2006 Inductees: MRS. JESSIE HOUGH
Category: Administration & Support

When Kiwanis came to Newfoundland in 1950, with it came an awareness of the music festival movement, which Kiwanis was bringing to so many Canadian communities.

In the original St. John’s Club, made up largely of members of the business community, there were two men who were aware of the impact a festival could have in this community, and may be another five or so who had a more than passing interest in music. So, contact was made with the Canadian Federation of Music Festivals and the immensity of the task of organizing a music festival soon became very apparent.

One of the most important challenges facing the first board of director was to enlist the services of a knowledgeable executive secretary to serve an organization with little knowledge of what a festival was all about and with few, if any resources, to meet the remaining challenges.

Mrs. Jessie Hough had had a successful career as a singer and musician in Toronto. She had moved to St. John’s with her husband who was employed with Imperial Oil. Mrs. Hough was quite familiar with the music festival in Toronto and had been in communication with the local music community since her arrival. She also knew that our fledgling music festival had no money to pay her. For the five-year period that she was our executive secretary, 1953-1957, she was insistent that pay did not matter to her. She also used her home as our festival office during that period.

During those early years, the festival lasted up to five days, hired two or three adjudicators, and had perhaps 500 entries. Nevertheless, the syllabus and program needed to be prepared, classes scheduled and the endless communication with teachers, competitors, the media and the community in general tended to by the festival office. All these activities required kind and patient tact as our community became familiar with an annual competitive musical event. Mrs. Hough undertook all these tasks with skill and graciousness, laying the groundwork for the excellent public relations that our festival has enjoyed for some 55 years.

The festival association at that time, in appreciation of Mrs. Hough’s services, applied the annual honorarium available to be paid but refused by her, to a scholarship that was awarded to a worthy competitor. This practice continued for many years after she finished with the festival and had moved from the province.

It is most appropriate and fitting that the late Mrs. Jessie Hough be inducted into the Hall of Honour in the Administration & Support category for she embodied the spirit that enables the Kiwanis music festival movement to bring “greater joy and happiness to our land”.