GERALDINE BENEVOLENT GUILD.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13594, 14 May 1908, Page 6

GERALDINE BENEVOLENT GUILD.

SALE OF WORK AND ENTERTAINMENT. The sale of work in aid of the above society was opened on Tuesday afternoon in the Geraldine Parish HalL The articles submitted were all of superior design and quality and needless to .say found ready buyers. The afternoon tea stall also drew a goodly number of patrons and a considerable amount of profitable business was done.

In the evening the hall was filled to overflowing when a variety entertainment was given. The programme was a bright and attractive one throughout and the applause as unstinted as it was well-merited and everything went with vim from start to finish. The Geraldine orchestra, consisting of Mrs Peacocke ('cello), Miss E. Sherratt (piano), Messrs J. P. Cliff and W. Cormack (Ist violin), G. F. Scott and G. Sherratt (2nd violins), and G. N. Young (D bass) and C. A. Crowe (clarionet), under the baton of Mr T. Sherratt played two overtures in capital style, their contributions being "Stars and Stripes" and selections from " The Bohemian Girl " both of which were given with tuneful precision. Mr H. Crowe sang " The Sailor and the Mermaid" exceptionally well and for an encore "Always." The feature of the evening was the haymaking scene from "The Country Girl" which was carried out in a manner deserving of the highest •praise. The costumes were extremely pretty and quite captivated the audience as did likuwisv the bailet<lanced by Mrs A. G. Turner and Misses Tinkler, Best and Burridge. The choruses were crisp and well-balanced. The soloists were Miss Tinkler (who made a good hit. in "When Molly Married the Marquis," Miss Levie, Miss Kathleen Morrison, and' Messrs A. Finch, C- Gimson, J. Dawson, and B. R. McDonald. Mr J. R. Montgomery was bappy in his selection "The Little Irish Girl" and received a well-earned encore. Mr J. Chisholm as a professor of ventriloquian and his two dummies (Messrs Hill and Scott) were very successful and fired off some very clever local hits which were. greatly enjoyed by the audience. The final item of the entertainment, was the "Scarecrow Dance" which in its weird grotesquene6s drew forth unbounded laughter. Misses Hughes and E. Sherratt and J. Pye acted as accompanists. His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. Maling) in thanking those present for their attendance referred to the worthy object in aid of whose funds the entertainment had been organised, namely, the Geraldine Benevolent Guild, which had been for u, number of years doing a lot of quiet unobstrusive work among the sick and needy, not only of Geraldine, but of the outlying districts as well. The society owned an invalid's chair which was loaned out to those in need of it and had lately purchased an *ir bed which had seriously depleted their funds. He was pleased to say that as a result! of that day's efforts' those funds had been materially augmented. He made an appeal for assistance for the society, for though some might think there were very few in Geraldine in need of help, yet if they only took a walk round with the president (Mrs Hislop) they would eoon find there was plenty of room for the society. He desired to thank the performers and all those who had assisted and to

specially mention Mrs A. G. Turner who had worked so hard to make the entertainment a success. A squad of school cadets

were then marched to the front and his Worship presented the Colonial Ammunition Company's Cup for the district between the Waituki and Cook Straits to the winner, Sergeant McKenzie, who ,• he remarked to be following in his father's footsteps and he hoped he would win it again next year. He also presented a prize to Private Shiers for scoring the highest points in the South Canterbury schools. U'.h\