1st Asquith Scout Group

Jamboree of the Air/Internet (JOTA/JOTI) is being held this year on the weekend 14th-16th October. It is an opportunity for Scouts all around the world to meet and converse through Amateur radio networks and the Internet.

The 1st Asquith Scout Group will be participating via the amatuer radio network and Scouting Internet chat sites from our Scout hall on Saturday the 15th October from 1pm to 10pm and we are offering an open invitation to other Scout groups to attend. There will be sausage sandwiches and drinks for sale.

During past JOTAs we have made contact with Australian Scouts both locally and throughout Australia as well as Scouts in the UK, USA, Japan, Carribean etc. If you wish to attend with a mob, pack, troop etc please advise us beforehand so that we can co-ordinate appropriate times to avoid busy periods.

On Thursday 9th September the Scouts attended Hornsby Rifle Range. Where they had instruction on firearm safety and how to shoot. They then had the chance to fire 50 rounds at a paper target with a .22 rifle.

On Monday 2nd of August the Scouts attended Hornsby Slot Cars at Waitara. There was lots of racing with everyone
getting four 10 minute races. There was a thrilling finish in the final race of the night. Only centimetres separated 1st and 2nd after 10 minutes of racing.

On Saturday 21 November 2009, 11 Scouts and 2 Leaders from Asquith had an abseiling day at Berowra.

The abseiling was supervised by 5 qualified Sydney North Region abseiling instructors and 2 Venturers. The scouts were instructed on safety around cliff faces, knots used in abseiling and abseiling technique.

They then had the opportunity to complete up to 6 abseils on the 3 abseil descents. All the descents were about 10 metres high which gave enough variety for the keenest scout to try different types of cliff faces.

A good day was had by all.

A big thanks to Geoff Tosio from Mt Colah-Mt Kuring-gai Venturer Unit and the other Instructors and Venturers who gave their time to make this day happen.

Photos from the day can be viewed here : http://bit.ly/ScoutsAbseil

At 07:00 on Friday 28th August 2009 2 Asquith Leaders, a parent and a ring-in departed Brooklyn for 100 kilometres of pain.

Along the way they endured cramps, darkness (they walked through the night) and some of the most fantastic scenery Sydney can offer.

Joining Asquith Leaders Kevin Jardine and John Creasey were parent Rudy Jongens and ring-in Nick Shorter, who replaced Kevin Goodwin late in the piece due to injury.

They managed the gruelling 100 kilometres in 22 hours and 41 minutes, finishing at 5:41am on Saturday. As part of there effort they also managed to raise over $6000 for OXFAM.

Other members of the team Cathy Jongens, Julie Creasey and Kevin Goodwin provided support at the checkpoints. "Cathy was amazing, she was there all day and all night" commented John Creasey in praise of the efforts of the support crew.

After beating there time last year of over 29 hours by more than 6 and half hours it looks like it's time to hang up the hiking boots for this team of champions, who can now reveal that there secret weapon was Julie's chocolate chip cookies!

You can still show your support by donating to OXFAM here.

1st Asquith Scouts visited Berowra Fire station on Monday, a fantastic time was had by all. The firies gave us a demonstration of how they cut cars up and one of our Scouts, Tom, got to have a go of the cutting tool.

1st Asquith Scout Troop took out the Easter Camp Austag title over the Easter long weekend.  Tom's patrol beat highly fancied Alex's Patrol in the final for Asquith to take the top two places.  It was hard fought game with the lead changing several times. PL Tom said after the game " I don't know how we did it , but i'm so happy to have beaten Alex"

1st Asquith is now the proud holder of the 1st Asquith Austag Trophy, the first time we have won the comp since we donated the trophy back in 2002.