THE GALA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 97, 5 February 1936, Page 2

THE GALA

PROFIT OF £3B SHOWN. REPORT AND BALANCE-SHEET. DETAILS OF THE FINANCES. A meeting of those interested in the Labour Day Gala was held in the Borough Council Chambers last evening to receive the report and balancesheet, but only eight attended, all being members of the Advance Ashburton Association, the president of which (Mr W. C. J. Osman), who was also organiser for the Gala, presided. The report oil the Gala was as follows :—< “From the statements to ho presented this evening, a profit of £73 I4s fid is disclosed. This is far short of our achievements in the earlier years of the Gala and will no doubt give the committee earnest consideration whether the running of the Gala on the present lines should be abandoned and other ways of instilling into the public a deeper sense of appreciation of the work carried out by the Advance Ashburton Association could be infused. “The president and honorary organiser (Mr Osman) did his best to make the function a success, and is very disappointed at the result achieved. A new feature was introduced by Mr H. R. C. McElrea this year in conducting a voting competition on the most popular lady assistant, and the profit from this innovation helped to swell our gate receipts. Miss Mabel Henderson was the winner, and although a large number of votes were cast for the different candidates, it is regretted that in many quarters where co-operation was expected, too much apathy was shown. “The procession was ably handled l>y Mr C. H. Samuels and was a much better turn-out than the previous year’s one.

Competitive Sections. “A splendid sports programme was capably organised by Mr J. C. O. McLachlan and a large band of officials, and drew a considerable number of competitors. Several axemen’s events were competed for during the day and an interesting event, jigger-tree topping, was staged as an evening attraction and drew a large crowd to witness it, but, unfortunately, the weather which had kept fine during the day, broke in the evening and a wet night was experienced l . Mr E. Lithgow and members of the Scottish Society again controlled the .Highland dancing section, which was an added attraction. “The various stalls and side-shows were organised by Mr W. K. Waters, and although the stallholders were untiring in their efforts to interest the general public, the return did not. approach in any way the iresults obtained by this section of the Gala in former years when money was plentiful. “Mr R. Jennings, Jm\, had charge 'of the Gala packets stall and with his co-workers quitted his stock, which was,not nearly so large as last yeai s.

Weather Affected Takings. “The tea tent and ice-cream stalls were conducted by the Hampstead School Jubilee Social Committee, and the cake stall was organised by the Waireka Croquet Club on a 50-50 basis. In order to make a larger profit an ice-cream plant was purchased from Mr H. Thompson and is now an addition to the Gala plant. The weather militated considerably against the business transacted at the stalls and to a large extent accounted for the considerable drop in the takings received from the stalls and ‘side-shows in the evening, “The merry-go-round, chair-o-plane and entertainment tent were run on a percentage basis and, although good business was done, the committee did not receive the full amount of the takings. , , “Our grateful thanks are recorded to all those who assisted with their services gratuitously or for their donations to the funds of the Gala or _procession, to the Silver and Pipe Bands, the many stallholders and assistants, the treasury department and the supplies committee for their cheerful he.p either on Gala Day or in preparation for the function. A.A.A. Hampered. “It is evident, however, that some means will have to be devised to win back the large measure of support which signalised the launching of the Gala in its earlier years, as without the assistance rendered by larger Profits from this event, the work of the Advance Ashburton Association which lias been a distinct asset to the town, will be seriously hampered, and will have to be curtailed in the future. “This state of affairs would be deplorable, so it behoves all those who have the interest of the town at heart to assist the Advance Ashburton. Association in every way possible to bring any future Galas back to their former magnificent revenue producing function.” The financial statement was as follows : Receipts.—Admissions, gates and grandstands £99 7s 3d, Gala assistant competition £64 13s 6d, donations £3 2s, donations procession £4 17s 6d, sports entries,, etc., £3O Os 9d, dancing entries £2, merry-go-round £9 9s Id, cliairoplaiie £9 2s 2d, joy hells £lO 19s 3d, luncheon counter £7 2s sd, ice cream stall £ls 11s 7d, cake stall £9 2s Bp, fruit stall £8 Os Bd, soft drinks and tobacco £l6 5s 3d, sweets and toys £l9 Is Id, Gala packets £4B 19s 2d, guessing competitions £lO 17s 6d, housey-housey £ll 18s 3d, race game £4 Is Id, quoits £1 9s 3d, darts £8 4s Bd, box ball £7 0s 7d, ring ball £1 9s 3d, coupons £2 12s, sale of programmes £5 17s, sundries 3s 3d; total, £4ll 7s 3d.

Expenditure.—Sports section: Prizes and trophies £76 2s 6d, registrations £2, handicapping £5 ss, refund numbers £4 14s, permit fees £2 2s, refund entires 6s, protest fees 10s, ammunition £l, sundries £2 11s 6d; £94 11s. Highland Dancing: Prizes £l2 Os 9d, pipers £3, judge £2 2s, permit

10s fid; £l7 13s 3d. Axemen’s events: Prizes £ls, carting and erecting logs £4 os; £l9 ss. Procession prizes £l2 Is fid. Gala assistant competition £l9 2s 7d. Purchase of stalls and sideshows £45 Is Bd, purchase of Gala packets £9 4s 3d, competitions £4 3s Bd, purchases of ice cream stall £3 19s lOd, purchase of luncheon stall £5 7s 4d; £67 16s 9d. Erecting stalls, sideshows, etc., £23 5s fid, erecting and lighting £l7 15s, erecting tents and tarpaulins £l2 13s; £53 13s fid. Carting £6 10s, printing and advertising £2B 6s, bank charge and cheque books 15s, insurance £3 ss, refreshments for workers £7 Is 2d, wages of assistants £8 7s 4d, ice cream plant £l2 3s, sundries £2 12s 8d; total, £353 3s 9d. balance £SB 3s fid Members remarked on the high cost of lighting and installation, and it was pointed out that three lamps, costing over 30s each, had blown out -when the rain commenced to fall m the evening. The president said that had the weather been fine at night tne profit would have been double that shown. “Kicked to Death.” \ Referring to the popular shop assistant competition, Mr H. R. C. McElrea, who organised it, said that many prominent residents had “tried to kick the scheme to death.” He said that it had also roused some ill-feeling on the part of many people, and had it not been for the good work of a few people, the competition would have fallen very flat. As it was, most of the money the scheme brought in was “foreign” money. , The president said he did not know what would have become of the Gala if it had not been for the competition, which should have been even more successful than it was. The report and balance-sheet were adopted. ' The meeting discussed the secretary’s honorarium of £25, and it was pointed out that when this was deducted the Gala profit would be reduced to £33, while at least £l5O a year was required by the Advance Asliourton Association to maintain its works. “Better to Give Up.” Mr C. J. McEaclien said that as things were, it would be better to give up the Gala and conduct a flower show. The Borough School had held such a function, and had made a profit of £75 out of it. It was agreed to grant the usual amount to the secretary, but that before the next Gala the honorarium should be discussed. Complaint wa9 made regarding the period that had passed since the Gala and before the presentation of the bal-ance-sheet, members expressing the opinion that a rough balance-sheet should have been presented some time ago. The secretary (Mi’ G. V. Fur by) made a donation of £5 to the funds in recognition of the poor returns from the Gala this year.

Meeting of A.A.A. Executive. A meeting of the executive of the A.A.A. was held at the close of the Gala meeting, Mr Osman presiding. Referring to the assistance given by the Association to the Women’s Institute historical pageant, the president said that the attendance at the function was a disgrace to Ashburton. When one realised that 2000 people viewed it in Timaru one thought there should have been at least 900 at the Ashburtou presentation. There had been heavy expense, and it appeared that there would be a profit of only about £5. For the Beautifying Committee, Mr W. Thomas said that he had mapped out a‘heavy programme of planting for this year, but in view of the depleted funds, this would have to be greatly cut down. There were many streets in Ashburton that could be planted to great advantage, and he pointed out the change that had been effected in Chalmers Avenue. Mr McEachen drew attention to the state of the trees planted in Park Street, and said that tlie weeds were as high as the trees, while some of the trees had been broken. He suggested that the attention of the chairman of the Reserve Committee oT the Borough Council should be drawn to them. Mr Thomas: That would he useless; nothing would be done. Mr McEachen: Well, then, tell Mr Buchanan about it, and something will be done. Mr McElrea (who is chairman of the Reserves Committee) said that the planting in Park Street had been an experiment on the part of the Borough Council, and it would not be repeated. The planting had met with a very hostile reception from the residents in the street. Some had threatened to drive over the trees, or to pull them up. Mr W. S. Kerr said that Mr Thomas had referred to the lack of funds, but no one knew what funds the Association bad. Could the treasurer (Mr McEachen) tell the meeting how much the Association had on hand? Mr McEachen said that from memory there was a balance of £4OO, of which £3OO was on fixed deposit. The president said tlie salary pay-out in the near future would reduce the figure considerably. A donation of a guinea to the St. John Ambulance Association was agreed to. /