HASTINGS HEADQUARTERS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 140, 30 June 1937, Page 9

HASTINGS HEADQUARTERS

The committees of the three Hastings Scout Groups have met and decided to revive in real earnest the campaign l'or our headquarters. N We are very grateful to Mrs. Herrick for letting the Frimley Scouts and Cubs meet there, to the Wesleyan Church for the use of their hali for the Second Hastings Cubs, to St. Matthew's Church for the use of their hali every Friday evening for (the Heretaunga Troop, and to the Drill Hali authorities for letting the Second Hastings Troop meet there. But it is not like having our own place in which to hold our meetings. ,j Luckily it is only the Second Hastings that ever has to shift its meeting place at times, due to the hali being wanted by other people. When that happens the "troop is very glad- that it can get the use of St. Matthew's Hali on those occasions. Yery few people ever seem to realiso how handicapped we are by not having our own place. Every time a* troop has to shift for even Pne evening anto aaother hali means a disturbance in its programmo. It is impossiblo to keep Hs arranged plans for the progress of the troop. The members cannot settle down for tho evening in a- strnng-e place, their gear has to be taken round from their usual meeting place and noone quite knows where tlicir stufC has got to. It speaks well for the various troops aud packs concerned' that they have Imd the success that they have had in Ihe years they have been goiug. Thon take tho winter cvenings imo consideration. The halls are naturally cold and the boys ha-ve to be given plenty of good, fast games to keep warui. The result is that as a rule tho t-eal scout work suffers. As much of it as is possible is put into the games, but a lot can only be dono in a quietcr juanner and Ihe chaps cannot keep warm then. Tlien again^ the scouter, as a rule, wants to have a few minutes' >'arn with his boys. Knowing thom to be boys with plenty of life, ho does not expcct them to keep absolutely quict and listen to a dry sort of lectui-e, but witb. hands aud feet getting cold uo boys can listen attentively to even a xhort talk, however interesting u may be. If grown-ups go to a lecture they expect the place to bo uico aud watnn, aud they lceep their overcoate on m well. It is true their lcctures, otu., last longer, but oue wants to be warui

for however short a time one has to sit there. Then ohce again, our investiture ceremony is best around a camp-fire. Some troops have an electric imitatioq. one, others just hold the coremony in a cold, \ bare hali, lit by electric ligh't. . I Our new headquarters plans hav© provision for an open fire-place. There is no need for a big fire, but it will be yery nice to be able to have ono that will give enough heat to make the place a bit less like a froeziug chamber than is the case at preseut some evenings. And even in the summer it will be much more effective to b6 able to ligbt just a small but real fire for the dnvestiture of any new member. An electric fire is certainiy far be.tter than a plain hali for this ceremony at which a boy takes his promise as a' scout, but even that is, after all, only an imitation and cannot have the same lasting effect on the boy's mind that the simple gathertng of the troop around a nice little fire would have on him. Then another advantage of having our own hali is that we can make use. of it whenever we want to. If we want to have a reheareal for a play we can do so when we like, without having to fit in with whoever owns the hali we are using. Then, too, we can have our pat'rol boxes and o'ther gear put up iu a set place and know that it' will not be interfered with and that it -will -not bo in the way of other people. Wo will have a place where wo can keep our troop tents, billies and other' stuff; at present it is spending its . timo iu tho homes of .the • scouters . or. eommittee members who havo the.space for it, aua quite often they haven't. really tho room for it, but-it must be kept somewhere dn safety. Then again we want to build on ae soon as we can some rooms for a workshop and library so that we can help the* chaps on and show them other things besides the ordinary scout work. Then we will have, in the place where we are putting up the hali, plenty of ground outside, on which we shall be able to have good outdoor games. . The combined troop committees have rnade several plans which they are putting before the area eommittee. In a few weeks' time they will meet again to see how things are getting on and to arrange further items, There is plenty of time lef t this year • and it would be very nice if we could build our Hastings Scout Headquarters in this, the Coronation Year.