Homeservicemen Resolve Big Difficulty

Chronicle (Levin), 4 February 1949, Page 4

Homeservicemen Resolve Big Difficulty

Its inability to find a secretary and also a treasurer rec^ntly brought the Levin branch of " the "Homeservicemen's , Association to. the crossroads. However, the difiiculty was resolved at an extraoidinary general meeting on Wednesday night, attended by 21 members. when two of those present unex- , pectedly • volunteered to . -fnl the positions. , . Mr. D. H. Hume, a member of the Dominion management committee, and Messrs. *R. P. Levin (Masterton) and L. W. Ayres (Palmerston North) , both district councillors, attended the meeting. Outlining the position, Mr. W. J. Barrat, who occupied the chair in the unavoidable absence of the president, Mr. R. D. Fowler, said that the executive had found it impossible to fill the offices of secretary and treasurer, which had been held, until their departure for other towns, by Messrs. C. D. Melville and J. L. Squires. It would be regrettable, he said, if this force'd the branch to disband, but unless two- members volunteered their services there would be no alternative. The branch had conducted some excellent soci.al functions during the past year, added Mr. 'Barrat, and although the attendances had not been large the fine fellowship attending them had made them most enjoyable. On a call being made for nominations to fill the vacancies, Mr. R. ^Churchill, who recently came to reside in Levin, volunteered to undertake the duties of secretary and Mr. N. Bignal those of treasurer. Gratification at the fact that the branch . could now continue its activitiek was voiced by Mr. Barrat, who made an appeal to members to support their officers in any work undertaken. His impression was that members had taken a somewhat pessimistic view of their failure to fill the two offices in their first attempts, said Mr. Hume, addressing the meeting. Other branches had passed through the same difficulties and .it- was largely due to apathy on the part of members. The association had started with a flourish and then there had been the inevitable falling away, but he was pleased to report that this year there had been a -considerable increase in the number of applications for membership. He urged.the utmost cooperation with the Returned Services' Association. President of the strong Manawatu branch as "well as a district councillor, Mr.N Ayres said that his organisation had met with ultimate failure in all its attempts to maintain interest by conducting social functions and "smoko" evenings and the formation of a women's auxiliary. It had succeeded, however, through the childr.eru.of , nienibers. On Christmas pay gifts and swee£s"-had been distributed to the children, while greetings cards were sent to them on their birthdays. At the moment the branch had .300 children on its roll. Strong sub-branches were in existence at Woodville eand Pahiatua. All service organisations had passed through the same difficifit times, but they had survived, said Mr. Levin. Much of the trouble was due to the fact that too many members joined for what they could get out of them. A service organisation was a group of men, each with a common background, banded together to help one another. Everyone had something to give and it was up to each man to put all that he could into his organisation. If it was organised with the idea of giving service to one another, it would always survive. The officers should provide the enthusiasm and if they did that, the support of members would follow. After referring to the excellent spirit of co-oneration which existed between Dominion headquarters of the N.Z.R.S.A. and those of the N.Z.H.S.A., Mr. Levin urged the branch to foster a ctose liaison with the local branch of the R.S.A. A number of questions were answered by the visitors and a vote of thanks to them concluded the meeting.