www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, July 8, 2016 | 16 #readers' submitted 4th Trafalgar Venturers Win Canada's Amory Adventure Award With 50-kilometre winds whipping their gear and threatening to blow them off a 370m cliff in Ontario's Killarney Provincial Park, Oakville's 4th Trafalgar Venturer Scouts kept their cool and put their training into action. They had to. Their fellow Venturers depended on it. While this may sound like an outtake from an adventure movie, it was a reallife experience last summer for Oakville's 4th Trafalgar Venturer Scouts -- Philip Da Costa, Ian Hope, Lucy Horne, Jared Isaacs, Daniel Nelson and James Nelson. These six Venturer Scouts, aged 14-17, organized an eight-day hiking trip Aug. 22-29, 2015, along Killarney's La Cloche Silhouette Trail. In the 10 months before the trip, they: planned their route, took remote and wilderness first-aid training, dried their own food, and built their endurance through practice hikes. Their goal was to live the Venturer motto "challenge" and push themselves physically and mentally along the 80-km route. Oakville's 4th Trafalgar Venturer Scouts achieved their goals and were awarded Scouts Canada's Amory Adventure Award for their ambitious hike. This national award is given annually to the Venturer expedition team that displays the most initiative in conceiving, planning and executing an outdoor adventure activity. Team leader Daniel said, "We never thought we'd win the Amory Award, but it's an awesome, exciting moment to stand on stage and receive that monster plaque with your friends." "Unexpected things kept challenging us all along the route," said Ian. "At one point, the trail had us hiking nearly 10 m across the ridge line of a beaver dam." "Riding in a helicopter also wasn't on my plans for this trip," said James. "But, flying 1,000 feet above the park, I could really see how vast Killarney is. I was glad we had prepared so well." "It wasn't the bears I was worried about," chimed in Jared. "It was `The Crack'. Everyone we talked with said it was going to be a tough climb and it was. But the view at the top was spectacular." The Venturers were inspired to take this trip by Canadian artist Ed Bartram and his painting of Topaz Lake. They were challenged to plan an Amory adventure by a guest speaker to their Venturer company, Dr. Jim Sweeney, a member of 3rd West Vancouver's Ki-Ups Company 1983 Amory award-winning team. Venturer Scouters Steve Isaacs and Brenda Sweeney accompanied the Venturers on this backcountry trip while Shaun Hope, Ann Harvey-Hope and Don Nelson provided logistics and emergency support. The expedition team thanks everyone at 4th Trafalgar who helped them prepare for this challenging and rewarding journey, and look forward to many more Scouting adventures. The Amory Award was first presented by the Rt. Hon. Viscount Amory, GCMG, onetime British High Commissioner to Canada. The award plaque has a reproduction of Jacques Cartier's ship Grande Hermine and the Canadian space satellite Allouette mounted on it. Scouts Canada offers challenging programs for boys, girls and youths aged 5-26 in thousands of individual groups in most cities and towns across Canada. Join the adventure at www.scouts.ca -- Brenda Sweeney and Emily Jamieson, Scouts Canada "Connected to your Community" Above, from left, Jared Isaacs, Philip Da Costa, Ian Hope, Daniel Nelson, Lucy Horne and James Nelson enjoy the views from the top of `The Crack'. Below left, Ian and James conquer `The Crack' by clambering over boulders. Below, right, hiking along the top of a beaver dam on Wagon Road Lake. | submitted photos Car Show 30 Great Classics. FREE Admission. Open to Public. Remember the great family trips in your classic car? Come and relive the moments at the Delmanor Classic Car Show. Classic APPLICATIONS DUE JULY 28th Thurs. July 14 · 5:00 - 8:30 pm 1459 Nottinghill Gate, Oakville Rain Date: July 21st Proceeds will be donated to the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. $20,000 $1,500 $1,000 SPONSORS (905) 469-3232 delmanor.com AUrOrA rIbFEST bEVErLEY MAHOOD METALWOrKS STUDIOS SPIN MUSIC YAMAHA · PrOUDLY SPONSOrED bY METrOLAND MEDIA GrOUP ·