The Memorial Baths

“THE OLD BOYS WAR MEMORIAL FUND", as noted in the Hamiltonian 1954.

“As directed by the last Annual Meeting, the Committee continued its efforts towards increasing the Memorial Fund. During May and June this year a Raffle was conducted, and the accounts show the net proceeds from this venture to be £250 13s and with other donations the fund in hand now totals £1619 15s. Your committee also conducted a stall at the School Bring and Buy last March and through its efforts ably assisted by some local Old Boys, added approximately £55 to the School Memorial Baths Funds.”

Students were also responsible for contributing to the much-needed funds at the Bring and Buy stall in March 1955. The following is a poetic account of the day. . .

THE BRING AND BUY

Tuesday morning dawned so fair,

And little Ossie with his darts was there,

Wilson and Ward were helping him too,

And the sky was looking very blue,

When suddenly rain began to fall,

And the three of them had to leave their stall.

And now the rain was falling steady,

So everything the boys had got ready,

Had to be covered or put away,

Until a finer part of the day.

And then the sun shone bright again,

And that was the end of all the rain,

So each vegetable was set in its place,

Neatly arranged, for there wasn't much space,

Some packets of butter and some of tea,

Were put in the front for the people to see.

Some bags of potatoes were also brought,

And they were very quickly bought,

But the day at last came to an end,

We had raised one thousand pounds to spend,

On the baths for the boys at the new High School,

So we will soon have a swimming pool.           Ashley Chitty, III D

"War Memorial—It is with pleasure that I report a suitable stone has at last been found and transported to the site for the War Memorial in front of the school baths. Our thanks have been extended to Mr J. Macky, engineer in charge of the Ministry of Works at Mangakino, and Mr E. Riley, who transported the stone to Hamilton. The School Board of Governors and Old Boys are arranging for its erection and it is hoped that the unveiling of the Memorial will be the main item of the Golden Jubilee activities in 1961. It will be a memorial to those of the school who lost their lives during World War II."

This Memorial Stone is now situated at the front of the School Grounds, with a bronze plaque to commemorate Old Boys who served. This is the focal point for annual Anzac Celebrations of Remembrance.