News you can use
News you can use
By Emily Mayer
One of the traits I love and admire about the people of this area is our propensity to give. We give our time to causes we believe are important, our resources to improve our community, funds to make life better for many, and, for those who are believers, our faith in God to pull us through the bad times and praise Him for the good times. We have a long history of giving in this prairie town, and Christmastide of 1924 was awash with community members’ generosity and commaraderie.
There were so many entries this week alone, it was difficult to choose which ones would be added to this column. I hope you enjoy what I have chosen.
Many organizations were joining forces to put on a charity ball in Havre. The December 14, 1924, edition of the Havre Daily Promoter carried this news.
CHARITY BALL ELKS HALL MONDAY NIGHT
The charity ball, held uder the auspices of the Havre Woman’s club and the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, will be given Monday evening, December 15, at Elks hall.
All expenses incurred in the holding of the dance have been donated. The Elks lodge gave the use of the building, the music has been given by both the Radio and Grau orchestras and the punch will be donated by the Woman’s club.
Money realized from the affair will be used in local charitable work and will not be spent outside of the county.
The civic organizations in the city will cooperate with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross in caring for the needy in the city and county with the money raised by the ball.
A short report of the ball was in the December 17, 1924, edition.
Charity Ball Nets Good Sum for Cause
The Christmas basket funds and the fund for charitable work in the community will be augmented through the sale of tickets for the Charity Ball, Monday evening, one of the delightful events of the season.
A local businessman decided to get into the Christmas spirit and made this offer once again to the community in an announcement published in the December 18, 1924, edition.
ORPHEUM MATINEE FOR CHRISTMAS BASKETS
Manager Sidney Hirshberg of the Orpheum theater has announced that commencing tomorrow the regular Christmas matinees for the benefit of the Christmas dinner baskets will be held.
There will be a matinee for this purpose every day but Sunday until next Wednesday afternoon, the day before Christmas.
School children will be admitted to these matinees for whatever they bring in the way of edibles, potatoes, apples, canned goods, any amount no matter how little or how much.
The proceeds will be turned over to the Christmas dinner basket committee for use in preparing the Christmas baskets for distribution.
In former years these matinees have been a big success and Manager Hirshberg expects 1924 to eclipse all former affairs.
My friend and sister Elk, Brandy Thomas Kurtz, has organized a blanket donation event at the Elks for several years now. One such event took place earlier this month. She and the rest of the committee work hard putting this together to give blankets away free to those who need them. Imagine my delight when I saw this article in the December 17, 1924, Daily Promoter. I hope she enjoys it, too.
BLANKET DANCE BIG SUCCESS
The Blanket dance given last evening by the B. P. O. E. as part of the campaign to dispose of blankets was a decided success and a large crowd enjoyed the music. During the campaign a large number of blankets were disposed of and a large sum was realized for the lodge.
After appealing to the community for old toys to give to needy children in the December 14, 1924, Daily Promoter, editor R. G. Linebarger printed this article on the front page of the December 17, 1924, edition.
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT SENDS TOYS FOR DISTRIBUTION
The cold weather the past few days has slowed up the matter of collecting the Christmas toys and articles for distribution by the Christmas committee that has the matter in hand, however, the Hotel Havre dining room is commencing to look like a regular Christmas toy shop, people are sending in articles and packages daily for the poor people and the little girls and boys that look for Santa Claus on Christmas eve will not be disappointed if the folks in charge of the work are property notified before hand.
The committee headed by Frank W. McCarthy of the Montana Power company and Mrs. V. R. Griggs are at work purchasing the candies, nuts, raisins and other items that go with the toys to make Christmas a real day in some of our Havre families.
O. T. Johnson of the Western Union has the active charge of collecting articles and he asks those who have any to send them in, either telephone him at his office or the Hotel Havre office and a messenger will gather them just as soon as the present severe weather lets up enough to allow it.
It is a noticable thing that the Christmas spirit has secured a sure foothold on the people of Havre as is shown by the many things being sent in to headquarters. To those who have not as yet sent in word we would suggest it be done at once so the Fire Department boys can paint and repair any articles necessary and have the paint dry before the 24th.
Speaking of those Fire Department boys, they were really getting into the giving spirit as evidenced by this article found in the same issue.
FIRE BOYS BUILD PLAYHOUSE FOR CHARITY
The fire boys under the direction of Fire Chief George Dewar are building at the city hall a two story five room doll house which when completed will have electric lights in every room, pictures on the walls and will be completely furnished.
The house will be painted in grey and trimmed with green, all floors will be highly polished and the furniture varnished.
It is the plan of the department to dispose of the doll house and to buy candy and nuts with the money realized from its sale which will be given to the poor boys and girls in the city Christmas day.
For quite some time, the people of Havre had been raising funds to build an additional hospital for Havre. There’s no better time like Christmas for a fund drive, and an update was published on the front page of the same newspaper.
TEAMS WORK HARD COLLECTING FOR HOSPITAL FUND
Though yesterday was a cold day several of the teams on the hospital were scouring the streets for their prospective patrons, collecting on the past due subscriptions. All workers report that they have been received with the finest spirit, and in instances with enthusiasm. One lady called up and said “Say what is the plan of this hospital drive? We want to pay a little but not one has been to see us.” Well somebody did or will see them, count on that. The goal is so near now that everybody wants to see it go over and go over big.
No report can be made as to how much was collected yesterday as there was no meeting of the collectors last night, and some of them were out on the job, and could not be gotten hold of to report.
But a committee from the board met with representatives of most of the women’s organizations yesterday and a new novel scheme is to be sprung on the community soon, though not perhaps not until after the big Christmas dinner. This scheme is so new and so different, that when it is given to the public the folks will experience a “grand and glorious feeling” for then they will see that they are going to get the last needed amount and no one is going to feel the giving.
The teams will be working today on the collections, and picking up what new money they can. Everyone who has a balance due on subscription, or has been counting on giving when the time came, could greatly assist by sending in their amount to Earl Bronson, secretary, at the court house.
’A Christmas present for ourselves,’ by putting over this last load, and assuring Havre and surrounding country that they will have this hospital in operation next year.
As mentioned in the two previous articles, it was darn cold this time 100 years ago and while it slowed some things down, a little crummy weather wasn’t going to stop the people of Havre! News of the icy cold weather had been reported all week. Heavy snow, wind and very cold temperatures were reported throughout the region, not just the Havre area. Trains were late, with snow levels reaching 20 feet in the Essex area, making plowing the tracks necessary. The snowfall reported was the deepest in years. These two paragraphs found in an article on the front page of the December 17, 1924, edition read:
Yesterday witnessed subnormal temperature throughout the day with 26 below as the minimum and only two degrees warmer as the maximum.
The snowfall was quite heavy with half an inch of precipitation registered. There was a slight drop in the barometer, which continued into the night and at 2 o’clock this morning the termometer in front of the Havre hotel registered 23 below, one degree warmer than during the proceeding day.
Of course, Christmas is for kids, and I bet they were more than a little happy with this news in the December 14, 1924, paper.
Sixteen Days Play for School Children
The Christmas holidays for the Havre public schools will last sixteen days this year, school closing December 19 and opening again January 5.
The fact that Christmas comes on Thursday makes it a two weeks vacation period during the holiday season.
It wouldn’t be until 1951 that Meredith Wilson penned the lines “And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again” in her song “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”, crooned to us by Perry Como and the Fontaine Sisters with Mitchell Ayers and his Orchestra, as well as Bing Crosby in the same year, but I’m sure that sentiment was felt by parents long before the song hit the airwaves!
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