Memorial Hall Carnival Raises £800

Chronicle (Levin), 5 April 1949, Page 3

Memorial Hall Carnival Raises £800

The queen carnival conducted by the Shannon and Districts- War Memorial Hall Committee concluded on Saturday evening aftgr being in progress for one month. Miss Joyce Woodma^ss, the Country Queen, wa& acclaimed as the successful candidate, raising £460 9s 3d Miss Margaret MacLean, the Town Queen, raised £327 14s. . The total is £788 3s 3d, but it is expected that when the proflts from the closing night are added the sum will be almost £800. Dancing occupied the first' part of the programme at the closing ceremony, which was held in the Druids' Hall, and there* was a good atten'dance of the public, all in a carnival mood. There was a hush over the hall as Mr. R. R. Lin'd, chairman of the War Memorial Hall Committee, came to the microphone to announce the result. In his remarks Mr. Lind, extended congratulations to Queen Joyce and her committee on their victory and also to Queen Margaret and her committee.* Ha. sincerely thanked both young ladies and their committees for their joint efforts to provide a hall for Shannon as a centre of active thought aird active sport, and'a fittink memorial to those who fell in the war. He again thanked *all who had worked so hard to raise the money. Many donations had been promised and received which had not been counted and these woulfl swell the fund greatly. Mr. Lind stated that at present there was over £400 in the fund and the carnival returns of almost £800 added to the donations amounted to about £1400. When the Government subsi'dy was added to this uhe fund would be swelled to £2800, which was quite a substantial sum and a very good start ■towards reaching the objective. The next speaker was Mr. J. D. Campbell, chairman of the Country Queen Committee, and he stated that he felt proud that such a small band of workers had raised such a sum of money, but he was not altogether satisfleti with the result as he had, -.thought that a much larger Spni' could_haye_been raised if more had come~forward to help. He extended thanks to his committee"' for the Way' in which they had undertaken their work and congratulations * to Princess Margaret and the Town Committee for the fine showing they had made and for the hard work they had also done, ; Mr. Campbell went ,on, to :s^y; thathe could hever reinembiei:: a paign in which the harmon^'-be-tween committees had been as good as i& was in this .carnival, but in all carnivals someone had to win and [ti was the country's turn this time. Mr. W. C. Higgie, chairman of the Town Committee, extended congratulations to Queen Joyce and the Country Committee on their victory. He went on to voice "ap- i proval of the workers in his committee for. the sum of money which had been raised by so few in number. Princess Margaret and her parents and a small band of workers had given greatly in time and money to bring about a successful conclusion, and had met with many disappointments in various functions to raise mohey, but by very hard work they had brought about the result achieved while many had dorie nothing to assist to provide a war memorial and hall for the town. In conclusion, Mr. Higgie stated that the closing function had brought a large gathering together and those present could'realise that a larger hall was re- ; quired for the town. Crowning Ceremony. After a delightful supper had been dispensed, the crowning ceremony was conducted. Mr. J. T. Bovis was the Grand Unconquerable Master of the Queen's Court and it was his honour to be in charge of the coronation. A fanfare of trumpets heralded the entry of the Royal party, headed by a Maori maiden, Miss R, Peni. Then followed Queen Joyce in her coronation robes, and Princess Margaret. Seated' on her throne, Queen Joyce had on her right the Maori maiden and Princess Margarget on her left. "Land of Hope and Glory" preceded a farther fanfare and the crowning was carried s out by the Lord Mayor of Shannon, " Mr. D. A. Fitzgerald. Mr. P. O. Burtt was the Lord High Chancellor of the proceedings. Following the coronation, dancing continued until midnight. A noticeable feature of the evening was the carnival spirit of the function. The humorous atmosphere was enjoyed by all. Prior to the closing of the carnival a copper shower was started and the sum of £2 raised. The thanks of the War Memorial Committee is exteiided to all* those • who helped in many ways to make the carnival a success, and to the public for their support. Thanks are also extended to Mr. and Mrs. Seaton for their assistance in the supper room on Saturday evening. At midnight the singing of "Auld Lang Syne" brought to a close a yuccessM compaign.