VETERAN CHORISTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21911, 21 September 1934, Page 12

VETERAN CHORISTER

SINGING FOR SIXTY YEARS CHRISTCHURCH MAN'S RECORD A diamond jubilee that is probahlv unique in New Zealand will be celebrated next month when Mr. James Smith, of the choir of Avonside Church in Ohristchurch, will have .completed 60 years as a chorister. At 74 years of age he is still as enthusiastic about choral work as he was when .lie joined his first choir as a boy of 14. He says that ho is no longer able to do what he used to do, and he feels that he is not of the same assistance to a choir as he was in his more vigorous days, but his love of the choir is as strong as ever, and, though be is contemplating retirement, he does not wish to go. Mr. Smith's first choir was in the Church of St. John the Divine, a small church in the village of Menston, Wharfedale, Yorkshire. He was in that choir for 23 years, a span that would probably have satisfied most men as a choral career, but for Mr. Smith it was only the beginning. From Wharfedale he moved to Alverthorpe, a suburb of Wakefield, Yorkshire, and for five years he was a member of the choir of St. Paul's Church there. He left for New Zealand in 1902, and 30 years ago he joined the choir of Avonside Church. He has been there ever since.