THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 253, 23 December 1940, Page 7

THE "GOOD ENDEAVOUR" LEAGUE FOR YOUNG READERS ONLY

What ho' What ho! Ma Hearties. So' wc arc spending Christmas in Vancouver alter all and it will be a grand re-union for the first mate and his men who have brought the S.S. Good Endeavour round from the east coast. A Merry Xmas to you all. lam making special ar;-< rangements for a Xmas Tree and a real old-fashioned party in which you will all be asked to join. Now. I understand that yMi have all made arrangements of your own for the holidays. Therefore I am going to dismiss the ciew and give them home leave for the wliofe of the holiday season, This will mean that you can go home to your families for just as long as the school holidays. I have booked accommodation in the trans-Pacific Clipper service and you will find no difficulty in getting all the.way back to j Whakatane free of cost. For myself, I prefer to remain in sunrjy Vancouver, where I have many friends and where I will be welcome for just as long as I care"* to stay. I know that most of you wjiVl be going to visit friends. Therefore you will be away from your homes. So I will be discontinuing the Good Endeavour League columns until you are all safely on shipboard again. The beginning of February will see my cheerful columns appealing in the BEACON again. Un • the meantime, I Avisli you a very extraordinarily Merry Merry Christmas and the happiest of Happy New Years. May you all thoroughly enjoy yourselves and may Old Santa Glaus, whom I know A T ery Avell, incidentally, be very kind to every one of you on Xmas Eve. Yours Very Sincerely, Peter the Whaler.

OUR STORY WILD RHO DOT)ENDRON In the evergreen forests of Olympic Penhmila. the wild rhododendron grows tall; the flowers, in all their exquisite beauty, often appear above the ' lower branches of the trees.

One May day we went on what ,vas called a rhododendron drive, ( ollowing the usual ferries and high- . .vays, and at last a road through the forest where we saw a few straggling rhododendrons. How disappointing! \Vhen we stopped for Dur picnic lunch, I asked permission to spend the time walking alone in the woods. "At your own risk," they said, "and we'll give you aj few minutes more than an hour. So I went into the woods alone walking until I seemed to be in the heart of the virgin forest, marking i- trail behind me which would lead me back to my friends; but I saw no rhododendrons. Undiseouiaged. [ kept on, enjoying the quiet that reigned. Presently' I caught sighjt Df what seemed to be a slight movement of light and colour, as if some liry sprite smiled and beckoned. [ stood still—'wa Iching, waiting— until I saw one of the large flowers' peeping over an evergreen bough. Others appeared, and suddenly the | forest was bright and joyous witn rhododendron flowers. It was as though they had beeen hiding behind the trees and huckleberry bushes watching me, until they were convinced of my friendliness and appreciation. Sunlight filtered through the tree tops to the ground, with its cover-' ing of salal, Oiegon grape, and maiden hair fern; and up from the forest floor the rhododendrons lifted their pink and rose-purple'flowers My friends were about to send cut a searching party for me when I returned to them, bedraggled but happy.

ST. NICHOLAS FOR DUTCH CHILDREN Just as we look forward to out Christmas Day which we celebrate on December 25th, little Dutch boys and girls look forward to their St. Nicholas* Day which they keep on December stli. St. Nicholas was a Bishop who was chosen in the Middle Ages to be patron Saint of Am-< stcrdnm. It is the Saint who leaves their toys each Christmas morning Dutch children believe.

■i Aboard for the Goodwill Cruisej PETER THE WHALER f _ (J- WHALE ISLAND

THIS WEEK'S COMPETITION THI-: LAST OF THE YEAR Si range to say there were only twenty-two answers to the competition, ''What I Would Like For Xmas." I thought that every one of the Hi) members of the Good Endeavour's crew would have answered without fail. But, no. You aill apparently thought that Santa was too hard-worked this year. Well, well. Of all tliose letters I received there were only two which I consider worthy of free picture tickets —here they are: "For Xmas I would like £10, because next year I am going to High School and I would like to be able to say that I started myself off with my own money." Stewardess Sylvia S'\ms. "What I would like for Christmas is a book to improve my knowledge, Reading is my favourite pastime. But I Avould also like a tea-set, to amuse myself and my little sisters" Linen Stewardess Barbara Wallace Congratulations. Your free tickets await you at the Beacon. P.T.W.

"MEET THE PRESIDENT" 1 A little game which causes endless fun a t a party is called "Meet the President." Here it is: Place two straight chairs near together, with the space of one chair between, covering the seats and backs and open space between Avith one large cloth, sheet, or anything else sufficient to cover,, resembling a settee. Upon the iloor beneath is concealed a plentiful supply of cushions. One plays the part of President and another the President's wife. The two sit, one on each end of the settee and are now ready for introductions. One who understands the game I brings in one guest at a time and leads him OA'er to the couple, ; saying "Miss , meet the President and his Avife. Sit do>yn." As the guest sits down between them the other two rise, acknowledging introduction, letting the guest through onto cushions beloAv! All laugh. Then a neAV guest is called in, and the game is repeated. The increased laughter causes the unadmitted guests to be eager foi presentation, and the success of the game is assured. A GOOD GAME

THE LAWYER'S HORSE Each player must describe the lawyer's horse, going right through the alphabet to do so. The first to describe the horse might say, "The lawyer's horse is an amiable horse or "an anxious horse" —and so on until everyone has used ail, adjective beginning with" "A." Then all take the "B's." "The lawyer's-horse is a big horse" or a "bright horse," etc. and so on. The leader of the gams must see that no one hesitates for a word. If anyone should take longer than half a minute to think up an adjective he ,1s out. The last one in the game wins. THE GULLS I saw the seagulls 'lying. On a day in e:;rly spring, I heard, their high, sweet crying, Heard the whisper oi' a wing. Oh, why should I remember, Now that winter days are here. In the glow of white December, A white wing flashing clear. A, white wing and a blue sky And a river llowing slowWhy should the ghosts of seagulls fly Farover —where no rivers flow?