New Scout leader needs support to succeed

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 28, 10 December 1984, Page 4

New Scout leader needs support to succeed

By

Rosalind

Donald

Snow-caving, making and sleeping in bivouacs, setting up fires and cooking pancakes are some of the activities Raewyn Pearson hopes to encourage when she forms the Ohakune Scout Group. For summer activities, Raewyn is hoping to use the Wanganui YMCA facilities. These include flying foxes, bridge swings and canoes. She has support from the Whakapapa Rangers who are willing to help with activities such as bush walks and snow-caving. Raewyn is counting on gaining support from local organisations to help the boys. During the winter she intends to go on visits to Wanganui poiice, fire and radio stations. Raewyn has had extensive experience with various YMCAs. She spent about seven years on the staff at Camp Adair in Auckland, helping with walks, camps, cooking, nurse-aiding and building bivouacs out of polythene, tree branches,

stick fern "and anything else that was around." She also spent two years at the Rotorua YMCA helping with holiday programmes. In Rotorua and Auckland, Raewyn took sponsored children from Social Welfare and other organisations on camps and outings. At Camp Adair, she had a group of crippled children and found it "quite a challenge getting them in their wheelchairs through the bush." At the meeting held for interested boys on Monday 3 December, Raewyn stressed the necessity for parent support. As she and her husband have other commitments (including a yearold baby), they cannot be expected to do everything for the boys. There were several disappointed cubs at the meeting, because there is noone to take the cub pack next year. This Wednesday (12 December) at 7pm Stu Ritchie is holding a meeting to select committee members for the Scout Pack. Interested parents are welcome to attend. Raewyn believes there has been a good response to the camp she is having at Maungaturoa North on the weekend of 15 and 16 December. During their stay the boys will have the opportunity to go on walks, cook on a fire (fire permits have beenarranged) and camp under the shelter of trees "if they don't mind sharing with sheep and cattle." "We will be carting the water from the river by draft

horse. The Dairy Company in Raetihi has kindly given us some cream cans to use for this." The boys are asked to bring their own food and parents are required to transport their boys to and from Maungaturoa. Mums

and Dads are welcome to stay too. Raewyn believes "the boys will either like it or they won't. If they don't scouting is not for them." Anyone interested should contact Raewyn before Saturday 15 December.