Scotch College

Busy, productive half -year for Venturers

The 1st Hawthorn Venturer Unit enjoyed a busy, productive and successful time during the first half of 2006. In March, Jonathan Goldsmith and Lachlan Fraser (both ’05) were presented with their Queen’s Scout awards. This is the highest award achievable by a Venturer Scout and requires over 300 hours of effort in a variety of areas.

In April, four members of the unit attended the Hoadley Hide, a four-day competition hike against Venturers from all over the state. Congratulations to our team of Tom Rees (Year 12), Chris Baker (Year 11), Andrew Sandbach (Year 9) and Calvin Tan (Year 9) who were runners-up. At the same time, a further four members of the unit attended a four-day Queen’s Scout hike in the Otways.

In May, we challenged the Rovers to a game of thunder hockey. Everyone had fun showing their competitive sides as well as socialising with the Rovers. The Venturers were victorious 15-7. At the end of May past members of the unit and Rover Crew joined us in a surprise farewell dinner for Assistant Venturer Leader Andrew McKeon (’91). Andy has been a leader with the unit for the past 12 years, and in that time has held a variety of roles including District Venturer Leader. We wish him well in his new job in the USA.

We celebrated the end of Term 2 with one of our traditional all-nighters, screening movies and playing Game Cube all night in the Scout Hall. It was an exciting way to start the holidays – although very few of us got any sleep that night.

David King
Year 12