Christmas Meeting

MR. GORE:

Your Honour, Ladies and Gentlemen: On behalf of the members of the board of directors and all of the members of The Empire Club of Canada, a very sincere and warm welcome is extended to Your Honour to our annual family Christmas party. All of us look forward to your presence with us during the year, and especially at this season. Ladies and Gentlemen, our Honorary Vice-President, the Lieutenant-Governor, represents our gracious sovereign in the Province of Ontario with great dedication and distinction, and willingly and loyally supports our Club.

It is always a pleasure to welcome Mrs. Rowe to our gatherings, and we are especially pleased that she could be with us today.

(His Honour, the Lieutenant-Governor W. Earl Rowe, P.c., made a suitable reply.)

Mr. Bredin Stapells, Q.c., presented a bouquet of roses to Mrs. Rowe.

The head table guests were presented, following which Mr. Gore continued:

You will have observed that I refrained from presenting to you one of our head table members. I now propose to single out that member for special mention. He is Mr. Bredin Stapells, Q.c., Immediate Past President of The Empire Club of Canada. During his year as President, he performed his duties with dignity, with honour, and with zest. He created an atmosphere at our meetings which was dynamic and vibrant. He was also Chairman of the Speakers' Committee, and from his efforts we were privileged to hear outstanding addresses from many distinguished speakers. He gave generously of his many talents and his time, in spite of the fact that he was practising the profession of law, and was also a Commissioner of the Ontario Committee on Taxation, the report of which was recently presented to the Provincial Government.

Bredin (Mr. Stapells), I ask you to accept this illuminated scroll, signed by our Honorary President, His Excellency The Governor General, which records your period of service to our Club. This is presented on behalf of the members of the board of directors and the entire membership of The Empire Club of Canada.

Now, Mrs. Stapells, we know how you kept Bredin at the job last year--how you took coffee to him late Wednesday nights when he was preparing for the Thurs day meeting; how you patiently listened to his troubles when speakers, at the last minute, had to cancel the appointment; and how you contributed in so many ways to the successful operation of the Club. I thank you for your tremendous support to Bredin, and just because the members like you so much, please accept these flowers with our best wishes.

(Past President Stapells graciously expressed the thanks of himself and Mrs. Stapells to the meeting.)

It is my privilege to extend a welcome to the wives and friends of our Club members. I hope you enjoy being with us as much as we enjoy having you. For those guests who are here today for the first Christmas party, we give you a very special welcome. Today we have with us a very special group of ladies who are responsible for much of the secretarial work associated with Empire Club committee activities. With out their help so willingly and enthusiastically given, our Club could not operate successfully. To these ladies I say a sincere thank you for your many hours of labour so freely given during the year.

The year 1967 is not not only Centennial Year, it is also the year in which the Toronto Men Teachers' Choir is celebrating a quarter century of existence. And that choir is here today to add to the pleasures of our Empire Club Christmas party.

The Toronto Men Teachers' Choir, which is composed of teachers and other educators from Toronto, has received recognition in both Canada and the United States, and this year performed at Expo '67 before an audience from many different countries. The choir is a source of pride to the teaching profession, and its annual concert is an outstanding musical event in this city. As we welcome them here today, we congratulate them on twentyfive years of musical achievement during which their voices and artistry have provided great pleasure for audiences in Canada and the United States.

I would like to pay a brief tribute to the choir's distinguished conductor, Mr. Harvey D. Perrin, who is the Director of Music for the Toronto Board of Education. Those of us who know the history of this choir know that Mr. Perrin's musical ability, his enthusiasm, and his leadership have played a large part in its success.

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, on this festive occasion it is my pleasure to introduce to you the members of the Toronto Men Teachers' Choir and the Choir Conductor, Mr. Harvey Perrin.

The choir sang.