LEVIN HORTICLTURAL SOCIETY

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 September 1928, Page 5

LEVIN HORTICLTURAL SOCIETY

25th ANNUAL MEETING. The 25th annual meeting of the L.>vin Horticultural Society was held in | the Whakatane Club room on Friday | evening, when tho President,, Mrs A. IW. Hutchings, presided .over a large | attendance of me-ibem, and several apologies for absence were received. THE PAST YEAR, The secretary read the annual report as follows: —: "During.the year just past the Soeictv held summer .and "autumn shows, which from a horticultural point of view were well up to the standard aimed at. Despite the long and unprecitfented drought in the autumn, there were very large entries of surprising quality, which did credit to 'the Society and the exhibitors. There was unfortunately a considerable falling-off in public interest that is difficult to 'account for and is something new in the Society's experience. The suggestion is made for discussion that some change .should be. made in the time of next year's so as to eater for different seasons, with the object of giving, some variety & nil again attracting the public. Itmight be that Rose and Chrysanthemum Shows would be more acceptable for -a year or two. "The hetl-esult of the year's operations is a loss of £l4 10s, which will be met from the Society's reserve. The chief causes--are. deficiencies of. £8 in 'the door, takings, and £6 in the members' subscriptions. As against this, however, £5. 5s worth of new vases were purchased, so that the assets are increased by that amount. "The members totalled 102, the greater number of whom were secured by Mrs W, M. Clark,, to whom the Society is again endebted for this welcome service. Acknowledgment must also be made of the excellent .return from "the produce stajl conducted by Mesdames Lancaster and Aitken, and of Mesdames Goldsmith and Gibson's work Avith their assistants, in the tearooms. Thanks -are due. to the donors 'of special prizes, to Mr J. W. Rimmer for the loan of a large quantity of crockery for both shows, and to Mr S. Parsons for supplying the music at the shoAvs.,- Handsome cups and vases .were given as points prizes by the President (Mrs Hutchings), Mr S. Worsfold, Mr G-. Wise, atfd the Chronicle and materially helped to stimulate competition. TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO. '/The present annual meeting is a notable one in the history of the Society, since it has now completed 25 years of existence. It was established, at a public meeting held on April 23rd, 1903, in the ,ycars between has undoubtedly contributed much to the horticultural progress and education of Levin and the adjacent district. Quite a number of the foundation members are still on the roll and we trust will long remain with us, and there are several of the original officers still holding office. Mr Kebbell was one of the first vice-presidents and Mrs Clark, Mrs R. Prouse and Mr Goldsmith were members of the first committee. Mesdames E. VS. Lancaster, Jas. Prouse, Goldsmith, T. Beynn and Mr T. Brown, at present on the" Committee, were also original members. Mrs S. Parsons, was lone of the cut flowers stewards at the first show and Has acted ever isince in a similar capacity. It is fitting that these pioneers, who laid the foundations of the 'Society should be remembered on our 2oth anniversary and that the Society's goodwill should be extended to.them. ' . , PAST PRESIDENTS.

"The following ladies and gentlemen have held office as President: 1903-1913.—Mr Jas. Prouse (11 years). V 1914-1916.—Mrs B. R. Gardener (3 years). 1917-1918.—1 n recess (War). 1919-1920.—Mr J. C. Neil! (2 years). 1921.—Rev. W. F. Grove. 1922.—Mrs J, Kebbell. 1923.—Mrs T. Hobson. 1924.—Mr E. Derham. 1025. —Mr M. R- Varnham. 1920.—Mr J. Harvey. ■..._7.—Mrs A. W. Hutehings. On the motion of, Messrs A. W. Hutehings and W. Sniaill the report Avas adopted. COMPARISON WITH WELLINGTON The President said she regretted that she had beer away at the tiir.e of the Autumn Show. The exhibits at the Summer Show were very fine, particularly the decorative work, which was of a very high order She had that week had an opportunity of visiting the Wellington Show but was disappointed in the decorative section, which in no way showed the originality and taste of the local work.,Mrs Hutehings said she was rather sorry there was no wa-v by which the Levin people could exhibit there. 'She would like to see some of the ladies of Levin who did such-artistic work,, make entries in Wellington. One point noticed was that the suburban Societies were eluded in competition in Wellington, and, seeing the entries- that came from Manakau, Otak-i and Shannon, she wondered if some similar competition could be arranged here. Concluding the President thanked the Secretary and Mrs Clark for their work during the year. THE BALANCE SHEET. The audited balance sheet, as presented by the Treasurer, showed the total receipts to have been £7B, the chief items, being Members' subscriptions £2O 2s, entry fees £22 17s sd, door takings £ls 3s 3d, produce stall £6 10s, donations, tea-rooms, etc., £l2 15s Id. The expenditure totalled £92 lis 4d,' and included: Prize-money £4- T , printing, advertising, stationery and postages £l7 Is 9d, hall hire £6 6s, new vases £5 ss, judges' expenses, staging, insurance, tea rooms expenses and sundries £l6 18s 7d. • % . The Treasurer said that the Society had had a lean year, but fortunately it had a reserve upon which it could draw to meet the deficit. On Mr M. R. Vamham's motion, the balance-sheet was adopted. • ■ ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The following officers were elected: Patron.—Mr J. Linklater, M.P. ~ President.—Mrs W. M. Clark. Vice-Presidents.—Mrs A. W. Hutehings and Miss Kebbell, Messrs J. Kebbell and A. J. Alloway. . Committee.—Mesdames T. Hobaon, T. Bevfttt, E.S. Lancaster, E. Buckworth, T. F Gibson, F. H. R. Gorringey

M. Gomnge, Jas. Prouse, J. W. HayJield, F. H. Hudson, R. Prouse, S. Par sons, K Aitten, P. W. Goldsmith, F. R. Wright, H. Walker., and W. Nye. Misses Hitchcock and Milnes, airi Messrs T lirowii, F. ('.. Lej:imon, J. W. CJibsoii, R. Herhani, .Zvl; 11. Varnham, Vv Smaill, J Harvey, A. W. Hutehings, R. McAllister, J...K. Alien, R. IL Lynch, and S. Fletcher. . Hon.'Auditor.—Mr K, Adams. Hon. Trrasurei.—Mr P. W. Goldsmith Hon. Secctarv.—Mr'lL. G. Kerslake. ROSE SHOW TO BE HELIX After considerable discussion it was decided, on the' motion of Mr E. McAllister, seconded by Miss Kebbell "That a Rose Show be held this year," and the date was fixed, on the motion of Mr A. J. Aliowav and Mrs M. Gorjinge' as November' 20th. The. President and Secretary were authorise-.] to alter the date if it was interfered with by the election.' . A suggestion by Mr Alloway that the prize tickets in future be whit?, with red and blue lettering for. first and second awards was adopted. This plan will enable the winners' names to be more easily read. ■ On Mr Smaill's motion the following schedule committee was set up to draft a schedule for the show: Mesdames Clark, R. Prouse, M. Gomnge, Hutch ings, v MLss Kebbell, Messrs Alloway, Kerslake and Goldsmith. ' The Committee will meet at the Bank of New Zealand at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday evening and will report to a meeting of the general committee to be held' at the Whakatane Club on Friday night at the same time. ' The following ipeeial prizes were offered: Miss Kebbell 10s, Mrs Duckworth 10s, Mr H. A. Phillips 10s, Mr W.,Nvo 7s. 6d. v ..