Events coming up...

Sat 5th Nov 4-7pm - 1st Devonport AGM

Fri 11th Nov - Meet the Parents, Meet the Leaders meeting for new families at 6.30pm

Sat 12th Nov - Working Bee at the Den 10-4pm - painting, cleaning, odd-jobbing. Please come down if you can - even if only for one hour, every little helps.

Sunday 4th Dec - Devonport Santa Parade - this is our major fundraiser for the year and parents are needed to run the Sausage Sizzle in Windsor Reserve after the Parade - please volunteer! Contact Angee O'Keeffe 445 9958

Heritage Festival Open Day
On Saturday 1st October, the Scouts held an open day as part of Auckland Heritage week to celebrate 65 years of scouting at the Den in Allenby Avenue.

About 250 people turned up to look at the scout campsite setup, climb the rope bridges and swings and view the historical displays inside the Den. The Badgers Club were also present and attracted a lot of interest.We had many old members visit including Alan Taylor, who was the cub leader in 1948 and Dave Moore who attended Auckland Jamboree in 1959 and who donated a considerable sum towards the purchase of our mini-marquee. It was also great to meet old leaders such as John Parker & Malcolm McLeod who were able to tell us some interesting tales about 1DSG.

Donations & Fundraising
We were given $110 by visitors to the Heritage Festival Day and made around $200 from the Cake & Coffee stall, so thankyou to all those who contributed to that. We would also like to report that the group has been given an anonymous donation from a Trust to the tune of $3,800, an incredible generosity which will enable us to complete our outstanding equipment purchases.

Den Hire

The Den is available for hire for Birthday Parties, community based classes, events etc. Currently, the Den is being used regularly for yoga classes, meditation and St John's Youth Cadets - and kids birthday parties.

Its $15 per hour or $50 for a kids party or 3hr evening event, so put the word out.

Keas
The growth of our Kea section continues unabated as we eneter a new phase under the stewardship of Sarah Parry and Kim Houston, who already has more than 8yrs experience as a Scout Leader. We have 14 Keas in the club now and will be taking on two new Kea leaders in due course.

Cubs
This term we welcome Shaarina (Raksha) to the Flagstaff Cub pack, who has come up to Cubs with her daughter Sophia. Both Packs are now full, with 23 Cubs in each. We have an exciting term of activities ahead of us including working on the Cyclist Badge and the Conservation Badge.

Scouts
Two scouts have gone up to Venturers - and two new scouts will be joining us, including one transfer from the Takapuna Scout Troop, so we stay steady with 15 members in our three patrols (Karearea, Kotare and Kakapo). Congratulations to Tamara for successfully managing to get a teaching post in Auckland!

Venturers
Got underway last term with an investiture ceremony that took place in the tunnels atop Mt Victoria! The Venturers were very pleased with the sausage sizzle they ran at the Heritage Festival day, at which they raised $100.

Leaders
Congratulations are due to Nigel Teape, Jason Taylor and Shaarina Taylor who have all been awarded their Gilwell Woggles in recognition of their skill and ability as leaders within Scouting. Its a sign of the great committment that our leaders have to the Group that they have all completed their leader training in such a short time. In addition, three of our leaders have recently been awarded their Gilwell Scarf and Wood Beads, for having completed their Scouting Advanced Personal Development training. Congratulations to Tamara, Jordon and Chris on this fine achievement.