DIAMOND JUBILEE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22583, 23 November 1936, Page 3

DIAMOND JUBILEE

AUCKLAND MOTHERS' UNION MAORI AND PAKEHA MEMBERS A unique event will tako place in Auckland this week, when a party of from 160 to 180 Maori women will arrive to-day from the north to bo the guests of the Auckland Diocese Mothers' Union at the diamond jubilee celebrations. The party will include Maori members of the union from as far north as Pehatua and they will remain in the city until Thursday morning. A special committee of the Mothers' Union, of which Mrs. Averill is president, has been set up to carry out tlio arrangements, and a comprehensive programme has been planned for their instruction and entertainment. The committee has secured accommodation for 100 women in the Maori Hostel at Parnell, and the remaining number will be accommodated in the garage formerly used by the Post and Telegraph Department in Stanley Street, which the Government has placed at the disposal of the union for this purpose. Food will also bo provided by the union, which, in its effort to provide hospitality and entertainment, has met with wonderfully spontaneous assistance in many quarters. The Maori party will be taken to a picture theatre on Tuesday morning, after which they will return to the garage for the mid-dav meal, at which it is hoped Archbishop and Mrs. Averill will be present. Afterwards they will bo taken i'or a long drive around Auckland, for which many motor-cars have been lent. Following high tea, a service will be held.

The special jubilee services will take place on Wednesday at 11 a.m. and at 2 p.m., after which Archbishop and Mrs. Averill will entertain the gathering at afternoon tea in the Parish Hall. The day will conclude with high tea at the garage, and the evening will be left for the Maori guests to fill in as they please. On Thursday morning they will leave for their homes in the north.

By bringing Maori and pakeha together in this manner the organisers hope to help the former to realise that their welfare is of concern to the latter, both spiritually and physically, and that the pakeha women are genuinely anxious to be of service to them.