[From Ramsey Courier 13th May 1932]

LAST OF THE VILLAGE CLUBS.

ANDREAS SOCIETY 120 YEARS OLD - AND STILL GOING STRONG.

ANNUAL MEETING AND PROCESSION.

The 120th annual meeting and procession of the members of the Andreas Benevolent Society took place on Ascension Day. The business meeting of this famous old Manx Society was held in the morning, when there was a good attendance of members present, and Mr J. J. Faragher, of Ramsey, the President of the Society, was in the chair.

The accounts showed that members' contributions, etc., during the year had amounted to £127 18s 6d; and interest on securities to £128 17s 2d. Sick payments were £95 5s 11d of the expenditure, and the nett gain on the year's working was £107 5s 10d. On the 30th April, 1931, the Society held stock to the value of £3,121. The accounts were considered to be very satisfactory, and were passed.

The election of officers for the ensuing year resulted as follows :— President, Mr W. Cormode, Ramsey; stewards, Messrs J. T. Martin and G. Boyde; committee: Messrs J. J. Faragher, T.C., T. E. Gawne, T H. C. Cormode W. Cottier, and L. E. Kneale; auditor, G. Bell; secretary, H. Goldsmith.

Mention was made of the fact that for 25, years a member from the firm of Cowley, Kneale and Co., and its predecessors, had audited the Society's accounts, and the best thanks of the meeting were accorded to Mr Bell for his services in this direction.

It was decided to increase some of the sick benefits, and it was also agreed that in future a representative of the Society should attend the funerals of all deceased members.

Headed by the Laxey Brass Band, and wearing their sashes, the Society members walked in procession to Andreas Parish Church, where Divine service was conducted by the Ven, Archdeacon.

The Ven. Archdeacon, in the course of a striking address, said it was only right and fitting on Anniversary Day that they serve the time-honoured and un-interrupted custom of assembling in God's House to thank Him for past mercies, and and to implore blessing for the future, Today were assembled in prosperous circumstances, the balance sheet showing that were not only paying their way, but they had a handsome profit on the year's working to add to their stock, and the prospects tor the future were assuring and bright. They had by many years outlived their contemporaries—all the other old parish and district clubs, several of which he remembered very well. They had all passed away. They had their day, doing splendid work, and faithfully fulfilling the purpose of their imstitution—the relief of the sick and aged and the promotion of brotherly love and fellowship, Now they had all gone. Even the memories of most of them had perished. They were not mentioned now, and here they were at Andreas continuing their beneficent work as thoroughly and efficiently as ever, and more than holding their own in spite of the many adverse circumstances and the widespread depression and distress of the present time. May they all be able to continue their labour of love for many happy years to come. People, as a rule, were inclined to follow the crowd, even when they could not give any reason for doing so. They delighted in demonstrations and big shows, and so the larger societies had an advantage in that they were able to offer attraction which was lacking in the smaller ones. And so it would seem that the young men, who would naturally have followed their fathers in the comparatively small local local benefit societies, were attracted to the larger Oddfellows', Rechabites' and Foresters' Societies. Perhaps they thought their benefits would be more ample and more secure by reason of the larger numbers, and that the solvency would be more certain. But they had shown in Andreas, and continued to show by their good and efficient management, that there might be ample security in a local society, even if it was a comparatively small one. Then, again, they had in a small society something lacking in the larger ones. They knew one another; they were not simply individuals in a crowd, It had been said that the loneliest place was in the heart of a great city. There was much truth in that, as he knew from experience. There was no real company in a crowd. It was a great thing to know one another. The personal contact with, and the knowledge of one another worked wonders. So that in that way they had an advantage over the large societies. At the time of the institution of National Health Insurance, there were gloomy fore-bodings that it would sound the death-knell of the long-established voluntary societies. This had not been the case. The spirit of manly independence had not entirely died out. What men felt they had secured for themselves by their own prudence and efforts brought greater satisfaction than what they received from funds extorted from reluctant ratepayers, or from the General Revenue. They had not lost that manly spirit. They read of endeavours made by not a few to get hold of what they could not honestly claim, but there was no suggestion of the existence of anything of the kind about the Andreas Society. They were brethren, and had acted as brethren all along. With brethren there was brotherly love, and brotherly love brought happiness and peace, for love seeketh not its own good, but the good of others. That was the spirit which animated their Society from the beginning, and which accounted for much of its uninterrupted success. May that spirit long continue to be their rule and guide. ;

Following the service, the Society's annual dinner was held, at which the service of china was used which has been in the Society's possession practically from its inception.

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