HAURAKI A. AND P. ASSN.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5311, 10 August 1928, Page 2

HAURAKI A. AND P. ASSN.

ANNUAL MEETING AT PAEROA.

SATISFACTORY YEAR DISCLOSED-

The thirtieth aniidid meeting of the Hauraki A. and P. Association w-as held at the'Soldiers’ Club, Paeroa, on Wednesday night, the president, Mr l-I. J. Hare, presiding over a large attendance of members.

The annual report was read by the secretary (Mr E. Edwards) as follows :—

“Your committee has pleasure in presenting the 30th annual report and balance-sheet for th!e, year ending March 31, 1928, and in doing so is pleased to record another successful year.

“The association- decided- at its last annual meeting to make the show a oiWrday fixture instead of 'a. two-day show as had previously been held. The -change-over was a wise- step, the result, being that, a .very good show was held. The ■entries maintained their usual high standard of quality as well as numbers. Good support was accorded the association by the exhibitors from Cambridge and other parts of the Waikato. The, association is indeed fortunate to- receive such liberal support from outsjde exhibitors. The gate receipts wei'c practically the- '•a-mc for the one-da-y show ■as they had b-nn for the past, few two-day fixtures. The year’s operations as ‘.shown by the balance-sheet resulted in a net profit of £5l 16s lid, after, writing off £B5 for bad debts. The total receipts for the year amounted to £582 12s 2d.

“During the year Mr J. Walls paid off the balance of the purchase, money on land sold to him five yearsi ago, the amount received being £4OO. That money was paid into theggeneral account in permanent reduction of the association’s overdraft with the National Bank of New Zealand. The overdraft at"the end l of the year stood at £550, and the' No. 2 account, was in credit £129. Since- the end of the of the- financial year, the overdraft on the general ac count ha< been credited with a further sum of £25, in permanent reduction of the overdraft. In fact, the association is at the present time in a* better financial position than it has been for a graal number of years. "‘During the latter part of the year your committee arranged a I'e-ase for five yeai'-s at £75 per year, of the association’s saleyards gnd property to the N.Z. Loan and Mer&intile Ageing Co., Ltd. This arrangement. is most satisfactory to your association and, we think, also to the Loan Company, which is conducting regular, sales- in the hope' that the association’s members will continue to assist tlie company which is assisting us;.

“Your committee looks folrward to another good yea>'., and is. hopefuil of receiving liberal support from a.ll members. We ask for, the- co-op-e,ra-tion of every member, and feel coinfident -that with your help the operations of the association will continue to grow. “In conclusion your, committee desires to place on record its appreciation for. the help ami- generous support given by the business people of Paeroa. the Plains towns, and the Thames, in the form of donations. We especially desire to thank the' stewards and the small banl of workers who assisted before, during, and after the show. The committee hopes that this year more support will be forthcoming at show time with the work on thb grounds. .It. may not be recognised', but there is a tremendoius amount of preparatory work- to be done, anfi if more .members would come .along and help . the burden woujd not be quite so heavy on the few who at. present shoulder the whole of the responsibility. “The Committee- desires to thank Mr W. Bain for the free; use of his room for our meetings, and also to thank t'he domain caretaker (Mr Hamilton), and the Do-main Board for their help and consideration. . “Finally, we appeal to all members for. their help, co-operation, and' goodwill for, the year now commenced.”

In moving, t'he adoption of the report and balance-sheet the president expressed liis pleasure at the satisfactory sta.te of the association’s affairs. Fine weather Irad helped to swetll the gate -receipts and give added interest, to the annual function. With thfe, continued help and support of the members there - 'would be no reason why the association could not look forward to continued' progress and prosperity. PAYMENT OF WAGES. In answer to- Mr A. J. Andrews the Secretary explained that the item of £5 ,16s appealing under the heading of wages, gate-, was money paid to two gatekeepers and for ca.rtag.e a;nd labour. The stewards did not receive j remuneration. PRIZE-MONEY. Mr, G. P. de Castro asked! if the sum of £174 5s shown as prize-money was in proportion to the numb'e-r of entries received. He thought some of the prize-money was too much, in comparison with the number, of entries and the competition. The president 'explained that under the rules of the association the allocation of prize-money was governed. It was necessary to give good prizes to obtain- good entries and competition from outside. The Dominion Hunter prize of £2O was not too- large so Hong as t'he entries and the competition were forthcoming. Mr, E. L. Sh.a.w pointed out that local support in that particular class was very poor,, and the committee could very well go into, the question when revising the schedule. LACK OF INTEREST. When nominations for office-hold-ers were being called, nearly everyone nominated made some -excuse- for declining to take a. position. Final-ly Mr Andrews said that it appeared as if interest in matters was waning and -members did not. want a show. He suggested that the' annual show should be abandoned for, a couple of years.

This view was hot sfiar'ed by Mr D. .McMillan, who pointed out that the-balance-sheet had disclosed that the

1927 show was a decided success. I't was rather late in the day to abandon the show. He thought that tite, members should get down to business and get the people interested, carry on. Mr. Shaw drew attrition to the fact that out of 17 members on the committee- only seven had turned up to the working bee. He considered that it would be in the interests of Paeroa and district to abandon the show even for one, year.

Messrs A. F. Steedman and E. W. Porritt considered that the executive committee- was too unwieldy. Mr 11. A. Mills said ire thought-that tlie committee should be made smaller and be composed''of such members a. s . were prepared to take a live interest in the: association’s affairs. The. meeting decided to 'cany ■on, and to reduce the nuprber on the executive committee. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. After considerable time- had been spent on the matter, the, following officers were elected:— Patron, Mr A. M. Samuel, M.P. ; president, Mr P. R. Hubbard; vicepresidents. Messrs D. G. McMillan, A. J. Andrews, B. E. Veale, G. Buchanan ; chief stewards, Messrs D. G. McMillan (cattle), E. P. Fathers (horses), A. J. Andrews (ga.tes), R. S. .garden (baby show) ; executive committee, all the executive officers, chief stewards, and Messrs H. J. Ha.re, J. A. Reid, and C. M. Gee' ; general c-ommittee, Messrs E. AV. Porritt, A. F. Steedman, W. D. Nicholas, E.' L. Shaw, K. L. Slyfiekl, V. Young. W. H. Wight, W. Marshall. A., W. Maclarn, J. Munro, P. R. Henry, W. H. Alley, W. J. HaPl, C. Stembridge, J. Harms, F. C. Hubbard, E. A. Chester, F. C. Hubbard,-B. Gwillia-m, H. A.' Mills. W. -Marsh, D. Sheehan, E. P. Fathers, A. F. Thorp, H. R. Thorp, G. M. Wilson, G. P. dd Castro, N. Beattie, with power to add ; auditor, Mr Gi E. Alien. The chief stewards were to select their .assistants.

In returning thanks for electing, him president Mr P. R. Hubbard said that he would make every endeavour to advance the interests of the- show, and he would ask for the loyal Kelp and co-operation of the members to attain that end. In acknowledging a vote of thanks and appreciation for good work done, and- for the satisfactory 1 flnanciall position of the association, the retiring president, Mr Hare, paid a tribute: to the help he had received from the stewards and members during his term of office-. He was pleased to know that the members were satisfied with his efforts. Mr Hare ajso paid a tribute to the excellent service rendered by the secretary, and said he wished 1 to record his thanks and' appreciation. In conclusion -Mr Hare wished the newly elected president a happy term in office, and expressed the hope that success would reward his efforts. MOTOR-CAR COMPETITIONS. Owing to the decrea.se in the .number of horses in the district. Mr Porritt. suggested that motor-car coinpetitions might very well be provided. The recommendation was referred to the schedule committee. ISSUE OF SCHEDULES. It was suggested by Mr Nicholas that t the show schedules should be printed and circulated earlier than was done last year. The suggestion was noted ,a.nd referred to the, committee ; as also was th;e matter -of deciding upon the date of the show. RESIGNATIONS.After being an active worker for rnany years Mr J. P. Findlay tendered his resignation, Th-e, president and a number of members spoke eu-logistically of the work done and enthusiasm displayed by Mr Findlay. The president requested Mr Findlay t. o reconsider his resignation, but he declined. He also declined nomination to be elected a life honorary member of the association. The resignation was accepted with regret, as also wa.s that of Mr W. L. Lawrence.