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"What a magnificent place we live in"  Berties Say What Ho, Bertie here! Isn't it spiffing all this Spring weather, sunshine and daffodils, Time to pack away the tweeds and break out the summer lightweight suit. I find that this time of year often leads me to a little retrospective thought, you know looking back on what might have been. I was in that frame of mind the other day as I ankled out of the Hawkes Bay Club and strolled along the Marine Parade, soaking up the sun, taking the vapours as it were and paused for a moment in the Sound Shell admiring the view out to Cape Kidnappers. The concrete area was originally an outdoor auditorium for dancing and rollerskating and built together with theSound Shell in 1935, but the original plans for this area where much grander.Oh, my, yes.The scheme was to have a three storey building at right angles to the shore across the roadway incorporating the site of the present T and G Building. An archway through the centre of the building would have allowed the traffic to flow unimpeded along Marine Parade. This magnificent edifice was to have been the centrepiece for Napier's recreation with a roller skating rink, an ice skating rink a cinema and a ballroom. Gosh what fun ! The scheme proved too much for the cash strapped City, almost on its knees with the cost ofrebuilding after the 1931 Earthquake and instead we have the present Sound Shell, Sun Bay and Colonnade - and very lovely they are too !In fact the colonnade is a testament to the fund raising efforts of a splendid group of chaps . The 30,000 Club. A band of stalwarts established in 1912 to boost Napier's population to that magic figure which would then allow them to apply for the status of City rather than "borough".The smaller arches commemorate two members of the club and the larger New Napier Arch celebrates the rebuilding of the city . If you look carefully you will see that each arch has an uplifting sentiment carved onthem, "Without Vision the People Perish", "The Pathway to Power is through Service" and "Courage is the Thing. All goes if Courage Goes". I can't walk past them without having my heart lift alittle. Often the thought of what the people of Hawkes Bay had just been through and the way they picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and got on with the job of rebuilding the "Newest City on the Globe" moistens my eye and leaves a lump inmy throat. So wiping a manly tear from my eye with I strolled across the roadwhence I bumped into Binkie Heatherington. He, of course, was on his way to theClub but suggested I cure the lump in my throat with a gin fizz at the Masonic Hotel. Splendid idea ! Two birds with one stone ! Contemplating those magnificent arches, sitting in the sunshine and enjoyinga stimulating beverage. . What a magnificent place we live in !
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