A POPULAR TEACHER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 188, 10 August 1907, Page 7

A POPULAR TEACHER.

FAREWELL SOCIAL TO MB

ROBERTSON!

(From a Correspondent.)

A social was held in the Waitoln schoolroom on Thursday night, to bid farewell to Mr and Mrs D. Robertson, who are leaving for Wellington, where Mr Robertson has obtained a position in the Kilbirnie school. .Music was supplied by Messrs Vannim, Evans, Bush, and Hart, and the ladies supplied a sumptuous supper, which was fully appreciated by the hundred or more people present. Mr Paterson, on behalf , the School Committee/presented Mr and Mrs Robertson with- a handsome travelling-rug, and expressed the wish / that they would enjoy long and useful lives and good health in the future, and that Waitohi would not be quite forgotten in the larger field to which Mr and Mrs Robertson were going. - He called for three cheers, which were heartily given, with musical honours, after which Mr Robertson suitably reMr Reeves, on behalf of the Waitohi school-children, then presented Mr Robertson with a massive silver and oak tray, with an inscription-plate in the centre. Mr Reeves said that he was the first Waitohi resident to welcome Mr Robertson to Koromiko, and he felt very pleased at being asked to make the presentation. Mr Robertson had had charge of the_school 51 years, and during that time he had brought it to a high state of efficiency, .and had succeeded in gaining the attection of the children to an extent never attained by any former master; and gaining the children's affection naturally meant gaining the respect of the parents Mr R°berteon _had started-with a low certificate, but he had applied energy to his natural talentsT and now ranked as one of the Sghest certificated men in Mar - boiough- and their loss would be Wellington's gain. They would hear of Mr Robertson again, not^s a teacher amongst a staff of teachers, but- as Princfpal, say, of Wellington College, and he predicted a brilliant career for Mr Robertson. . n -A I IQ " Mr Robertson, m reply,—_said he. hoped that HeM done his best during his stay in Koromiko; he had.always endeavoured to do so, and he believed the fact of such a large gathering indicated that his efforts had been appreciated. He had started with the fnStion of making the place better for his having lived in it. + He pointed out to the children that, though they might think he had sometimes been Ssh he was older than they, and his of them all, and by working, together the school had always come out creditably To link the future with the Sast he had named his residence Smitohi," and hoped that any one from Koi'omiko should come to WellLSon, they would take the tram to Kilbirn c/ where a hearty welcome Sed 4em fmm Mrs Robertson and himself He thanked the children for S thoughtfulness, and said that their handsome present would be plSed where it would remind him of the years he had spent amongst them. Ers Paterson and Simmonds were efficient M.C's, and Mrs Nicholl, of Picton, contributed two songs to the evening's entertainment, which were heartily applauded; .. _ _■_ The gathering, having bade good-oy, to Mr and Mrs Robertson, broke up in the'fwee-sma' hours" after what was voted the best social ever held in the Waitohi school.