Hunter Sherry, Isla McNamee, and Sam Ried of the 1st Huntingdon Scouts
This year’s Chavalla Rally at the Ormstown Recreation Center was a big hit! With a near-record number of people (171) approximately half were racers. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of attending, the Chavalla Rally is a tournament that brings together Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, and Rovers from the region to race handmade vehicles. Each age group makes a different type of vehicle: Beaver Buggies, Kub Cars, Scout Trucks (18-wheelers) and Venturer Pickups. The vehicles race each other along wooden tracks that measure around 30 feet long. This event brings together Scouts from the Chateauguay, Howick, Huntingdon, and Ormstown groups to have fun, compete, help each other out, and enjoy a hot dog lunch!
Each group has its own track, but the main track is provided by Jerry Carrigan who installed a timer and sensors to judge each race very precisely. We would like to congratulate the winners in each age group. Fastest times of the day were Marshall McKellar, Huntingdon Beavers; Nash Adams, Howick Cubs; and Sam Ried, Huntingdon Scouts. The Venturer category was a very tight race: first and last place went to Alastair Watson of Huntingdon – Congratulations, Al!
Sadly, every racing event has its price; but thanks to all the amazing volunteers that help make this event possible, the entry fee is still only five dollars per person. The entry fee gets you a hot dog lunch including a juice box and fresh veggies, and a badge for your camp blanket. We’re confident that if you’re lucky enough to be able to participate next year, the cost will still only be five dollars!
I, Cory, want to hijack the end of this article for a couple of reasons. I would like to say how happy I was to hear that Hunter, Isla, and Sam wanted to write an article, and was even more pleased with what a great job they did. I mostly made small changes to the spelling.
I would also like to note that there were awards presented to some of the adult volunteers from the area. These hard-working people make events like this and many other amazing activities and trips possible each year. Scouts Canada recognized eight volunteers by honouring them with the Medal of Good Service, two bars to the Medal of Good Service, and there were three bars to the Silver Acorn awarded at the event. Congratulations Cecile Antink of Howick, Ken Watson of Huntingdon, and Mary-Pauline Vatsis of Huntingdon. The Silver Acorn is a very high honour in Scouting and is well-deserved by these three dedicated Scouters. Congratulations to all, very well deserved, thank you for all that you do for our community. Adapted by Cory Ovans of the 1st Ormstown Scout Group