2002 Inductees: William Chafe
Category: Founder
|
As a very small boy, William Chafe began taking violin lessons while attending St. Patrick's Hall School. It was here that he met Hugh O'Neil, and they developed a life-long friendship. This friendship included playing together in a string quartet, and a very intense interest in, and appreciation for, music.
Mr. Chafe became well-known and respected as both a musician and a member of the music community. Contacts with artists in the Community Concerts series,
|
and with both visiting and resident musicians on the American Base, were a regular part of the normal routine of the Chafe household.
He joined the Kiwanis Club of St. John's, and when the Club decided to start a Music Festival in the city, Bill Chafe became a Charter Member of the first Festival Committee.
Bill Chafe was able to use to great advantage, not only his musical training and expertise, but also his many contacts within the community, to aid in the development of programmes for the early Festivals. He had excellent standing with both Church and school authorities, and this was very important in gaining the necessary support of teachers, parents, and administration. Without his contacts and his efforts on behalf these first Kiwanis Festivals, their development into what the community has today would have been more difficult. It was through the work of Kiwanians like him that the Kiwanis Music Festival has not only survived for over fifty years, but has blossomed and grown into the major cultural and competitive event that it has.
After Bill Chafe learned to be a tailor, he operated his own very successful men's clothing store in St. John's; adopting the now well-known motto: "Clothes make the man, if Chafe makes the clothes!"
Mr. Chafe died 19 years ago, and it is with much pride and pleasure we remember his work and interest by inducting him into the Kiwanis Music Festival Association of St. John's HALL OF HONOUR in the FOUNDER CATEGORY.
top of page
|
-