2017 Beaver Rose Scout Competition

Named after the fondly remembered and legendary Ed "Beaver" Rose, Beaver Rose is an annual Two Oceans District Competition that tests the Scouts' camping skills.

Based at the Rotary Campsite in Glencairn, this year's theme was Medieval and saw two of our patrols represent 1st Muizenberg, namely the Seals and the Seagulls. Each Patrol Leader provided us with a report on the event below.

" On Saturday afternoon I arrived at Beaver Rose to a well organized patrol that were pitching tents and making fires (controlled). Soon after my arrival we were rushed into the Spare Time Activities which consisted of making gadgets and cooking food.

The day was long and we all became tired with all the work and fun we had. Before the evening ended we participated in a night course where we learned how to make a compass with a lemon and so much more.

That night when I took a walk to get some fresh air I wandered past a troop that had a good fire going and I decided to introduce myself. We spoke and had a few laughs and they told me about a mysterious boy that was sleep-walking from the bathroom. The next morning we were informed that it was our very own Liam Bowers that had sleep-walked all the way to the bathroom and back. He even scared one of the Rovers when he told them that he was walking to his house at number 11 (we were team 11). We all had a good laugh and a very confused Liam remembered nothing.

The work continued the next day, finishing off our STA's and packing up when we were done. Beaver Rose took its toll on all of us but we all had fun and learned a lot." - Hannah Cogill, Seals Patrol Leader.

"On Saturday 6 May, the scouts arrived at the Sea Scout Base to start loading the equipment needed for the Beaver Rose Scout Camping Competition onto the trailer.

After arriving at the campsite in Glencairn we unloaded the trailers and went to register the two patrols partaking. We then received our campsites. Campsite 11 for the Seals and Campsite 13 for the Seagulls. After opening parade, we started to set up our tent and layout our campsite. Advancement tests were taking place every 30 minutes at Headquarters.

We had our fire burning by 4 ‘o clock . We underestimated the time it would take to cook the potjie and started to prepare too late. We had undercooked and burnt dinner at 8pm. After washing up, the night activities started. We completed 2 stations, one of which the patrol members were to brew a concoction and I had to drink it. I was lucky and it tasted like molten honey. After the night activities ended, we were allowed to go to bed.

Breakfast consisted of boiled eggs only.

I sadly didn’t have enough time to construct anything other than a fence and a gateway, supported by my patrol members. We also had a washup stand, which was only kept from falling over by guidelines. After our burnt lunch we started to take apart the constructions and campsite. After closing parade we packed the trailer and headed for the Sea Scout Base. Once we were done packing away, we were rewarded with delicious cake slices for all we’d been through." - Mika Wessels, Seagulls Patrol Leader

Last year, the Two Oceans District decided to create the Richard Storey Memorial Cooking Trophy which was presented to the winning Patrol by our Pack Scouter Lisa Storey. The Trophy has been dedicated to the memory of former Group Scouter, Richard Storey and was not finished in time for last year's competition. Created by District Commissioner Gavin Withers, using Richard Storey's own mini potjie pot, the Trophy was ready to be presented at this year's event. Lisa Storey was asked to choose the plaque for the trophy from each patrol's STA entry and presented the Trophy to the winning patrol.

Scout Competitions are dedicated to the development of our youth, from skills improvement to leadership training and just all round good fun, and Beaver Rose is yet another great opportunity for our patrols to grow in their Scouting journey. Thank you to our two Patrol Leaders for giving us some insight into their weekend. We look forward to the next one!