5000 AT “MONA VALE” EVENING

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31540, 30 November 1967, Page 16

5000 AT “MONA VALE” EVENING

An estimated 5000 persons flocked to Russley Hotel between 6 p.m. and 10 pan. last evening as a result of the owners’ offer to give all bar takings to the fund for the purchase of “Mona Vale.”

Up to 2000 cars were parked near the hotel during the evening, and the four public bars were so full it was optimistic to say there was even standing room. Patrons jammed the hotel foyers and corridors and some were even outside.

The evening’s bar takings of $1702.39, plus gifts and the sale of lots in the hotel foyer were expected to add considerably more than $2OOO to the $70,000 that had been collected by late afternoon. The assistant manager cf the Russley Hotel (Mr R. Hoek) estimated that the crowd was at any time at least 50 per cent bigger than the hotel’s previous record of 1500 patrons. Between 2500 and 3000 persons were probably in the hotel at any one time, he estimated, and more than 5000 visited the hotel during the four hours. Outside, cars were parked on both sides of the road for a quarter of a mile in either direction, some being parked on the opposite side of Memorial Avenue. All the car parks were packed, and Winslow Street was also lined with cars.

The bar tills were cleared under the eye of auditors at 6 p.m., when there was already a considerable number of patrons at the hotel. The rush really started at 7.30 p.m.. Long queues formed at every bar, and patrons found it difficult to even make their way to the bar. Thirty-two barmen were on duty, and they had no respite throughout the evening. One said it seemed there was about five times the previous record number of patrons, and others agreed they had never been so busy. The cheerful and orderly crowd included both young and old, and Mr Hoek said he doubted if more than 1 or 2 per cent were regular customers. Entertainment had been

arranged but hnudreds did not come closer to it than a distant loudspeaker. One act, an acrobatic performance by the “Family Solars,” an Australian group, had to be cancelled

because the crowd was too thick for the performance to be staged. Proceeds Counted After the bars had been cleared about 10 p.m. auditors emptied the tills and counted the proceeds. Mr R. P. Thompson, a director of New Zealand Breweries. Ltd, which arranged for the hotel to be made available, announced the amount taken at the bars. ! “We’ve got ‘Mona Vale’— we can’t fail,” the ehairman of the appeal committee (Mr John Oakley) jubilantly told the social party at a supper after the bars had closed. “It has been the most wonderful party I have ever been to, and we owe a great deal to Mr Thompson and to New Zealand Breweries.” He also thanked the chairman of the committee which arranged the entertainment (Mr A. R. Cottrell) and his committtee. “I never thought so many could possibly turn up,” he said. “The people of Christchurch voted with their feet and elbows,” Mr Thompson said. “This is a very large sum indeed to take between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. The

people came along as supporters of ‘Mona Vale.’” “I hope this is an encouragement to local bodies; whatever the politicians think, it shows the people are behind the scheme.” More Gifts The Mona Vale appeal will get the $5OO which a Christchurch company promised to give if nine other companies would also give $5OO or more. The managing director of M. O’Brien and Company, Ltd (Mr M. F. O’Brien), said at the Russley Hotel last evening that the gift would now be made. Gifts yesterday included $5OO from Gough, Gough and Hamer, Ltd. By late yesterday afternoon funds from the public appeal had already reached $70,000, cash contributions yesterday being more than $4900. These included an anonymous gift of $5OO, $250 from Hay’s, Ltd, and a like amount from the J. L. Hay Charitable Trust. Last evening it was announced that Mrs Tracy Gough had given $5OO, Mr E. T. Beaven had given $3OO, and that J. and W. Jamieson, Ltd, had given $lOO. This firm built the “Mona Vale” house in 1904. Mr and Mrs S. G. Bowron have given $2OOO.