GREY COMPETITIONS

Grey River Argus, 20 October 1939, Page 5

GREY COMPETITIONS

ANNUAL' MEETING OF SOCIETY. OFFICERS ELECTED. There was an attendance of 2.3 members at the annual general meeting- of the Grey Competitions Society held in the Wesley Hall last night, at which Archdeacon J. A. Jermyn presided.

The annual report, as follows, was read and adopted:— 3’he annual report, which showed a credit balance of £l9 9s lOd, was read and adopted. Receipts totalled £223 6s 6d, the chief items being: Door takings and season tickets, £lll 9s Od, programme sales and advertising £47 Is lid entry fees £43 13s 9d. Expenditure totalled £203 16s Bd, the chief items being: Printing and stationery £5B 8s 9d, .judges’ fees, expenses, etc., £67 12s 6d, prizes and trophies £44 15s Od. The assets exceeded liabilities by £2B 10s 6d. A largo number of new members was elected at the meeting. Archdeacon Jermyn said he greatly appreciated the splendid work done by a very hard working committee throughout the year. He hoped that the Society this year would have as good a committee again. Good work, too, had been done by the Secretary (Mr. O. C. Joyce) and by Miss F. Harvey. Any honorarium that might be voted to the Secretary was one very well deserved.

Mr. R. E. Guthrie moved that 25 guineas should be voted to the Secretary. Mr. S. Shuttleworth seconded the motion and said that the Secretary had done excellent work. The Society was fortunate to have a man of such merit, to guide the work which occupied so much time.

The motion was carried without dissent. “Personally,” Archdeacon Jermyn said, “I wouldn’t have done it for fifty!” Mr. Joyce thanked the members for the support given him and for lhe Kind remarks passed about his work, and that of Miss Harvey.

1 It was decided to leave to the new committee the matter of the date cf the next festival and the appointment. I of judges. Mr. Balchin suggested that the sale of honorary members’ tickets should be left to the new committee.

11 was decided that a membership fee of 2s 6d a year be charged. On the suggestion of Mr. Brown, it was decided to recommend the new committee to invite all churches and schools to enter the next competitions.

On the motion of Mr. Balchin, seconded by Mr. Shuttleworth, a Jiearty vote of thanks was passed by acclamation to the outgoing committee for its splendid work for the Society, and to the newspapers fee the publicity received.

The election of officers resulted: — Patron, the Mayor (Mr. F. A. Kitchinghani;); President, Archdeacon Jermyn; Vice Presidents, Messrs R. Roper, E. R. Moss, and Hamilton, Secretary-Treasurer, Mr. O. C. Joyce; Committee, Mesdames T. Hornsby, T. Kiely, C. K. Millar, Misses M. Moss, F. Harvey, L. Brown, Messrs K. E. Balchin. S. Shuttleworth, J. Gallagher, G. G. Mitchell, R. E. Guthrie, W. Ford, R. Woodhouse, D. Saunders. T. Joseph, N. Kilgour, W. Richmond R. J. Sansom and T. Anderson. ’ Thirty nominations were received for the 19 positions on the committee.

The President's annual report slat>ed':—

The 1939 Festival reached a high standard and the competitors in all sections were commended by the judges for their general excellence. We were fortunate in our selection of judges, and we are indebted to them for their painstaking reports and especially for their ready advice and helpful criticism given to individual competitors privately after the Competitions. In some cases the judges reported that performances were well up to Dominion standard. You will notice that we have a small credit balance. Other competition societies in New Zealand have not been so fortunate this year. It is interesting to compare the results with last year’s working. There is a drop of £4l 6s 7d in door takings and in the sale of season tickets. This is accounted for by the inclement weather on the first three days; on the Tuesday evening the Competitions were interrupted by a severe electrical storm; but the attendances improved immediately the weather cleared. The arrangements for the sale of season tickets did not prove satisfactory; this is a matter which calls for reorganisation. Further, the Committee perhaps erred on the generous side by admitting season ticket holders free to both demonstration concerts and in permitting 3ZR to broadcast both concerts without fee. This represented a loss of £25 or more. There is a slight falling off in receipt or entry fees, £5 13s 6d. Unfortunately the Royal Academy of Dancing held annual examinations in August. This affected the preparations of competitors in the dancing sections. In company with other Societies, particularly Wellington, which was severely affected, we have obtained an assurance from the Royal Academy that there will be no clash next year. There is a falling off of £l4 in donations. However, these shrinkings are more than counterbalanced by a saving of £l7 in the cost of printing, which was done locally, by tender. There is a further saving of £2l 13s in Judges’ fees, due to the adoption of a more economical system of payment; and a saving of £8 3s 4d in the cost of prizes and trophies, despite the fact that this year cash prizes of five shillings were given to winners. You .will observe also the sale of programmes and advertising space has increased by £l4 2s, while the ordinary general expenses were cut down by £7. Had we been favoured with better weather and had we been a little less generous with our demonstration concerts, your Society would have been in a strong financial position. The Committee trusts that the generous policy of this year will bear good fruit next year. Our thanks are due to our donors for valuable prizes and trophies; to the artists, who arranged a concert some months before the competitions; to Miss L. Brown, who assisted! the judge in the dancing section; to Miss Melva Moss who kept the box oflice; to Ford’s Music Store and Robert Francis, Ltd., for the generous loan of pianos; to Mr S. Shuttleworth for his services as auditor and to Messrs T. McCarthy and Garner for general assistance. The teachers in all, sections have been of the greatest help to the competitions and we trust that they will meet with the support they deserve. The press at all times has encouraged the cultural side of the Competitions, and we are indebted

to them for generous notices, lor theii full and accurate reports of the results and of the judges’ comments We strongly recommend that the services of the present Secretary be retained and that provision be made foi the pavment of an annual fee and that this be made adequate. Mr O. C Joyce has now obtained a thorough insight into the financial side of the Society’s work and has improved its organisation. It has been the custom to vote a small honorarium to the Secretary, but. no payment this year would compensate Mr Joyce, or the staff of Jamieson, Joyce and Co., for the time and energy spent on the Society’s affairs. We are confident that next year the Secretary will place the finances on a sound footing. The incorporation of the Society makes it obligatory that intending members of the Society should be proposed and seconded by present members and duly elected. Members who withdraw must send in a formal written resignation. We recommend that the annua) subscriptions be fixed at. such a reasonable limit as to encourage the election of many new members. The stability of the Society depends upon the strength of membership. Now that the affiliated Debating Clubs who founded the Society have definitely withdrawn their support, it is necessary to make a wider appeal to the public. The annual festival makes an important contribution to the cultural, life of the community; its scope could be widened and its usefulness increased in many ways. We appeal first to the young artists on the West Coast to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by the competitions festival, to develop their talent, and we appeal to the public for a continuance of their generous support.