Fund Raising for the Soldiers
The first of these to take place in
Rotorua was in November of 1915 and all local schools took part. £1318 18s was raised for the
Patriotic Fund. Winner Miss Ruth Winiata (Queen of Peace) was crowned after
raising £403 18s 10
d. This was a popular way to raise money
for the patriotic fund and most towns held their own carnival.
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| NZ Times 22 November 1915, Courtesy of Papers Past. |
Another was advertised for June of 1922 to continue to raising funds for the War Memorial Campaign, the carnival ended with a coronation ceremony on June 8th 1922 at the Majestic Theatre and the following school girls were crowned: Overall Queen Carnival: Miss Doria Griffiths ; Ngongotaha Queen: Miss Sarah Marcroft ; Band Queen : Miss Margaret Bowes ; Sports Queen : Miss Eunice Tapper.
All Queens were accompanied by
Pages and Maids of Honour. The
Archbishop, for the ceremony was Master Ken Dods, who placed the crown on the
queen’s head and handed her the orb and sceptre.
In 1929 Ana Hato was crowned Queen Carnival
(NZ Herald 5.12.1929)
The Queen Carnival was also held in
1940 and 1941 to raise money for the ‘Sick, wounded and distress fund”
Ultimately it was a patriotic
effort to remember Rotorua’s fallen soldiers.
In 1937 a Caledonian Queen Carnival
was held to raise funds for uniforms and other necessary equipment for the
Rotorua Municipal & newly formed Pipe Bands.
In 1939/40 the new Rotorua Primary
School was built and it was decided to construct a swimming pool as soon as
possible. A Queen Carnival was organised and £1,000 was raised. Along with a
government subsidy of £300 there
was enough to start straight away. However the war intervened and the new pool
was eventually opened in 1951.
At the Regent Theatre on August 20th
1945 a Coronation Ceremony of the King & Queen of the Rotorua Inter-Zone
Patriotic Coronation Carnival. “So
successful was the carnival that the ‘King’ Mr J. Whiti and ‘Queen’ Miss Winnie
Mitchell (Arawa Maori Tribes) were able to hand the chairman of the Rotorua
Inter-Zone Patriotic Carnival (Mr C.J. Casey)
, the sum of £8,217 15s 4d to be spent for the benefit of returning servicemen” Rotorua
Morning Post 22 August 1945.
In the programme for the Coronation
Ceremony the other contestants are pictured with their entourage named and the
amount they raised. : King & Queen Elect Mr J. Whiti and Miss W Mitchell
raised £2751/14/10;
King & Queen of the Public Services – Mr G. Day & Mrs M. Goldsmith
raised £2267/4/7;
King & Queen of the Combined Forces – Mr I. Stuart & Sister M. Peake
raised £2001/19/1
and King & Queen of the Sports Bodies – Mr F.H. Lord & Miss Betty Ewert
raised £1196/16/10.
Another Queen Carnival was also held to raise funds for the War Memorial &
Park in January 1953. The sum of £15,397/11/8 1/2 d. This
money along with the Government £ for £ subsidy on the contract amount £12,500
was spent on improving the lake front. The winner of the carnival was the White
Queen, Mrs Ilene McGill, runners up were the Blue Queen, Mrs Carol Ryan and Red
Queen, Mrs Anne Trask.
A Queen Carnival was also
held to raise funds for the War Memorial & Park in January 1953. The sum of
£15,397/11/8
1/2 d. This money along with the Government £ for £ subsidy on the contract amount
£12,500 was spent on improving the lake front. The winner of the carnival was
the White Queen, Mrs Ilene McGill, runners up were the Blue Queen, Mrs Carol
Ryan and Red Queen, Mrs Anne Trask.
This memorial stands at the
entrance to the lake front on Memorial Drive which continues on from Fenton
Street. The park area was also to be a part of the memorial thus making the whole
block from Whakaue Street to the lake a fitting memorial to the fallen. See also Rotorua Morning Post 4.7.1946; 20.9.46; 8.2.1955; 4.8.1955; 26.4.1958.
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| Photograph courtesy of Kete Rotorua. |
In 1960 the Queen Carnival
committee chaired by Mr Joidah Thomas raised funds for the new indoor stadium
or Rotorua Health & Recreation Centre. (Later to be called the Sportsdrome)
see DP 21.7.1960
In 1961 the carnival began on the 9th
Oct with a parade of decorated vehicles and floats. And the carnival
culminated with a function at the Soundshell to announce the winning Queen. To
win the queen had to have raised the most money for the cause. On this occasion
Yonine Waaka (Maori Queen) raising $12,442 won, runner up was Roma Steele
(Commerce Queen) raising $12,066.
The overall total raised was
$58,000, unfortunately this was not enough to build the stadium and in 1963
Council proposed raising a loan of $50,000.
The P.R.O also proposed several
more fund raising efforts including selling seats (there were 200 seats to
sell) and further efforts were made. See Daily Post 8.5.64, 12.5.64, 25.5.64
and 13.6.64
With thanks to the 'Don Stafford Collection' and Papers Past for the above information.
With thanks to the 'Don Stafford Collection' and Papers Past for the above information.
