Napanee and District Memorial Arena
By Douglas Alkenbrack (1912-1998)
It began an eager yearning
In the heart of girl and boy,
And the little flame kept burning,
Fervent wishes, thoughts employ.
Then the great thought earned devotion
Deep within the adult mind,
Contemplation turned to motion,
Good ideas action find.
With a brilliant leader’s vision,
A committee then was found,
Persevering through derision,
Preached the cause the country ‘round.
As he led the vital venture,
Told the public of the need,
Asked donations; no debenture,
Then the public need did heed.
Little children brought their offering,
Merchants their financial aid,
Former natives sent their proferring,
Mill and factory, gifts they made.
Clerk and worker pledged their wages,
Lodge and service club said, “yea”,
And by strange, but steady, stages,
Arena fund was underway.
People emptied out the attic
For the monthly auction sale,
And the campaign ne’er was static,
For success does work entail.
To be sold to swell the project,
Farmers fed their finest calves,
Part of milk funds redirected,
For they don’t do things by halves.
There were grants from town and country,
And provincial government,
For the trusts of common bounty
All the populace cement.
So the people pledged their finance,
Both from high and humble home,
Rich and poor in joint alliance,
As MacCaulay’s ancient Rome.
Then the group they charged with structure
Pored o’er blueprint, price and plan,
Observed others, faced the future,
Called the contract – work began!
So with this intrepid intent,
On a sun-drenched day in May,
With the eager children present,
Rites observed, they turned the clay.
Then the walls ascended upward,
Footings founded, firm as rock,
Plumb and true, the plan went forward,
Beamed and bonded block on block.
And the trusses’ traverse timbers
Tied the walls, the roof they bore
While the stout, stell-strengthened lintels
Crowned each window, every door.
On the lofty roof construction
Carpenters and workmen toiled,
After hurricane eruption
Massive masonry despoiled.
With direct and rapid sequence
Broad expanse of rink and hall
With each detail and convenience,
In their place were made to fall.
As the project neared its finish
Volunteers with brush and pail
Gross expenses to diminish,
Decorating, did not fail.
There it stood, entire, completed,
Victor o’er futility;
Not one detail was deleted;
Maximum utility.
On a day in mid-December,
On the beaming ice-sheet broad,
That’s the day they cut the ribbon,
Eight months after turning sod.
And the children were fanatic
With their squeals of praise and joy,
At the opening dramatic,
In their hundreds – girl and boy.
And the people were contented
With their own accomplishment,
For their gifts had implemented
Debits discharged, every cent.
And the building brought them pleasure,
Recreation, every sort,
Honour to the town in measure
In distinguished winter sport.
And it was a boon to county
For their fair and rural use,
To display the choicest bounty
That the farm and field produce.
There’s a certain satisfaction
Wealth and money cannot win,
When you help united action
In a cause your heart is in.
Who would win joy – he must spread it,
Happiness with duty link,
Then the heart will reap the credit.
That’s the way they built the rink.
Poem taken from:
Alkenbrack, A. Douglas. “Rhymes of a Back-bencher: The Poems of Douglas Alkenbrack, M.P.”
The Lennox and Addington Historical Society, Napanee, 1995.