Thursday 26th July 2012 - Blair Atholl Jamborette

KastleKurrents
Thursday 26th July 2012
That’s it.
The Jamborette is over and you are all heading away from Blair Atholl. I
hope that you have enjoyed your time here. It has been a privilege and an
honour to be your Camp Chief.
As you leave Blair Atholl I would ask you to reflect on all the fun you had
here, the people you have met and the friends you have made. The camp
may be over but you are now a member of our Blair Atholl family and the
words Blair Atholl are forever stamped on your scouting life; the memories
of your time here will stay with you forever. Cherish them!
If you are going on to home hospitality, I hope you enjoy that just as
much as the Jamborette itself and when the time comes I hope you have a
safe journey home.
HASTE YE BACK!!!
Camp Chief
www.jamborette.org.uk
Thursday 26th July 2012
Burn Supper in one of the Subcamps above and in the staff mess below.
Burns Supper
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the Scotsman, Robert Burns. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, sometimes also known as Burns Night. At camp we
had our Burns Supper on the 25th of July. We were served a traditional meal of soup, haggis neeps and tatties, trifle followed by cheese with oatcakes.
On the top table were Gregor Fisher, Fumiaki Sagisaka, Andrew Sharkey, Ken Campbell, Bev McNab and
Sandy Black.
The haggis was piped in and carried around the mess by one of our camp chefs, Jamie Tuberfield. Our master of ceremonies was Sandy, who also entertained us with some delightful music and songs. Ken recited the
extensive, address to the haggis with Bev saying grace before the meal began. Gregor gave a comparison
between Baden Powell and Robert Burns lace with some of Burn’s poetry. Fumiaki spoke on behave of our
overseas guests on friendship.
Everyone was well fed and well entertained.
Leaders Try Ready Steady Cook
www.jamborette.org.uk
Thursday 26th July 2012
KEILIDH AT THE KASTLE
Wednesday evening entertainment involved a lively Keilidh band on stage for a massive Keilidh.
The dance was held in the moonlight under the stars which made it extra special event.
Olympic Torch Relay
We have a few Olympic torch bearers at Blair Atholl camp
this year. Christopher from admin, Uncle Colin from Robertson and Ross from activities were three of 8000 runners.
Christopher was running with the torch in Aberdeen Union
Street. Supported by friends family and the scouting organise
action. As he was on the bus getting ready for the 300m run
the nerves were getting to him he didn’t want to trip or run out
of breath. When he got off the bus he was greeted by the metro
police who gave him the torch and told him “just to have fun” as he got
the flame the staff told him to take his time. As he came to the kissing
point of the flame he was met by world class golfing legend Colin Montgomery.
Uncle Colin started the torch convoy in Scone Palace Perth on the 19th of
June this year and held the torch for some of the way to Newburgh. He
was chosen to carry the torch because of the work he does for scouting.
Ross Kennedy said, ‘it was a once in a lifetime experience’, He also told
us, “all 8000 Holes in the torch represented all the people who had ran
with it.”
By Fionn Murray, Conor Murray, Murdo McNeilage, Douglas Young
and Thomas Berry
www.jamborette.org.uk
Thursday 26th July 2012
The
Final
Scores:
ATHOLANTICS
Games and fun, fun, fun today
as we played for Subcamp
honour at the Atholantic
Games.
www.jamborette.org.uk
Morrison-333 1st
Maclean-308
2nd
Stewart-294
3rd
MacDonald-293 4th
Robertson-287 6th
Murray-285
7th
Thursday 26th July 2012
What did you like most about camp?
It has been nine days and everything is starting to be taken down and neatly packed away. Soon Scouts will
be leaving Target Park in their masses. So we took this opportunity to interview people from various Subcamps and ask them to reflect on the camp so far and tell us the positive and negative points. To our surprise
there was no one clear response. They varied from “I don’t speak English” to “Inspection wasn’t that bad.”
Especially when it came to the positive aspects of camp there the replies were mainly based on how good and
varied all the activities were from fencing to the infamous Atholl Experience.
However the negatives comprised mainly of Inspection and the rainfall. Many people did not like waking up
early just for inspection. Bryan Y from Texas told us in confidence that he felt that even if the campsite was
completely sterilised it would not have passed Camp Chief Sharkey’s ridiculously high standards.
On the bright side, the majority of campers enjoyed the occasional sunshine. Some people answered this question with “I enjoyed not having to be nagged by my parents” and “I enjoyed being self-sufficient”. There was
also the worrying love and now fixation of Irn Bru.
When asked what they looked forward to one person said, “My bed, the consistent weather and my parents
A.K.A my waiters.” Most people were starting to miss home and wanted to go home but did not want to lose
the friends they had made here.
So as we journey home and walk our separate paths here’s to the future and Blair 2014.
By Naveen Selvaraj and Christopher Johnson
It’s Crate Fun
Reporters, Marc, Ellie and Ryan went out on a mission to find people having a crate time, out on the field
of dreams. They found the vested Norwegian climbers, Kristoffer and Kristien .
The goal in crate building is to reach the branch of
glory, which only 4 crate Scouts have reached. It
was a first time crate building for these muscular
Norwegian boys. Kristoffer faired slightly better
than Kristien reaching 13 and demolishing Kristien’s
weak and fairly shambolic effort of ten crates. The
cratest crate climber has reached the highest heights
of 16 crates. As well as crate climbing the two Nordics also spend much of their time in the phenomenal town (road) of Pitlochry. They went 4 times.
That’s cratezy. When asked why they simply can
not resist the small town the replied, “we are no the
search for Irn-Bru.
www.jamborette.org.uk
Thursday 26th July 2012
Some Camp Humour
Information, Please
The story is told of an American lady who was rather old-fashioned, always quite delicate and elegant, especially
in her language. She and her husband were planning a week’s holiday in Scotland, so she wrote to a particular
campground asking for a reservation. She wanted to make sure the campground was fully equipped, but didn’t
quite know how to ask about the toilet facilities. She just couldn’t bring herself to write the word “toilet” in her letter. After much deliberation, she finally came up with the old-fashioned term BATHROOM COMMODE. But when
she wrote that down, she still thought she was being too forward. So she started all over again, rewrote the entire
letter referring to the bathroom commode merely as the BC: “Does the campground have it’s own BC?” is what
she actually wrote. Well, the campground owner wasn’t old-fashioned at all and when he got the letter, he just
couldn’t figure out what the woman was talking about. That BC business really stumped him. After worrying about
it for awhile, he showed the letter to several campers, but they couldn’t imagine what the lady meant either. So
the campground owner, finally coming to the conclusion that the lady must be asking about the local Baptist
Church, sat down and wrote the following reply:
Dear Madam:
I regret very much the delay in answering your letter, but I now take pleasure in informing you that a BC is located
nine miles north of the campground and is capable of seating 250 people at one time. I admit it is quite a distance
away, if you are in the habit of going regularly, but no doubt you will be pleased to know that a great number of
people take their lunches along and make a day of it. They usually arrive early and stay late. It is such a beautiful
facility and the acoustics are marvellous…even the normal delivery sounds can be heard. The last time my wife
and I went was six years ago, and it was so crowded we had to stand up the whole time we were there. It may
interest you to know that right now a supper is planned to raise money to buy more seats. They are going to hold
it in the basement of the BC. I would like to say it pains me very much not to be able to go more regularly, but it
surely is no lack of desire on my part. As we grow old, it seems to be more of an effort, particularly in cold
weather. If you do decide to come down to our campground, perhaps I could go with you the first time you go, sit
with you, and introduce you to all the other folks. Remember, this is a friendly community.
Sincerely,
(Campground Owner)
Life Lessons
Average temperature increases with the amount of clothing brought.
Tent stakes come only in the quantity “N-1″ where N is the number of stakes necessary to stake down a tent.
Propane/butane tanks that are full when they are packed, will unexplainably empty themselves before you
can reach the campsite.
Given a chance, matches will find a way to get wet.
Your side of the tent is the side that leaks.
The weight in a backpack can never remain uniformly distributed.
The sun sets three-and-a-half times faster than normal when you’re trying to set up camp.
www.jamborette.org.uk
Thursday 26th July 2012
Dear Aunti Freeze,
I’m so sad I don’t know what to do. Camp is ending and it happened so quick. All my new friends are
going home , activities are over, and sub-camps are being torn down. I’m feeling depressed, what
can I do?
Blue guy from Morrison
Dear Blue guy,
I know exactly what you mean. Aunti Freeze has felt exactly that way at the end of so many camps.
Everyone leaves and your dear Auntie is left alone in a tent in the Blair Bothy until next camp. Let
me tell you what I do to make myself feel better. I remember all the good times I had over the last
12 days, I smile when I think about all the new friends I made from around the world, laugh at the
silly things I’ve seen here, and remember the rain and sun (mostly the sun). I look at all my photos
of the activities, meals, and mud. I still sing along with the memories of the campfires, grin at the
Uncles, Aunties and Cousins trying to get me to clean my tent.
I keep thinking back about this camp and before you know it, it is time for the next Blair camp.
You can stay in touch with your new friends on Facebook or by e-mail. Aunti will be on Facebook as
soon as she can figure out how to plug her computer in to a current bush.
Aunti is never lonely or sad for long as long as I remember all of the above things. Try it yourself, it
works. Scouting is never over, it only moves to the next page of your lifetime book.
Aunti Freeze will see some of you at next camp and will meet a whole lot of new faces also.
Haste ye back.
Aunti Freeze, the Happy Memory Goddess
Setting Up Camp
The loaded mini-van pulled into the only remaining campsite. Four children leaped from the vehicle and
began feverishly unloading gear and setting up the tent. The boys rushed to gather firewood, while the girls
and their mother set up the camp stove and cooking utensils.
A nearby camper marvelled to the youngsters’ father, “That, sir, is some display of teamwork.”
The father replied, “I have a system — no one goes to the bathroom until the camp is set up.”
Camper Comments
These are actual comments left on Forest Service registration sheets and comment cards by backpackers
completing camping trips:
“A small deer came into my camp and stole my bag of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed?
Please call.”
“Escalators would help on steep uphill sections.”
“Trails need to be wider so people can walk while holding hands.”
“All the mile markers are missing this year.”
“Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill.”
“Please pave the trails so they can be ploughed of snow in the winter.”
“Chair lifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to
them.”
“Reflectors need to be placed on trees every 50 feet so people can hike at night with flashlights.”
www.jamborette.org.uk
Thursday 26th July 2012
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Bella!
Bella who?
Bella bottom
trousers!
Friday
6pm
Camp Chiefs
Reception
In The Castle
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Ben!
Ben who?
Ben knocking on
this door all
morning!
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Beezer!
Beezer who?
Beezer black and
yellow and make
honey!
The Grand Staff Dinner
Friday 7.45pm
In The Staff Mess
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Althea!
Althea who?
Althea later, alligator!
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Alva!
Alva who?
Alva heart!
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Alvin!
Alvin who!
Alvin a great time,
how about you?
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Amahl!
Amahl who?
Amahl shook up!
www.jamborette.org.uk