Civic Welcome To Mayor And Mayoress

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27291, 18 January 1950, Page 4

Civic Welcome To Mayor And Mayoress

For the first time since the memorable inaugural ceremonies of the Edinburgh Festival, the Mayor, Sir Donald Cameron, donned the robes and chain of his office at the civic reception given in his honour last night. It was, as Sir Donald said, the end of a long journey for Lady Cameron and himself and, he said, “ the first thing I want to do is to offer my humble gratitude to Divine Providence for the good health which we enjoyed while acting as ambassadors for the city in the Old Country.”

Sir Donald gave a resume of his tour from the first service at Westminster to the calm voyage home. It was a Baedeker account, for there were few places of interest which Sir Donald missed in Britain —Lord’s cricket ground. Sir Walter Scott's old home at Abbotsford, Lauriston Castle and the garden party, St. Andrews golf course, Loch Lomond, Edinburgh Castle, the Houses of Parliament, and many more. The details of Sir Donald's tour have become familiar to residents, but heard for the first time from the Mayor himself, thev took on a new interest. “ I think the Freedom Ceremony, held in the beautiful Queen’s Gardens, will always be the greatest event of my life,” said Sir Donald. “ We made history in that it was the first occasion on which the ceremony had been held outdoors.” He went on to describe the scene and said that he had accepted

the great honour humbly as representative of the people of Dunedin. “ It was an honour paid to this city by the noble, historic city of Edinburgh,” he said. Some idea of the extraordinary hospitality which he had received in Britain was indicated by the fact that he had attended 20 civic receptions, 15 church gatherings, 3 Rotary meetings and meetings of such organisations as the Overseas League, the Victorian League, the Royal Empire Society and various servicemen’s clubs, as well as visiting 10 primary and secondary schools. In addition, Ladv Cameron had attended many functions given by women’s organisations in her honour. Among the invitations which he had been unable to accept were a trip by private aircraft to Switzerland and a week afloat on a warship. “This invitation came from the captain of one of the largest

warships in the fleet who had been in Dunedin a few years ago,” said Sir Donald. “He said that he wished in some way to show his gratitude for the manner in which he and his men had been looked after in Dunedin." Sir Donald and Lady Cameron were welcomed back to the city by Cr L. M. Wright, who said that he had been able to find out something of the versatility of the Mayor during the months he had acted as his deputy. “ Sir Donald and Lady Cameron left on their trip with the well-deserved goodwill of all sections of the community—goodwill built up over years of service to the community,” he said Also present at the reception were Sir Angus and Lady Gillan, and thanks to Sir Donald were expressed by Mr Carl V. Smith. A musical programme was given by the St. Kilda Band, Mr K. Smith and Mr Arthur Robertson.