NEWS FOR WOMEN Official Opening Of New Trengrove Kindergarten

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27592, 24 February 1955, Page 2

NEWS FOR WOMEN Official Opening Of New Trengrove Kindergarten

After five years of strenuous effort to raise the necessary money, the committee of the Trengrove Kindergarten had the pleasure yesterday of seeing its fine new L-shaped kindergarten building officially opened by the Minister of Social Welfare (Mrs G. EL Ross). The kindergarten, which is situated in Clyde road, Fendalton, will be known as the Trengrove Kindergarten, in memory of the late Mr W. H. Trengrove, a Christchurch architect who for nearly 25 years was a most generous friend and benefactor of the kindergarten movement. Mrs L. W. McCaskill, president of the Christchurch Free Kindergarten Association, presided at a very large gathering. She specially welcomed Mrs Ross, the Mayoress (Mrs R. M. Macfarlane), the president of. the New Zealand Free Kindergarten Union (Mrs A. F. Johnson), Mrs W. H. Trengrove, Mr and Mrs John Trengrove, Mr F. W. Walter (chairman of the Waimairi County Council), and Mrs A. Keith Hadfield (patron of the association), who was president when the Trengrove committee was formed. Mrs McCaskell said Mr Trengrove’s interest in kindergartens had been aroused by Mr and Mrs Hadfield in 1931. He planned the Selwyn Kindergarten and supervised its erection. For all kindergartens built in Christchurch in the intervening years he had drawn the plans and in addition had supervised minor repairs and given expert advice. In all, he planned six buildings that were erected in his lifetime, and when he died he left plans for four others. His son, Mr John Trengrove undertook to complete the work that his father had begun. All this work, said Mrs McCaskill, had been done by Mr Trengrove without any payment whatever. He had regarded it as a privilege. Mrs McCaskill said that the Beckenham committee had also wished to honour Mr Trengrove’s memory by calling its kindergarten after him, but it forwent its plan in favour of the committee working for the new Clyde road kindergarten committee. “Memorial to Good Man" “I can think of no better memorial to a good man that a kindergarten, where generations of little children will spend many happy hours, and where they will be taught to live with one another,” said Mrs Ross. “I feel

that Mrs Trengrove and her son must be very proud today.” Mrs Ross warmly praised the work being done voluntarily throughout New Zealand by women, and paid tribute to the workers in the Kindergarten Union, particularly Mrs Johnson and Mrs Hadfield (president and former Dominion presidents of the union). Mrs Johnson congratulated the Christchurch association on having 27 kindergartens operating under its direction, and said that there were at present 19 new kindergarten buildings being erected in the Dominion. She was particularly interested in the Trengrove Kindergarten, she said, as she had been chairman of the Fendalton kindergarten committee when the idea of founding a kindergarten on the new site was suggested by Mrs A. E. Hough because of the long waiting list at the Fendalton Kindergarten. The Fendalton committee helped to make the present site available to the new committee, and voted £l5O to its funds, -f

Mr Selwyn Hamblett, president of the Trengrove committee, thanked Mrs Ross for attending the gathering, and expressed his committee’s appreciation of help given by the Fendalton committee, the Waimairi County Council, which had given the committee £5OO, the Education Department, the Christchurch Kindergarten Association, and Mr John Trengrove, who had generously completed the work begun by his father. Other speakers were Mrs Macfarlane and Mr Walter.

Flowers were presented to members of the official party by Mrs J. Smythe, honorary -secretary of the Trengrove committee, which entertained at afternoon tea all who attendedthe gathering. The Trengrove Kindergarten has opened with a full roll of 70—40 children attending in the mornings and 30 in the afternoons—and a waiting list of 55. Miss Joy Packet is the director. Members of the committee are:—Mr Hamblett (president), Mr H. Johnston, Mrs W. Myhre and Mrs R. Bowen (vice-presidents), Mrs J. Smythe (honorary secretary), Mrs E. Hutton (honorary treasurer), Mesdames K. Samild, R. Wilson, E. Preston, R. Moor, A. Court,- A. Graham, and H. Holmes, and Mr G. Grayburn. Mrs Smythe yesterday gratefully acknowledged much help given by Mrs S. Muirson and Mrs Hough, of the Fendalton committee.