Centennial Appeal

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25970, 25 November 1949, Page 6

Centennial Appeal

Planning for the celebration of the centennial of Canterbury is now well under way, and much hard work has already been done by the Centennial Association and its committees to ensure that the programme announced will be of a kind and on a scale befitting the occasion. How well the celebrations can be carried out, however, depends on the support and encouragement the organisers receive from the whole community. The citizens, not only of the cities and towns of Canterbury, but of the whole province, all have a share in the celebrations; and they should do all they can to make them a success. They can help best by contributing generously to the centennial funds, an appeal for which was launched in Christchurch on Tuesday evening. The sum of £175,000 is the minimum needed for appropriate celebrations and for the remodelling and extension of the Canterbury Museum, which will be the province’s fitting permanent memorial. The mfiseum development will cost at least £150,000, and the cost of celebrations is expected to exceed £ 25,000. Although some events in the programme will be self-supporting, many others will have to be financed from centennial funds; and much expense will have to be met before the celebrations actually begin. Estimated receipts from centennial events and a Government subsidy leave a sum of £120,000 to be raised by contributions from local bodies, business organisations, and individual citizens. The appeal is being made first to businessmen, who are asked to find the biggest part of the fund; but it is addressed to everyone in Canterbury—local bodies, business firms, and private individuals. Already £ 16,000 has been promised, and several public-spirited citizens and firms given a lead to the rest of the community by making the first gifts to the fund, which total £9500. Their example should be followed by all who wish to honour the pioneers and to show their appreciation of what has been achieved in the province’s first/ 100 years.