THE PRESIDENT.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 1600, 31 May 1924, Page 8

THE PRESIDENT.

MR F. A. SNELL. The average visitor to a show gives J little thought to the tremendous , amount of work necessary to run an institution of this kind. They little dream of weeks and months of thought put'in and the numerous meetings that I are held as a preliminary to the an- j nual' exhibition. All this time, thought j and. work, are given quite gratuitously! by a band of men and women who neither look nor hope for personal ; gain, whose sole aim is the welfare of j the district and who receive little or j no public recognition. How many of the public have considered, we won- | der, what would happen if this' faithful j few, tiring of their labour of love, re- | linquistied their positions. There ; would, of course, simply be no Winter Show. And what a tremendous loss | this would be to the district. It is largely upon the advertisement which j has come as' a result of the Winter Show that Waikato has reached its j present state of prosperity; yet the j public, and especially the business i community, fail to fully realise this j fact. Greater public support in the j way of donations is required if the Show is to continue to expand, for, new buildings are a growing and almost imperative necessity. : Amongst the men who have helped j to make the Show what it is must be j mentioned the name of Mr F. A. Snell, I the president. Mr Snell is a man who, owing to his strict avoidance of the limelight, has' been little heard of by the general public, though all who have been associated with him in ; any , capacity; know his sterling worth. He j is a man' who spares not himself where j he can do good to others, and he has j always been regarded by his colleagues on the executive committee as one of the most earnest workers on that body.'] Mr Snell was born, upwards of fifty years ago, on a bush farm away up , at Maungakaramea, North Auckland, where his early bringing up was one ( of hardship, for in those days the , country was difficult of access and , there were few or no public facilities, J not even for the education of the young, and consequently it was not ! until considerably after he had passed the initial school age that he was able ! to go to school, and the instruction he I then got was only fitful. For the hard | conditions of his upbringing he has, however, ever since been very thankful, for he feels that it fitted him better for encountering the hard knocks of the world in later life. Ever since he came to Hamilton, over 20 years ago, he has Interested himself, in a quiet way, in all movements for the public good, and he has now reason to be proud of the fact that his confreres on the Show Committee have reposed sufficient confidence in him to appoint him to the honoured position of president of the Association. His appointment was unanimous and there was not a man on the committee who did not consider it wisely made, for they all recognised in him an officer of , worth and a proved worker. In addition to this honour Mr Snell has also the distinction of being chairman of the Hamilton Technical |School Board, and a member of the Auckland Board of Education and the Hamilton High School Board of Governors. He believes that the Show must continue to expand and feels that the association must, during the coming year, seriously consider entering upon a comprehensive building policy. He ; Uses, of course, the difficulties of P ■ "':■('. but feels that the public, who ar.-r all benefit by the Show, owe a duly to the association to assist financially.