Approximately 1,000 visitors from all over the North Island attended the opening and dedication of the new Centennial Hall at Waipatu marae at Hastings, on June 29. The building was opened by the Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Hanan, and the dedication was conducted by Bishop Panapa, Canon Wi Huata, the Rev. John Tamahori and the Rev. N. Te Hau. The hall is a modern-style community centre. • Mr M. H. Maihi, the first Maori teacher to be chosen by the Woolf Fisher Trust for a travelling scholarship, recently returned after spending five weeks in Australia. Mr Maihi, master at the Penrose High School, Auckland, was one of the 17 teachers chosen last year for 1963 scholarships. He was accompanied by his wife Marjorie who is also a school teacher. Highlights of their visit included a trip to the Surfers' Paradise on the Gold Coast where they saw the only platypuses in captivity, and to the Great Barrier Reef where they were taken by glass-bottomed boats to view the coral reef, which they described as like an ‘underwater forest of fantastic vegetation’. • The Riatana Catholic Maori Club, Wellington, won the cultural and sporting competitions at the Roman Catholic Hui Aranga at Manutuke last Easter. Riatana won with a total of 90£½ points, and a Christchurch club, Whetu Ariki, was second with 70 points. Waipatu, Hastings, was third with 68£½ points. About 2,000 Maoris attended the meeting, which was held on the Manutuke marae. An inter-denominational cast presented the Passion Play on Good Friday night. The play had been a feature of earlier huis and the all-Maori cast has won warm acclaim for its dignified and impressive performance. All members of the cast came from Hastings.