Hanging Up My Woggle

It is without any mixed feelings that I am retiring from Scouts.

I started on the committee 10 years ago, when George's Cub Leader assured me it wasn’t a huge commitment. Ha! As the only chick and blonde, they naturally insisted I be the secretary. I nearly laughed in their faces. Never the less, I took copious minutes and nagged them relentlessly about having NOT done their action points. Like small boys, they responded so well to this treatment, they decided I should be President when the position became available.

“Whoa up there, fellas!” I objected. “I don’t remember putting my hand up for that role.”

“ No, you didn’t,” they cheerfully conceded. “But we decided you should do it.”

And there you have it: more proof that righteousness is its own punishment.

So after 5 years of cheap wine fuelled meetings, the foundations of what has become life-long friendships, ambitious intentions and some material sucesses, we faced a crisis that threatened the future of the group; a shortage of Cub Leaders.

“Alright,” I said. “I’ll be a Leader.” (What was that about righteousness?)

I’ll do a separate post on the required training ….it does deserve one. Let me just whet your appetite with a couple of headlines like “Middle of Winter", “3-Day Weekend”, “Kumbaya”, “Home-Brand Food” and “No Alcohol”. What a treat!

I’ve just emailed my very last program ever to the other two Leaders. It’s the end of an era, with highlights including:  

    ·    Flesh coloured play-doh wounds (you can impale them with nails for extra effect), fake blood,   

        Vaseline blobs covered with tissue that look exactly like blisters, and smudged eye-liner black-eyes

    ·      Jars of rotting vegetation that after a few weeks, smell so bad you could throw up      

    ·      Scuba diving at the local pool     

    ·   Making sherbet, lava lamps, sock puppets, fires and worm farms     

    ·      Excursions to gardens, libraries, the city and the local park

    ·      Clean Up Australia and Tree Planting community days   

    ·      Light aircraft flights over Port Philip Bay

    ·    Family camps – all of them

    ·      District camps – some of them

    ·   Training camps – none of them

Anyone looking for a voluntary position working with youth? Let me know I can forward you the details!