NEW YEAR’S PICNIC.

Kumara Times, Issue 1980, 3 January 1883, Page 2

NEW YEAR’S PICNIC.

Whether a kind and beneficent Providence rules specially or not for the children, we cannot say ; but whatever the weather may be before and after, it has come to be proverbially regarded as fine for the Kumara Children’s New Year’s picnics. And so it was on Monday. Although on Saturday and Sunday there were gloomy forebodings in the minds of some, the first morning of the New Year opened with light clouds floating about, which continued to do so for the most part of the day, causing the fineness to be even more pleasant than with the effects of a broiling sun. At half-past nine o’clock in the morning the children of the various schools were requested to be in attendance at the State School; and from thence they were max’shalled in about another hour’s time by the Rev. J. Holland, Mr Stanton, and one or two other members of the Picnic Committee to Messrs Keech and Malloy’s paddock—the old rural retreat alongside the picturesque Teremakau river. Here the children were regaled with buns and tea. Till three or four o’clock in the afternoon more children and their friends continued to flock to this common resort, until there must have been ten to twelve hundred persons present. Two large and two small substantial swings were erected. The Committee had a booth in which several ladies applied themselves diligently to providing tea and refreshments to the hungry and thirsty. . At the small charge of one shilling, sandwiches, bread and butter, tea and cake, could be had in quantities to satisfy the best of appetites. Mrs Williams, Miss Mumford, Mrs Wilby, Mrs Stennard, and one or two other ladies worked hard all day in this booth, which was much 100 small for their requirements, and their kind services would ~have been even more patronised had the booth been of greater dimensions. During the afternoon, the Rev. J. Holland, his Worship the Mayor (W. Barnett, Esq.) and other members of the Committee busied themselves in providing amusement for the children. There were races for boys, races for girls, jumping in sacks, and wrestling, for which suitable prizes were awarded to the respective winners. Not the least amusing was the scrambling for lollies, now and again a paper bag of flour or meal being substituted and the contents scattered over the little urchins, to the intense amusement of their comrades and the lookers on generally. An efficient band, under the leadership of Mr Alex. Miller (violin), and including Mr Kebble (piano), Mr Brewer (flute), Mr Baas (cornet), Mr Thomson (drum), enlivened the proceedings of the day, and numbers of young men and maidens joined in the festive quadrilles and single dances. The circles of “ Twos and Threes,” “ Kiss in the Ring,” and “The Jolly Miller ” also afforded merriment for young and old of both sexes, the latter especially, being somewhat new.

Between five and six o’clock the children were again served with buns and tea; and, later on, the Committee, finding they bad bread, cake, and other articles far in excess of their requirements, sold off the residue by auction, without reserve. Only a third or a fourth of the value of the lots was obtained, and the Committee must have sustained a considerable pecuniary loss by their large orders for catering. The Band kept on playing till between six and seven; but it was not until the shades of evening had waned far into the night that those who were now left upon the fascinating spot could betake themselves from the scene of the day’s pleasure. Thus ended the sixth New Year’s picnic at Kumara.