Y.M.C.A.

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21315, 7 November 1934, Page 9

Y.M.C.A.

MEMORIAL HUT IN PETONE

OPENING BY GOVERNORGENERAL The Hutt Valley Young Men's Christian Association Memorial Hut was dedicated and formally opened in Petone by his Excellency the Gover-nor-General. Lord Bledisloe, on Sunday afternoon. The erection i the hut by the national council of the Young Men's Christian Association was made possible by a fund inaugurated by the officers and men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force after the signing of the Armistice, the object of which was to build a memorial hut in New Zealand to show their gratitude for the work done by the association during the war. The building is designed on modern lines to house not only the Y'oung Men's Christian Association, but also to .provide three shops to assist the financial upkeep. At present only one shop has been buill. the space for the others being occupied by the Young Men's Christian Association lounge room, behind which is a well-equipped gymnasium measuring 38ft by 50ft. When funds permit a second storey will be added, the gymnasium will be extended, and the extra shops will be built. The architect was Mr D. Murray Kean. and the supervising architects, Messrs Atkms and Mitchell. Mr H. C. Nicholls was tho builder. Mr Allister C. Edwards, ot Christchurch, has been appointed general secretarv. The present membership is 225. Aims of Association

The building was crowded at the dedication service, presided over by Mr A. Scholefield, Mayor of Petone. During the service Colonel H. Cj. Avery, C.M.G., D.5.0., acting as deputy for General Sir Andrew Russell, who is absent from New Zealand, handed over the deeds of the building to Mr J. L. Hay, president oi the national council, or behalf of the trustees of the fund, and spoke .with gratitude of the work of the association for the soldiers. In accepting the deeds of the building from Colonel Avery. Mr Hay referred to the cordial relations that had alwavs existed between the association and the officers and men of the NewZealand Expeditionary Force during the war. It did not take long, he said, for the officers in command of the Expeditionary Forces to realise that the Young Men's Christian Association could play an important part in providing many amenities for the men. and it was largely due to the assistance received from these highly placed officers that the New Zealand Young Men's Christian Association had been able to give such an extensive service. In addition to providing transport facilities at all times, a large number of temporarily unfit soldiers had been placed at the disposal of the association, thus making possible a widespread work reaching from the men in the front lines' to base camps, j hospitals, and troop ships.

Mr Hay said that the policy of the association had been to spend the largest portion of the funds so generously provided by the people in New Zealand, for the men who needed help most—the men actually fighting. That it had succeeded was shown by the generous action of the men of tlie division before demobilisation to subscribe so large a sum for establishing a New Zealand hut that would serve as a permanent memorial to the association and its war work. His Excellency, who \far> accompanied by Lady Bledisloe, then unveiled the memorial tablet, which recorded the genesis of the fund. Appreciation of Services "No organisation in war-time contributed more to the physical and spiritual comfort and happiness of our soldiers while away from their homes than the Young Men's Christian Association." said his Excellency, "and it is equally true to sav that no organisation during the stressful and anxious period of the last three years has done more to inspire hope and happiness in the youth of this nation, to save them from moral degradation and decadence. or to find them employment in conditions of unprecedented difficulty." He said that tne people of New Zealand owed a debt to the Young Men's Christian Association for ; its strenuous and unremitting fight for : the maintenance of Christian ideals, against the perils of despair and idleness which could best be fittingly recognised by extending to its publicspirited leaders and workers all the assistance possible. His Excellency spoke appreciatively of the support the Young Men's Christian Association received from the public, mentioning tliat. during the war, the people of New Zealand contributed no less than £301.000 towards the work of the association overseas. Mr Hay then handed over the key of the building to Mr W. B. Nicholson. president of the Hutt Valley Young Men's Christian Association, mentioning the things for which the building stood. The benediction was afterwards pronounced by the Right Rev. D. D. Scott, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand.