Beavers

Here is a (slightly modified to remove some personal details) email that I just sent out to parents of the 24th Ottawa Beavers and Scouts. If you happen to be involved with the Scouting movement in Ottawa but are not a member of one of the below groups, yet would still like to get involved in this fundraiser, please feel free to contact me as we'd love to include you!

Otherwise if you just live in the area, please drop by and enjoy some hot chocolate, and make a donation to a good cause!

This week's Beaver meeting involved a lesson on trees, along with an associated craft. To prepare, I went around the neighbourhood picking leaves off the trees. While many had fallen, there were still lots left - some not even turned colour yet. As far as softwoods go, I only took in 2 samples - a small clipping from the spruce in our backyard, and another small clipping from our cedar hedge. The main reason for this was that the craft involved the leaves of the hardwoods. Speaking of which, I managed to get a good number of leaves from White Oak, Sugar Maple, Manitoba Maple (which I learned when looking it up, is actually a 'real' maple, contrary to popular belief), Red Maple, Corkscrew Willow, Service Berry (really nice red all year long), Mountain Ash (Dogberry), Chestnut, and yet another type of maple whose name I could not find in the short time I had to look it up.

I started the talk with a few words about the importance of Nature in the Scouting movement, and reminded the boys that our Beaver Promise is to take care of the world. I also painted a wondrous picture for them and said that if you took an experienced Scout and blindfolded him, and dropped him anywhere in Canada, he'd be able to tell you where he is based on trees, and other vegetation and animals that he saw around him. As an example I then held up the piece of Cedar I had, and mentioned that in Nova Scotia, where I am from, cedars are very uncommon.

Last year my oldest son was hearing a lot of great stuff from his friends about Beavers, which here in Canada is the entry level into the Scouting movement - for 5 to 7 year olds. Unfortunately the Colony that his friends went (and still go) to meet on Thursday nights, and we already had something in that timeslot on a regular basis. So I went looking around and found another nearby colony that had been on hiatus for a couple of years because they had no leaders. They were trying to get back together and needed volunteers - so I volunteered!

That was last May. The process includes an interview, a police records check, and a number of other steps, but I had them all completed for September when the first meeting was to take place. The other night was our Colony's 2nd meeting, and it was a great success! There are 10 kids, and one of the other parents volunteered to be a leader as well, so we have things well underway.