BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 17 October 1921, Page 6

BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS

SUCCESSFUL PRIZE-GIVING FUNCTION.

Although the weather was so desperately wet on Saturday morning there was quite a good gathering oi boys and girls, who were competitors in last season's root growing competitions, at the prize-giving function at the new Technical School, Hawera. Over 120 boys and girls, with their teachers and supervisors, sat down to the morning tea and light refreshments so tastefully'set out and taken charge of by the Women's National Reserve, in one of the large halls in the machin-/ cry section 6f-the school. The Hawera branch of the Farmers' Union took the. initiative and responsibility of arranging for ftte function to be held in Hawera, and in ths enterprise they wore loyally, assisted by the Women s National Reserve and thtv business people of Hawera. , , After luncheon an adjournment was made to the adjoining hall, in which a platform had been erected by the instructor and boys of the engineering classes, and which was decorated wUn flags kindly lent by Messrs Sage and Hooker and arranged by Mr Hooker. Mr F. Mills, chairman of the Hawera branch, presided, and on the platform with him were the Hon. Mr Parr (Minister of Education, Messrs £. Dixou, M.P., R. Dunn (president, Fanners Union), White, Trimble, Deare and Lees (Taranaki Education Board), Deem and Glasson (Agricultural Department), Johnson (chief agricultural instructor, Education Department) and Buckeridge (provincial secretary, Fanners' Union). Apologies for .absence were 'read from Messrs Belcher, Bi idge and Murdoch. The chairman briefly welcomed the Minister to Hawera. He had been trying for a long time to get here to per- . form this ceremony, and it was only at very great inconvenience that he was able to attend now. He (the chairman) was grateful to the townspeople for the loyal assistance received from them. They had helped very well and. very willingly to make this important function a success. This was as it . should be; the townspeople should help * the country people when they came to town on an occasion such as this, anil the country people should be equally .ready to assist when townspeople had occasion to visit fhe country.. This would tend to foster the right spirit between town and -country. To- the Women's National Reserve they were especially indebted for the splendid work they had so willingly done in providing luncheon for the boys and girl* and visitora from the country. (Applause.) He (Mr Mills) was presiding that day simply because be happened f» be chairman of the Hawera branch t>f the Farmers' Union, which branch organised this function. They felt that the movement in connection with boys' and girls' agricultural clubs was of «uch importance that they would-like their first prize-giving to be of such a nature that those who took part in it would have occasion to remember it in years to come. He believed this movement was going to spread'throughout the length and breadth o! New Zealand and be a potent factor in shaping the agricultural and farm life of this Dominion. As an old schoolmaster be would like to say just one or two wordsto the boys and girls, and his message was "Play the game. Carry on the came according to the rules as you know them. Try as hard as you can to *&$P Xk fairly, but only fairly." He would &' fike to emphasise that thought in connection with their club competitions. He had not heard a whisper throughout, the whole district ot anything being done by any boy or girl that wa» not fair in connection with their last competition, and he was sure they would all be equally fair and play the game in future competitions. • Mr Dunn briefly traced the history of' the Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Club, and referred to the valuable assistance given to the efforts of the Farmer's Union by the officers of • the Agricultural Department and by Mr Johnson, of the Education Department. It would < be difficult to estimate the great value '' of the work done by these officials. .In their" first competitions entries from' nineteen schools, comprising 178 en- j tries were recorded, and of these 68 per cent, carried out their work to a conclusion. This year they had 720 en- . tries from 48 schools, which indicated Low the movement had.caught on. T6>y Bad this year added calf-rearing competitions, .which he considered* a good institution, because the rearing of animals would give children a greater loye for the country than the mere growing of roots. Mr Dixon, M.P., as Mayor of Hawera, officially . welcomed all the visitors. He was very glad that so many boys and girls had evinced a love for and choice of country life. If he, and many others, had their lives over again they would elect to be^farmers; it was the best life after all. It was a good thing to be a good farmer, but better still to be among the best tarmors*. He urged every boy present to make up his mind to be the best farmer in Taranaki. They should make the . - very best use of every opportunity they had to-day of acquiring knowledge and experience, and in the days to' come they would be very thankful that they kaa done so. Mr White, chairman of the Taranaki Education Board, considered that that Clay's function marked the commenct- * ' ment of an epoch in the history of education in this country, It emphasised the opinion that education should t>e , taken .up by the.whole community, and it was to the .credit of the-Hawera peo--1 pie that in this, movement they Tiad . ©een the first to assist in one more, mi•- --• . portant direction in bringing education into touch with* the .home He of the people. Educaton would never be the satisfactory institution it should be until the, whole community took a real interest in it; As a member, of an Education Board that was supporting the Farmers', Union, the Agricultural .Department, the school teachers and the Board's instructors, he was glad to t*> associated with this movement. - He was sure the benefits of it would be great and the work they were doing amongst the boys and girls would be of incalculable good to _ the community. , He, had visited most schools in Taranaki in which agricultural instruction liad been given, and lie was struck by ' the similarity of the names of the children who were doing the best work at the schools in agriculture and. nature study with the names of those who were reputed to be the best farmers in the community. The Hon. Mr Parr, who was received with applause on rising to speak, said he was very pleased -to come to > Taranaki again. He always received a •very cordial reception here, which he appreciated. It was, however, a" work of considerable difficulty to get to Hawera on the present occasion. There ' was a law that, was almost invariably observed, that was that no Cabinet Minister must leave Wellington during the session. Cabinet meetings were frequently held, sometimes every day, when-decisions of moment had to be made, and^it was absolutely necessary that Ministers,should be at their, posts. He suspected that the persistence „of Mesjsrs _ Dixon and Hawken liad.something 1;to,do with Ms present ■ -vfsitf here. .Rather to bis surprise the Vtjmysf' said"to him: "Dixon and ' :4b«iiiv Bave'been to see me; and.

there have .been several telegrams from an insistent individual named: Buckeridge. . (Laughter.) I think youi had better go to Hawera." He con-1 gratulated South Taranakr on being' the pioneers of a movement that he believed would spread throughout the Dominion. When last in Hawera he expressed his sympathy with this move-! ment; since then he had had further opportunities of considering its value, and. he was more than ever satisfied that they had found the right thing in boys' and girls' agricultural clubs. What he liked about them was the fact that they effected the co-operation of every essential interest. It was not enough that the Education Board and \ thfe .Agricultural Department should teach boys and girls the elementary! principles of agriculture or the elementary practice of itf there was something which was more essential than either of these, and that was the backing of public opinion and of farmers' organisation such as they had in Taranaki to-day. He rejoiced in the knowledge that farmers* unions were bejhitid this movement;'that the parents of the boys and girls were behind it. "That is splendid/ 1 continued the Minister; "that spells success." He believed that this movement of having these clubs to create interest amongst boys and girls, with expert technical instructors and practical men all the time behind them, would spread throughout New Zealand. It had the blessing'and imprimatur of the present Minister of Education. (Applause.) [.He believed in catching boys and girls young, .and this jcnovement was doing that. Dr Fishetj Minister of Education in Great Britain, told a story of. i the opening of an agricultural school in Somerset. One man made the remark: "I wish you. would educate Somerset Tx>ys for Somerset." What he meant to convey by that was the advantage of having boys and girls trained to live their lives usefully in their own county, in their own provincial districts. Within certain limits that was the right view. They wanted j to see Taranaki boys trained for Tara-| naki. and the girls, too. (Applause.); He did not say that they should close the door altogether to some who might wish to go further afield. They; would always have a certain percentage, with more, brain power and greater in- ■ tellectual capacity that the average, and some of these may seek wider, opportunities elsewhere in the Dominion, I or even in other parts of the world. But 80 or 90 per cent .of people were not above the average,/and of such

SjJ* '\ 'Wo StoTOice could not do l°Z g> 7 he%^ey coSd deVlof"S was th? so^ c f &t district' Th»t to^stop ethe rdr?ft of popuktion^oS the towns and cities. I a this move! ment, aided as it was by the practical men of the district, he sa^ op^rtuS- " ™«*s tjat might lS dSd a much more ambitious programme of agricultural education, fc^ reputed fiSi >,^° uld spread a" over New Z^ fn Oß ' USe exactly right lines. He was delighted to come to Hawera to present the prizes to the successful competitors in their recent competitions. As mentioned by one of the speakers, it marked an epoch in the history of agricultural education m New^Zealand. It was hard Z realise how far this may spread and gain ground, *, he was all over this Dominion. And it would then_be no small honour To the people of Hawera^and district to be able to say that this great movement had its S? Tara°aki. (Applause.) The Minister then presented the pnzes to the successful competitors in the various groups, as per the prize list-already published in these columns, ihree hearty cheers were given for the Minister, and the proceedings terminated. •. .