Bonaly, Edinburgh
27th - 29th October 2006
"Working Together To Unmask The
90 Year Old Chi Ball Murder"
The first Polaris event I attended was an Autumn residential weekend at Bonaly, outside Edinburgh.
On Friday night we all arrived to the hall, a minibus bringing most of the group from Aberdeen. After some food we got creative; making masks to wear to the masquerade ball to take place the next night. This involved several glue guns, sequins, copious amounts of glitter and a lot of stuck together hands...
Next morning we spent doing team building games inside (an excellent opportunity to get to know people better & make some new friends), before splitting up for different activities on Saturday afternoon. I was part of the group that went crate climbing (making a tower from crates and then climbing it – harness attached, of course!) which, though chilly, was LOTS of fun! The rest of the group had a Chi ball/meditation type session, which sounded relaxing. To finish off the afternoon we did some glass etching on drinking glasses – designs chosen included campfires, guiding symbols, treble clefs, chemistry equipment…clearly we’re a very diverse group!
The masquerade ball and secret auction on Saturday evening were to be the main events of the weekend. We were marking the Senior Section’s 90th birthday year, and had a formal ball to celebrate. Everyone looked fantastic in their posh frocks, and we all enjoyed learning to ballroom dance. After some party games (pass the parcel), Gav (Kirsten’s friend) appeared. He was to be our auctioneer extraordinaire, and made short work of selling the parcel’s we’d all brought for huge amounts of money!! It was all in a good cause, though, with the proceeds going to the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People). Later on there was lots of food, including a chocolate fountain & a special birthday cake. It was a late night, and loads of fun! Although a bit surreal to be in a ball gown in a scout hut...
Sunday morning got off to an early start, with a representative of the Scottish Youth Parliament coming to do a session with us. This included some more teamwork activities, one of which involved making a bridge between two chairs entirely out of tinfoil. A test for us all!
After lunch, everyone got tidied up and headed back home; it was certainly a busy weekend, and everyone seemed to have had fun! I know I did, and I’ve been back to more Polaris events since.
- Joanne Knox