Y.M.C.A. BUILDING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 July 1938, Page 8

Y.M.C.A. BUILDING

* OFFICIAL OPENING LAST NIGHT GATHERING VERY LARGELY ATTENDED. f NEW CHAPTER IN ASSOCIATION’S ® LIFE. The official opening of the new ‘ Masterton Y.M.C.A. building last night ' attracted an attendance of several a hundreds. The ceremony was pery formed by the Mayor, Mr T. Jordan. e who, with other speakers, congratulator ed the association on the progress it s had made and referred to the splendid r acquisition the new building would be. 1 “I hope,” said Mr Jordan, ‘‘that the 1 opening of- this building will see the f opening of a new chapter and the widening of the scope of the valuable - community service carried out by this', - association.” (Applause.) * r Among those on the platform were - the Mayoress, Mrs T. Jordan, and Mrs - W. A. Clark, wife of the president of 1 the association, and Mrs John Mc- * Rae. ’’ The proceedings opened with the ® singing of the hymn, “Fight the Good Fight,” followed by prayer by the Rev. , D. McNeur and scripture reading by " the Rev. T. V. Pearson. Mr W. A. Clark, president of the as- □ sociation, who occupied the chair, exs tended a warm welcome to the Mayor , and the other visitors and went on to D refer to his early association with the j Y.M.C.A. during the War years. Since a Mr A. E. Bate had taken charge in a 1925, the activities of the Masterton association had rapidly expanded ,un--1 til it had been found necessary to exr tend the buildings. After paying a e tribute to the generosity of the late e Mr John Mcßae and several other i, benefactors, Mr Clark said he regarde ed Mr Bate as one of the best Y.M.C.A. r secretaries in New Zealand. (Apr plause). He felt that the increased J facilities now provided would enable ' Mr Bate to carry on reasonably well * for some time to come. Mr Jordan said he would like to exr press the very general regret of the " meeting that the late Mr H. M. Peat cock, former president of the associaI tion, had not been spared to see the opening of the new building. The late Mr Peacock had done an immense f amount of work for the association, a quietly, efficiently and unobtrusively. 3 Mr Jordan went on tp make an appeal . for increased Christian association in 1 both our private and public life. Tor day, there was an inclination to be j inconsiderate of our neighbour—a ; tendency to forget that he was inde- - pendent and might hold different s views to ours. That spirit, unfortunately, was carried into our public life. t Politics did not matter. What matter- [ ed was the good-will, peace and happi-

> ness of the community. “The attitude 1 taken up by some of us,” added Mr : Jordan, “is not conducive to Christian ■ association in life. I have seen indications throughout New Zealand of a rising tide of ill-will, setting one half of the land against the other.” That, he said, was wrong and urged that we , should have a little tolerance and in this year of elections endeavour to bring increased Christian associa- , tion into our daily lives. If we did that it would not matter who was Prime Minister of the country. In paying a public tribute to Mr Bate, Mr Jordan said that whatever work he was given to do he did quietly, efficiently and just as cheerfully. The Mayor then declared the new building “well and properly opened” and expressed the hope that the work of the association would be crowned with the success it deserved. Messrs C. S. Falconer, chairman of the Y.M.C.A, National Council, and R. M. Brasted, National Secretary, congratulated the Masterton association on its splendid new building. Mr Brasted dealt at some length with the general work and activities of the Y.M.C.A. throughout New Zealand. The chairman of the building committee, Mr G. Masters, expressed appreciation of the help and co-operation given during the building operations by the architect, Mr F. C. Daniell, and the contractor, Mr W. Wise. Mr Daniell briefly replied. Mr Bate referred with pleasure to a donation by the Rotary Club to the building fund and also- thanked all others who had contributed to the fund. During the evening musical and other items were given by Miss D. Jameson, Messrs V. Greer and H. Hall, Mrs H. M. Morton presiding at the piano. Supper and an enjoyable dance followed. Votes of thanks were passed to the Mayor, Mrs Mcßae, Messrs Falconer and Brasted and to Mrs E. Welch for making the bouquets.