My Account
It was a nostalgic evening for some 60 former members of the 1st Warkworth Company of the Boys Brigade at a reunion in Warkworth on June 10.
Now in recess due to a shortage of leaders, the group operated in Warkworth for 65 years. A special service in the Methodist Church saw the laying-up of the Company Colours, followed by a reunion supper. Former members came from as far away as Queenstown and Whangarei. The guest speaker was Boys Brigade NZ director Mike Brewer.
A new Mahurangi ICONZ Adventure group for boys aged six to 17 years has been formed in Snells Beach.
The reunion also marked youth leader Dave Parker’s retirement. Parker has served both in Warkworth and the Cook Islands where he was a volunteer training officer.
“During those 48 years part-time on either Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu or Mangaia, I was able to promote habits of obedience, reverence, discipline and self-respect,” Parker says. “In turn, they taught me a lot about life on isolated islands and the difficulties they experienced in isolation.”
Parker was responsible for shipping thousands of dollars worth of donated brass band instruments to the Cook Islands, as well as uniforms and teaching aids.
