Our Values

Commitment

We give 100% effort to the task at hand and complete it to the best of our ability.

Initiative

We do not wait to be asked and in our decisions and actions we are accountable.

Comradeship

The member is the group and the group is the member.

Humour

We see the humour in all adversity that we may face.

Humility

None of us shall see him or herself above the needs of the group.

Mission Statement

Hamilton SAR Group provides highly competent and operationally focused teams
that are well led, trained and equipped.

Committee

Jake Crosby

Interim Chairman

Comms & Media

Matt Hassard

Operations Coordinator

E snapperassasin@xtra.co.nz

Gin Peck

New Member Coordinator

E ninandnim@xtra.co.nz

Dave Pitchford

Police Rep

Barry Were

YSAR Liaison

Russell Lamb

Administrator

Gilbert Southworth

Treasurer

Last Months Meeting

• Update on first aid courses
• Wet GPS exercise

This Months Meeting

• 7:30pm, Monday 15th April.
• New vests and name badges are here. Bring your current vest if you put your name down for a new badge.
• Upcoming AGM / Committee update
• Process for joining the tracking team
• MiniSAREX 1 update
• Tracking Dogs update
• Banff Film Festival
• LandSAR courses update

Monthly Training

This months training will be on Wednesday the 24th at 5:30pm.

The location is yet to be decided but will be on the west side of town.

Reminders

Availability

• If you are going away: Contact Gin with the dates you are unavailable.
• If you are unable to attend a training: Contact Matt.
• If you are unable to attend a meeting: Contact Gin or a committee member.

Pager Test Message

Reminder for all those members with pagers. The first of every month a test message is sent out to ensure your pager is operational, if you do not receive this message you should contact Matt.

Personal Details

Contact Russell if there are any changes to your contact details so the callout list is updated.

Good in the Hood Update

Thanks to everyone who supported us by voting at Z Dinsdale last month. We were one of four groups and received just under quarter of the votes. The Westpac Rescue helicopter took out almost half.

Callout Text Messages New

The system of sending out text messages as well as pager messages has been working well. However, please remember that at this stage it's just Jake forwarding on pager messages from his phone. If he is unavailable or doesn't receive the pager message then there will be no text message. Do not rely on the text message system, carry your pager.

Callouts

• March 30th: 22 year old female near Arapuni. Found shortly after callout message and team stood down.

For Sale

• Backcountry ration packs – with breakfast, lunch, dinner and extras pack (tea, coffee, chocolate etc.). They are a bargain at $20. Remember – these are sold to our group at this special rate on the understanding that they will only be used during SAREXs or SAR Operations.
• Hamilton SAR cloth badge, $6.00 contact Russell
• Whistles – Bright and Loud, $12 contact Barry

Discounts for Members

• R&R Sport – 20%
• Trek 'n' Travel – 20%
• Bivouac Outdoor – 20%
• Macpac Hamilton – up to 30%
• Kathmandu – Free summit club membership
• Mountain Designs – 25% off Mountain Designs Products, 20% off others

Mini SAREX 1 Update

We held a new members assessment on the evening of 5th April with a slight twist for the assessors, well for the guys anyway. Namely a gourmet cook off just using a pan or fire. Dinner was started at about 10pm, firstly with smoked marlin pate and crackers, courtesy of Matt followed by several more courses from him. Kip with fancy frankfurters, with boston beans, cheese, bread wraps, mustard and Saurkraut. Next up again was Matt with bacon wrapped scallops, a whole pan full - very yummy and followed with fresh snapper and guarnard in a curry coating and served with a wasabi dipping sauce - can't beat fresh fish. Dave then served up fresh salmon with herb crusted potatoes and asparagus wrapped in bacon - another yummy meal but his presentation needed to be worked on. A further course from Matt was then cooked, Sika steak with a hint of garlic and a dash of red wine -cooked to perfection.

It was time then to share a few stories while waiting for some tinfoil wrapped round packages to be rolled around in the hot embers. We were all wondering about Jake's parcels and after about half an hour he unwrapped one which revealed an orange. Then he cut in quarters and the mystery was solved after seeing what was revealed and the ultimate taste test. A wonderful finish to our main courses as the orange flesh had been scooped out and the skin filled with a chocolate chip muffin mix which was cooked just right and had a chocolate jaffa taste - a perfect way to finish our meal.

After some discussion it was voted after a very close finish that Jake could wear, "The Hamilton SAR" white chef Hat for the rest of the evening. It was a fantastic effort from all the chefs and even better that I didnt' have to cook anything at all.

Thanks to all the participants and hope you were suitably impressed with what can be achieved while out in the bush.

For all those that couldn't make it, start practising for the next assessment in July.

Gin

Tauranga SAREX - 25th and 26th May New

Tauranga are running a SAREX on the 25th and 26th of May. All Hamilton SAR members have been invited and are encourage to attend. It's a great opportunity to work with a neighbouring group who may end up supporting us or needing our support on searches. If you'd like to attend email jake@hsar.org.nz

AGM June New

Our June meeting will be the AGM. Unfortunately our Chairman, Michael Bland, has had to step down from this role due to work commitments. Until the AGM Jake Crosby will serve as the Interim Chairman.

Over the next month we will be reviewing the committee structure and introducing a lot more non-committee roles. We've recognised a need for each organisational function (such as training or equipment) to have a team supporting it rather than one committee member. In this way we can distribute the workload into smaller, easier tasks.

In order for the AGM to run smoothly and fairly we are calling for anyone who has a motion to put forward to supply it in writing before May 17th so that it can be distributed to the group before the meeting. We will also be making nomination forms available once the positions are finalised.

SAR on YouTube New

Check out these clips of a tracking course featuring Hamilton SAR members. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlaU_3oZilI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM1q8XcVwAA