RAROTONGAN GIRLS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 19, 23 January 1943, Page 8

RAROTONGAN GIRLS

CONCERTS IN N.Z. CAMPS

Mrs. Rio Love, Queen or paramount chieftainess of Rarotonga, who was a guest of honour at the Anniversary Day celebrations" of the Early Settlers' and Historical Association of Wellington yesterday, is playing an important part in the war effort. There are many Rarotongan girls engaged in domestic work in Wellington at present and Mrs. Love has organised a party of them to give concerts in the camps. On Tuesday night the party will give a performance for the Ist Battalion, Wellington Regiment. Mrs. Love's husband, the late Lieut-Colonel E. T. W. Love, who was killed in action whilst commanding the Maori Battalion in the Middle East) was previously attached to this regiment. The entertainments given by the girls are extremely popular with both Maori and pakeha servicemen. The girls wear leis of flowers which come from Wellington gardens and at the conclusion of the concerts, in accordance with tradition; the officers at the camps are decorated with these leis. A concert was given recently at an American hospital and gave great pleasure to both patients and staff. Some of the music and songs for these performances are composed by Mrs. Love. Mrs. Love, who returned recently from Rarotonga, said the women there are constantly knitting comforts for the men of the forces and sending them to New Zealand for distribution. Whilst she was in Rarotonga she organised a canteen group of' young girls, who assembled every night at 10 o'clock to serve supper to the troops. It is Mrs. Love's hope that the Rarotongan girls in Wellington, in whom she takes a deep interest, will soon be able to make a direct contribution to the war effort by joining an organisation like the W.W.S.A., of which she is a member.