OTAKI SCOUT EXHIBITION

Chronicle (Levin), 21 October 1947, Page 2

OTAKI SCOUT EXHIBITION

fine parade of work Perhaps one of the finest parades ever seen in Otaki took place on Saturday ast when Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Cubs and girls' marching teams, in a c'olourful prooession from the Otaki Post Office to Raukawa, provided a fitting opening to the Boy Scouts' exhibition. The Otaki bandsmen looked resplendent in their attractive uniforms at the head of the procession, and are to be congratulated upon the manner in which they carried out their duties. The fine marching of the band and the bright music drew very favourable com- . meiit from the public lining Main Street * The opening ceremony took place In the Raukawa grounds. Mr. C. F. Atmore said it gave him great r pleasure in his capacity as Mayor of Otaki to extend a very warm. welcome to all people present at the opening of the third exhibition. He " believed that somewhere in the , vicinity of 150 Scouts and Cubs from Wellington were in attendance. Mr. Atmore sincerely thanked these good people for bringing the delightful sunshine instead of the gentle breezes. He hoped they would enjoy their visit to the coun•try. The speaker welcomed home Des. Capewell, who had recently returned from the world jamboree in Paris. The Mayor hoped that all would have an opportunity of hearing Scout Capewell tell some of his experiences. Mr. Atmore thanked all who had contributed towards the success of the exhibition, the people who had taken part in the procession, with special mention of the two local girls marching teams and Acting Commissioner Downey, who had consented to 3ome to open the exhibition. He caiied upon Major Downey to open the exhibition officially. Major Downey thanked the • lyfayor for his cordial and sincere welcome to Otaki. He thanked the ladies and gentlemen for tfieir support of the Scout movement, and the brother Scouts, Guides, Cubs and officers for attending. The speaker was pleased that he had left windy Wellington behind, and the weather was so beautiful for the occasion. On behaif of the visitors, he thanked the First Otaki Troop for its hospitality and } assured it that all had enjoy ed the wonderful spread at the hall. Before declaring the exhibition open, Major Downey asked all Scouts to- assist him in -honouring Mrs. Hoggatt and Mr. L. F. Moss, whose work in the Scout movement had at least received recognition. Mr. Moss had served the movement excellently for 25-30 years. The same applied to. Mrs. Hoggatt. Major Downey said it gave him great pleasure on behaif . of the Dominion Chief Scouter, Sir Bernard Freyberg, and the County Com-. missioner, to present these two good people with their certificates of the Medal of Merit, which was an extremely high award in the movement. Scouting had benefitecl greatiy trom their long service so freely given, and Scouts ^ wero piea&ed that they had at last received due recognition. "It gives me great pleasure to present these certixicates for the valuable work you have done for the boys," concuuded Major Downey. The Acting Commissioner thanked all those responsible for tne ■exhibition. Handicrafts and hobbies were of such great importance as useful occupations during leisure hours that their value had been recognised by the Education Department. Many articles mad© in the schools had been sent overseas to children in less fortunate countries, and the Scouts, Guides and Cubs had followed suit. The committee and those behind thcin were to be congratulated on staging the exhibition, which brought to iight the latent ability that existed among young people. He knew tather was not happy at young Bill striking nails with his chisei but he reminded parents present that they should do all in their power to encourage hobbies such as woodwork, metalwork, embroidery, knitting, etc. It was teaching children to help thenlselves and others during times of emergency. Major Downey said that with these f ew remarks he was happy to declare the exhibition open, and hoped the people would appreciate the efforts of all who had exhibited, and that the committee would be rewarded for its enterprise. On the whole the stalls were well patronised, although the flower classes did not receive as many entries as expected. There were very good displays of school art and writing, posterwork, model aeroplanes, plasticene, soft toys, thrift articles, knitting, embroidery, tatting, smocking and crochet work. The Otaki Girl Guides, the First Otaki Scout Troop, and the Wolf Cub Pack all had special displays showing the work done by the various or'ganisations. The school woodwork section showed a very high standard of work, and the various articles on display showed marked ability in craftsmanship. There Wiere many outstanding examples of hobbies carried on by people of the district, who kindly ailowed examples .of their work to be exhibited. There were examples of plastic craft done by Mr. L. F. Moss. The articles were many and' varied, showing beautiful work■manship, and also giving people an

idea of the possibilities in this; new craft. Mrs. Boyd and Mrs. New-hand-painted china. Their delightin a spare moments' occupation. ful work was much admired and people who viewed it had no idea that such high class work waS being done by ladies in the .community. So good was the wprk that it would have compared highly with any professional work — indeed it was. so beautifully exeh cuted that it was hard tp realise that it was not the product of some renown ed potter iiithe Old Worid. Mr. Daggers had a very fine exhibit of work of a nautical ' nature. - It was extremely interesting to see how a hobby can lead to such detailed work, especially so wheii it was- seen that the mofiels were-.to scale. • Mrs. F. Holmes had /a wonderful display of paintings, and it was refreshing to view her studies. of New Zealand landscapes. Her beautiful pictures were much admired by the public. In.addition to her framed work, she exhibited 20 and 30-minute paintings, all df' which displayed an artistic toiich of a high order. Mrs. Gl Whit^fs exhibits of soft toys were of a reniarkably high standard; This lady, too, demonstrated the excelr lent work that can be accomplished in a spare moment's ; occupation. There was also an excellent display of launches, which were all working models. An outstanding exdQiple in this exhibition of -work was a , fully rigged model saili'ng ship made from the "Qld Everton." Scout Desmond Capewell's; display of souvenirs from th.6 recent j'afiiboree created a great . deal of interest, and many were the people Who endeavoured to put their French to the test by reading the newspapers published in connecticwx with the. jamboree. Finally there was a very fine collection of important and valuable issues of stamps displayed by Cub Stere James.; The prize list will be published in a later issue.