NEW PARISH HALL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 25, 14 September 1911, Page 5

NEW PARISH HALL.

pjpENED BY BISHOP CROSSLEY. ;'Tho new Parish Hall in connection Holy Trinity Church was opened by. Bishop Ciossley last night, in presence of a large number of pfltishioUers., The hall was tastefully debprated with flags, ferns and Sjflriibs. ; ;The main hall is fifty feet by thirty feet 1 , and-the height from floor to ceiling is sixteen feet, this height having been given tor the sake of acoustics. Itr the front are two ante-rooms, each ten:'feet by twelve feet,, and there is a- passage, six. fefet wide leading into tho halli A stage ten feet by twenty feet is. provided, and at tho back of the-building is a . supper room thirty feet by ten feet,; replete with every convenience for preparing supper. The whqle work of building, which was in the hands of Mr. N. J. King, was fliiished in one month, and could have been cbihpletecj earlier had there not been delay in procuring timber from the Main,Trunk Line. Mr. John Robson, Pdhohura, supplied all the timber, which is of the first quality. The cost oL the whole was £350.

The Vicar, in opening proceedings, read apologies for absence from Messrs. W. H. H. Young and W. A. Fifeldes. ' He said he liked making speeches the least of anything, but ha diked the speech he was about to make more than any other speech he had ever been called,on to make. He was sure the .parish, was in great need of a hall—in* fact, tho social work of the church had been retarded for the want of one. The matter of acquiring a hall had been discussed at the last annual meeting of parishioners, ‘ and a committee was set up to further the object. That committee had acted .With promptness and thoroughhesjfi At first he had favoured the piircliase of the old Masonic Hall, but fiOW he was glad that wiser heads hao cbOsen the present. site, which hac been purchased for £450. A sum oi abput £lßo;Jflid already been subscribed by.' parishioners towards tin. OOSt.'Thanks wore duo to Mr. Craw-shaW-ifof v; facilitating financial arrangements; to Mr. S. M. Porritt for hdp Jn drawing plans; to Mr. King fflV advice on many subjects; and tc MrS.7-3 Fpdkes, who had done gratuitous ly Valle the necessary legal work. Thaoksu-were -also due to Messrs. Grawshaw, James, T. H. Penn, Arden/Templer, and Partridge, for their work'tin the cofiimittee. Mr. Sole had also erohdefedq valuable help. Mr. Butler, concluded by 1 slating that he committee desired that the hall should , retain a high tone—that the Uiso of the hall would always be a guarantee of good, healthy amuseiqent. .1 j \, , :^ ■ I Thp' B.ishop.j who was greeted with applause bn rising, said it was a pleasure' to ■ filtn* to' open the first hall fie had been called upon to open in the djocosp. He jocularly twitted-the Vicar jWith . haying failed to give him (the speaker) any 'qredit in connection .with the acquisition of the hall, fie. (tho; Bishop) leaving Stratford afjjjfl.iijs; previolus visit with the imthat,he had awakened parishioners to /the' necessity for a .hall. Thby l how had the hall, and ho congratulated'them most heartily on it. There was nothing which could make flp'r the family life of the church so ifiuch, as a, hall. He hoped the committed “'would nbt rely too’ much on lotting-the-hall to wipe off the deb-t----iff; fact, he hqped that the hall would bey. so much used for church work tbit; there would be no opportunity to let.'it. It was splendid that the Kttll ‘had : been opened -with so little sebt’,f - ,and‘ ? He /humorously expressed tflo hope .that parishioners would tpake, up their minds to wipe the whole debt off before ho left Stratford. : The method of furnishing the bfill Boomed somewhat strange. :In his opening remarks the Vicar Had said that they had a supply of cups an d : saucers, hut to his mind seats were what should have bean provided first. No doubt: in the near future a-< Social "gathering would be held in the hall, and those present would sit onithe floor taking tea from the dips and saucers. He' would like to have a^' photograph "of such a gathering. (Laughter.) It was highly encourag-ing-to know that so many gentlemen Had helped the project forward with gratuitous services. They, had now to consider what they would do with the hall. He' thought there certainly should be' a gmynasiumdn it. Young fellows could not be kept together better than by a gymnastic class under the Swedish system, which had superseded the old English system in the English Army. Their desire was to make young men strong and healthy,.-' He hoped; there was nobody in: Sthitfbrd ‘calling--himself a Now Zealander who declined to take his place in the defence force of the Dominion. (Applause.) He earnestly desired peace,'■' but to ensure peace they must do prepared for war. If a nan refused to do defence duty it simply meant that he was prepared to leave His wife and children unprotected. In connection ; with the hall, there should certainly be a boys’ club, and something should also be done for the girls. He and/Mrsl' Crossley would greatly like-to see a branch of the Girls’ Friendly Society established. He hoped that in a short time they would make such full use of the flail That they would find it all too small. Ho desired to congratulate tho Vicar and the committee on tho splendid result achieved. 'Ho concluded by expressing the hope that the hall would always stand for tho spirit of tho church—tho Catholic spirit which looked to the needs and requirements of everybody. The Mayor’(Mr. J. Masters) opened bis remarks, with a, reference to the ciifls and saucers ’ mentioned by the Bishop. On the tickets for that evening’s social there was the legend: ‘/Please bring a cup and saucer,” and he suggested that to get the hall property furnished further socials should be held, the tickets for one being inscribed: : “Please bring a seat, another: .“Please bring a piano,” and so on. Mr. Masters then extended a'- 'welcome to tho Bishop, find hoped Iffs. visit would bo a pleasurable one to himself and a profitable one to the church. He hoped the hall would be largely used for the young people, to keep the adherence of whom was one of the problemsconfronting all churches at the present time.- He concluded by congratulating the parishioners on their fine hall. . After the formal opening a musical programme’ was rendered. The Stratford Orchestral Society rendered the selections “Pique Dame” and “The Phantom Brigade.” Miss Butler sling “May Dew.” Mr. Aldridge sang “The Bandolero,” and being encored, ‘/The Mighty Deep.” Duets were contributed by Messrs. Lewis and Wilson; (“Watchman, What of tho Night?’/) and Misses Wilson and G. Black (“Maying”). Messrs. Lewis, Lander, Wilkie, and Wilson gave “Stars of the Summer Night,” which was encored, and “Sunset” was rendered by Misses King, Jones, Wilson, G. -Black, J. Butler, and Mrs. Wilkie. At the conclusion of the programme supper was handed-round.