Troop Crates Ready for Jamboree 2019
The upcoming Australian Jamboree, to be held at Tailem Bend, South Australia is looming large on the horizon. The January start is now only weeks away. The 3,500 Victorians who make up the Victorian Contingent are busy on a wide range of arrangements and detail.
Wooden Crates Preparation
Victorian Jamboree Troops will be using Wooden Crates to pack and transport their Troop Gear to South Australia. Behind the roller doors of the Scout Q Store in Dandenong South, an expanded team has been beavering away preparing wooden crates. The coldest, wettest November Saturday has not deterred this intrepid all-weather team. It is quite a process. Learn more about the Q Store
- Removing the flat-packed crates from their storage shipping containers.
- Unstacking and checking each wooden panel or piece for damage
- Repairing or rejecting damaged components
- Re-measure to ensure size for shipping containers
- Keeping the power tools out of the rain
- Re-stacking ready for the forklift
- Cleaning out the dried mud from the Containers (must have been wet when they were last used!)
- Re-forking the flat-packed crates into the shipping container.
Critical (Tedious) Jamboree Preparation
These crates will be assembled at Clayton for Jamboree Troop Packing Day. For the crate assembly 20 screws per crate will be required. In accordance with re-use, re-cycle philosophies all the screws were kept from the last time the crates were used. Nearly 3000 screws have been stowed in plastic buckets – between 25-30 kg per bucket. For convenience and efficiency the screws have been counted into packs. Another essential unheralded task that took our volunteers 10 hours to complete. I suspect it was laughter, a lunch break and a commitment to the youth participants of the Jamboree and sheer endurance that saw this tedious task completed.
Who are the folk that have prepared the Crates?
The response to the call-out for extra help for the crate preparation was wonderful. Some will be at the Jamboree, some will not. Some were Q Store regulars, some were not. We do know that Big Scout Events only happen because lots of people put-in. You know who are, we know who you are, thanks. Learn more about the regular team.
What happens next?
The shipping containers will be transported by semi-trailer to Clayton during the week. The containers will in due course be emptied ready for the assembly and packing of crates by Jamboree Troop Leaders on December 15/16. If you are involved in the Packing of a Jamboree Troop Crate please check with your Jamboree Troop Leader (JTL) for location and time details.
