Centenary a launching pad for Minnamurra cub pack

KATINA CURTIS

ON Wednesday night the Minnamurra cub pack looked back at the beginning of the scouting movement in Australia and forward to the expansion of their own group.

Cub leader Danusia Waite said that while last year was the centenary of the international scouting movement, this year marks 100 years since scouts first stared in Australia.

The Minnamurra cubs celebrated this milestone with a cake that also marked the birthday of scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell.

“As well as the cake, we built rafts out of bamboo sticks, rope and tyres and this week we’re going to be floating those rafts on Minnamurra river,” Ms Waite said.

On Saturday they held an open day as part of an initiative to let people learn about the scout movement across the Illawarra.

Ms Waite said this year would be a big one, particularly with a lot of special activities planned for the Australian Scouting centenary.

These include a parade at the Sydney Royal Easter Show involving cubs and scouts from across NSW.

Ms Waite said the Minnamurra group was also looking to expand to include a scout troupe in the future.

“Minnamurra used to be a very strong group and now we’re getting that way again,” she said.

“Although Minnamurra only has a cub group, we would like to give the children the opportunity to be in a scout troupe so we’re looking for leaders.”

She said they were limited at the moment because they could not accept any more children into the group, as cubs or scouts, without finding more adults to be leaders.

“The children develop so much. You can see them come in at seven and a half and they just grow in confidence,” she said.

If you are interested in helping out or want to find out more about cubs and scouts, call Danusia Waite on 0407 999 082.