GIRL GUIDES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 250, 22 October 1935, Page 11

GIRL GUIDES.

12TH ANNUAL REPORT. STEADY PROGRESS MADE. At the annual meeting of the Auckland Provincial Girl Guide Association, the twelfth annual report was presented by the provincial commissioner, Mrs. It. J. Coates. The meeting was presided over by Mrs. Bruce Mackenzie, who became president of the association shortly before the girl guide rally held during Lady Baden-Powell's visit to Auckland in February. In her preliminary remarks, Mrsi Mackenzie made enthusiastic reference to the stimulating personality of Lady Baden-Powell and the inspiration her visit had been to the guide movement in New Zealand.- She also welcomed as vice-presidents the Mayoress, Mrs. Ernest Davis, and the Lady Evelyn Drummond, and spoke of the extraordinarily kind gesture on the part of the Auckland public in organising the Antique Exhibition in aid of the association funds.

The report stated that the chief commissioner, Miss Ruth Herrick, had inaugurated a new division of the provinces so that the Poverty Bay Division and part of the Bay of Plenty Division now formed part of a new province under the direction of Mrs. Balfour. The Opotiki district also formed part of the new province and the Taumarunui company had been included in the Taranaki province. Wellington province had won the Lady Alice Fergusson Cup, with the Auckland province a very close second, and the Bledisloe Ranger Cup was won by Knox Company, Dunedin, with the Awhina Rangers, of Ponsonby, second.

Mrs. A. H. Butler had been appointed provincial secretary for posts and there were twelve post guides and a few post rangers. It was reported that an extension company of the post guides consisting of six blind girls had been started. Formerly these girls had been included in an active company, but it had been found better to allow them to visit active companies in their district. Great activity had been shown in the Lono Branch under the leadership of Mrs. Greville, secretary for lones. A lone ranger company had been formed under the captaincy of an energetic guider and 15 rangers and 15 recruits had been enroiled. There were 69 lone guides in the province with 44 recruits.

Ranger Work. There had been a marked keenness in rangering, the report continued, and although the Tirau company had closed a new company had been begun in the Manukau district. Rangers had undertaken to collect used stamps and hoped with the proceeds to be able to endow a cot in the Crippled Children's Home.

A slight decrease in the numbers in the Brownie packs, almost entirely in the country, was reported, but two new packs had been started in the city division and two had been re-opened in the country. A total of 137 first class badges had been gained, which was an excellent record. Most of the packs had knitted squares for patchwork quilts.

The divisional report of Auckland city referred with regret to the loss of Miss Beryl Knight and five district commissioners. In badge work entries had been received for 37 different badges, the total number of entries for the year being 1009, with 807 passes. It was mentioned that there were now in the province 23 commissioners, comprising 17 district commissioners and five division commissioners. Guiders totalled 258, of whom 144 were warranted and 114 unwarranted. There were 12.4 rangers, 1473 rangers and 1029 brownies.

The officers for the year are as follows: President, Mrs. Bruce Mackenzie; vice-presidents, the Lady Evelyn Drummond and the Mayoress, Mrs. Ernest Davis; Auckland provincial commissioner, Mrs. R. J. Coates; Auckland divisional commissioner, Mrs. A. McCosh Clark; North Auckland representative, Mrs. Montague; Thames Valley division, Mrs. McGregor; South Auckland, Mrs. Abbott; rangers, Miss R. Koberton; training, camping and guides, Miss M. Burgin; brownies, Miss N. Clarke; badge work, Miss Phillips.

Training Report,

In delivering her report on training Miss Burgin stressed the importance of camping. Guides, she said, were not taking advantages of their opportunities for it was in camp that guide lessons could be learnt better than anywhere else; nor was there any better place in which to put them into practice. A training week had been held at the end of August at Otimai and although correspondence courses had been carried on for country guiders and a training class had been held in the city once a week the number of guiders who had camped during the year was disappointingly small A training camp had been held at Henderson in April and guiders wishing to' win their campers' license had attended. Six obtained their license and four a camping permit. Thirty-four guiders had their campers' license and there were five camp advisers in the province. Prior to the presentation of the report a series of tableaus and scenes were enacted by guides, rangers and brownies, under the direction of Miss Burgin, illustrating the history of the guide movement since its inception in 1909.

After the adoption of the annual report and balance-sheet, which showed a credit balance of £66, a short address on citizenship was' delivered by Sir Joseph Smith. The speaker dwelt on the eternal conflict between age and youth and the spirit of intolerance it engendered and appealed to his hearers to look for the best in both ages. He spoke of the heroic pioneering of our grandparents, but lie spoke also of the silent, moral pioneering of the guides which was none the less heroic because it passed unnoticed. The secret of good citizenship, lie said, was self-discipline and a healthy interest in one's fellow men: no one could control others until he had learnt to control himself.