60 YEARS OF SCOUTING

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31879, 6 January 1969, Page 10

60 YEARS OF SCOUTING

Unveiling At Woodend Sixty years of New Zealand scouting was marked by the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at Woodend on Saturday morning by the first King’s Scout in New Zealand; (Mr J. Rennie). About 100 scouts, representing New Zealand and overseas contingents at the national jamboree, watched the ceremony, held at the site of a cairn marking the place of the first combined scout camp held in New Zealand from December 26, 1908, to January 2,1909. The cairn was erected by scouts attending the Canterbury jamborette held in January, 1954. About sft high, it is set in concrete and contains engraved stones or boulders, brought from various scout; districts.

While a patrol, dressed in copies of the originals uni-! forms and representing the Ashley district, stood at attention, the deputy camp chief (Mr R. E. Glensor) opened the ceremony with ai prayer and the Ashley district commissioner (Mr G. Gray), son of an original scout, broke the flag. The Canterbury area commissioner (Mr H. W. Millard) read a brief scouting history and a Venturer scout, Rex Burrage, great-grandson of Lieutenant-Colonel D. Cosgrove, who led the first camp, read the scout laws. Mr H. A. Mazey, who was an assistant to the first scoutmaster (Mr T. Mallasch) and a warranted scoutmaster himself in November, 1909, led the reaffirmation of the scout promise. Several men active in scouting 60 years ago joined the boys.