Levin Citizens Will Only Have Glimpse Of Royal Family

Chronicle (Levin), 9 November 1948, Page 4

Levin Citizens Will Only Have Glimpse Of Royal Family

« ^ Levin's citizens will not see a great deal of Their Majesties ( and Princess Margaret when they pass through the town during the Royal tour of the Dominion in March, but they will at least have the chance to let Their Majesties see. something of Levin i'n its most festive mood. Outlining the tour as it will affect Levin, the.Mayor> Mr. H. B. Burdekin said at_ a meeting of business men in the Council Chambers last evening that the present indications were that ■ the party would arrive at Levin from Foxton at-3.15 p.m. There would be no stop at Levin, but Their Majesties would drive f slowly through the main street. I'f the weather was fine, an ' open car would be used. The official car would proceed at the same speed as that of General Montgomery's vehicle and generally the f unction' .would be akin to it. The occasion was essentially one for the children, said Mr. Burdekin, and consequentiy -they would take pride of place, lining the route on either side. Spaces would also be left for returned servicemen and' women, boy scouts, girl guides and other such bodies. t • -o

The meeting which was called by the Mayor last evening was for the purpose of securing the cooperation of the business houses in "regard to a general seheme of decorations. Although the meeting was well advertised, there Was a very poor response. Apart from the Mayor and town clerk, tfiere were only 11 present and three of those were council members. Here are some of the suggestions put forward by the Mayor, Mr. H. B. Burdekin, at the special, meeting of business men last evening. No greenery would be favoured in large quantities as the Government disapproved of the transportation -of fernery and native shrubs from the bush, but he woul'd like business houses to agree to" some type of uniform scheme of ^decorations. Something in the nature of display shields and crossed fiags at intervals down both si'des of Oxford Street, with perhaps four pylons between Bath Street and Queen Street. When asked by Mr. J. Corry if something in the nature of theuniform scheme proposed by the Wellington' City Council was under consideration, notably, s^reamers simply but effectively hung up and •down from * business premises, the Mayor said that he doubted if the expense of such a scheme would be warranted under the circumstance's. After detailing the quantity and quality of bunting to be secured by the Levin Borough Council from Hawera, Mr. Burdekin said that -that was sufflcient only for the general effeet. The.co-opera-tion of the business people was. necessary if Levin was to look i really like a deeorated town. The 1

expense could be pooled on some basis and he thought that with four' months in which to work a committee of business men,4if.set up, could work out an arrangement and scheme aiming at uniformity. Tlie possibility of issuing the school children with small fiags was suggested by Mr. J. W. Lynch. ' The Mayor said that probably a great number of these fiags. would be imported, but that the "issuing, of -them- to the children here would probably not be considered a reasonable part of the businessmen's expense. Perhaps a representative of the schools could- be included in the committee, he added. Mr. Burdekin said ,he also thought that Ithe shields "which were made of plywood, and could be easily- erected, should be "made locally as also the other burfting. After further disdussion, Mr. A. J. H. Allen moved that all present form themselves into a committee with'spower to add. The committee, it was decided, would hold a further meeting, to be convened by Mr. N. Thornley, at which a chairman would be elected. ' It was decided also that those forming the committee immediately attempt to interest others, , a^ the co-operation of all along the route would be necessary if any measure of success was to be assured. As an outcome of the meeting the following committee was appointed: — Mr. N. Thornley (acting chairman) , Mrs. P. Hudson, Messrs. J. W. Lynch, F. J. Trim, H. Hendra, J. Corry, H...S. i Walkley, 'D. J. Sweetzer, A. J. H. I Allen, W. Telford and R. Smith.