Girl Guides Association Victoria 47th Annual Report 1972-73 f The Guide Promise I promise that I will do my best; To do my duty to God, To serve the Queen and help other people and To keep the Guide Law. The Guide Law A Guide is loyal and can be trusted. A Guide is helpful. A Guide is polite and considerate. A Guide is friendly and a sister to all Guides. A Guide is kind to animals and respects all living things. A Guide is obedient. A Guide has courage and is cheerful in all difficulties. A Guide makes good use of her time. A Guide takes care of her own possessions a nd those of other people. A Guide is self-controlled in all she th inks, says and does. State Report It gives me great pleasure to present my first Annual Re ­ port as State Commissioner for Victoria. From this you will M iss Betty Macartney see the extent to which Guiding has flourished during the past year. There have been changes - changes of executive per­ sonnel, changes within the Guide programme, changes perhaps in the role Guiding is playing in the community but it is st imulating to know that everywhere we can see the basic principles of the Movement being carried out. In an age of increasing permissiveness, the Guide Association with its emphasis on character building and training for citizenship assumes an even greater import­ ance than in past years. I can think of no greater commu ­ nity service and responsibility than that of sharing in the moulding of the character of our girls who in a few short years will themselves assume all the challenges of citizen­ ship. Victorian Guiding suffered a great loss with the sudden death of its State Secretary, Miss The degree of success the Movement has achieved must Betty Maca rtney. be attributed to Ol.)r untiring bond of leaders, from the State Executive through every section of the Movement, to Miss Macartney was to have retired on the many' non-uniformed people such as Local Associa­ January 31 st, 1973 but we were all shocked tion members who give so much to Guiding in so many and deeply saddened to learn of her sudden ways. The girls themselves bring great credit to the death on January 5th. Association. Miss Macartney had worked for Guiding With the great variety of activities available for young for most of her life as Guider, Trainer, Ad­ people today, we are facing a challenge which requires the maximum use of our resources. We cannot rest on our viser, and finally as State Secretary for the past performances and must press on to greater levels of past 20 years. She is missed by us all, but achievement, particularly in those fields which are not­ we have so many happy memories of her ably our own. friendsh i p and the service she gave to the Guide Movement. Much of the progress made this year has stemmed from the inspiring leadership given over the past five A memorial service was held at St. Paul 's years by Mrs. R. Renshaw Jones and her assistants, Mrs. Cathedra I on Februa ry 8th at wh ich the J. A. Hutchinson, Mrs. J. M. Kirkman and Miss M. Shaw. address was given by Deaconess Elizabeth All members of the Association owe a debt of gratitude to Alfred, a lifelong friend of Miss Macartney. them for their untiring efforts and their recognition of the role Guiding can and should undertake in the community. Donations made to the Association in her memory will go towards a building at Two "At Homes" were held at Headquarters to enable Shoreham camp site which will bear her members of the Movement to farewell this team. In app­ name. reciation of their leadership, members of the Movement have contributed to a Challenge Fund which will be used for the benefit of the children. During 1973-74 this fund will be used to encourage more camping . 2 New Team I am pleased to have as my assistants, M rs. D. O . Oldfield and Mrs. A. J. Turnbull. It is fun working with them and they give me unqualified hel p and support. Following the announcement of the retirement of Miss Betty Macartney as State Secretary, Miss M . W . (Peg) Barr was appointed State Secretary. Miss Barr was previously O rganising Secretary and has held many ot her Guide ap­ point ments, bot h here and overseas. It delighted us all when M iss Barr accepted this position. Our former Honorary Treasurer, Mr. R. E. G regory, and former Honorary Lega l Adviser, Miss V . Fowler, have also retired. To them both we ore deeply indebted for the any years of loyal service they have given to the Guide IVlovement. The New Team -- Miss M . W. Barr, Mrs. F. S. Grim wade, We welcome their successors, Mr. K. G . Colhoun and Mrs. A. 1. Turnbull, Mrs. D. O. Oldfield Mr. G . Farrow. Specia I Activities The strength of the Guide Movement depends largely on State President its t rained voluntary Leaders. As more and more women We thought that last year's Annual Meeting would be the enter the work force it becomes increasingly difficult to last one attended by our State Pre sident, Lady Delacombe. attract leaders of the right calibre - this is a matter to To our delight she is still with u s. which we are giving constant attention. Promotion Week: To show the role Guiding plays in the Not only have our members had the pleasure of wel­ community and to interest more people in our activities coming Lady Delacombe to the 1972 Commissioners' Promotion Week was launched in October, 1972. The Lord Conference and the Biennia l Local Association Conference Mayor of Melbourne, Cr. A. Whalley, escorted by Ranger held in June this year, but on several occasions G uide Gu ides and Guides, sailed up the Yarra by launch and representatives enjoyed taking part in special yout h act­ breakfasted with members at Henley landing stage be­ ivities at Government House. The presentation of Queen's fore officially opening this Week. At the conclusion the sky G uide Certificates and the Yout h Ga rden Party were mem­ was filled with many hundreds of blue and gold balloons orable events for all concerned. We do thank Lady Dela ­ bearing " Sunny Sue ", the Promotion emblem. Thi s smiling - .. mbe for the keen interest she has taken in our activities Trefoi l has since been seen decorating cars, windows, T­ Jring her stay in Victoria. We shall miss her very much. shirts and jeans and has even travelled overseas with our members. The proceeds from her sale met the cost of this promotion. The State Commi ssioner's Challenge 'Know Your Aust­ ralia' was accepted by many girls and units throughout Lady Delacombe chars with Local Association Members the State. A competition was held, resulting in many entries of a particularly high slandard. Th ese were dis­ played at Headquarters during Promotion Week. We were grateful to Ampol Petrol eum Lim it ed for donating the prizes. Annual Golf Day: Th e Lady Delacombe Cup contested at our annual Golf Day was held this year at the Metropol ­ itan Golf Club and was an outstanding success . Our new campsite at Shoreham benefited from the pro­ ceeds of a Ten nis Day held at Elsternwick Park Tennis Centre. Thi s is becoming a popular annual event. The Speci a l Activities Committee held a most enjoyable luncheon in the beautiful Rose Garden at the home of Sir M aurice and Lady Nathan to raise funds for the Assoc­ iation. We appreciated this wonderful gesture of these two friends of Guiding. A luncheon was held for representatives of other organi­ sations during Promotion Week and a farewell party was 3 .. Promotion Week gets oU to a flying start. arranged for our retiring Chief Commissioner, Mrs. J. R. Price. "Guiding on the Go" held during Moomba was undoub­ tedly one of the highlights of the year. Girls from all Sec­ tions participated in the Opening Ceremony of Moomba and two Ranger Guides accompanied the Governor, Sir Rohan Delacombe, by launch to the closing ceremony. Each evening a group of girls presented a Festival of Countries at Flinders Park. Ranger Guides and Rovers from Yarra -Batman combined to build a float " The Old Woman in the Shoe" which they entered in the Moomba procession. During Moomba weekend all roads led to the Badminton Centre where gay displays and exciting activities based on our eight-point programme were presented. For three days this centre was filled with many hundreds of happy laughing folk of all ages enjoying the fun and fellowship of Guiding. A State-wide "link-up" ensured that country children could share all this with their city sisters. A good turn on the hospital scene Leisure Time Activities have been held during the three school vacations and in two of these a change of format dressed dolls for sale and the proceeds were used to buy was tried and proved successful. The participants had a tricycles for a West Austral ian M issi on. Bed socks were wide choice of activities - drama and mime, archery, knitted and sent to the hospital at Sunbury, while other enamelling, a day trip to the beach or country. An after girls knitted squares that formed a rug that was presen­ school project at a suburban centre proved that this type ted to Bacchus Marsh Hospital. of programme should be encouraged.