MUNICIPAL BAND

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 April 1934, Page 2

MUNICIPAL BAND

ANNUAL MEETING The annual meeting of the Greymouth Municipal Band was held m the Band Hall last evening, the De-puty-Mayor, Mr. F. A. Kitchingham, presiding over an attendance of ovei 30 bandsmen and supporters. Messrs. J. B. Kent and J. S. Robertson, Borough Councills, were among those present. Apologies for absence were recived from the Mayor, Mr. J. W> Greenslade, and Mr. T. A. W. Tate. The annual report, as published in the “Star” of Monday, was read and adopted. The balance sheet, as follows was read and adopted:— Receipts:—Cash in Bank £B/12/2, cash in hand £l/1/-, borough subsi y £6O, hon. members’ subscriptions £lOl/15/6, engagements £7i/0/11, rent for Band Hall £2B/0/9, from Social Committee £7/10/-, hon. numbers’ concerts £l/5/6, discounts 3/5, total £285/9/3; cash in hahd £3 15/6; grand total £289/4/9. Expenditure:—Hon. members’ concerts £3O/18/6, electric light accounts £B/3/11, gas accounts £1 12/2, petty cash £6/10/-, insurance £3/6/2, expenses engagements £l4 16/-, travelling exs. D. Bell and L. Halls £ 3/10/-, music, springs and repairs instruments £l7/16/1, annual social account £ll/5/3, advertising and printing £lO/9/7, iniprovements Band Hall £9/2/7, wreaths £4/0/b, John Burns (sundries) 9/4, donation to Mayor’s Relief Fund £5/5/-, Salvation Army Co. (hats) £2/8/8, T. Garth, cornet boxes, £l/6/-, W. Garth, collecting bon. members’ subs. £ 15/9/-, cartage and ( coal accounts £4/18/6 donation to secretary £5, bank charges and cheque book £ 1 8/-, Kilgour’s (printing set and gloy) £l/11/6, S. B. White, sundries 5/-, ever-drawn on cheque £1; total £l6O/11/9; uniform and contest fund £lO3, balance at Bank £2l/17/6, cash in hand £3/15/6; grand total £ 289/4/9. Assets: —Instruments old and new £6OO, Band Hall £2OO, uniforms £lOO, music £5O, piano £l5, furniture and fittings, etc. £25, crockery £5, cash in bank £2l/17/6, cash in uniform fund £lO3, cash in hand £3 15/6; total £1123/13/-. Liabilities: —Nil. " The chairman, referring to the balance sheet, said the material -part of it seemed to be that there was about £lO3 in the uniform and contest, £25/13/- cash in hand and no liabilities.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The election of officers resulted:— Patron, Mr. J. W. Greenslade (reelected)• President, Mr. J. S. Robertson. Vice-Presidents, Messrs. F. A. Kitchingham, J. B. Kent, J. Mulcare, G. Blair, T. A. W. Tate, W. H. Parfitt, R. McLaren, P. J. McLean, Archdeacon J. A. Jermyn, Rev. Father J. Long, J. O’Brien, M.P., F. M. Dennehy, J. Keating, A. J. Fairmaid', F. Garth, R. McTaggart. Conductor, Mr. L. Francis. Bandmaster, Air. E. Barton. Secretary, Mr. J. Henderson (reelected)• Assistant-secretary, Mr. D. Grant.

Treasurer, Mr. W. Garth ed)Band Sergeant, Mr. T. Lim. Librarian, Mr. A. Cornell (re-elect-ed). ’ Drum Major, Mr. E. Ellery (reelected) • Committee, Messrs. H. Leach, J. Phibhs, L. Hall, and V. Baxter. Auditors, Messrs. A. Naylor, and FH. Denton (re-elected). Prior to the election of officers, the

chairman, referred to the loss sustained by the Band in the death of their late President, Dr. J. W. Mcßrearty. He had had a long and creditable record as President, and in his association with the Band in other capacities, and his successor would be hard put to it to maintain the late Presidents ’wonderful record. Thanking the members for his election as President, Mr. Robertson said he knew what a wonderful record

the late President had had in his association with the Band', and that he had a big job ahead of him to carry out his duties as successfully .as his predecessor. He would do his best to advance the interests of the Band. Mr. W. M. Garth said he would like to see the Borough Council appoint two councillors to act on the Band Committee during the coming year. Such an appointment would show that the Council was taking an interest in the Band, and, as such, would mean incentive to members. It would also be a means of keeping the Council in constant touch with the finances, and' general activities of the Band. The present position was that no member of the Council had officially attended a Band Committee meeting for years. The chairman said the fact that the Council had not seen fit to appoint Councillors to attend Band Committee meetings, of late, was surely a vote of confidence in the Band, and its administrators.

Mr. Robertson suggested that the question be left to the Deputy-Mayor to bring before the Council at its next meeting. The chairman said the difficulty was that they might not be able to get Councillors with the necessary time to attend the meetings. Most of he Councillors had a great number of calls on their time, with their own and council business. Personally, he thought the management of the Band was best left to those who had' had experience of Band committee work, and were constantly in touch with it. It was decided to leave the matter to the chairman, to bring before the Borough Council.

BONUS FOR SECRETARY Mr. S. Gurden spoke enthusiastically of the work done by the secretary, Mr. J. Henderson, in the interests of the Band, during the past three years. In the good old days of the Band, the secretary was always a paid official, and now the Band was again in a sound financial position, he thought they should shpw their appreciation of Mr. Henderson’s services by granting him a bonus. Mr. Henderson said he did not want any bonus or salary. The new conductor was going to cost the Band £lOO a year, and that sum would take of deal of work to find. It was up to the Band to find the conductor’s salary before they thought about giving bonuses. Mr. W. M. Garth said he was quite in accord with the sentiments expressed by Mr. Gurden. The secretary had given wonderful service, and the Band should give him some bonus, however small. He moved that a bonus of £5/5/- be granted the secretary. The donation was seconded

by Mr. H. Leach, who also eulogised the secretary’s work. Mr F. Grieg moved an amendment, seconded by Mr. T. the secretary be granted £lO/10/- for the year 1933/34. . The amendment was carried by a large majority. . , Mr. E. Ellery asked if the Band had made a donation to the Memorial Fund, being conducted by the Mayor. The chairman said he understood some money had been spent by the Band' on a memorial of their own. ANNUAL SOCIAL. The Municipal Band’s annual social was held after the meeting, there being over 50 bandsmen and supporters present, despite the unfavourable weather. The Deputy-Mayor, Mr F. A Kitchingham presided, and also at tlie main table were the new President, Mr J. S. Robertson, and other officials of the Band. The Chairman said he had been asked to say a few words about the late Dr. James Wilson Mcßrearty, prior to the unveiling of a memorial to him. As they all knew, the late Dr. “Jim” had been in the community since most could remember, and his father before him had been an honoured and respected resident here. The late Dr. had long been associated with band work, having been Patron of the old Battalion Band, the forerunner of the present Municipal Band, and he had been piesident of the Municipal Band since its inception. He was a man whose place in the community would be extremely hard to fill. He treated all alike, rich and poor, and the speaker had never heard a hard word spoken against him. His life’ had been one long service, and he was really a slave to the community. He had worked untiringly in the interests of the Band helping them in innumerable ways, and it had been decided to perpetuate his memory by placing a framed portrait of the late Doctor in the Band room, where it would ever be an inspiration to bandsmen. They could well refer to him in the words of Shakespeare, “Take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.” The Chairman called on Mr A. Cornell to unveil the portrait, and the gathering stood in silence as a mark of respect to the memory of the late Doctor.

The toast list was as follows: — “The King’’; “Borough Councillors” proposed by Mr E. Barton, and responded to by the Deputy-Mayor; “The New President,” proposed by Mr W. Garth and responded to by Mr Robertson; “The Band,” proposed by Mr Robertson and responded to by Mr W. Garth; “The Ladies,” proposed by Mr H. Hope, and responded to by Mr M. Garth; “Old Bandsmen,” proposed by Mr E. Ellery and responded to by Messrs D. Greaney and J. Walton; “The Press” proposed by Mr F. Grieg. Proposing the toast of the new President (Mr J. S. Robertson), Mr W. M. Garth said Mr Robertson had been selected as one likely to follow best in the footsteps of the late President. He had been in the Band some years ago, with the speaker, and was keen and enthusiastic about Band activities. He felt sure the Band would not regret their selection of Mi’ Robertson. Replying, Mr Robertson, said he had been set a big hurdle in trying to carry out the Band work of the late President, but he would do his best. He had some ideas in mind regarding the improvement of the Band, and he would make his suggestions to the committee. One aspect, in particular, which he thought deserved more attention was the encouragement of the young players. He had the interests of the Band at heart, and he only hoped that he would be able to do half as much as his predecessor had done. Mr E. Barton, proposing the toast of the “Borough Council,” said the Band was closely linked*- up with the Council, and always received valuable assistance from them. The Council’s subsidy of £6O had always been forthcoming, and, in innumerable other ways, the Council had helped the Band. In reply, the Chairman said that, in his opinion, the Council was one of the most important bodies in the community. Some people seemed to regard the Council as something of a “milch cow,” and wanted all kinds of work done, without consideration of cost oi’ anything else. The Council endeavoured to give everyone a fair deal, but did not always get credit for that. Regarding the association of the Municipal Band, and the Council, he said (he Council had done a good deal for the Band, and would continue to do so, assisting them wherever possible. Community singing and dancing were indulged in, with Mr W. Williams at the piano, and Mi - L. Carruthers gave a trombone solo. The evening concluded with the singing of “.Auld Lang Syne” During the evening, Mr. W. Garth was presented with a well-filled wallet of notes, in recognition of his services, several speakers eulogising his fine work. Presentations were also made to Mesdames S. Andrews, J. Contessa, and Miss L. Garth, members of the Ladies Committee.