By Ian Mcarthur
Our First Dural Scouts Group Annual Award Presentation on Saturday, June 19 was attended by more than 50 people.
Our local Federal Member Julian Leeser handed out all of the awards, with Grey Wolf awards going to Christian Zapletal, Brigitte Zapletal, Elijah Dawson and James Waterson.
Also present were the Hon Philip Ruddock, Mayor of Hornsby, Cr Warren Waddell and Mr Terry Brooke, Deputy Chief Commissioner, Scouts NSW.
The Initial Warren Payne (Bear) awards went to Jack O’Kane (Joeys), Angus Smith (Cubs), Mak Kuntze (Scouts) and Tegan Edwards (Venturers).
A brief history of Warren’s contribution to 1st Dural.
Warren Payne joined first Dural in 1987 when his wife Diane was Parent Committee Secretary, and their son was in Cubs.
In 1988 he became Treasurer for two years and in 2000 became Chairman of the Parent Committee, which role he held for four years. Dural Scouts Group
1st Dural was without a Group Leader in 2004 and because Warren felt it was easier to find a Chairman than a Group Leader, he found a new Chairman and trained to become the Group Leader. The job of the Group Leader is to support all the Leaders and liaise with the parent committee and District and Region administration.
Warren stayed as Group Leader for an incredible 10 years but in 2015 he convinced Warwick Mills to become Leader in-Charge and he moved back to the Parent Committee as Secretary and Group Administrator, looking after membership records.
In 2018 health problems caused him to reduce involvement further and since then he has been on the Parent Committee, helping with PR and submitting editorials to local publications to maintain our profile in the community. Dural Scouts Group
In Warren’s words, “My experience in Scouting at 1st Dural has been both enjoyable and worthwhile, working with the many great Leaders and parents who give their time to ensure that our children can participate in the great world of Scouting.” Dural Scouts Group
