Not many people in New Zealand can remember sitting around a camp fire and singing songs with the late Lord Baden Powell – I can!      The place was in Hastings at Winsor Park, and I was a young grub (a cub at that time). It must have been in 1935 – I was 9 at that time.

         Scouting certainly changed my life. It help built up my confidence. It gave me a career, and because of scouts I joined the Royal NZ Navy and saw the world, before turning 20.

         My first scoutmaster was known as ‘Big Foot’. His name was Mr Dutton. He taught me tramping and camping when I was a member of the 2nd Hastings Pack. I introduced a number of friends to this troop and made some life-time friends.

         When we moved to Hawera after my father was transferred for work, I joined the local scouts. It was a good way to make new friends.     

         At that time, the scoutmaster was an Australian, called Harry Schapper. He was studying for a university degree part- time and he held a diploma in Farm Management and Valuation from Lincoln College.

         He worked for the Taranaki Farmers Co-op managing estates for trusts. I wasn’t doing too well at school so he suggested I leave school at 16 and become a farm cadet for the Co-op with an ultimate goal of going to Lincoln to study for a VFM diploma. He moved me around from farm to farm to gain experience. It started me on a remarkable career ending up as a senior United Nations advisor.

         One of the highlights of my Hawera scouting days was biking and camping on a long bike ride of about 400 kilometres to Hawkes Bay with a fellow scout, Lyn Holloway.  

         A feature of that long ride was we always seemed to be biking into a head-wind.

         Bikes in those days didn’t have gears and we carried tent, poles and our billies.

         While cadetting on a farm at Waitotara I played for the Waverly rugby team in the Whanganui competitions. We often travelled by train to play in the city.

         On one of those trips, I met my old scout patrol leader, George Sargent.  He was a Navel Airman 2nd class heading overseas for Fleet Air Arm training. He did a sales job on me. I was green with envy so I talked my father into letting me join the Navy.  

         After the war finished and I was demobbed I attended Canterbury College. While struggling to do a degree, I was encouraged once again by my old scoutmaster Harry Schapper who was now a lecturer at Lincoln College.  I often visited him. He often invited me to join his family for a Sunday dinner.

         Many years later I met George Sargent when I was working in Samoa. He was an architect living in Apia. I told him how he had helped change my life.

         Harry Schapper and I met many times in Perth.

         We had a daughter living in Perth and we regularly visited on en-route to Singapore to run workshops for the Singapore Institute of Management. I must have visited Perth at least 30 times.

         Harry was by then Dr Henry Schapper, Professor of Agriculture Economics at the University of Western Australia. We always had a walk, a chat and a meal.

         My last scouting event was in Wellington held in Government House, the home of the Governor-General. I took our two sons, Graeme and David to a 100 year anniversary event held in Government House.

           They had both been good scouts and learned much from that experience.

          Their Great-Grandmother had been the House-Keeper to the Earl of Liverpool, New Zealand’s last Governor, and our first Governor – General. We were interested to see where she had worked.

         Scouting played a major role in all our lives. I strongly recommend young people join if there is a good local troop in the district, it could change your life – it certainly changed mine!

Geoffrey Moss (mossassociates.co.nz)

Free from Google on our website.