YouTube Transcript:
2009 - Vi Codling - Pathfinders

I'm sorry I'm going to have to sit down
but my knees aging I have to look but
faster than me I think and they don't
like standing the Pathfinder started in
North New Zealand in 1956 I'm not quite
sure when they started here but Bronte
Sinclair was the youth leader at that
time he came up to one grade to start
our care to stop pathfinders we had a
meeting out in the hall and at nine
o'clock we broke off our meeting and
went out to watch the first satellite go
away but does anybody remember what year
that was
that's good good many years ago but that
was the year but the Pathfinder started
live Larson some of you people will know
the names that I've mentioned that's
been in power fine as others may not but
did Larson was our first Pathfinder
director and I was put in this his
assistants the children was when they
came we're learning friends companion
and guide work and we were supposed to
be master guides because we were so new
we had to study
I think harder than the children they
seemed to do it easier than us to keep
one jump ahead of them so we knew just
what to give them each week for the
meetings the meetings used to meet every
Sunday morning in the church hall was
the old hall in the little one we had a
parade and inspection they didn't have
uniforms to start off with but over the
year they they got the uniforms they
would have to be inspected there was a
little bit of a dispute some of the
girls like to wear their blouse is out
of they'd like to wear them in but the
rule said blouse is in so we had our own
rule they had their blouses tucked in
for inspection parade and the devotional
service then when we broke to do our
other class work make it have their
shirts in or out whichever they liked
and that worked very well we had no
problem getting the girls to tuck their
shirts in for for the and I found all
the time working with children sometimes
you have to make compromises to keep the
peace
some of the children would start getting
into mischief and you had to pounce on
them fairly quickly otherwise it got out
of control
I think this three three boys here that
used to be part finest shame Trevor and
David other any others here that used to
be can't see who you are oh I couldn't
can't see your property my eyes are not
very good yeah yeah you were you were
the leader of part of the time yeah
there was much later that was repel time
I left we had games crafts not time and
believe me we used to get into some
really good nights the patient loners
they put these that are on my sash they
have and I have a paper here that lists
a lot of the vocational honors but the
children do it shows all the badges
[Applause]
shows the badges and then gives you a
outline of the work that you do I also
have one here on cooking and fire built
fire building in camp cooking one of the
competition's the children had to do was
light a fire with one match that was
alright on a calm day but on a windy day
that could be very very difficult and
some children were much better at doing
that than others so that when we went
down each year to our meeting down in
Haskell Park when we all competed
against the different different clubs we
always picked out those who could do the
thing we got a list ahead of the work
time and some that were good on the work
practiced up and they loved this camp
cooking making pancakes over the fire
sometimes they got burnt but they seemed
to enjoy them at home if they got burnt
they wouldn't eat them but when they
burnt them themselves they seemed to
think that was all right we used to have
a monthly mean monthly outing week time
para hockey I was usually fairly well
behind but never mind we got there I
remember one time we went over to where
medic
Kohi museum I remember Murph Elvin was
one of our dads that helped with the
transport and I found all during my
pathfinder years the parents were very
good in supplies support and transport
for the various outings yeah we that was
the early meeting at Haskell Park and
remember one year we were down there and
they were doing the drill
Diane Lynch was a leader on one end of
the line and Greenfield Michael
Greenfield was the other end of the line
so when they turned I had a senior when
they Chen pasture passing him was giving
the orders and my team was in a
single-file marching across the grounds
and somebody districted passed the pasta
and the team just marched straight off
the ground everybody was doing and only
wondering what was happened but he
announced afterwards that that was the
right thing to do because no other order
had been given so she just kept marching
straight ahead mostly of these there was
a few upsets like that now I just made
some three camps that we had one was
down a tree a tire hit an old house down
there at this time ray Blackburn was the
leader I was the assistant cook and he
took the children up timed up mountain
and I my heart was in my mouth all day
wondering where the hell they were
getting on but they all arrived back
very grubby do it is scratched and you
know how what happens when a group of
boys go out like that it was their very
good Kim another camp we had was out at
Greenfield set toto and that was an old
home old homestead out there mrs. ring
Rose was with me at that stage and
Griffin Yvonne Ellis my helpers I got
out there early
the house had hay stored in us but that
was still quite clean but I left all the
hay there for them to play with and yeah
I lit the fire with a big ol of wood
stove
and I know he got smoked out of the
house went outside to have a look to see
if smoke was coming out the chimney and
what came out the chimney was a possible
he had built a home in than there in the
chimney so Grif had to climb up on the
roof and dispossessed the possum of his
home after that we had a good firing had
a good camp at that meeting while grace
was being said at breakfast I kept my
eyes open and I saw somebody sprinkle
salt on somebody else's porridge so I
just walked over and picked up the two
plates and changed them over I was
reminded about that about 20 years later
the person concerned some might know who
it is who it was he was a bit of a
scoundrel but he was a lovely boy it
wasn't Dave the one neither of the two
here present Ron we get to I said are
the other other camp-meeting was out at
Lewis ring roses weekend he put up a big
tent out there and put hay bales in for
us to sit on wrong on the cloud was the
Pathfinder director then and he went out
in the bush and came back we went for a
bush war where he came back he came back
for the Kiwi and the Kiwi II and got all
the children in the tent and they all
had a look at the Kiwis and the egg and
then I had to keep all the children in
the tent while a Kiwi was returned to
its natural habitat and during the camp
out there in the tents the other two in
houses this was intense and little
voices would say mrs. coddling there's
something making a noise outside my tent
it was Lewis's cows that were across the
creek and you could hear them chewing
grass and moving and moving around and
then somebody else would say what's that
noise it'll be a Kiwis calling or a
fourth or calling and it was quite
interesting that the children Peter
I've never heard that sort of thing but
surprising how quickly they adapted the
other thing or we used to have a
Pathfinder meeting at the church the
Pathfinder Udall parade in and be
presented with their awards for the year
I still have my little book from my
master guide directions and I'll tell
you about three three big camps we went
to one in World's End at 1971 that was
the two booklets from there and that's
the little banner we got mrs. ring Rose
was there I took a group of children
down on the train
we were talking by car I think sue was
with us on the trip we took the train
down to Wellington and Sue McLeod
she wasn't typically up in CS quarters
from the train to the boat because she
knew Wellington and all the side tracks
and kept through and over on the boat we
got to the other end and the buses were
2 meters for the our bus didn't turn up
because he had driven over the road
which was newly formed and he didn't
like taking his bus over that road again
I don't blame him because in the bus you
look out like that and you look for
straight away down to the bottom of the
cliff and so we had to wait for that but
when we got to the camp it was a lovely
clean round had him in the trailer with
in his sleeping bag and took him down
and dumped him in the creek I don't
remember what he did he never worried
never fought or anything he just
accepted he definitely played play
pranks on the others and they got one
back on him passing him I don't know
helped him many of you know him he's a
lot really lovely man
the other camp I went through was at
yera Mundi in Australia I didn't take
any other children to this camp I went
as an assistant to a composite group
children that didn't have Fonda camps to
go to and the worst thing when we got
there and Ken pitched our camps was no
fires to be lit at all
all our food have to be eaten cold it
was so hot during our camp we had a
violent storm and a big each camp was in
a different block and a space between
and a tree fell and it fell in that
space between the tents and the flood I
could I was in my tent I could see the
water trickling down past it and so
forth so we will confined to our tents
for a few hours while the rain passed
over but everybody was joyful after that
because they could like fires and that
was a very happy time
[Music]
do any of you remember Carter at Rennes
bosses book no devil streets you know
pastor and ahsha was at that camp in the
group and we had him to our camp for a
meal which was very interesting he told
some very interesting stories and to
orig where's the big camp and this is
the banner we got from two orig idea was
at that one I think mrs. cousin Maya was
the director at that time if I remember
right I may not have it all these
details exactly right because after all
these years it's very hard to remember
at all we had some camps of Nazareth
Jerusalem I can't read my own writing
Bethenny came to Capernaum and Jericho
and the hill between the kitchen and the
present big building there was gold
offer and they had the three crosses up
on that which was very women so that was
there
interesting I've also got these that's
the Badgers he's supposed to wear some
of these on your on your fish my fish I
also have a little booklet here that we
were given and each day there were some
of the people dressed as disciples you
have to go around and ask them and they
would put a stamp on your book to get
the stamp and we have to keep a four-day
diary which I had the video and it was
one of the most interesting camps there
were so many children there the it's got
a map here the layout of the camp and
they had various activities on that you
could go to and I remember when they had
the fighting fighting up on the hill
throwing bags of flour or something of
each other they had there was a lake
near the camp it was not on the
campground but the farmer allowed the
use of it and they had boats out on the
lake and they had I think they had a few
water fights down there too but working
with pathfinders and the group of
children I found very interesting it
wasn't only our church children a lot of
them brought their friends with them who
were very felt very out of place I think
when they would came first that it was a
project to see how they over the weeks
they all joined in each year there
seemed to be one boy who was a little
bit of a I don't know what you'd call
him a mischief or a high-spirited or
something and you sort of have to keep
your eye on that particular one most of
the time and if any little problems that
came up in the but otherwise its spread
and the whole thing got out of hand but
I found that by talking to the children
compromising making rules and sticking
to them if I found it very interesting
and even today last year at the camp big
camp there were several young people's
came up to me young married
mainly you don't know me mrs. Cortland
no don't know you I was in Pathfinder
sir I was jet Pathfinder came for real
something like that and they still
remember the work that we used to do in
the past I think that's about all I can
tell you about it I after the big camp -
we rejoice they seem to drift out of
pathfinders it got a little bit too much
for me hope you enjoyed been able to
tell you if anybody got any questions I
did I should have mentioned I had 28
children when I went down to the camp at
South Island on the train that was a
great experience