ROTARY CLUB

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7123, 21 October 1949, Page 4

ROTARY CLUB

LADIES’ NIGHT HELD FULL PROGRAMME OF ENTER- f TAINMENT The first ladies’ night for almost twelve months was he.d by Te Awa--Rotary Club in the Regent Lounge last Tuesday evening, when the wives, daughters, and friends of Rotarians were entertained to a luncheon and a full programme of inter- jl esting items. As each of the ladies arrived she was asked to choose a glorious spring bouquet from a large selection presented by Rotarians. Mr Phil Quick presided over the evening, and announced apologies for absence from Rotarian and Mrs H. G.x Baggage and Rotarians Eric Freed,Jk Tom Grant Reyn Marsh, and A. J. Sinclair. , Rotarian visitors to the evening were Mr Ted Hammond, of Christchurch, and John Ledgerwood, of Hamilton, who was also the guest speaker. A welcome was extended in hearty manner by Mr Quick to the ladies and other visitors. A donation of 30s was made to the Food for Britain Fund of the Club by Mr and Mrs Mrkusich, and was ac- j knowledged by the president of the Club, MY Quick. * Mr J- H. Ansell stated that the Te f Akarana Girs’ Band, which would be in Te Awamutu for Labour Day weekend, would probably play at Tokanui Hospital for the patients on Sunday. When he made a call for Rotarians to provide transport by means of their own cars, Mr L. N. Hodgson proffered a bus for the occasion free of charge. His offer was accepted, and he was thanked in a hearty manner. | A community sing was held under the leadership of the Club song-mas-ter, Mr Ray Judd, and was joined in by the whole assembly, providing an excellent spirit for the beginning of an enjoyable evening’s entertainment. The sergeant-at-arms, M!r Dick Goodall, aided by M[r Vic Marshall, raided everyone’s pocket on many clever and varied pretexts, and the Club Sunshine Fund benefited materially from their efforts. The speaker for the evening, Mr John Ledgerwood, chose for the title of his address “ Barbed Wire Hu- ' mour,” a resume of the many funny incidents that occurred in prisoner of war camps in Germany and Austria during the four and a half years that he was a prisoner, and which had made life worth while under extreme hardships. During that period he was associated with New Zealand, Australian, English, French, Belgian. Dutch, Yugoslav, and Russian prisoners of war, and in his position as an acting chaplain he had visited many camps and witnessed many incidents which had boosted up the morale and sparkling humour of the prisoners of war. There had been one class of prisoner that had kept up the morale of their fellows more than any other, and that was the inimitable Cockney. Mr Ledgerwood recalled many incidents where the Cockneys had raised a camp from the deepest despair to the highest state of morale by their everready humour. At the conclusion of his very in- • teresting address Mr Ledg?rwood was thanked on behalf of the ladies and Rotarians by Mr Quick. Following the meeting the Rotarians .( and their ladies were entertained to a movie at the Empire Theatre as the guests of Mr and Mrs J. H. Ansell.