Thursday, March 31, 2011

Bovina Community Hall - Dedication Poem

On Sunday, March 20, from 1:30 to 3 pm, there was an open house at the Bovina Community Hall to celebrate the renovation of the kitchen.  As a follow up to my blog entry of March 19 about the construction of the Community Hall, I thought I would share this poem that was written to commemorate its dedication in the fall of 1930, David Currie, the Town Clerk, wrote the poem and Vera Storie read it to the audience:

"The Toilers"

We've gathered here, our friends and foes
This pleasant autumn night.
We came to see and to complain
If things are not just right.

If we could see with others eyes
I wish the Lord we could
We would not stop to criticize,
but how we would saw wood.

It's all and more than three years long
Since we began to plan
To build this Hall and build it right
And please our fellow man.

We did our best and that is all
that anyone can say,
If some do cuss and some do swear
Would you call that fair play?

But who are we?  Someone may ask
It is the V.I.S.
They worked and planned and sewed and darned
And never stopped to rest.

They sold ice cream and pie and cake
They had some shows, I hear
So no i guess I'll change their name
And just call them "Old Dears."

And now to make it sound all right
I'll just jot down their names
Helena H. and Jennie T.
And Isabelle and Jane.

And now we come to Lib and Lib
And Isabelle again
There's Ida Mac and Mattie C.
And Jen and Jen and Jen.

There's Nellie, Marge, Lois and Ann
Rosie Mac, Blanche and Jean.
Four Margarets, Callie and Delle
I guess that's all I've seen.

R.W. Doonan
He built this little hall
Started to build it in the Spring
Just finished it this Fall.

He took some brick, some boards, and nails
Some little grains of sand.
And with his men he built this Hall
and so did Berry-ann.

Old Man Bob is a quiet man
A quite name is he.
He called for paint and for a brush
And for his painters three.

He said to Sandy and to Ed
Your pipes you may now fill.
I don't give a darn if you smoke
But you must paint like Hell.

Joc Blair
And B.I. double L.
They watched this job from morn til night
Indeed they watched it well.

They were not like the wise old bird
That once sat on the oak
The more they saw, the more they heard
Alas! The more they spoke.

Committee was composed of men
Cecil H., Bill and John
They let their wives do all the work
They sat and blowed their horns.

About the old Town Board I guess
There's not so much to say
just did their bit, Their LITTLE bit
And did it every day.

The decorations in this Hall
Are all for me and you
The V.I.S. they did it all
and did it P.D.Q.

And now my friends and foes alike
I've got just this to say
Let's rise and cheer the V.I.S.
HIP! HIP! HIP! and HOORAY!

In 1995, someone (I can't determine who) provided information on the different names that are referenced in the poem, in order by appearance in the poem:  Helen Hilson, Jennie Taggart (Helena's sister), Isabelle Russell, Jane Hilson, Lib Irving (Isabelle's mom), Lib Blair (Helen Thompson's mom), Isabelle Hilson (Alex and Jack's grandmother), Ida McCune, Mattie Currie, Jen Thompson, Jen Archibald, Jen Storie, Nellie Johnson (George Johnson's mom), Marge Johnson, Lois Davidson, Anna Barnhart (?), Rosie McPherson (Frank's Mom), Margaret "Ormiston, Margaret Coulter (?), Callie Boggs Hastings, Delle McPherson Rockefeller, Sandy Myers, Ed Doig (?), Bill Archibald, Cecil Russell, Bill Storie, John Hilson.

And the VIS is the Village Improvement Society.

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