Annual Christmas Gift Exchange

The lucky number 1!

Surprise, surprise! You throw a CSB Christmas Party, complete with food bank donations, gift exchange and of course a Christmas story from Captain Don and you get one of the biggest turnouts in a while. Who can blame them for not wanting to miss this annual extravaganza?

Best gift of the year: 12 Pack of Jones Soda

Most unexpected gift of the year: the silver sword of Mordor

But now, onto the Christmas story:
In the 1950's sailors from Norway would sometimes wrap up Bibles in waterproof packages and throw them into the ocean, hoping that they would end up on the shores somewhere in Russia, where it was illegal at the time to own a bible. The Russians knew this was happening and had soldiers who would scan the shores looking for these Bibles. Lots of times they found them and destroyed them, but one of the Bibles ended up in the hands of a Christian soldier who managed to tuck it into his coat unseen. The Bible made its way to the pastor of a local church where he gave it to a young 15 year old girl who treasured it deeply. She has kept this special gift that arrived from the Norwegians, through a Russian soldier and hands to her by her pastor to this day. Some gifts just have more significance than others.

The silver sword gift

May we all be as thankful for the gifts that God gives us.

This is the closest Captain Don has come to drinking pop in a long time.

Tower Power - November 30th, 2011

The final Wednesday of November and the second last night of the fall for the Battalion guys was an eventful one, filled with excitement and even a little bloodshed. 

We started the night of like normal with squad time; only this time we were given the task of constructing the tallest free-standing tower from nothing but newspaper and masking tape. Unfortunately the other squad’s towers did not stand up to Lance Corporal Nathan’s squad’s cleverly constructed and skilfully designed structure (thanks to project manager Mitchell). 

Josh, you can't win if you're still holding it.

After we moved on to the games portion of the evening; but this was no ordinary game. It was a new idea that maybe could use some work but was fun none the less. Mats were piled in the center of the gym with a basketball underneath, and the group was split into two sides of the gym and given a number each. A few numbers would be called out and the person who had been previously given that number was to run out and fight for the ball and bring it back to their side. Although it was more like a mad scramble/dog-pile that usually ended in no team’s possession; however Lance Corporal Nathan and Lance Corporal Josh thought otherwise. When their numbers were called (turns out they both had 11) they ran at each other, and not to put the blame on anyone but some would say Josh were to put his shoulder down and go head long into Nathan. Head long is right, because that is were exactly Josh’s shoulder ended up on Nathan, leaving him with a bloody mouth. Fortunately Nathan cleaned himself up and came back later in the game. The activity was a test of sorts, and luckily for some of us it wasn’t for marks. 

The winning tower!

Captain “Professor” Don had us write a battalion style test to survey our knowledge of various events and people in battalion as well as get some feed back of the fall. 

Lieutenant Matt came next to end the night off with a counsel ring about our theme of obedience. Guest-star MVP baseball player Josh Hamilton talked to us digitally and shared his testimony. Even wealthy baseball players with everything going for them have struggles in their life. 

You don't have to like tattoos to like what it says

We closed off with the Battalion watchword and just like that the night was over, but luckily many more nights are to come.

(Guest entry done by Corporal Justin)

Annual CSB Swim Night - Nov. 23

Hmmm, what do we do now?

Tackling each other into the water, being told by the lifeguards not to hang on the ropes (sorry, we forgot) and of course the ladder challenge. All time honored traditions that happen once a year when we have our swim night.

This year we added a couple new things too. Like watching the man who decided to throw the ball we were using to the other end of the pool while we all watched and wondered what was going on. We also found out that Moms with toddlers are like mother bears with their cubs (and rightly so) when we run towards them to retrieve the ball. We really are friendly you know, just a little competitive. Sorry if we scared you!

Looks like a belly flop in the making Lieutenant Matt!

But of course the best part of the night was the ladder challenge. As you can see in the photos below, the challenge is to climb up the rope and then pull yourself across the ladder before the guy on the other side of you can. It's not 'life or death' but it is definitely for bragging rights until next year.

So you are probably wondering who was the fastest across? Well, let's just say that both of the Stein brothers challenged Lieutenant Marv. The outcome? Well, the lifeguard watching and acting as unofficial judge put it best when Marv won both times and even proclaimed to Nathan, "he just kicked your butt!" Old guys still rule, enough said. 

Is he walking on water there? No wonder he was so fast!

The famous ladder challenge, with Lieutenant Marv and the rest waiting for their turn

King Dodgeball & Obedience - November 16th

Ahh, dodgeball. Is it really the king of games? To make sure of that, tonight "King Dodgeball" was the game of choice. And just like in the days of old, the cry was heard throughout the gym "protect the king!" Who is the king, you ask? Well, obviously it is anyone wearing a climbing helmet.

The King of Dodgeball!

During Council Ring, Lieutenant Ron talked about obedience, and shared some stories of how when we disobey, there are always consequences. From failing driver tests to failing ourselves and who we want to be there are always consequences. We all have a choice to make - we can choose to obey God and feel his blessing, or we can choose to do our own thing, and have to deal with the outcome. Either way, we all need to choose.

One of the verses he talked about was Joshua 24:15, where Joshua asked the Israelites to make a choice. Each day we need to ask ourselves, who will I choose to serve?

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Romans 8 was the chapter of choice for squad discussion tonight

Track Meet, Cleanup & Survival

Drumroll please .... The annual district stockade track meet was held at LEFC tonight and the Battalion members were the awesome assistants to make sure things ran smoothly. From basketball catchers to score keepers to clothes pin counters, everyone was in the groove.

In the meantime a crew of guys was outside helping clean up, raking leaves and beating back the blackberry bushes trying to take over the parking lot. Great work, clean up crew!

If that wasn't enough excitement for one night, we all heard the amazing story of Andrew, our guest speaker. As a 19 year old back in 1987 he found out what it means to really 'cross the line'. While snowboarding with his dad and brother, he crossed over into the out-of-bounds area at Mount Baker. He ignored the orange line and the warning signs, looking for some of the best powder. But it didn't take long for him to realize that he was in a tough spot. Trying to get back to the main run, Andrew slipped down a steep slope and fell 40 feet, and then another 20 feet into a crevice. That is like falling from the top of a 6 story building!

The bad part was that no one knew exactly where he was and he was wedged in the crack of snow and ice with his arms stuck above his head, his snowboard wedged below him, and ice cold water  dripping down his back the whole time.

His dad and brother were waiting for him at the bottom of the run, and it didn't take long until they realized that something was wrong. A huge search started all over the ski area with staff coming from everywhere. Just by chance, one of the searchers noticed a chunk of snow that looked like it had been disturbed at the top of the crevice where Andrew had fallen in. It took the rescuer 30-40 minutes of steep climbing to get up to the top of the crevice to call down to see if there was anyone even there. They had found him!

But the story wasn't done yet. The first rescuer climbed down to where he was and a large group of rescuers waited above to help pull Andrew out with ropes and pullies. But even with a rope strapped around his wrist they couldn't budge him, so they had to come up with a new plan. The rescue team ended up digging out the snow into the bank and dug a tunnel to get to where Andrew was. From the time he fell in around 3:15, it took until 9:00 and the rescuers moving over 10 tons of snow by hand to get him out.

Normal human body temperature is supposed to be 98.6 degrees Farenheit (37 Celsius). When they got Andrew on the stretcher to get him down the mountain his skin color was blue, and when they got him to the ambulance his core body temperature was 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 Celsius) and as they rushed him to hospital his heart stopped 5 times. There were so many times in his ordeal when it all could have ended, yet somehow he survived through the efforts of the rescue team, the paramedics, and also the hospital staff who managed to get his body temperature and vital signs back to where they need to be.

He even made it into the front pages of the Province newspaper. The cool thing is that he is now a pastor in Surrey after he started to follow God a few years after this all happened. Obviously his wife and kids and the rest of his family are glad he survived his teenage ordeal to still be around today and we were all glad to hear his amazing story of survival.

Chilliwack Search and Rescue - October 26th

It's an interesting story about how we made a connection with Chilliwack Search and Rescue, but you'll have to ask Captain Don for the full details. The short version is that his family is thankful for all they do. Getting a chance for our whole unit to travel out to see their operation and find out what it takes to keep everything running smoothly was the bonus for us.

So, read on to find out more about how Search and Rescue teams work and also see if you can answer some of the questions. (Hint -> If you read to the end you will find the answers.) 

Question 2. What does HETS stand for?

 Question 1. How much do "Search and Rescue" team members earn each year?

Question 3. Is this the latest body piercing craze?

We visited them on an equipment preparation night, because everything has to be ready to go on a moments notice.

We split into small groups and got guided tours of all the special equipment and also what it takes to be prepared for emergencies.

"Buddy" the Golden Retriever is a 12 year veteran of Search and Rescue.

The answer to question #1 is that all the members of the Search and Rescue team are volunteers. All the training they do, all the nights and weekends they spend making sure the equipment and gear is ready to go, and any time they get called out to search for people who are lost or need to be rescued is all on their own time! They truly become like a family and have to trust each other and work together constantly.

The answer to question #2 is that HETS stands for "Helicopter External Transport System". Team members are strapped in and connected to a helicopter on the outside and then lifted up while the helicopter takes off. They use this to get rescue team members into situations where there are no other options. Hanging from the bottom of a helicopter and being flown through the trees and mountains, now that requires trust and teamwork. Who needs amusement park when you volunteer with Search and Rescue?


The answer to question #3 is that pin coming out of her toe is not body piercing. It is to help set a broken toe. One of the search and rescue team members had her foot up when we first walked in and as much as she wanted to tell us it was the result of some daring rescue, she said it was from something far less interesting. Oh well, it still makes a great photo.

BC Lions - First Place on the Line

Saturday, October 29th was the annual event for CSB units from around the Lower Mainland and other parts of BC to gather together for a tailgate party just before we got to watch the BC Lions play the Edmonton Eskimos.

So, here's our very own play-by-play summary:

2:45 - met at LEFC with about sixty Stockaders, Batallion guys, leaders and dads to carpool into Vancouver.

4:40 - arrive at the tailgate party with all the other CSB groups - hot-dogs and pop for all. Somehow we missed the epic football game (it started at 4) against some of the other units - guess we'll have to save those special plays for next year.

6:00 - left the tailgate party, headed to the newly renovated BC Place, awesome new look. The screen was incredible! Can you imagine playing XBox on that?

7:00 - the game is getting close to starting and the whole stadium is practicing their cheers.

7:10 - kickoff! The Lions offense start off strong in the first quarter, slicing through the Eskimo's defense for two quick touchdowns.

8:30ish - some of the guys sitting behind us got a little excited and knocked their beer onto two of us. They felt really bad and offered us a beer - uh, no thanks. We're a little bit young for that. I hope Mom & Dad don't think we've been drinking, coming home smelling like beer.

Half-time - so far, so good. The Lions are up 16-7 against the Eskies.

10:00 - the game ends and the Lions won 29 - 20, putting them in a tie for first place in the West. Awesome game!

10:10 - Everybody was 'pumped' in the arena as we headed back to our vehicles.  We had to keep some of the younger guys from getting lost in the crowd, since it doesn't look good on the resume to leave them behind.
 
11:25 - back home in Langley, safe and sound. Another great CSB 2236 event.

(Guest Blog written by Lance Corporal Josh)