Youth of the 1st Bancroft Scouting Group are inviting community members to enjoy the final days of winter at a Quebec-inspired Winter Carnaval.
The family-friendly event is taking over the Big Rock Eco Retreat, located on the south side of Weslemkoon Lake in Addington Highlands east of Bancroft, on Saturday, March 22. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the glamping retreat will turn into a winter festival with outdoor activities, skills demonstrations, entertainment, and sweet treats.
The event is free with a donation of a non-perishable food item in support of the North Hastings Food Bank and the Denbigh Community Food Bank.
The 1st Bancroft Scouting Group is made up of 24 youth ranging from five to 15 years in age, consisting of Beaver Scouts (ages five to seven), Cub Scouts (ages eight to 10), Scouts (ages 11 to 14), and a few Venture Scouts (ages 15 to 17). A regional affiliate under Scouts Canada, the co-ed group engages in outdoor activities to develop life skills like leadership, teamwork, and communication.
The Winter Carnaval will be the regional group’s contribution for the final week of the Scouts Canada National Challenge, an event that invites all scout groups across the country to participate and compete in weekly challenges under a specific theme.
This year’s French Carnaval Challenge will take youth on a cultural adventure through French Canadian traditions and places over four weeks, with Scouts Canada sharing an educational video that includes a weekly challenge for the scout groups. Each week, the members can vote for a winning group, and at the end of the four weeks there will be an overall winner of the challenge.
“The reason why we love doing these challenges is it’s a fun way to connect with scouting groups across Canada, where we get to see what they do,” says Loretta Kasperski, a Scouter for the 1st Bancroft Scouting Group. “The youth get to know how big of an organization it is that they’re a part of and they see the positive impact they can have on the community.”
In the first week, the scouts were challenged to make a voyageur sash (ceinture fléchée), a handwoven sash worn by French Canadian voyageurs during the fur trade. Two to three metres in length, the sash had an important functional purpose as well as being fashionable: when wrapped tightly around the upper waist, it supported the lower back when the voyageurs were paddling and portaging. Today, it remains an important symbol and dress in Métis culture.
“Because a Voyager Sash has ties to not only the French history but was also influenced by the Indigenous groups here in Canada, we made a beaded bracelet in a sash formation,” says Kasperski.
For the second week, the scouts were challenged to make their own maple taffy, with the Bancroft group learning how to tap a maple tree and boil down the sap. It’s one of the activities that will be available during the Winter Carnival event on March 22.
“The youth said they wanted to bring some of the activities that we’ve been doing to the Carnaval, so the community can experience what we’ve been doing,” says Kasperski.
The scouts will also be hosting other outdoor activities during the Winter Carnival, including a snow sculpture contest, racing wooden snakes down the hill, and “mini canoe races” using cut-out canoes the group made for the Bancroft Santa Claus Parade fastened to toboggans.
There will also be a scout-led special performance from Jungle Nights, a scouting group from the Oshawa area, that will present the story of The Jungle Book.
“It’s a combination of storytelling, shadow puppets, and people in full costumes that come out into the audience, and it just brings The Jungle Book to life,” says Kasperski, noting that the Cub program is based on the famed story.
In between the shows, the 1st Bancroft Scouting Group will be playing “wide” games that keep them active and engaging in teamwork and leadership.
“Whenever they get a crowd, they’ll do a skit, a song, and cheers, to show how we do our scouting campfires,” adds Kasperski.
As for the afternoon menu, the Bancroft Lions Club will be cooking up a cash-only BBQ and there will be cotton candy, popcorn, slushies, and maple taffy available, as well as free hot chocolate. There will also be live music throughout the day and heated areas for relaxation and warmth.
While the youth had an elf hut at the Santa Claus Parade where they were giving out free hot chocolate, they have never hosted a large event like this themselves. But, Kasperski says, the scouts are getting quite creative with their ideas — including wanting to bring a ferris wheel to the winter event.
“It’s about getting innovative because they have great ideas and we have to make it more practical for them,” Kasperski says with a laugh. “They’re having a lot of fun.”
