CHILDREN’S PICNIC ON NEW YEAR’S DAY.

Kumara Times, Issue 1328, 3 January 1881, Page 2

CHILDREN’S PICNIC ON NEW YEAR’S DAY.

The splendid weather of Saturday last Was all that was required to make the annual picnic of the various school children of Kumara the great success it eventually proved. ]?rom an early hour the rising generation were astir, and shortly before eleven o’clock the muster at the State School commenced moving from thence down Tui street, their number being then largely augmented by the addition of the Catholic School children) which swelled the ranks up to about 200 | hut, by the time they reached the paddock on the banks of the Teremakau river (kindly lent for the occasion by Messrs Keech and Malloy) the throng of children was nearly doubled in number, and eventually there could not have been less than between 700 and 800 children on the ground. Games and sports of all kinds were soon organised by the various members of the committee, and the children found unlimited enjoyment in racing, swinging, or riding on the '• Merry-go-round. ” At about two o’clock the great event of the day so far as the juveniles were concerned took place—the luncheon. Seated on the grass and forming a most extensive oval, the children were supplied with sandwiches, buns, tarts, and tea, ad libitum, and at this stage the picture was one long to be remembered. The rows of healthful and smiling countenances, the variety of colors formed by the various hues of the trimmings of the little ones dresses, brought more vividly into effect by the background of the green sward, gave a charm to the scene that could not fail to attract the eye .of the most indifferent artist. In consequence of the committee being unable on this occasion, as on a previous one, to engage the services of the

Dillmau’s Town Brass Band, a substitute was provided in the form of a string one (including piano, cornet, piccolo, and drum) under the leadership of Mr A. Miller, which played most effectively through the day, and to which the light fantastic was indulged in right merrily. The wrestling matches of the boys and a Chinamen’s race (in which eight Celestials Competed) Were witnessed with great interest, the running of the last-named evoking hearty laughter, the winner being rewarded with a broWO hat of the “ Cobden ” style. To particularise the various members of Committee, Or to mention the names of the numerous ladies who so efficiently and kindly assisted in contributing to the general enjoyment of the cliildreii would be invidious on our part. Last year we were of opinion that the picnic on that occasion outshone those of previous years ; but the picnic of Saturday last may be fairly said to almost equal any held up to this date in Kurnara, the attendance of the general public being nearly as large, the weather favorable in the extreme, and the arrangements carried out in a manner that left nothing to be desired.