Reporter's Diary

Press, 24 June 1978, Page 2

Reporter 's Diary

Thrifty KATY, aged five, always puts 10c in the collection plate when she goes to church on Sunday. But last Sunday she found to her dismay that she had come without a 10c piece. All Katy had in her pocket was 20c. Her hand hovered over the plate until a last she dropped the 20c coin n, saying loudly to the collector: “Can I have 10c change, please?” Served MANY years ago in a Central Otago town, a reader tells us, the local vicar and policeman, who were great friends and were closely involved in community work, were discussing the agenda for a forthcoming youth club meeting while standing on the vicar’s front lawn. The

agenda was written on a piece of white paper, and the policeman handed it to the vicar, in full view of passing townsfolk. The vicar was most embar-

rassed, he explained to the policeman. He was sure they would ail think he was being served with a judgment summons. But then, he said, it would be all right, because the paper was white. “It would be a bluey if it was a summons,” the vicar said. “Don’t you believe it,” rep.ied the policeman. “All our maintenance summonses are white.” Shade of respect SOME people, however, prefer blue. Timaru bus drivers have decided that they want a navy blue uniform instead of their present green one. They say that a blue uniform would create more respect among the travelling public. The Timaru City Council is being asked to approve the change from green to blue. I .I.P. missing MEMBERS of the Canterbury Education Board dined in style at lunchtime yesterday, in spite of the absence of their special guest, who had to go hungry. The Minister of Education (Mr Gandar) was to join the board for lunch, during his annual visit, and he flew down from Wellington yesterday morning. Because of the weather, however, the plane was unable to land at Christchurch, and after circling at 20.000 ft several times, it flew back to Wellington. Corn mem orati ve A SPECIAL issue of printed envelopes — rather like first-day covers but without a new stamp issue on them — was made yesterday to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps. Proceeds from the sale of the covers will go to the Army Museum. Film preview A FAMILY adventure film, “The Sea Gypsy,” will be shown at the Odeon Theatre tomorrow afternoon at 2.30 p.m. in aid of Telethon. Kerridge Odeon is screening the film, charging S 3 for adults and

I I $2 for children and senior I citizen.,. All the money I will be given to the Telethon appeal. “The Sea Gypsy” is about a family who are shipwrecked during a round-the-world sea voyage in their yacht. They are stranded on an is.and off the Alaskan Coast and fight for survival amidst beautiful rugged scenery and wild animals. Crutch walk FIFTEEN physiotherapy students at Christchurch Hospital spent five hours last evening walking on crutches round the town to collect money for Telethon. They walked, or hopped from the hospital to the Grenadier Hotel, and into the Square and the city, to collect donat:ons from late-night shoppers. Reunited A WEEK ago, one of our young reporters lost her cat. It was a four-mor.th-old tabby, with no name, and no distinguishing features. She advertised in the newspaper, on the radio, visited the neighbours, and spent many hours driving round the area checking reports that her cat had been found. She had no idea, she said, that there could be so many lost tabbies in the area. On Thursday evening while looking at the umpteenth cat at an address a few doors down from her own, she thought she recognised her tabby. But she was not at all sure. This one was much thinner than hers, and it was certainly not taking much of an interest in her. “I’ll take it home anyway,” she told the people who had found the stray. She figured she would keep a close eye on the cat to see if it exhibited any of its old foibles — such as eating the pot plants, hiding in the linen cupboard, trying to catch the goldfish, or biting her ankles. But this cat was in no mood to play games. It went straight to sleep the minute she got it home. However, when she woke up in the morning, she knew it must be her cat, for it was indulging in one of its quaintest quirks — it was curled up asleep on : her neck with its head i resting on her cheek.