Senior Vice-President in my year was Harry Smith; he was one of those who came in the first year after we were formed. Harry Basford was also a founder member. He moved away very soon after. He was in insurance. Harry Smith was a real worker and he become known as the biggest volunteer in the Club; even when he wasn’t there and they wanted a volunteer everybody would shout Harry Smith. He was a great chap and a good Senior Vice- President. The Junior Vice-President was Ron Hewitson. Harry Smith followed me.
It was Harry who thought an austerity meal would be a good idea. I had managed to shelve a decision on that during my year, but those in favour voted for it and we went ahead with it. We asked other Clubs if they thought it was a good idea, but they didn’t. We had an austerity lunch with sandwiches. We paid a £1 for the hall and for the food, and the rest of the money went to some good cause. That good cause was Ron Hewitson’s Lifeboat fund . The charity box went round and we soon saved a lot of money; many years later we just put in a £1 for our meal. It caused a rumpus in the Club. A few said they needed a good meal midday and about four of them used to pay the fee and then pay for a full lunch on top. Later they fell in with everybody else when we got a bit more for our £1. It was just one of those things, but a major upset at the time.
Right from the beginning, when we started the Hornchurch Old Peoples’ Club, Harry became chairman; he worked for years on that committee and got a very large Club going. The Inner Wheel took over and Harry helped it a lot. We got to know many old people through the Club when we got to Christmas and the parcels were distributed. When Harry retired, he went to live at Thorpe Bay. We were very friendly with him, but did not see him much after he retired. He was a great friend of Harry Wilson, for they had both been wardens throughout the war.
Our Sporting Pursuits
Of course, in those days we were so keen on sport, especially the cricket team. We took part in everything. Sport played a tremendous part in the first 10 years and we got to know so many people in other Clubs through sporting events.
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