GUIDES’ 40-YEAR MILESTONE
PAST, PRESENT and new members of St Martin’s Guides in Piercestown gathered together recently for their investiture and enrolment night – and also to celebrate 40 years of Guides in the parish.
Piercestown Guides was founded in 1978 by the then parish priest Fr James Curtis who, now a canon, still lives in the parish and was at the event.
Up to 30 Guides, Brigins and Cygnets were enroled on the night.
Speaking on the night, unit leader Suzanne McGuire said she remembered Fr Curtis coming to the school to talk about Guides and Scouts and the subsequent training that was carried out for Leaders and preparations for the first investiture. She thanked Fr Curtis for making it all happen.
Ms McGuire expressed her thanks to the principals and boards of management of Piercestown National School for all of their support over the years, particularly for use of their premises over the years. The Guides and Scouts, she said, had teamed up to fundraise and work towards securing their own premises which opened in the summer of 2010.
She also paid tribute to the many Leaders who had passed through the group over the years, pointing out that not only had they learned from Guides training but also from first aid and child protection modules. The key aim, she said, was to enable all girls and young women to develop their full potential.
She particularly welcomed Mary Lawlor, regional commissioner, and chief commissioner Emily McCann from the Summerhill Unit in Wexford. She also thanked all of the parents who had been involved in the group over the years, saying there were too many to mention.
Finally, Ms McGuire asked those gathered to remember those who were no longer with them, in particular Anna Mahon and Trisha Hayes, both of whom would never be forgotten by the Guiding family.
The group will have a joint celebration with the Scouts on May 27 at the Scout Hall and are inviting all past and present members to join them.