Re-Union

Arrangements are now well under way for holding the College Re-Union. A committee consisting of ten members was set up early in the term. Five of these are members of the Executive—Misses E. Crawford and M. Richmond, and Messrs R. V. Kay, C. H. E. Stack, and L. J. Edmondson—and five are representatives of the Graduates Association—Misses M. E. Hales, and G. F. Cooke, and Messrs S. Eichelbaum, G. G. G. Watson and P. B. Broad. The committee has held several meetings, as a result of which it has been decided to hold a College Re-Union as soon as possible after the war. The function is to extend over three days—Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for preference—and the programme is provisionally as follows:—

On the Thursday at 11 o'clock a Civic Reception for all the visitors will be held in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall. Between 12.30 and 2 o'clock a procession, along the lines of the Capping Carnival Procession, will take place through the main streets of the City. At 3 p.m. a Garden Party will be given, and at 8 p.m. a College Carnival will be presented in the Town Hall, or other convenient hall.

On Friday morning, the unveiling of an Honours page 97 Board, commemorative of those who are now fighting for their country, will take place. In the afternoon a Sports Meeting will be held on Kelburne Park, and visitors will be entertained at afternoon tea at the College. At 8 p.m. in the Town Hall a Re-Union Ball will be held.

On Saturday morning the Re-Unionists will be ferried over to Day's Bay. Luncheon and afternoon tea will be provided, and it is hoped to obtain the use of the Tennis Courts for the whole day. In the evening a Re-Union Dinner will be held.

This is a brief sketch of some of the features of the proposed College Re-Union. The guests-of-honour at it will of course be those past and present students, who have returned to New Zealand after serving their native land in the field of battle, but every past and present student must bear in mind that the success of the Re-Union depends on him. We want every past and present student of the College present, not at one or two, but at every one of the functions, which we have mentioned.

The next point is that of finance. It is quite clear that a Re-Union to consist of the functions we have described, will demand the expenditure of a considerable sum of money. In point of fact the Re-Union Committee, after having carefully considered the disbursement sheets of earlier Capping Carnivals and Easter Tournaments, came to the conclusion that the Re-Union would mean incurring an expenditure of approximately £260. The question therefore came up for decision—how was this sum to be provided? From the Carnival the profit could be reasonably estimated at £120, and it has been decided to make up the balance by charging all but the guests of honour for admission to some of the functions, viz: the Ball, the Dinner, and the Day's Bay excursion. A Re-Union ticket, admitting the holder to every function, will be provided for those, who care to take advantage of this convenience.

As regards the time for holding Re-Union, the months of March or September were at first advocated, but after consideration, the conclusion was come to that, it must be held at the end of the first term of the College year, that is to say, in May or June. The probabilities point to the fact that Re-Union will have to be held at the same time as the Capping celebrations. It would seem that page 98 there is every advantage to be obtained from such an arrangement, and no disadvantage. If that arrangement be carried out, the Capping functions will come in very pleasantly and harmoniously as complementary to Reunion. Assuming that the war were to end sometime in 1917, the earliest date upon which it would be possible to hold Re-Union would be in May, 1918, and that month has been provisionally determined upon by the Committee. But our readers will understand that such a date is purely provisional. The Committee does not think that it can possibly be held earlier: the course taken by the war during the next few months will establish whether it will not be imperative to hold Re-Union later.