The Cubs made some beautiful Mother's Day presents earlier in May too - magnificent pictures in all manner of colours with animals and scenes of all types! I think they were good enough to hang in an art gallery, and I am sure all the Mother's must have been very proud and pleased to receive their lovely gifts and cards.

Soon we will be trying our hand at carving an animal! This will be a test of skill and imagination. We also hope to have a special visitor come to talk with the Cubs. Later in the month we have planned a morning orienteering - the Cubs will be provided with a map which they will have to read with accuracy in order to make their way round a trail at Blewett's Pines - that should be fun! I wonder if we will lose anyone ... tune into the next exciting edition of the Cub News to find out what happened!

Don't forget, if you are (or if you have a child who is) between the ages of 8 and 10 you can become a Cub and join in the fun we have each week. If you want to find out more, just come along to Cubs on Tuesday night (starting at 7.00 pm) or give me a call.

The Scout Troop welcomes Melinda Latimer, who was invested on Thursday, 25 May. Melinda had to first of all pass her initiation test and this was to cross a bridge made from only two ropes. Some might think that this is easy, however, Melinda had to do it blindfolded and the bridge was constructed by the Scouts!

The rope bridge was built between two trees using some knots that were invented by the Scouts themselves. After the bridge was tested using the reluctant Leader (as he was the heaviest!) and declared safe by the Scouts, the Scouts made their way from one side to the other while others swung the ropes back and forth to add to the enjoyment.

As an experiment to determine the actual breaking strain of the rope, a Scout was added, one at a time, and the Troop was able to determine to their great enjoyment that their rope is rated to hold a maximum of 5 Scouts before it will break.

Melinda's investiture was held inside the hall, and this time she had to stand on another rope bridge suspended about one metre off the floor. Congratulations Melinda and welcome to the Troop.

The Campfire Cooking Challenge was to cook an egg using a potato, some aluminium foil and, of course, a campfire. The results are unbelievable when the Scouts put their minds to the task.

The trick is to select a potato big enough to hold an egg when it has been hollowed out. Having selected your potato, you cautiously cut the top off the potato (not your fingers) with a very sharp knife and then scoop out a hole in the potato with a teaspoon, being careful not to put the teaspoon right through the bottom of the potato. Having scooped out the hole, you have to make sure that the hole is big enough to hold the egg. Satisfied that the egg will fit, you break the egg shell and place the egg in the potato. At this stage you find out how good you estimating skills have been. If you underestimated the size of the egg then you end up with egg all over your hands. If you guessed right, the egg fits into the potato and then you place the potato top back onto the potato and stick a few toothpicks in it to keep the top on.

Once you are happy with the result, you wrap the potato up in some aluminium foil and place it in the coals of the ready-made campfire. You leave your prospective meal in the fire for about 10 to 15 minutes, turning gently every few minutes. As you can imagine, this part of the Campfire Cooking Challenge can be very boring for 11 and 12 year old Scouts, so the potato parcels are generally poked, rolled and prodded about the fire until the foil starts to disintegrate and the potatoes all get mixed up so that no-one knows who owns which potato.

Having waited for an interminable amount of time, the potatoes are rescued from the fire, the foil opened up, the potato top removed, and then you can enjoy your egg and potato delight around the campfire on a cold autumn night. What better way to finish your meal, than with a mug of Milo.