Peace Celebrations

Taihape Daily Times, 22 July 1919, Page 4

Peace Celebrations

_ ‘ u I . 1 ' .| In Taihape. T- : \ T--A BRILLIANT SUCCESS ! THE TOWN TRANSFORMED I It has been well observed that the {victorious conclusion of the great ‘European War and the signing of peace were the most momentous episodes in the history of the human race. Their ‘due celebration was an appeal to the imagination, and that our town rose handsomely to the occasion is evident from the splendidly conceived and well-executed functions of Saturday and Monday last. That they Would ‘have been even better but for the ,unhappy handling of the position by lthc Government, is conceded by everyione who had any knowledge of what ,was originally projccted._ Apparently, ‘it takes a lot to discourage the.gentlcmen who had the organisingand car'rying out of Ta.iha.pe’s contribution to ‘the Empire’s celebrations. , THE TOWN DECORATIONS, The streets in the town Were fesltooncd with flags of all nationalities, jthe Union Jacks of all sizes ’predomin—ating, the strips of colour across the streets, particularly Main Street, giving t he necessary relief to the dark evergreen shrubs which encircled the 'verandah posts and adorned the shop ‘fronts. It was pleasing to see the‘ lavish use made of greenery, which was Woven into’ all sorts of fantastic but always pleasing designs. Among the superabundance of dark green, there would prominently stand out the lighter shades of cabbage tree ‘heads and the beautifully ornamental leaves of the punga. Beautiful though [the general effect was in daylight, the ‘scene was captivating at night when the lights from the verandah illuminaltions and windows glinfed through pthe dark green foliage, lighting up the happy, smiling faces of the pascsrs -to and fro. The scene on Saturday even,ing, as viewed from the intersection of {Kuhn and Main Streets, was particularly effective and charming, reminding one very vividly of a sylvan scene from a pantomime on a Gargantuan scale. The railway station! was beautifully decorated with greenery, among which the native punga lstood out conspicuously, and flags of all nationalities and _multi-coloured lstreamers adorned the corners and polsitions where their presence lent an attractive contribution to the general colour scheme. The Post Office was also tastefully ornamented with ever}greens, the cabbage tree contributing ' ‘the greater portion of the decorative efIfeet. It would be invidiou-s to- indiEvidualise the decorations in the busi»ness premises, especially where every,'one did so well and the coordinated ‘effect was so harmonious. A gentlelman, who motored through from VVellington on Saturday in conversation with a member of our staff, stated that the decorations in Taihape were Selsecond to none in the towns he lied -passed through on his journe_v, and that they did the people of Taihape in,finite credit. ‘ :, :._~-fl;~f:’~‘~i:’‘‘ -----'-'-- CHILDREN’S BAY THE PROCESSION , _..__._. ‘ On Saturday morning many anxious eyes Wcrc turned skywards to see what Jupiter Pluvius had in store for them. The clay was fine, with intervals of warm sunshine. Though towards evening there was a cold snap in the, air, the Weather was favourable.Shortly after 9 o’clock the occasionai presence in the street of a juvenile in fancy costume gave the casual spectator an inkling of what was on foot. Between 10 and 11 crowds of children were to be seen wending their way i down to the school. Mr.,Swindells, with his able band of co-adjutors, was [I busy classifying the children for the purpose of judging, and it was 11.30 ,2 before this was done, and me Dl‘o- - formed. The Taihape Band, playing a spirited march, led off, immediately followed by the Nl3)’ Qll<‘-01‘r -A elect, Miss Lorna Joblin, who was surrounded by -her maids in waiting I and pages, and a guard Of 110110111‘boy scouts on one side and sailormen : on the other side of the lorrie, Then , followed a band of Red Cross nurses. some of them very diminutive. but 1 none the less charming. Appropriately ‘" "owing was a Red Cross ambulance I cart. drawn by a dog. A very miscellaneoiis lot of characters followed, i among whom stood out IJl‘ollliTloll’f-1Y 11 decorated tricycle, with a circle hear‘ ing the word “Peece’ over the rider. ‘A Charlie Chaplin could be Seen in earnest talk with a burly Highlander. 4 about 3ft high, and a shcpherdess and fairy with more than a nodding ac— l qu-aintance with a‘ cowboy or jockey, There were also gnomes, niggers, Old I English gentlemen, water sprites, and ' a number of characters never seen out ' side the covers of a fairy book. A ' striking effect was obtained by the scholars of the Utiku School by five girls carrying a large card with the individual letters of “Utiku.” There i was also a contingent of children i from Mangaweka school, who came. in by lorries to take Dal‘ tin the celebra— I tions. It was a lighthearted. h:~.pnv throng which wended its way past St. I Margaret's Church clown into Hautanu l Street. and as they marched past the Post Oflice waving innumerable flags I of varied colours, the younsters got a rousing reception from the crowd ot"l spectators gathered the-re_ Up Tuii Street, through Station Street, the‘! procession emerged into Kuku Street. 1 and as itpassed the Town Hall the [4 kiddies broke into song. marching mer- 1 rily along to the strains of “Keep the} Home Fires Burning.” It‘ is estinratedl there were between 800 and 900 chil- , dren in the procession. and their,happy. joyous faces would have made ~ the greatest misanthrope smile. ‘ ‘A ‘SOLEMN MOMENT . ,¢ Just as the head of the procession; reached the gate of the Recreation i

Ground. the town clock tolled the v hour of 12, and the procession stopped. The Church bells pealed a funeral toll and those present "uncovered in mem: OTY Of our honoured dead, whose lives had been rendered up on the am“ of , freedonl. As the mournful tones of . the “Last Post ” were sounded on the bugle, a solemn hush fell on the large number of people who had congrcaf gated. t THE CROWNING on '},_‘HE"AMAY The coronation of thp Queenelect, Miss Lorna Joblln'.. as one of great interest. The ceremony was conducted by Master stamcy Peyton 3 assisted by the numerous pages and’ t malds~o.l? honour. Then Queen than , hold her first court, and following an I 311010111’; custom,» dispensed hououl-s to , the most deserving of her subjects ‘X Mr. Robbie Smith was created “Mas: I tel‘ Of Red Tape and Sawdust’; Rev i W, F. Stent, “Controller of the Bowl: , Ing.Green” Mr. A. J. Joblin. “Prime _ Minister of Taihape"; Mr_ W Mc_ . Lennan, “Prince of Sports and Pas;lfllll€S,"; Mr. Fred. Marlow, “Phys; ~Clal_l Most Extraordinary”; Mr George~ _ :Vfi-ightson, “Knight of the Tap.” ; THE SPORTS. The next. item On the programme was the Maypole, which was Very attractive, the various evolutions beingwell carried out. ‘ The formation of the word “Peace” by some 200 children, was a decided lnovelty. Each of the five letters was formed by children wearing different coloured dresses and carrying app;-o-priately coloured flags_ The tableay _ was a Very effective one, and was? largely taken advantage of by photographers. The committees of the various [branches of the sports then took up theirduties, and were soon busily engaged in catering for the amusement of the youngste_rs. The ladies and gentlemen had no sinecure in attending to the refreshments and seeing that the hundreds of youngsters had‘ their material wants fully supplied. There was plenty for all, and to give an idea of what feeding children means We may state there was noth- ~ ing left of the 400 dozen cakes, etc., provided. The Taihape Brass Band, besides heading the procession played a splendid programme of music during the afternoon. and added very materially to thc_ ‘enjoyment of all present. ‘There was a very large attendance on the grounds during the afternoon, lit being conservatively estimated‘ that there were no lessgthan 2000 peo- ._ ‘pie present at one period. PRIIZE LIST. . FANCY DRESS AND OTHER t EVENTS _ . Best fancy dress, boys——G. Swindells 1, Cecil Collinson 2, F_ Spooner 3, Best fancy dress, girls—Rona Miller 1, Enid Pilkington 2, Rene Stcnt 3.~ Most original dress, boy———Percy Emeny 1, “Baby” 1; H. Faire, “Lost Luggage,i” 2; Eric Ellis, “Swagger,”‘ 3. Most original dress, girl——l. Wilsoll_, “Food Control,” 1; Iris kurrell‘ “Grandmother.” 2; Eileen Nichollgi “Taxis and Taxes,” 3. Best Childrell’s Novelty Outfit.—— Oliver Smith, “Dogcart,” 1; O.’Cal—laghau, “Wheelbarrow," 2, D. Treadwell, “Lamb,” 3. Most original or novel School Horse ——Maste_r Boyd 1 Master Dowling 2. ALT-st Humorous Dress or ’Action_— Master Healey, “Charlie Chaplin,’.’ 1; Loughnan Children, “Gnomes” 2; O_ ‘Banks “Topsy” 3. . ! Best Decorated Tricycle. Marjery y,Swindells 1. V [ BOYS’ EVENTS. ? 100 yards Championship.——l. Dixon i(Mangaweka) 1; J, O’Le:lry 2; P. ‘Ashton 3_ , . Relay Race, teams of four.—Taihape No. 1. Walking Race.—’—A. Pritchard (Kawhatau) 1; M. Powell 2. 440 yards Handicap.—Buckley 1,1., Bremner 2-, J_ Lawson 3_ . Wheelbarrow Race.——Buckley and Mercer. _ Tug-of-VV-ar.——-"Cartier, ‘Knox, Buckley, Shennan and Cameron. 1 Long Jump.——Buckley 1, Hall 2. 1 Sack Race.~—G. Hall 1, F_ Kendall 2 Egg and Spoon Race.——M. Keating 1 R. Healey 2. Potato Race.———S. O’Leary 1, R. Healey 2_ .- High Jump.——T. Hurley 1, J. Lawson 2. , Cock Fight.——Powell and Bremner. Obstacle Race.—A. Hall 1, F. Ford ~ . . Pillow Fight, pn pole.——B. Diamond‘ 1. J. Mercer 2. ‘ . Junior Cock Fight.——Pritchard am; Emeny 1 Hall and McLeanan 2. - GIRLS’ EVENTS. 100 yards Championship.—H. Trolly (Mangaweka) 1, -I_ Thurston 2, Doris Olsen 3. Walkiiig Raee.——R. Vvapp 1, M. Kendall 2. Relay Race, teams of four.—-W. Kendall, D. Olsen, W. Kilkolly and I, Thurston. Skipping Race.—M_ Leahy 1, 1. Thurston 2. _ Sack Race.—l. Bosher_ Egg and Spoon Race.——S[‘ Barry. Three Legged Race.~—D. Olsen and I\l_ Kendall 1, J. Paradine and R. Faire 2, -Tug-of—War.——M. Leahy, D. Missen, M. Theobald, R. Henson, and I. Bosher"~— Technical School Race 75 Y£trds—< M. Matthson 1, M. McCormick 2, K. Olsen 3, Consolation Race.—F. Downey 1, L. Goldsbury 2 K. Wapp 3. There were ten other races ,for the little ones of both sexes. Through the generosity of Messrs. Spooner, Wilkie, Gardner. Powell, Gilchrist. Cleaver. Gibbs, Coutts and other gentlemen a number of other races were run. ~ DANCING EVENTS Highland Fling.—Gordon McCombie 1, Jean McLennan 2. _ Sword _Dance.———Nellie Mccombie ‘u G. Mccombie 2. Hornpipe Miss Evans 1, Gordon McCombie 2. -Irish Jig.———-G. McCombie 1, Miss Evans 2. .

Sheantrubhs_—-Jean McLennan 1, GA Mccombie 2. _ 1 Scotch Reel.—G. Mccombie 1, NClllO‘ McCombie 2. __ Miss Violet Mason, of Booth’s Siding, gave an interesting exhibition of dancing. _ f THE FIREWORKS In the evening the novelty Of Vi 0“" ing fireworks drew a large CFOWd 10 the Recreation Grounds. Sharp at 7, the first roclget‘ announced that the pyrotechnicalflslay had bOgUII- Fr?!“ that on till 7.40 fie air was alive with coloured shooting stars, rockets, and other unnameable things_ Four _ol‘ five set pieces gave variet)’ 10 the Clls‘ play, which was hugely -en:io.V_'ed by the juveniles. THE GRAND REVUE An overflowing house greeted the rising of the eu.rt__o,in for the Grand Re-v-ue staged by Mr and Mrs Stan Peyton and company. Many people Were disappointed at not getting in. The “Lantern Dance,” by the company, was attractively done with the aid of coloured lights. “Songs of Araby.” -by Mr Jack Allen, was an acceptable number. The song and chorus, “Pack up your troubles,” with Miss Wrightson as soloist. was very well done, the chorus being exceptionally good. Mr. J. Wham is always a welcome soloist, and his voealisation of “The Dear Little Shamrock, ” further enhanced his popularity. “Sonle\vhere_ in France,” by Miss Wrightson . was pleasingly rendered_ Stan Peyton. in his usual inimitable style, rendered “The Old Sundowner,” in costume, and so well was the item received that he had to reappear, which he did in a quick-change act, in “Why I Wear the Kilts,” Very reluctantLV the audience let him go. As soloist in “Chu Chin Chow,” Miss P. Oldham was heard to great advantage, the chorus going very merrily. A fanci dance bf.‘ Miss Iris Evans was very attractively rendered, and had to be repeated. One of the most taking items of the evening was the Dutch song and chorus. with clogs, entitled. “Baggy Breeches.” Miss Oldham taking the Solo. The performers "were thrice recalled. Miss E. Bray took the solo in “Yaka Hula which went very sweetly. Miss Doris Maher danced an -Irish jig and a sailor’s hornpipe creditably. A very quaint number was the song and chorus, “The Quaker Girl.” with Miss Brodrick as soloist, who imparted the correct atmosphere to the songj The concluding vocal item, “The Sands of the Desert,” by Mr_ J. Allen, led up to a beautifully staged ‘tableau, “The Allies,” appropriately closing a function to celebrate which they had been fighting. The revue went with a vim and swing from beginning to end, the mounting and stage management reflecting great credit on Mr. Stan Peyton, while the musical portion was excellently directed by Mrs. Stan. Peyton. Mr Eteveneaux painted the incidental scenery.