District prays for its four lost

Press, 30 August 1978, Page 3

District prays for its four lost

PA Invercargill The stark framework of an unfinished Riversdale Hall echoed yesterday to the heartfelt tribute to four local men missing, believed dead, for more than a fortnight. The greatest tribute to the men must have been in the sheer numbers at their memorial service. More than 1500 people stood solemnly for an hour in the cold, dark atmosphere, to pay their respects to the men who have been missing from the district since August 16. The four, the Rev. Syril Crosbie, and Messrs Trevor Collins, Grant Sutherland, and Peter Robertson, were in a light aircraft believed to have crashed between Big Bay and Riversdale two weeks ago. The hall is part of the new community centre being built in Riversdale. The exterior is completed, but the interior has not yet been lined. Seating was provided for the men’s families, and the elderly, but most of the 1500-odd stood close together in the actual hall, and in what will be anterooms once the centre is completed. The combined service was conducted by the Revs. M. Cashman, A. Bell, and P. Charles. They spoke of hope, saying everyone in the district still hoped the men were alive. But the emphasis of the service was the reality of death and how to cope with it Prayers were said by each family, and members of the community read passages from the Bible. The private search—using public donations—for the missing Cessna 180 will be scaled down today. Three helicopters have covered wide areas of Fiordland in the last three days. From today, one helicopter will continue the search, covering coastal and inland areas of Martins Bay and the Kaipo Valley.