DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB. /

Otago Witness, Issue 3655, 1 April 1924, Page 66

DUNEDIN BURNS CLUB. /

ANNUAL AIEETING

The annual meeting- of the Dunedin Burns Club wa3 held in the R.S.A. Rooms on the 27th, the president (Mr J. Wallace) occupying ttie chair. There was an attendance of about 50 member!', including a very fair proportion of ladies.

Mr Wallace, in moving the adoption of the annual report and balance sheet, said that the attendance at the meeting was a record, at any rate, for the last few years. He looked back to former years, wlien there had been very large attendances and there had been 16 nominations for nine vacancies. The presqpt conditions were probably due to the com* mittee but it was not good that the club should stagnate, as what was wanted was new blood. The present membership was slightly lower than that of the previous year, which was due to the committee declining to sell tickets to outsiders early in the year. It was an advantage, continued Air Wallace, to belong to the Burns Club, especially to those of Scottish blood. He was a New Zealander first and a Scotsman afterwards, but he felt proud of the gatherings and of the singing of national music. The bagpipes also had a stirring effect on the true Scotsman.—(Aiiplause.) It was with regret that the club had left the Art Gallery Hall, but the committee could not do otherwise. It was difficult to secure a hall suitable to the requirements of the Burns Club, but they would find that the Early Settlers’ Hall would be entirely satisfactory. The club lmd had to take this step, as ihe Otago Public Art Gallery Society required all of the hall in order to exhibit paintings. It was a grand thing that a city like Dunedin should show such an interest in art. No society in Dunedin could claim such a continuity of meetings as the Burns Club, and lie could only remember one occasion during the past 35 years when the meeting had not been held, and that was the occasion of the death of Queen Victoria. Surelv that was a record. The concerts during the year had been exceedingly good, and he was particularly pleased to see the large number of Scottish items on the programmes, not that he thought any the less of English or Irish items, but, as the club was a national institution, it should have national items.— (“Hear, hear.”) They should make an effort to get one or two lectures, but the trouble was that some of the speakers spoke too long. There had been record attendances at the Halloween and Anniversary gatherings, and the programmes had also been exceptionally good. It was disappointing to find that the entries for the Burns song at the Competitions had fallen off, which was not very encouraging, and they should do something to revive interest in them. In conclusion, Mr Wallace referred to the club’s very satisfactory financial position (which showed that there was £SBB 19s 4d in the bank) but urged the members not to consider building a hall. Mr W. Brown seconded the motion, and the report was adopted. The election of fficers oresulted as follows President. Air J. Wallace (re-elected); vice-presidents—Messrs W. Nicolson and N. APDonald; treasurer, Air A. APMillan; secs retary. Air J. Paterson ; committee—-Messrs R. APKinlav, D. Auld, D. Paterson, T. Gilchrist, W, Brown, R. Paterson, \V. Richardson, D. Dickison, and J. Hastie. Votes of thanks to the retiring officers and to the president were carried with acclamation, and the meeting concluded with tii y singing of “Auld Lang Syne.”