WOMEN’S INSTITUTES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXXII, Issue 2805, 25 November 1931, Page 2

WOMEN’S INSTITUTES.

HIKUTAIA. The monthly meeting of the Hikutaia Women’s Institute was held at the residence of Mrs H. Littlejohn, Ferry Road. Mrs Jack Murdock, president, presided over a full attendance. The principal business, after the usual greeting had been extended, was to make arrangements for celebrating the birthday of the Institute. It was agreed that an open social evening be held in the Hikutaia Hall on Saturday evening, December 12th, and that a jumble stall be provisioned for the sale of the goods on Wednesday, December 2nd. At the conclusion of the meeting the committee was entertained to a dainty afternoon tea, provided by Mrs Littlejohn, the hostess.

KAIHERE. FIRST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED. A happy gathering of Institute members and friends assembled on Saturday evening last in the Kaihere Hall to celebrate the completion of the Institute’s first year. Unfortunately the Institute did not make a happy choice of days upon which to hold its party, with the result that heavy rain on Saturday afternoon and in the early evening impaired what would otherwise have been a record attendance. As it was the crowd was not small, and besides a good gathering of local members and friends, visitors from Waitakaruru and Ngatea were pi esc nt. Mrs Benny, president of the home Institute, welcomed visitors very warmly, and then placed the programme under the direction of Mrs W. Wallace. The programme for he evening was divided into thre parts, a number of musical items, a short one-act play, and a short dance. The evening was opened by i piano and violin duet, “Remembrance,” played by Miss M. Bird (piano' and Mr Bunting (violin). Miss L. Harwood next contributed a solo, “Will the Angels Let Me Play?” (accompanist (Miss M. Bird). Mrs C. A. Hayward, president of the Waitakaruru Institute, sang two solos, “ Mother Machree,” and “Flight of Ages” (accompanist, Mrs G. Connell); pianoforte ducts, Miss M. Bird and Mr W. Faithful, “Norwegian Cradle Song” and encore. Mr Faithfull contributed a selection of popular choruses, while , a cake guessing competition was in progress. This concluded the first part of the entertainment, and the play followed. The scene was laid in the home of an old sea captain (Mrs Benny), and the cast contained throe male characters. Since the piece was produced by the Women’s Institute, ladies were obliged to fill these roles, which, aided by ample disguises, they carried out

very creditably. The captain and his old sailor friend were taken by Mrs Benney and Mrs BL'd respectively; the captain’s daughter, Kate, by Mrs L. McDonald; and a young sailor, by Mrs Smallfield. The young sailor, Dick, wishes to marry Kate, and though he has her father’s consent, he finds it rather more difficult to obtain hers. He enlists the assistance of her father and his old friend, Raggot, and they lay a very subtle plot whereby Raggot is to frighten Kate into accepting Dick by proposing to her himself. Kate overhears them and decides she will have a little fun herself. She accepts Raggot’s proposal. Foor old Raggot is in a fix. How can he extricate himself from the tangle now? The remainder of the piece is occupied by his frantic endeavours to withdraw his proposal, Kate’s confession that she is only joking, and her final acceptance of Dick. Considering the Cbnditions under which it was produced, lack of proper facilities, and shortage of time, the play was a very creditable performance indeed. At the conclusion each of the actresses was presented with a bouquet, and the flbor was cleared for dancing. It was announced that the competition, guessing the weight of the cake, had been won by Mrs M. Dudding, of Ngatea, and that the competition, guessing the string in a bottle, for a dainty set of baby clothes, had been won by Mrs Williamson. A delicate supper was served by members of the Institute, and the birthday cake, made by Mrs Benny, and iced by Mrs Wallace, was cut, and each person present sampied its quality. Dancing continued until midnight. At the conclusion of the evening Mrs Mahoney, on behalf of the Ngatea Institute, congratulated Kaihere on having completed one very successful year, and hoped that the Institute’s activities would extend over many more years. Mrs Hayward added congratulations on behalf of Waitakaruru. A birthday party.in honour of Miss Jean McPike attaining, the age of sixteen years, was held at the residence of her parents at Hikutaia on Saturday evening. There were quite a number of young people present and a most enjoyable evening was spent.