SCOUT RALLY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 71, 8 May 1945, Page 5

SCOUT RALLY

BAY OF PLENTY DISTRICT TROOPS FROM ALL PARTS Over three hundred Sea " Scouts and Cubs attended the -annual Bay of Plenty Rally which was held! in Whakatane last week-end 1 . Unfortunately the heavy showers of rain which fell on Saturday afternoon necessitated the cancellation of the remainder of the programme for that day and . the completion of the outstanding events on Sunday following the Church Parade. In spite of this setback the Rally can - only be described as an outstanding success and a genuine credit to all concerned. The competing teams came from Waihi Tauranga, Betlilchem, Te Pukc } ' Mount Maunganui, Gate Pa f Oropi Awa'keri, Whakatane and Opotiki, and with the local Girl Guides they made a splendid display in the procession from the Strand to the Domain, on Saturday morning. The Whakatane Junior Pipe Band provided lively music for the parade which stretched from one end of the Strand to the other. Colours and troop flflgs Hying the. whole display was impressive and gave rise to much favourable comment amongst the onlookers. Arrived at the each unit was allotted :in individual ba&e for the day. The hard-working ladies' committee attended to the task of feeding the multitude and carried out this department with efficiency and despatch. The afternoon's, programme commenced with the general inspection and march pa.st < with the Commissioner taking the saiute. Iho initial proceedings, Ist and 2nd class ambulance tests had scarcely been started when the weather which had been threatening all day broke. As it showed no signs' of lifting and the committee was loath to carry on under Mich conditions the balance of the programme was held over till the following day, when though the attendance was not so good the more spectacular events created the greatest enthusiasm amongst the spectators.

The greatest interest attached to the' newly inaugurated 'pioneering test' were a group of six boys pitch r ed a tent cut through a log of wood and lit a camp lire. This was won by the Citizens troop } 'the time being a fraction under five minutes. The ever-popular wall-scaling test brought last year's champions, Tauranga Sea Scouts } once more, to the forefront. The masterly manner in which this team .scaled the obstacle, taking a bare 47 seconds, earned them the heartiest aprobation. Whakatane, Citizens and Awaken were hard on their tail with only two points separating them from second and third place respectively. Another test avhicli had great appeal for the spectators was the signal tower in which points were awarded Jot height, stability and time. The two local competitors tied for lirst place 1 in this event, with the 'kilties' gaining most points for height.

The Cub section also provided a j number of interesting including a departure in cocoa-making by groups of two from each pack. Ihe Grand Ho\vl ? and jungle dances were also well worth watching j whilst the signalling in certain instances vied with the scouts in precision and despatch. The Fergus* Boyd &up wheh was awarded the greatest number of aggregate points all over Scout events went to the Whakatane Citizens with a total .of 1735 points. Positions of other troops were: AwaIteri 1655; Whakatane Scottish 1639; Tauranga Sea Scouts 1371; Tauranga Land Troop 969; Oropi 540; Waihi 534.; Bethlehem 5J5; Mount Maunganui 399; Te Puke 318; Gate Pa 294; Opotiki 290.

The much coveted Tiki Trophy which goes to the troop winning the liighest numbei of points in the ambulance test's was also annexed by the Whakatane Citizens troop, while a new trophy especially donated by. Mr D. McLeay to encourage a higher standard of marching was won by Te Puke. In the Cub department the BoAvyer Shield which goes annually to the Pack with the greatest aggregate also "came to Whakatane, the Citizens pack notching 1578 points, Tau- ; raiiga 1418, Mount Maunganui 789 < and Te Puke 288. In presenting Scoutmaster Te H. Fergusson of the Citizens troop Avith jjoth the Tiki Trophy and the Fergus Boyd Cup, the Commissioner ex- ■ pressed his Avarmest congratulations' ; and wished'the troop continued success. The 'Haere' marching cup he ihanded Id the Te Puke represents-

responsible ..for the promotion and running of the Rally which lie said had been a great and memorable success. On his call rousing cheers were given for the local committee, the. stewards and the ladies' committee. Rally Chief, Mr Xaden. Matthews, also addressed the assemblage adding his commendation and expressing the pleasure it had; given him to participate. Mr A. Carling, the senior judge warmly congratulated the. Scoutmasters on the training of the boys who had taken part. It had. been he said a most difficult job to deline some of the winners. Details of the piaeings in the various events were as under:— Scout Events Ambulance Ist Class: Whakatane Citizens (264) 1; Whakatane Scottish (258) 2; Awakeri (255) 3; Te Puke (252) ■]; Bethlehem (2113) 5; Wailii (201) (i; Tauranga Land (192) 7. Ambulance 2nd Class: Whakatane Scottish (414) 1; Awakeri (408) 2; Whakatane Citizens (387) 3; lauranga Land (378) 4, Tauranga Sea Scouts (369) 5. Pioneering Test: Whakatane Citizens (264) ' 1; W T hakat,ane Scottish (240) 2; Awakeri (189) 3. Signal Tower: Whakatane Citizens and Whakatane Scottish (97) 1; Awakeri (94.) 2; Oropi and Tauranga Sea Scouts (89) 3; Tauranga Land Scouts (87) 4.

Wall Scaling Test: Tauranga Seiv Scouts (100) 1; Whakatane Citizens (99) 2; Awnkeri (98) 3; Mt. Maun- ( ganui Sea Scouts (97) 4; Whakatane ! Scottish (95) 5; Tauranga Land Scouts (86) 6. ' Semophore Signalling: Whakatane Citizens (282) 1; Tauranga Sea Scouts (262) 2; Awakeri (240) 3; Whakatane Scottish (225) 4; Bethlehem (201) 5; Oropi (123) 6; fauranga Land Scouts (108) 7. Morse Signalling: Whakatane Citizens (246) 1; Whakatane Scottish 1 (231) 2; ,Awakeri (228) 3; Waihi 1 (213) 4.; Tauranga Sea Scouts (195) 5; Bethlehem (171) 6. Inspection: Awakeri (186 )1; Whakatane Citizens, and Oropi (174) 2; Tauranga Land Scouts; Tauranga Sea Scouts and Whakatane Scottish (170) 3; Bethlehem (158) 4; Gate Pa and Te Puke (154) 5; Mount Maunganui Sea Scouts (152) 6; Opotiki (150) 7; Waihi (138) 8. March Past: Te Puke (164) 1; Awakeri (162) 2; Tauranga Sea Scouts and Whakatane Scottish (160) 3; Whakatane Citizens and Bethlehem (156) 4; Mount Maunganui (150) 5; Waihi (148) 6: Tauranga Land Scouts ? Gate Pa and Opotiki (140) 7; Oropi (134) B.\ Tenderfoot Test (billy boiling) : Awakeri (50) 1; Wailii (35) 2; Whakatane. Citizens (30) 3; Tauranga Sea Scouts (27) 4; Oropi and Whakatane Scottish (10) 5. Cub Events Ambulance Test: Whakatane (279) 1; Tauranga (264) 2. Grand Howl: Whakatane (84) 1; Tauranga (76) 2: Mount Maunganui (62) 3. j Jungle Dance (Whakatane (264.) 1; Mount Maunganui (243) 2; Tau- : ranga (240) 3. Signalling: Whakatane (285) 1; Tauranga (204) 2; Mount Maungai nui (90) 3. Lair Building: Whakatane (ISO) 1; Tauranga (146) 2. i Cocoa making: Mount Maunganui . (84) 1; Tauranga (83) 2; Whakatane . (74) 3. Nature Study Test: Whakatane . (98) 1; Tauranga (97) 2. » Inspection: Mount Maunganui i} . Whakatane and Tauranga (168) 1; , '!>. P.ilc,> 2.