Levin Wanderers' Pleasant Function

Chronicle (Levin), 8 June 1948, Page 4

Levin Wanderers' Pleasant Function

The celebrations in cohnection with the Levin Wanderers Football Ulub's Golden Jubilee were con-. tinued on Saturday night with a| oanquet, and to- the iarge number privileged to attend it will be'looked back on with pleasure for a long time to come. The evening was oceupied with the honourihg of a Gjjast list and the presentation of mdsical items,; while to many eonsiderable enjoyriient was found -in rehewing friendships of former years. • ' Happenings and humorous incide'nts throughout: the club's 50 years of achievement,. and particularly in the early y'ears of its existence, were ..related by many of the speakers. .. ." " The president of the jubilee executive, Mr". Nepia Winiata, was a 'genial toastmaster. Associated with him at the head table were the Mayor, Mr. H. B. Buraekin; the two patrons of the jubilee executive, Colonel C. G. Powies, oi Te Horo, and Mr. J. \Y Procter; the organising secretary-treasurer '-of fche jubilee executive, Mr. F. G. T. Carrington; the president pf the Hprowhenua Rugby Union, Mr. A. Gillespie; Mr. J. Parker, of Wellington, the well-known **A11 Black jf- 1924 and now a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union; and Messrs. W. L. Fitzherbert, of Palmerston North, H. Denton, J. Smith-, H. Jacob, W. Seymour and W. Aldridge, all players in the club's early years. Also Mesdanles H. Denton, J. W. Procter, A. Gillespie, F. G. T. Carrington, H, Jacob and J. McDonald.

Mr. Winiata opened proceedings by extending a warm welc'ome to all present and then gave the loyal toast, which was honpured with the singing bf the National Anthem. j He desired to take the opportunity of saying that it had been a delightful experience to attend the celebrations and rrfeet people whom he had not seen or heard of for many years, . remarked Colonel Powies, in proposing the toast of "Absent Friends." He went on to say that many of .those he Ijad played rugby with in the early days were not present, two in particular being Martin Winiata and Hubert Ostler, both very fine footballers and sportsmen in former years. The toast of "The New Zealand Rugby Union" was proposed by Mr. A. Gillespie, who referred to its arduous task and eulogised the way it had worKed since its inception over 50 years ago. However, said Mr. Gillespie, Horowhenua felt that it had been neglected when it came to the selection of players for higher ]*ealms in the gamew In the whole of its history the Horowhenua Union had had only one player to reach the All Blacks, Mr. H. Jacob. He also mentioned tb^t throughout its history Horowhenua had not called on the N.Z.R.U. for financial assistance by way of loans, as so many other minor unions had done. Respond-1 ing, Mr. Parker qonveyed his greetings to the Levin Wanderers Club on behalf of rugby players throughout New Zealand and congratulations to the Horowhenua Union on the successful manner in which it carried on over the last 50 years. Football in New Zealand did not depend on the All Blacks, continued Mr. Parker, but on the clubs in which the All Blacks were brought out. A great deal of the credit for the success of club football had to be given to the exeeu- , tives, and in that connection he did not know of any other club which could have carried on the celebrations in the way the Levin Wanderers Club had done. If there was anything he could do as a member of the N.Z.R.U, to help Horowhenua , rugby he would be happy to. dp' it. ,' Mr. Parker 'concluded by stressing the importance of fitness in football, praismg -some of . the Horowhenua f ootbMlexsf "he had seen in action earlier in the day. Reference to football in the early days, when teams travelled the district by coaches, was made by Mr, Lionel IDickson, of Rotorua, who was a member of the club from: 1908 to 1922, when he proposed the toast of "The Levin Wanderers Club." Players of those days had some very pleasant games and amusing experiences, he added, The response was made by the president of the club, Mr. A. Short, who paid tribute .to the work of the early members of the club in laying firm foundations for it. Reealling how the Horowhenua Rugby Union had been established in 1893 and^Jbad then gone into recess beeause it had played no matches,*Mr, Fitzherbert proposed the toast to that body, It had been revived in 1898 and the following year Shannon, Manakau, Otaki, Levin and Wanderers teams had come into it, he said. It was pleas-*1 ing to-see Maori and Pakeha fraternising together _ as they were doing Lhat evening. He held a very high opinion of the Maori race and: the footballers it produced— better footballers could not be produced anywhere. Acknowledging the remarks, Mr. Gillespie said ihe celebrations were a great credit to the club. The Levin Wanderers Club had given magnifieent assistance to the union over the past 50 years, and on behalf of all other clubs of the ' district he conveyed good wishes to it for the future. The important part which referees played in rugby was stressed by Mr. -Jacob, in whose hands was the toast of "The Referees' Associ^ ation." They spent a great deal of time studying the rules and although they were sometimes subjected to criticism, he believed they always endeavoured to interpret the rules as they saw them. The referees spent considerable time

studying - the rules and they then endeavoured to apply them- to the game, said Mr. Carrington, in | reply. "The referee is not there to 1 stop 30 men from pjaying football, but to help them to play it," he continued. There was a shortage | of referees throughout the Domin- ! lon and he app.ealed to those ; players who were giving up the ' game to put something back into it by. joining up as a referee. The other toasts honoured were ;as follows "Kindred Sports," pro- : posed by Mr. W, Moynihan, of .Shannon, and responded to by Mr. ; Burdekin; "The St. * John Ambulance Brigade," Mr, Carrington— Mr. H. Palmer; "The Ladies," Mr. H, McDonald; "The Press," Mr, A. Ward— Mr. L. A. Humphrey; and "The Jubilee Executive," Mr. E. M. Ryder — Mr. Winiata-. Interspersed with the toasts were items presented as follows: — Mrs, E. Dickson (vocal solos), Mr. Martin Winiata (saxophone solds), Mr. N. Kingi and his Maori concert party (vocal and poi numbers) and Mr. A. Ward (reeitation) .