyone is expected to participate.

Please ensure you're signed up for one of the sessions listed below.

Saturday, October 18

• 8am-noon (Scouts)
• 9am-noon
• 10am-1pm
• noon-3pm
• 1-4pm
• 2-5pm

Sunday, October 19

• 10am-1pm
• 1pm-4pm

Make your first and second choice known to your leaders who have sign-up sheets. Parents can attend with youth members. Meet at St. Lukes just before your scheduled time slot.

What's Apple Day all about?

Apple Day is one of two major annual fund raisers for our group. Unlike our annual registration 100% of funds raised through Apple Day donations go to our group. Here are some of the things that these donations get used for:

• purchase and maintenance camping equipment
• subsidizing group events, outings, and camps
• purchasing badges and crests

Scouts don't "sell" apples, there is no fixed price. We seek donations from the public and we need to show our pride and gratitude to the public.

Please show with your uniform in best condition, wear a smile, and speak with a clear voice. Always thank people, even when they decline.

Thank you!

Website Upgrade

With many thanks to Baloo, the 433rd's web site was upgraded last week. You probably won't notice a large difference at first because the upgrade was mostly under the covers as they say.

The original web site was hand crafted by one of our Beaver leaders (Hawkeye). While it was well done, it was a bit difficult to maintain and update. We made the decision to retire the old site after its' sterling service when we found a suitable replacement.

We needed a system that would allow more collaboration and easy maintenance. One of the primary goals was to put in place a system that could be distributed over several volunteers. The system we chose was Wordpress, a popular open source web publishing tool for web pages and blogs. Wordpress is ideal for small scale web publishing and being open source is free.

The initial change was to move the existing content to the new site, update some of the contact information, and make some of the information clearer and easier to find. More changes will come over the next while but the look and feel of the site should remain much the same.

A big thanks to Baloo!

Welcome Chil!

We have a new Cub leader, welcome Chil!

Scouting Background Checks

I've posted an article that talks about the ins and outs of Scouting background checks, see Background Checks and Scouting.

Registration Night - September 9th!

Come one, come all ...

ATTENTION ALL FUTURE and RETURNING BEAVERS, CUBS, SCOUTS and VENTURERS!

The 433rd Toronto Scout Group is holding our 39th Annual Registration Night on:

• Tuesday, September 9, 2008
• 7:00 – 8:30 pm
• St. Luke’s United Church (located at the corner of Kipling and The Kingsway)
• Registration Fee $135.00
  

Beavers: Ages 5 – 7, Kindergarten – Grade 2
Cubs: Ages 8 – 10, Grades 3 - 5
Scouts: Ages 11 – 14, Grades 6 – 9
Venturers: Ages 14 – 17, Grades 10 - 12

Beavers and Scouts meet Wednesday nights, Cubs and Venturers on Tuesday nights at St. Luke’s. Scouting is for girls and boys.

Come and sign up for a great year of friendship, camping, outdoor fun and adventure, games, learning, Cuborees and Beaverees, and much more!

Parents: Are you interested in being a leader or a Group Committee member or just helping out from time to time? Do you have a hobby or special interest you would like to share? Come
and talk with our current leaders on Registration Night, and find out how you can also get involved.

The mission of Scouting is to help youth achieve physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential, not only as individuals but also as responsible citizens. For more information please visit www.gtc.scouts.ca or call 416-233-2937.

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A printable version of this can be found here.

Swimup Camp at Wye Marsh (June 21st)

Information on the swim-up camp has been sent out. It is also available for download here.

Please note that fees for Beavers are different from the other sections as listed above. Please contact your leaders.

Thanks!

Emergency Preparedness Adventure - Photos

Photos and a report on the 433rd's participation at last Saturday's event are posted over here.

For any dad's who are hoping to get the OPP's deluxe weed wacker for Father's Day, may we suggest this instead :-)

Emergency Preparedness Adventure - Saturday, May 10th, 9 am - 4 pm

Emergency Preparedness Adventure at Centennial Park - Saturday, May 10th, 9 am - 4 pm
Cubs and Scouts

For more information see here or download the flyer from here.

The group will be picking up the registration cost. Please let your section leaders know who will be attending.

UPDATE:

The event will be held near the Conservatory (Site #8 on the map off Rathburn and Elmcrest) west of the Olympium. See the official map of Centennial Park, here (warning large download). Parking near the site is limited and we will probably use the large lot between the Olympium and the Stadium about 600meters from the site.

Family Picnic Day at Woodland Trails - Sunday, June 29, 2-7pm

The GTC is having a family picnic day on Sunday, June 29th at Woodland Trails near Ballantrae/Stouville. A rain date has been set for July 6th.

This event is open to individual families - it is not a group run event.

Registration forms are available here. Registration runs into June but there is a bonus for registration before May 9th.

Directions to Woodland Trails are available here and a map is here.

Also please see the notes on parking and shuttle buses.

Spring Events Update - March 21st

Hi everyone here's and update on the spring events. These apply to all sections unless noted.

Lights off for Earth Hour - Saturday March 29th 8pm-9pm

This is a great awareness event for the environment!

• You can read more about this in my previous post, here.
• The Toronto Star is having a contest and is giving away 60 bicycles, here.

Get your projects ready! Hobby Craft Show - Saturday April 5, 1-3 pm

For more information see our update, here.

Blue Jay’s Youth in Scouting Day - Sunday April 20, 1 pm

Tickets are available for a Blue Jays .v. the Detroit Red Sox. Talk to your section leaders if you are interested so that we may help organize this. More information can be found here.

West Deane Park / Pitch In Canada -April 26, 2008, 10am - 3pm

Beavers and Cubs will participate in our annual pitch-in event at West Deane Park by the picnic area off Martingrove. Lunch is provided.

Rouge Valley Tree Plant - April 27

Scouts and Ventures will be participating in a tree plant in the Rouge Valley.
More information to come.

Year end camp at the Wye Marsh (near Midland) - June 20-22, 2008.

Section leaders will need to confirm who will be coming.

Polite Comments are Welcome, Spam is Not

This is the closest thing to a policy on Commenting, Spam, and offensive language in comments.

BP Banquet

Our annual Baden Powel Banquet was held on Wednesday, February 20th at St. Lukes United Church.

The Scouts served up Pizza.
There were announcements, toasts, and thank yous. And a raffle.










Kub Kar, Beaver Buggy, and Scout Truck races were held before dinner. Awards were given to the fastest Kub Kar and the best design (as judged by the Beavers).

A great time was had by all.

Observatory Tour - March 4th, 2008

For information on the David Dunlap Observatory tour and directions, please see here.

Upcoming Events - All Sections - Spring 2008

Keep the following dates:

• Baden Powell Banquet (February 20)
• Church Parade (February 24)
• Humber West Hobby Show (April 5)
  
• Swim-up Camp at Wye Marsh (June 20-21-22)
  

Annual Humber West Hobby Show

The annual Hobby Show for The Alders, Humber West , and Old Mill will be on Saturday, April 5th from 1-3pm at St. Lukes United Church.

The Hobby Show is open to all sections. There are individual and group projects. Only one project can be entered per category - there are over 120! Youth compete within their section and age. There will be lots of awards.

Click on the links below were updated on March 21:

1. Hobby show flyer.
2. Letter to parents.
3. Details on the classes (categories) and the Venturer competition.
4. Details on the competition rules.
   
5. Details of the classes and rules in one file (#3 and #4).
   

We will be receiving entries the evening before the show. (Time to be updated).

There is also this year the Venturer Digital Challenge.

Baden Powell Banquet

Our annual banquet honouring Baden Powell will be held on Wednesday, February 20th at St. Lukes United.

There will be food and prizes.

Before dinner the Beaver Buggy, Cub Kar, and Scout 18-wheeler races will be run.

See your section leaders for details.