INFORMAL PARTY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20238, 23 February 1934, Page 9

INFORMAL PARTY.

Mrs Carey-Hill Welcomed Back to Christchurch. GUEST OF VICTORIA LEAGUE. At an informal jartv held yesterday alternoon in the Jellicoe Hall, the members of the Victoria League welcomed back to Ch: istchurch Mrs CareyHill, a former secretary and one of the tounders of the Christchurch branch of the League. Mrs Carey-llill has been abroad for seme years, and is in Christchurch now only on a visit, as she will return to England by the Tamaroa early in Apni Plans had been made for a garden party at Riccarton House on 1 uesdav, but unlortunately this had to be revised on account of the weather. With their hopes daubed by this previous experience, the committee “ played sale,” and held the party indoors at the Jellicoe Hall. There was a good attendance of members, and the party was a most enjoyable one. To assist in creating an informal atmosphere, the hall had been arranged to look as much as possible like a draw-ing-rcom, with the chairs irregularly grouped round a central table on which stood a big bowl of lovely hydrangeas. Palms and pot plants, interspersed with further bowis of hydrangeas, softened the severe effect of the interior. Mrs Carey-HilVs Work. Mrs Deans, the president, welcomed the members, and Mrs W. S. Bean spoke of the tremendous amount of work Mrs Carey-Rill had done for the league. The Gisborne, New Plymouth and Wanganui branches all owed their existence to Mrs Carey-Hill, said Mrs Bean. She herself remembered the work Mrs Ilill had done during the war years, when members of the society had kept Dr (now Sir Hugh) Acland’s hospital equipped. “ I am a little concerned,” said Mrs Carey-Hill, when she rose to speak, “ to find that here, as elsewhere, there has been a falling-off of foundation members.” Part of this she attributed to financial stringency, but there was also, she felt, a falling-off of interest. “ What we need to do is to give the league a little fillip, or, to use a slang expression, give a little ‘ kick * to it,” she said. The president of the British Empire League, which co-operated closely with the Victoria League at Home, for addressing an annual meeting of the league in London, had said that individual hospitality was one of the real things that the Victoria League could do so much better than anyone else, and in this way, said Mrs Hill, the Christchurch branch could extend jts sphere of usefulness. Hospitality to Visitors. Her suggestion was that visitors fiom various parts of the Empire should be entertained while in Christchurch and shown just where to go. She stressed the importance of individual entertaining as opposed to a communal effort. Strangers w r ho come to see New Zealand are interested to know how we live, what sort of homes we have, what sort of gardens, and how we think,” said Mrs Hill. A hospitality league, members of whi%h would receive and entertain visitors in their own homes, was what was needed. Mrs Hill concluded her remarks by again thanking Mrs Deans and the members for their welcome, and for the pleasure they had given her by arranging the party. * Before tea was served, Mrs Charles Chilton announced that it was proposed to hold a combined gathering of members of all the patriotic societies, the British Empire, Overseas and Victoria Leagues, on Queen Victoria’s birthday, May 24. She asked members to bear this date in mind, and help to make a success of the gathering by attending themselves. She also extended a welcome to Mrs Carey-Hill, describing her as a driving force, and expressing the hope that she would remain in Christchurch long enough to make her presence felt in Victoria League affairs once more. During the tea hour, Mrs Carey-Hill moved among the guests renewing old acquaintances and sharing reminiscences of the early days of the league.