Arta at the Gold and Green Ball (1946)

As I was leafing through Arta's scrapbook, some of the pages had me slowing down to look more closely at the memorabilia that had been gathered there.  Here is one of those pages.

First, I recall having seen this early photo of Arta.   

But somehow, I thought it must have been associated with a wedding: she looked like the flowergirl.

Flipping through the scrapbook, I saw that I only partly right.  Yes, she was a 'flowergirl', but not for a wedding. 

She got to participate in the 1946 "Gold and Green Banquet and Ball".

The program for the Gold and Green Banquet and Ball was taped into the scrapbook, along with photos and other memorabilia.  

I recall people mentioning "the Gold and Green Ball" when I was young, but I didn't actually have much of an idea about it, other than concluding that it must have been a big party, and and one put on by the church (ie. a church party of some sort).  I had some recollection of maybe being at such an event (or was that a false memory?), and of it happening in the church cultural hall.   

That is, I assumed that an event like this would happen at the church building, so it was something of a surprise to see that this event, while being a church sponsored event (indeed, by the MIA), it was being held not only in the big city of Vancouver, but also at the Hotel Vancouver.

I wondered how the Pillings ended up at this event.  I don't think that Doral and Wyora were living in Vancouver at the time, but I am pretty sure Will and Edna were?  In any event, this seemed to be somthing of a grand affair.  There was a menu included, and a Program.  Wyora clearly cared enough about it to gather signatures on her copy of the program.

I noted that the program included the "Crowning of Queen".  Presumably, the Queen of the Ball?   There was more information on the back of the program.  This included a list of 'officers' of the Young Men's, (Y.M.) and Young Ladies' (Y.L) Mutual Improvement Associations. 

That made me pause.   Growing up, we all went to "MIA" during the week, but it seemed a kind of church related social evening, and I never really thought about the legal form of an "Association" (something that now seems so obvious to me from the point of one who teaches Business Associations).  And so, the words like "President", "Counsellors" and "Secretary" started to take on a different sense of colouration to me!

As a ran my eyes down the page, smiling at the identification of the "Queen's Court", with its accompanying 'Ladies' and 'Gentlemen', my eyes fixed on the name "ARTA PILLING", identified as one of the four Flower Girls!   Now I found myself wondering how Arta Pilling (a young girl from Calgary), ended up as a flower girl at this rather grand event in Vancouver. And then, chek out the Page Boys:  Greg Bates?   Is that our own Uncle Greg Bates?  If so, how funny to see the two of them together on a program from 1946!

And then a few other pieces started to slide together as I considered the time of this event, March 1, 1946.  This is less than a year after VE day.   Inded, VE Day (Victory in Europe), was on May 8, 1945.  VE day also occured exacly on Arta's 5th birthday.   I guess that is a birthday to remember.  World War II officially ended several months late in September of 1945.  

I am sure that those long years of war were still very much on people's minds.  Indeed, there was also a little book mark from the event taped into the scrapbook, with a poem titled, titled "Carry On", which seems a very explicit allusion to phrases from the war. And so I imagine that at this event, people were leaning into more elaborate occasions for celebration and joy.  

So fun seeing all that captured in the scrapbook. Here are a few more photos.  I am guessing this one is the 'crowning of the queen'.  You can see Arta right at the front, facing out to the audience, holding up the edge of her dress.

Here is one with Arta, and her mother Wyora and Grandmother Edna.

I do love this little shot of Arta and another of the flower girls, on the dance floor together.   I wonder which of the other flower girls it is?

After sorting through these pictures, we starting poking around on the web to read more on the history of the Green and Gold Ball, and found this interesting blog post on these events in Britain.   It is a fun read.

•   https://ldsbritain.blogspot.com/2011/09/images-from-bygone-time-gold-and-green.html

ADDENDUM

I was looking through old blog posts, and found this one by Arta from 2016, which also references the Green and Gold Ball!

https://larchhaven.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-gold-and-green-ball.html