New home for the 433rd!

Our old home of 40 years at St Luke’s United Church at 516 The Kingsway closed in June 2010. We’d like to thank the congregation who sponsored us through all those years.

Beginning in September 2010, the 433rd has relocated to Islington United Church (at 25 Burnhamthorpe Road just north of Dundas Street). IUC has graciously offered to sponsor our group continuing their 50 year commitment to Scouting. We were fortunate to find a congregation with such a strong commitment and excellent facilities that include two halls.

Thanks to everyone at Islington United Church!

433rd Spring Events Update

Spring events are now posted for the 433rd groups:

• Beavers
• Cubs
• Scouts

ASX Expanding Canada's Frontiers 7 - Jan 29th @6:30pm Toronto

The Astronomy and Space Exploration Society (ASX) is holding the 7th annual "Expanding Canada's Frontiers" Symposium.

Where: Convocation Hall, University of Toronto
When: Friday, January 29, 2009, 6:30 PM (Doors open at 5:30 PM, Reception at 10:00 PM)

For more information and registration click here.  Students with ID are free.  Public admission is $20 and can also be purchased from UofT here.

Speakers

• Prof. Peter Schultz (Brown), co-investigator of NASA's LCROSS, discussing his analysis of this mission and finding water on the Moon. 
• Prof. Sara Seager (MIT), discussing the latest detections and theory of exoplanet properties. 
• Dr. Firouz Naderi (NASA JPL), discussing perspectives on future robotic exploration. 
• Dr. Narendra Bhandari (ISRO), discussing Chandrayaan-1 results and India's vision for space.
  

h/t Ray Khan

2010 Tri-Area Scouting Hobby Show

Read all about on the 433rd Blog!

FREE Spooky Star Party - OSC - Friday, October 30th

Peter McMahon of Discovery Channel will host a Halloween flavoured star party coming up at the OSC. Costumes, scary stories, and telescopes. Oh My! Click on the image for more information.

h/t to Ray Khan

Star Symposium @ York University - Saturday October 3, 2009

STAR Symposium is a combined effort between the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the York University Astronomical Observatory and the York University Astronomy Club to celebrate York’s 50th anniversary and the International Year of Astronomy.  Click on the poster for more information!

Interesting speakers and events are planned for the day.  A tour of the York University Observatories will be given. 

Ivan Semeniuk, a journalist from the University of Toronto, and Bob McDonald, the host of CBC Radio’s “Quirks and Quarks” available to speak for us during the evening.

h/t to Ray Khan

Pirates on the Grand!

A quick report on our recent Pirate Venturer canoe trip.  See here for more info.

433rd 2009-2010 registration and information updates

Please checkout our main web site for registration and event updates for the 2009-2010 season!

More updates will be coming throughout the season.

FREE - Apollo Talk and Star Party @ OSC - Tonight July 24th 8-11pm

Just in!

Space historian, Randy Atwood will be giving a fascinating presentationon the Apollo 11 Landing and how it narly failed. Following thatStaff from Khan Scope Centre will be running a beginners telescopeworkshop presentation.

This event is at the Ontario Science Centre located at 770 Don Mills Road (at the corner of Eglinton Avenue East) Toronto, Ontario.

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing and the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s astronomical use of the telescope! This free festival of events includes:

• A special presentation, The Apollo 11 landing - and how it nearly failed
• A model of the Saturn V rocket
• Telescope observing of Saturn and other night sky objects with members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
• Live Apollo-themed electronic music and movies
• Telescope workshops for beginners
• Astronomy displays and demonstrations.

8:00 pm ~ Special Presentation ~ The Apollo 11 landing - and how it nearly failed

Imperial Oil Auditorium ~ Speaker: Randy Attwood, Space Historian

Forty years ago this July 20,the first men landed on the Moon. How close did Armstrong and Aldrincome to failing to make this first landing? Closer than you may think.

A long list of human mistakes, poor design and just the unknowns oflanding in the lunar environment made the 12 minute descent a hairraising adventure which more than once nearly forced the lunarexplorers to call off the landing attempt and return home as footnotesto history.

9:30 pm ~ Stargazing 101 - Learn How to Use your Telescope

Do you have or are you planning on getting a telescope? Experts from KhanScope Centre will explain how to get the most out of your telescope!Learn some of the tips and tricks that make using an astronomicaltelescope easy.

Weather Permitting, Telescopes will also be set up for Astronomical Viewing.

Ribs! Ribs! Ribs! .... BBQ

Pork ribs, beef ribs, wet ribs, dry ribs, pulled pork, chicken, corn-on the cob, corn bread (it's really cake not bread), and much more.

If you like BBQ, you may want to check out one of the many Ribfests being put on all over Southern Ontario this summer. Ribfests are like mini fairs. Some of these have been running for 20 years.

• Ottawa June 24 - 28
  
• Etobicoke/Toronto June 26 - July 1
• Gananoque June 30 - July 5
  
• Chatham July 3-5
• Markham July 10-12
• Barrie July 9 - 12
  
• Peterborough July 10-12
  
• Mississauga July 17-19
• Uxbridge July 17-19
• Sarnia July 23-26
  
• Gravenhurst July 24 -26
• Scarborough July 31 - August 3
  
• St. Catherines July 31 - August 3
• Woodbridge August 7 - 9
• Timmins August 7 - 9
  
• Brockville August 6 - 9
• Northhumberland (Coburg) August 14-16
  
• Quinte August 14-16
  
• Guelph August 28-30
  
• Burlington Sept 4-7 (billed as Canada's Largest)
• Oshawa Sept 11-13
• Aurora Sep 11 - 13

These events are organized by local groups such as the Rotary, Kinsmen, Big Brothers, and more. Typically entry is based on a small donation that goes towards local service projects.

My only regret is that it's not easy to sample the many different ribs unless you can bring a small army of people to keep down the waiting and spread the cost.

The main attraction are the Ribbers, who vary from event to event. I've listed a sampling below. Not all of them have web sites.

• Bad Wolf BBQ
  
• Bibbs BBQ
  
• Billy Bones B-B-Q
• Blazin Bar B Q
• Bone Daddy's BBQ
• Boss Hogs
• Camp 31
• Carolina Rib King
• Cowboys BBQ
• Crabby’s B-B-Q
• Crazy Canuck
• Gator BBQ
  
• Hogs Gone Wild
• Howling Coyote
• Jack on the Bone BBQ
• Kentucky Smoke House
• Silver Bullet
• Turtle Jacks BBQ
  
• Uncle Sam’s

Most of the ribbers have trailers and tall banners proclaiming their victories with their many trophies on display.

There are also entertainment, shops, giveaways, and small rides for kids.

All great fun. Enjoy!

BTW. For students thinking of summer employment next year, some of ribbers hire local help for the summer. A few have even relocated from the deep south to southern Ontario.

FREE - Toronto Astronomy Festival @ OSC - January 10, 2009

Here's news of a great event

The Ontario Science Centre is sponsoring a FREE kick-off event for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy in Canada on Saturday January 10, 2009, where18 organizations will come together to present astronomy displays, lectures, workshops and much more.

The program for the Toronto Astronomy Festival is now available on-line at:
FREE - Toronto Astronomy Festival @ OSC

This is shaping up to be an OUTSTANDING event which may deliver more "Galileo moments" in one day than any other single event planned for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy in Canada. There will certainly be lots to see and do.Availability is limited; For advanced free ticket information call (416) 429-4100.

Save the date and mark it on your 2009 calendar right away then check back for more details in the New Year. Please forward this information as you best see fit to allow others to attend this excellent event!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Tony Horvatin
1st Vice President
RASC Toronto Centre

Here's the official RASC announcement Toronto Astronomy Festival Set for January 10th!

Ciao Padua - Welcome the Light of the Peace!

Back in October during our first JOTI we found out about a remarkable project being put together by the AVSC Scouts of Padua Italy.  Their simple request for audio and video greetings of peace from Scouts around the world met with great success.   They've put together a 30 minute video world tour to celebrate the Light of the Peace. 

The 433rd Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts each sent a greeting.

Congratulations to the AVSC Scouts, Scouter Ugo, and all those who sent messages!

Enjoy ...

 
Light of the Peace around the world from Light of the Peace on Vimeo.

The AVSC Scouts announcment can be found here.
Scouts Trieste Light of the Peace page can be found here.
Our original post about the project can be found at the Padua JOTI "Light of the Peace" Video Project

Upcoming Camps and other Event Dates 2008-2009

See Upcoming Camps and other Event Dates 2008-2009

2009 Hobby Show Date and Details

The 2009 Hobby Show Date and Details are posted here at the main 433rd blog.

2008 Weston Santa Claus Parade

Mark Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 in your Calendars. Once again we are marching with St. Nick in Weston. For more information see 2008 Weston Santa Claus Parade.

If you are looking for the OTHER Santa Claus Parade, they're over here.

Annual Humber West Hobby Show Crest Design Competition

It's time for the annual Humber West Hobby Show Crest Design Competition.

Padua JOTI "Light of the Peace" Video Project

A Scout Group in Padua contacted me during JOTI (see my First JOTI). They want to make a video greeting of peace for the Light of the Peace event and are asking for some help.

They are hoping to get short video or audio greetings from Scout groups around the world by November 16th so they can put together and post the final video before the event on December 13th.

The example text for the greeting is:

"Ciao Italia, Ciao Padova, we are [your name or group/association name] from [your country]. We also join your message: Together Scout to Live the Peace"

Padua is located in the Italian province of Padova.

If your group is interested and can put together and post a video you can contact them at joti@avsc.it.

I'm told they can handle a variety of formats including avi, mp4, mpg, mov, wmv, and ecc.

The 433rd will send be sending a message!

On another note, wouldn't it be nice if some of the spacecraft outreach programs would consider something similar. It would be much more interesting than just sending lists of names.

First JOTI

I had been hoping to arrange to do a full and proper event around JOTI, but this was not to be. Instead I'll report on my JOTI baby steps.

• JOTI coincided with Apple Day which is a major fund raiser for our group. As a result this put a bit of a crimp in scheduling an event around JOTI. I had hoped to see if there was an Internet connection at our meeting hall and Apple Day coordination centre but wasn't able to do so.
• The second challenge was setting up a computer and test the requisite chat software to ensure it operated correctly. Again, time and other commitments were the enemy.
• I fell back to e-mail and web chat. I found the web chat software to be finicky. At one point I seemed to be connected but out of channel where no one could hear me.
• e-mail using the station lookup proved reliable but far less interactive than the full JOTI experience promised.

I sent hello messages from our group to a number of groups in such places as: Alaska, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Barbados, Iceland, Brazil, Croatia, Sweden, Ireland, Mexico, Egypt, Norway, Israel, Finland, and others. I also received some hellos from several different groups around the world. Below I've listed their web sites (if they have them).

• Dalyellup Scouts in Western Australia, here. Hi Joanne.
• Palmerston North Scouts in New Zealand, here. Hi Penny, Harry, William and Edward
• 243rd Tuscany Scouts in Alberta Canada, here. Hi Aklea Scott.
• Oulu Finland, here. Hi Andrew.
• AVSC in Padua Italy, here. Hi Ugo.
• 9th Benoni in South Africa, here. Hi Joy and Peter.
  

Also, some of the groups may not have yet had a chance to reply to the messages but should be able to find me through this web site's E-mail Me widget.

Unfortunately, the JOTI search stations / send message doesn't cc you back. If you don't keep track of who you said hi to - you could be out of luck.

Welcome JOTI 2008 Particpants!

Welcome from the 433rd Toronto Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, and Venturers to all Jamboree on the Internet participants.
Please stay and check out this web site.

• Sign the guest book
  
• Send feedback e-mail
  
• Add comments (click on COMMENTS just after POSTED BY Mang (433RD) at the bottom of this article).
• Check out the great astronomers badge swap

Thanks, Mang
( Mang433HWCA on JOTI )

Link back to JOTI Community Search

Apple Day Reminder 2008 !

Please click on this link for infomation on Apple Day schedules and what Apple Day is about.