By Paul Rustomji of 1st Austinmer Scouts

Austinmer Scout Group held its once-a-year group-wide meeting on Monday, 10 March.

It is always an opportunity for all our age groups to get together and see what has happened over the past 12 months. A definite highlight of the evening was our Cubs leader, Scott, noting the ever-growing number of Cubs in our cub pack (now up to about 25 cubs). Wima Li, our Scout leader, recognised Emily S for achieving the most nights camped (32) during a scouting year and also Emily quite likely having the largest number of camping nights (totalling in the 90s) of all Austinmer Scouts. Big well done there to Emily S, who has now graduated from the Scout Unit and moved on to Venturers, where no doubt big things will happen. Keep up the good work, Emily! Our 15- to 18-year-old Venturers had another big year with an epic four-night canoe expedition plus multi-day hikes in the Blue Mountains and Kosciuszko National Park being highlights. By the time this edition of the Flame gets out, our Venturers should be on their 10-day Great Barrier Reef sailing trip, which they have co-funded through several Bunnings BBQs.

Even though we’ve got a youth membership of about 60 kids across the four sections, there is always room for more at Austinmer Scout Group.

So if you think joining us could be something great for yourself (as a youth member or adult leader) or your child, please get in touch with Steve T, our Group Leader, on 0409 695 575.

Scouts (13-15 years) and Venturers (15-18 years) meet on Monday nights at our scout hall. Joeys (6-9 years) and Cubs meet on Wednesday afternoons and evenings. But with lots of weekend adventures!