ALL HALLOWES EVE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 09, Issue 21, 6 November 1945, Page 5

ALL HALLOWES EVE

WHAKATANE'S SPOOK NIGHT A WONDERFUL SHOW RECORD CROWD ATTENDS Many a Sassanach attended the "Hallo'een programme and dance in the Caledonian Hall last Saturday and to the -amazement of the modest Scots committee fairly ■overwhelmed! their intention of ■conducting a limited evening to an appreciative Caledonian audience. However the influx of those a'y° n * the Tweed was more than welcome and the braw P'icts once again arose to the occasion and did their utmost to please. That they did can be borne out by the enthusiastic accounts still •current in town and! district.

Over five hundred persons gained ■admission through the dark greenery with which the entrance was screened and the large percentage of chil•dren. who ran the gauntlet past the waiting spooks- at the entrance ihade for more and more l'un as the •evening advanced. That the ghosts «nd bogles of Scotland actually walked on All Hallowes Eve was amply ■demonstrated by the contingent of •white-clad figures which clouded the -entrance and figured in all the subsequent items of the evening. Patrons were greeted at the en"trance by Mcphi.stophelcs himself* complete with horns, tail and trident. They were passed on to a brace .•of ghostly attendants who conducted tliem through the gloomy intricacies of a long leafy passage which •eventually gained the interior. What they encountered a& they traversed the darkness of the tunnel was something which can best be related by the individuals concerned. Spooks :and spectres appeared at every turn, and the final touch was added when -a pair of extremely' active witches dashed at them with feather dusters. The hall itseir was a masterpiece of decoration black silhouettes depicting witches on broomsticks, riding' past the moon and cats, ran in a complete, frieze around the walls, while jestoonsof coloured lights hung suspended from -the rafters. These were offset by illuminated faces, cut out of small black tins which ran round the entire hall.' On the stage itself, a veritable shrubbery had been constructed which made an admirable background for the visual features "which were enacted during the Hallo _ een address. Near the kitchen entrance another arbor constructed of laws-oniana tops housed the throne ol ■the Master Spook, who told fortunes interminably, in spite of his dull -murmurings and intense pain.

Proceedings opened with the piping in of Chief J. W. Simons, by two ghost pipers. After greeting all present and expressing the hope that they would thoroughly enjoy themselves, he announced the first dance as a chain waltz. Following this: the address on Hallo'een, its meaning and its history was given by Mr C. Kingsley-Smith with the assistance of a number of visual interludes. The latter were particularly well enacted, and showed, first the elemental ghosts which by tradition haunted the the hills and the caves of ancient Scotland and then the better known of Highland history. Angus of Abersneath was portrayed as; a knight, in full armour. The tragic Mary Queen of Scots showed herself in full court ■dress, whilst Bor.nie Prince Charlie in person addressed the audience in all the glory of his picturesque .seventeenth century uniform.

The children's "programme consisting of the usual apple bobbin', treacle bun and champit taties, was opened by a piece of recitation by Robin Kingsley-Smith. Immediately there was riotous fun in the centre of the floor, where .spooks and bogles attempted to control the seething mass of children all intent upon talcing part in land's traditional games. Tbe Hallo'een procession embracing all the characters in the hall was another interesting and picturesque interlude. Headed by the pipers, it circled the floor twice and drew the warmest applause from the onlookers. The supper waltz brought the Hallo'een section to a close, and once again the hard worked spectres wore called upon to serve supper and

to wait upon the excited and, enthusiastic crowd. How they managed was a miracle but apparently all were satisfactorily served and the dance proper commenced under the M.C.-ship of Mr C. F. Thomas. Special guests of tbe Chief during the supper interval, were the older members of the who adjourned to the committee room> Dancing continued till midnight, when on the assurance of Chief Simons the gathering dispersed certain in tbe knowledge that the witching hour had passed, and that they would not be molested by the 'ghos_ ties' on their way home. Thus coneluded Whakatane's first Hallo'een evening the forerunner, we hope, of many .such gatherings in the future.