STAR JUBILEE

Southland Times, Issue 25361, 13 August 1935, Page 8

STAR JUBILEE

OLD TIMERS’ NIGHT

SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL FUNCTION z EARLY FOOTBALL DAYS It is a far cry back to the years 1886 and 1887, but those early days and others were brought very close and lived over again at the old timers’ night, the fourth function in the jubilee celebrations of the Star Rugby Football Club in the Friendly Societies’ Hall last evening. There was a remarkable response from old and young players to the invitation to be present and when the president (Mr N. R. Brown) opened proceedings there was an attendance of about 200 players and supporters. The evening was given over to song, story and reminiscence, and so' well did the players of the various decades respond that at midnight the programme of toasts was not very far advanced. The evening was outstanding for the enthusiasm displayed and as each old-timer came forward there were remarkable scenes. Several of the “originals” were present, and their responses were listened to with rapt attention. It was a great night for the Stars, both young and old. After formally welcoming all present, the chairman handed over the conduct of the meeting to Mr Peter Anderson, one of the stalwarts who played a prominent part in the creating of Star’s wonderful record on the playing field. “The Originals.” The first toast, that of “The Originals,” was proposed by Dr. A. F. Ritchie Crawford who referred to the happy family state which always existed in the Star Club. Every man was on the same level in the good old days of Star—there was no place for the man who considered himself superior to his clubmates. He recounted the wonderful work of the pioneers, the men who had laid the foundations of the club wisely and well. Their efforts had been rewarded. He paid a tribute to those who had played the game for the last time, and he was satisfied that their spirits were with them that night. Mr A. Donaldson, the first captain, was the first to reply. He recalled the first meeting of the club 50 years ago. It took place in the reserve where the waterworks were now. There were no half-holidays in those days and the players had to practise and play in the moonlight. That was how they got their first game of Moonlighters. Sometimes there was no moon and they used to wrap a white cloth around the ball so that they could see it. They had some fine games at night—if the ball did not go over the fence into a neighbour’s property. He remembered a Mrs Buchanan, who declared that if the ball went into her garden that she would burn it if it was kicked over again. (Laughter). Mr J. H. Hughes said that the first days of the club 50 years ago were like yesterday to him. They played with a pig’s bladder, and he remembered their first meeting with Bob Harper in the chair. They decided to form a club and practised where the Te Rangi bowling green is now. Jerseys were unknown in those days and torn shirts were the order of the practices. The boys of that yeai' were destined to make great history. They had their reverses and he recalled the hiding they got from the Alhambra Club, Dunedin, and the lessons they learned from it. It was that defeat that really made them and it was actually the start of their great run of successes. They adopted the Alhambra scrummaging and tactics. Their scrumming before that was “any old how,” but once they started to pack a set scrum they succeeded. In the welter of records which had been made known during the jubilee, one that might have been overlooked was the fact that they had fielded for 50 years continuously a full fifteen. They were the only senior team in Invercargill who could say that. No Ambulance Then. Mr R. D. Donaldson recalled early games and said that the players of his day played hard, but they played for the game’s sake and got a lot of enjoyment out of it. Present day players were not hardy enough, he declared. They had no ambulances to take them off the field if they were hurt in the old days. Mr Percy Cuff broke into humorous vein and told of the trips of the old timers, as did Mr Hugh Graham, who later captivated the gathering with his musical item.

Messrs John Aspray, W. Brass and J. McNeilage also recalled interesting events of the early days of the club. Mr McNeilage claimed that he found the one and only “Ike” Jenkins and persuaded him to leave the Avenal “crowd” and join up with Star “up at the water tower.” Mr Robert Stead, one of the Moonlighters, introduced novelty into his reply by calling for the originals to give the old Star whistle. They did. “You could always find a Star man with that whistle,” he said. “We bought our first football for 15 shillings,” he added.

Messrs George Kingsland and Alex Mcßobie were the last to respond and they, too, gave the younger players an idea of what they had to contend with in the old days. At this stage apologies were received from several past players, and one of particular interest was from N. A. Mitchell. It was a radiogram from the Rangitiki (at sea) and wished the Star Club every success in its jubilee. Other Toasts. The various periods were taken in turn and proposed as follows: “18871891,” proposed by Mr J. S. McGrath and responded to by Messrs Isaac Jenkins, F. J. Sherwood and others; “1892-1896” (Mr J. Aspray—Mr J. W. Stead and others); “1897-1901” (Mr R. Donaldson—Messrs A. McNie, H. Searle, B. Collie and J. D. Shand); Jubilee Committee (Mr T. D. Pearson— Messrs N. R. Brown and B. E. Leggat); “1902-1906” (Mr J. S. Oughton—Mr H. Murphy and others); “1907-1916” (Mr J. R. Bell—Messrs J. Speirs. W. Smith and E. Budd); “1917-1926” (Mr W. Stead—Messrs H. J. Brown and J. Murray); “1927-34” (Mr H. S. Strang— Messrs B. A. Mahoney and R. S. Donnelly); “Present Team” (Mr I. Jenkins —Mr I. S. Galt); “Performers and Press” (Mr P. C. Donnelly). Mr J. Harvey’s orchestra played selections throughout the evening and a first-class programme of old time songs and music arranged by Mr E. Wright was carried out by Messrs W. Baldwin, H. Graham, Isaac Jenkins, R. D. Donaldson, E. Wright and P. Donnelly.