PRESENTATION TO VERY REV. DEAN POWER, HAWERA

New Zealand Tablet, 10 May 1917, Page 30

PRESENTATION TO VERY REV. DEAN POWER, HAWERA

There was a large gathering of St. Joseph's parishioners and their friends in the Catholic schoolroom on the evening of April 30, when a presentation was made to the Very Rev. Dean Power as a mark of the appre-ciation-in which he is held in the parish. Mr. B. McCarthy, solicitor, presided, and associated with him were Rev. Father «Doolaghty (Opnnake), Mr. P. O'Dea, M.A., LL.B., and Mr. J. Bartlett, vice-president of the local branch of the Catholic Federation. Apologies for absence were received from several of the neighboring clergy.

Mr. McCarthy said the gathering had been promoted by the Hibernian Society, the Catholic Federation, and the parishioners, to mark the unity which existed between pastor and people, and so as to make the unity complete, the children also were associated with the function. Mr. McCarthy referred to the many evidences of progress in the parish during the nineteen years the Very Rev. Dean had been in charge of the parish. The parish would he considered compare more than favorably with other parishes in the Dominion, and the parishioners wished to show their recognition of the fact that most of what had been accomplished had been due to the labors of their worthy pastor. He had much pleasure in calling upon Mr. O'Dea to make the presentation.

Mr. O'Dea said it afforded him great pleasure to be associated with the gathering. He felt, however, that he was not worthy to emphasise the regard and esteem in which the Dean was held by the whole of his parishioners. The Dean had been with them nineteen years, and those nineteen years had seen many changes. When the Dean first came to Hawera the parish extended from Patea to Opunake and Eltham ; now the same district supported five parishes, but although the parish was now smaller the work had by no means diminished. Dean Power was esteemed not only for his work in the Church but also for his capabilities and learning, and in his (the speaker's) oninion the Dean was worthy of higher honors, which he hoped would yet be bestowed upon him. Whenever the Church had been attacked there had been no champion more able, no writer more fearless to refute such attacks. He had much pleasure in presenting Dean Power with a cheque for £6O and an accompanying address inscribed as follows:

' Inspired by a desire to acknowledge a true union between priest and people gained by an experience of nineteen years' pastorate, and to offer a humble tribute of admiration of one so intellectual gifted, with a real love and veneration of Holy Faith, we, the members of the Catholic Federation, Hibernian Society, and parishioners of Hawera and district, desire your acceptance of the accompanying chalice, treasuring the hope that you may long be endowed with health and strength to follow your high ideals in our midst. (Signed)— Bartlett (vice-president) and C. S. Shanahan (secretary), Catholic Federation; M. J. Fennell (president) and L. O. Hooker (secretary), Hibernian Society).' Concluding, Mr. O'Dea said : ' Very Rev. Dean, in presenting this to you we wish to honor not only yourself for your own inherent worth, but the Holy Church which you so well adorn, and lastly that little green isle whose wrongs and whose woes you have so ably depicted, and whose rights you have so nobly maintained. May the remembrance of this little gift ever bring to your mind the kindly thoughts and the loving wishes of those who have herein subscribed their names.'

The chairman said the children had asked him to convey their appreciation of the many kindnesses extended to. them by the Dean, and he would ask Miss Molly Potter and Miss Ena Rauch to present the Dean with a cheque for 18 guineas, the amount collected by the children. (Applause.)

The Dean, who was received with prolonged applause, said he desired to thank the parishioners and the children for the honor they had conferred upon him on his feast day, or rather the feast day of the parish. It was nineteen years that day since he first arrived in Hawera to take charge of the parish. He desired to thank Mr. McCarthy and Mr. O’Dea! for their kind remarks of appreciation, but he did not think all the credit for what had been accomplished should be given to him—his parishioners deserved some credit also, because it was they who had found the funds to enable the various works to be accomplished, lie was pleased with the presentation, especially the ‘ little ’ presentation from the children whom he loved so well. He had received many presentations of this nature from his parishioners, and he had always given the moneys to the funds of the Church, because he did not need them. The presentations he had received that night, however, he intended to use for the purpose of purchasing a gold chalice, and to obtain a replica of one of the finest chalices ever seen. The parish, he might add, was one of the best equipped in New Zealand (applause), it was a most desirable parish, and the envy of all the parish priests in the Dominion. (Laughter.) In conclusion, the Dean said he was very grateful ,to his parishioners for their marks of appreciation of the goodwill which existed between his people and himself. During the evening a most acceptable musical programme was presented, when songs were contributed by Mrs. Goodson, Miss Betty Jacomb, Miss C. Reilly, Miss Edwards, Mr. Gormley : vocal duets by Misses Gallagher and Hooker, and the Misses Reilly ; recitations by Miss Edwards, Miss Kelly, and Mr. O’Connor; a pianoforte duet by Miss and Master Fennell ; and a pianoforte solo by Miss Hooker, while the school children gave a chorus. Recalls were the order of the evening, and at the close the performers were accorded a vote of thanks by acclamation. The Mayor (Mr. E. Dixon), who had lent the piano for the occasion, and Mr. and Mrs. E. Taylor, for carrying out the decorations, were each accorded a vote of thanks enthusiastically conveyed.