FOURTH DAY OF CELEBRATIONS

Southland Times, Issue 23395, 30 December 1937, Page 9

FOURTH DAY OF CELEBRATIONS

Many Attractions For Visitors SPORTS MEETING A SUCCESS EXHIBITION OF EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS Happy holiday crowds again thronged Riverton yesterday for the centenary celebrations. They had much to interest them. A sports carnival run by the Centenary Company and the Tuatapere Axemen’s Athletic Society was the principal attraction, but for those who sought relief from the heat of the day there was the centenary exhibition of early photographs and records of Riverton in the whaling days to provide two pleasant hours of browsing among the relics of the past. Many chose the Riverton Rocks as their rendezvous for the day and the beach was crowded with picnic parties and bathers. In the evening a plain and fancy dress ball in the Empire Theatre gave hundreds of people the opportunity for a full night of pleasure, an opportunity of which all took advantage. The centenary exhibition was open in the afternoon from 2 o’clock till 4 o’clock, and during that time there was a constant stream of visitors into the council chambers, where the display was held. The exhibition, which will be continued today, is impressive in the insight it gives into the colourful history of Riverton, and the wealth of exhibits it contains holds interest for everyone. The days when the township was the commercial centre of a rich district are recalled by photographs of lumbering bullock wagons laden with merchandise, and the men who guided the destinies of the prosperous Riverton of 100 years ago 'are shown in faded out elaborate prints which ..in themselves speak of the glories of former years.