We had a very special team on Saturday with Perry bringing along Oscar and  Gracie, our two youngest bees yet—and what fabulous little worker bees they were—carrying buckets of gravel to cover the drain behind the wall and then moving lots of clay!! (take a look at the photos!). We will miss Perry and the children when they head off to Montpellier in  France soon.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Damian turned up unaccompanied by his usual  two staunch helpers, Harriet and Frankie, who had other commitments. Hey girls, We missed you both!!

I think Damian is about to trump Grayson as the master hole digger!

Augusta (who has the misfortune to be my daughter) got pulled away from completing her NCEA assessment to help with the gravel.

Of course Michael and Denise got stuck in again, and Mark came along later with Victoria so I set him to work helping Denise excavate his favourite corner!!  I want to get that corner safely closed in next Friday,  so getting it ready was a great help.

It was a great relief for me to see these stalwarts turn up as I had a deadline to meet for family commitments— but we got all work to complete the end of the wall  and backfill done by 1.00 PM. ( Well we went 15 minutes over—but I got back on Sunday for a bit of a clean-up).

I have not finalised the programme for next weekend— BUT THERE WILL BE JOBS TO BE DONE:

The Gibraltar board etc. is being delivered this Tuesday so there is some carting to be done if this is  not done before Saturday. We may have to put out a special mid-week call if the weather turns to muck).

Pretty exciting getting to the home run!

Regards to all,

Rex—for the renovation team

The National Scout Aviation School begins on Sunday the 20^th April at 4 pm and runs until Sunday the 28^th  April in the morning (after pack out)

There are a few spaces still available on this, and we would like to fill these

Based at Palmerston North, the scouts enjoy a week of learning and hands-on tasks – including flying an aircraft with the opportunity of further flying in a microlight, glider and helicopter.  Visits to Ohakea, the airport air traffic control and engineering workshops are included. This is a great chance to complete all the Aviation based badges in a week with visiting specialist tutors.

Cost: $340 plus optional extra flying of a maximum of $235                           Age: 12 plus

For further information and application forms  http://scouts.org.nz/aviation

Contact James Bennett, school director on [email protected] or 021 0595107

Good morning worker bees and all of Brooklyn Scout community

Fantastic job last Saturday.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Because the concrete truck was delayed we had time to prepare holes for the very last pile renewals. ALL DONE!!!

We now have a nice landing into the basement and on to the wall framing, wiring, gibbing, plastering  can get on its way in earnest.

I hope I remember you all from last Saturday—if not the photos will you up. Take a look

Great team included Mark, Perry, Chris, Michael, Erina, Damien and Jo (great job on the corner plié Jo).

Thanks to our younger helpers:

Daniel Ewers was doing a great job until he sadly injured  a finger—but in true Scout fashion was very staunch!! , Gussy, Harriet, Frankie—who did I forget

THIS COMING WEEKEND A SHORT WORKING BEE: this is mainly a clean up the site in prep for the final building work.

Need a few good wrigglers to do a fianl clean out of loose dirt etc under the main hall and complete nailing the straps to the plies.

Start at 9—and finish by 12.

Rex

T: 04 972 5530 M: 021 228 5558

What a fantastic effort on Saturday.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We got all of the piles replaced under the main Scout hall.  Just as well, as the Hall  was sitting on nine piles of Totara dust.

A Special, (Very  SPECIAL) thank you to the Rovers. Wow, did they get stuck in.  It was particularly challenging work wriggling in under the floor to dig out old piles and put the new ones in. (And Chris Ewers—another prize for wriggler extraordinaire!!)

This work was out of scope for the basement but opportunity and common sense prevailed and now the hall is on good plies for another hundred years.

Award for the Scout family contribution goes to Damien, Harriet and Frankie——. And Harriett definitely gets the gold medal for wriggling and perseverance. (Well Damien comes in close staying to the bitter end mixing concrete). But Harriet managed to get shortest, most inaccessible pile out and new hole dug where she could only just squeeze between floor and the dirt. Impressive and a godsend.

Perry (recovering from a broken wrist) insisted he needed only one hand to carry buckets of clay up to the skip.

Mark got stuck in again and Victoria is a real trooper!

It was a day of heroics and I am immensely impressed and grateful—as we all should be. Thank you to the workers.

Terry made sure we got the floor levelled and generally kept a wise eye on proceedings.

Two more special thank yous: Gussy and Erina made a fantastic ( and healthy) lunch that was very timely. And also to Erina for running off to Placemakers  “on demand”, fetching concrete and ties for the piles when we ran out.  Gussy helped unload a last trailer of clay at tip and one more with all the other rubbish on Sunday, —- helped by Thomas who turned up for all ready for a Sunday working bee!!

And Denise: the skip you so generously donated was filled up in a few hours and enabled us the crack on and make the most of the Rovers and others’ time getting the piles in.  Without the skip we would not have got the job done—even if Denise had been able to get there to  move a few mountains of dirt as is her habit!.

NEXT WEEKEND>Saturday the 22^nd Feb.

I know that it is group camp but “we” will be at the Hall  to get the last landing done to the basement, two more piles (exterior N/E wall corner). We will be mixing our own concrete for this so help most welcome.

And the following weekend—we hope we will need help carrying down sheets of Gibraltar board for the lining—but will confirm later.

Regards,

Rex

Rex Collett

T: 04 972 5530 M: 021 228 5558

Two events you need to know about – please come along and support us

1) WORKING BEE: The basement project calls on scouts and families THIS WEEKEND 15/16 Feb. There is a big project to do replacing some old piles under the Scout Hall. Even smaller scouts can assist, as there will be many buckets of soil to carry to the waiting skip. Please help, as this project is going to give us a great basement facility that will give us not only Venturer space but also useful space as the Scout section grows. Working bee starts 9am both Saturday and Sunday. Call Rex Collett on 9725530 for details. You need to wear old clothes, strong covered in shoes, bring gardening or similar work gloves, and please bring your own lunch. It is fun and many hands make light work.

2) On Tuesday 18 Feb our Scout night is “Fun with Water” and it is also our NEW SCOUTS night. All new/ potential scouts are welcome, and any cubs soon to come up to scouts. An ideal way to see what Scouting is about on a “no commitment” basis. Parents are welcome to stay and observe.
Families please encourage your scout to bring a friend, and let neighbours and school families know about this opportunity. Normal start time 7pm and finish 9pm. Please bring a RAINCOAT (and waterproof leggings if you have them) and also a TOWEL. Water activities will take place on the Community Centre lawn.
Any enquiries to scout-leader-denise [at] brooklynscouts.org.nz

We will be getting a newsletter out to Scout families by next Tuesday with details of this term and events during the year – many great activities coming up.

Yours in scouting
Kowhai (Denise)