BE CHEERFUL!

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 150, 9 June 1933, Page 7

BE CHEERFUL!

BRINGING BETTER TIMES A SILVER LINING IN THE CLOUDS. APPEAL TO EX-SERVICEMEN. “One way of getting back to better times is by trying to be more cheerful,” said Colonel H. Holderness, president of the Hastings R.S.A., at the quarterly reunion of ex-servicemen held in the Hastings Trades Hall last evening. “I am sure,” added the colonel, ‘‘that though for some of us it may be difficult to look on the bright side, we can all do a great deal to help ourselves and our pals along by being more cheery about things. However bad they are, we should remember that they could always he worse, and that in some countries they are decidedly worse than they are here. ‘‘They are not as bad in Hastings and the other smaller towns as they are in the centres. You have only to go into any of the cities to find out the truth of that. In the largq towns you can become pretty well lost to your friends, but here you arc nearer to them; and it is from your friends and your old comrades that you can seek help.

“Nothing that we can do ourselves in this country will make matters much better. We can only hope that things will improve themselves, or will bo improved, in the larger countries of the world, and that we shall feel the effects of the improvement. I believe that there is a silver lining to the clouds, even though we cannot see it yet. Anyway, if we keep heart we can be f; r happier than we shall be by losing it altogether.” SUCCESSFUL REUNION. The reunion was attended by about 120 returned men, which is the largest attendance that there has been since the quarterly reunions were begun, and took the usual form of a sing-song, a concert, supper, and smokc-o. A splendid concert programme was provided by a new pierrot troupe known as “The Double Fours,” and was tremendously enjoyed. The performers were Messrs. B. G. Stevenson, E. H. Culver, W. Lord. Barden, F. Marchant, J. Lo Comte, R. Knowles, and J. Fear, and the items included songs, conjuring, banjo items, choruses, lightning sketches, and ventriloquism, and was of first-rate quality throughout Every item was enthusiastically encored, and those present will look forward eagerly to the next appearance of their talented entertainers. There was, of course, some community singing of the old army songs such as “Tipperary,” “The Long. Long Trail,” “Daisy,” and so on, and a highly diverting contest in singing between two sections of the hall. The heartiness of tha singing showed that the old songs have lost none of the affection that the men felt for them when they used to march to them, and that the voices of the men are just as lusty ae ever. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and not the least pleasant part of it was a competition for very useful prizes presented by some of the unfailingly generous friends of the returned soldiers. The following individuals and firms were thanked by the chairman for contributions to the evening:—Roachs’ Ltd., Mr. J. A. Davidson, Mr. W. C. Taylor, Mr. E. L. Knipe. Mr. R. B. Schofield, Messrs. Williams and Creagh, Mr. E. Newbigin, Mr. Bob Burns, and the Black and White Dairy.