Taranaki Herald 6 Mar 1896

Tataraimaka

Our annual picnic came off in the school and grounds on Friday last.
The weather was fine and the attendance good. One of the principal
features of the gathering was the children's races, which proved very
exciting to the children themselves, and a source of amusement to the
parents and others who were looking on. The races were held in Mr
JURY's paddock, kindly placed at our disposal for this purpose, and
the thanks of the committee are due to Mr JURY for allowing the use
of this paddock every year for picnicing purposes. Early in the day
willing hands were to be seen measuring out the course and sticking
up flags at the different distances while others were occupied in
cutting and carrying poles from the bush, and erecting hurdles on a
separate course to be used later on in the hurdle race. The funds for
the races were collected by the boys themselves; the schoolmaster
provided four of the boys attending the school with subscription
lists, and, armed with these the boys canvassed the district high and
low, with the result that they collected between 3 and 4 pounds. The
races commenced at 1 o'clock in order to get the races over before
tea time. Handicappers and starters seemed to give pretty general
satisfaction judging by the few complaints that were made. The races
consisted of flat, hurdle, sack, three-legged and potato races, and
were well contested, some of the races causing great amusement,
notably the sack race, some of the boys capering and tumbling about
in a most reckless manner. The hurdle race, too, caused many of the
boys to measure their length on the grass, but the little fellows
were soon up again and making frantic efforts to score a win. The
girls, too, came in for a lot of racing and skipping, which were
entered into with great spirit, and judging by the great interest
taken in the proceedings, the girls were quite well satisfied with
the nature of the amusements provided for them. During the afternoon
people were coming in from all quarters, and towards evening the
school and grounds presented a very animated appearance. Games
peculiar to picnics were indulged in freely, such as rounders, French
tig, jolly miller, and kiss-in-the-ring. The school children had tea
first, free, after which the visitors occupied the tables almost
without intermission until nearly dark.

There is one thing in connection with the tea that I should like to
protect against, viz., charging the waiters for their tea. Instead
of extracting the last shilling from the innermost recesses of their
mysterious and invisible pockets, the committee should treat these
good ladies with the utmost consideration. Every year these waiters
may be seen making their way to the school, carrying baskets 
containing tablecloths, jugs, basins, &c., to say nothing about
aprons, and hour after hour, while others are enjoying themselves,
they attend to the wants of all and sundry; therefore I think they
should receive the sincere thanks of the committee, instead of being
called upon to pay for their tea.

The dance at night was an unqualified success, the room being simply
lined with smiling faces. The music was provided by Mr W. PUTT
(violin), and gave every satisfaction, while Mr CAVE, as door-keeper,
was very taking. Mr L. LUCKIN was M.C., and kept things going lively
until 12 o'clock, when (it being leap year) a young lady took
possession of the floor, and, I am told, enlivened proceedings
considerably until about 3 o'clock, when everyone went home well
satisfied with their outing. Mr SWAYSLAND supplied the provisions
in his usual well-known style.

Our Road Board has shown signs of life lately, and has lost no time
in repairing the roads as soon as the weather would permit. This work
is unusually late this year on account of the continued wet weather in
the early part of the summer. When members of the Board have certain
roads allotted to them, would it not be advisable, when repairing
these roads, to employ, as near as possible, the ratepayers on whose
frontages the repairs are being affected, instead of bringing one or
two favoured ones long distances to do the work. We are all ratepayers
and as such have an equal right to work on the roads when the rates
are being spent. We should be very pleased to hear from our Chairman
sometimes; we seldom see him, if he were to come and look around the
roads occasionally, it would prove to us that he is still interested
in our welfare.