“Get out of the blood zone!” says a Bowen Island Cub Scout to one of his friends, following a short lesson on knife skills.
The blood zone, if you haven’t heard of it, is the arms-length area surrounding a person holding a knife, and staying out of that zone is one of the main safety rules the Cubs are expected to follow when handling pocket knives.
“Cubs in particular really love sitting with a stick and whittling away at it,” says Scout leader Kenneth DeGraaf. “It can be really amazing for parents to see their 7 or 8 year old sitting so quietly for such a length of time with just a piece of wood for entertainment.”
DeGraaf has been working as a leader with the Bowen Island Cub Scouts for a year now, and is one of a number of new leaders that has made it possible for the creation of a Beaver colony (ages 5 -7), a Cub troop (ages 8 -10) and a Scout troop (ages 11 -14) to form here.
“Last year we had a number of Scout-aged participants in the program, but not enough leaders to create a troop,” says DeGraaf. “Now we have actual leaders for a Scout troop, and three youth. We would like to get that number up to five.”
DeGraaf says all the Cub Scout programs focus on community service (and for Scouts, this work counts towards high school requirements for community service) and youth-led activities.
“If the youth express an interest in something, we try to set up a program that makes it possible to reach their goal,” he says. “They can choose their adventures, we encourage that. If they want to rock climb, well we go through a series of events that teach them how to do that safely.”
Roughly every three years, Scouts Canada hosts a gathering of youth and their leaders from across the country. Next July, just following celebrations for Canada’s 150th birthday, the Jamboree will take place near Halifax, N.S.
DeGraaf says the first fundraising plan will likely be “Apple Day,” in October. On that day, Bowen Island Cub Scouts will be on the street asking for donations, and offering apples in return.
For more information about Bowen Island Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, contact Euan Sinclair at [email protected].
