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Issue 21 – November 2017

Update from Chairman, Graeme Pierson

As we near the end of another year I would like to reflect on some of the matters the Council has been involved with over the past twelve months. Council members are very pleased to see the number of affiliated Clubs that have now chosen to adopt the Friendship name into their club names. I am happy to report that all our 173 clubs have now paid their affiliation fees for this Friendship year and thank all those clubs that were able to make a donation to assist mainly with legal costs. Your generosity has been greatly appreciated by Council. At our recent Annual General Meeting the constitution for Friendship

New Zealand Inc. was adopted and is now in place. The Club Constitution is available on the website in the Club Area under Club Resources. This is a sample constitution which clubs should adopt and where required add any matters they see fit for their own use. Where possible it would be appreciated that the clubs send a copy to our Administrator for our records. I would like to thank Secretary Jim Taylor for his work in firstly, arranging the production of our badges and emblems which are now available to all clubs and secondly, he has of late produced “Flyers” which will shortly be available to clubs for their use as a method of attracting new members. Jim has had a bad run with his health and we trust that he will be back to full good health again shortly. With regards to Club visits by Councillors, we have adopted a process that where a club is celebrating a milestone in their history a Councillor will attend such events when requested or, where there is an event that the club decides there is a problem they may request a visit. We believe that it is a better use of our financial resources that area meetings are arranged with the member clubs in that area. On behalf of Council I would like to thank our Centre Administrator, Rosemarie, for the great work she is doing for our organization. I would also like to thank Margaret for the time she spends on preparing our newsletter “Highlights”. Both ladies are doing a great job for all members of our organisation. I would like to advise clubs that if they require an Affiliation Certificate please contact Rosemarie either at counciladm@fnzi.nz or by Freephone 0800 33 55 44. I would like to thank all Councillors for their assistance over the past twelve months. On behalf of all Councillors and our Administration people I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Kind regards Graeme Pierson, Chairman FNZI

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Information from Secretary Jim Taylor Specially designed attractive flyers promoting Friendship clubs will soon be available to clubs.

These are double sided and include a panel for clubs to insert their contact details and are for them to distribute through suitable venues in their area. Also available will be A4 size posters (shown here) using the same layout with more details to follow. Thank you to all the clubs that have ordered the new badges and other regalia and for the positive comments that your Councillors and Crown Badges have received about them. It will be great when all our clubs achieve uniformity of regalia, badges and other items as this will make our organisations so much stronger. There are still good stocks of stickers, decals and posters, think of a use for these. I know of clubs that have organised for our logo to be included on the community organisation noticeboards at the entry to their town and have used the decals for this. (See Hokonui Club, p6)

District 9930 meeting Eighteen members, representing seven of the eight Tauranga/Te Puke FNZI affiliated Clubs, attended this meeting organised by Bev Dromgool from the Arataki Coastal FNZI Club on 6 November in the extremely well set up Arataki Community Centre, Papamoa. Discussions included:

- A proposal for local FNZI clubs with a joint approach to finance and operate a stall at a retirees expo in Tauranga in April 2018

- Future members of clubs with smaller memberships - Shared outing with other clubs - Sharing newletters - Updating local contacts list- Outings/trips/travel - Speakers

There were frank, open and friendly discussions amongst all the attendees with regards to these topics with many positive comments about the worth of such meetings. Ideas and information were shared and recorded by attendees. There will be a follow-up formal meeting again in May 2018 with information in the meantime to be shared by electronic means. Bryan McKenzie, Councillor 9930

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Administrator’s Corner Whew!! I know it is November with Christmas now only a few weeks away and I also know that I am not yet prepared for the daunting prospect of coping with the festive season and the expectations of family members and others. Fortunately, my FNZI workload has slowed somewhat, as it has for member clubs who are holding their final meetings for the year and looking forward to end-of-year activities and events. The months of December and January should provide us all with time to reflect and review the year that was - and take time to recharge our batteries in preparation for the opportunities and challenges of 2018.

A major task for me in recent months has been acknowledging member clubs who have advised FNZI of a change of name for their club and updating their club record on the FNZI database. As a result of the many name changes an updated schedule of member clubs in alphabetical order has been prepared for Councillors. Another recent task, due to a decision by Vodafone, has been the updating of email addresses. Prompt advice of a change of email address by club officers, particularly the members who receive electronic communications from FNZI, has been greatly appreciated. To ensure that communications reach their intended recipient it is imperative that our email distribution list is current and correct. My sincere Christmas Greetings to all for a happy, safe and memorable festive season. Rosemarie Shaw

Johnsonville This club’s September outing included a visit to the Supreme Court complex - the splendid new courtroom and also the quaint old Court of Appeal which has been renovated and is now used again for various Court functions. The new courtroom made an amazing use of building materials and had excellent acoustics. The old courtroom was full of interest with carved wooden features and portraits of former Judges.

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Benvenue Men’s On Wednesday, 13 September, members of the Benvenue Men’s Club plus the wives of nine members, met on the beautiful Caroline Bay, opposite the Benvenue Cliffs to commence a day out in a luxury coach to visit three museums. The Geraldine Vintage Museum was the first stop to see their large collection of cars, tractors and memorabilia. The weather was fine and shaping up for a good day but like most museums, especially at this hour of the day, it was a little chilly inside so when the ladies requested a cup of tea the museum obliged and gave us their smoko room which also had a heater and by the time they came out it had warmed up, so everyone was happy. Lunch was at "Mundells" which is part of "Kiwi Country" a large complex that caters for tourists (and the prices confirmed this)

They then headed off to the Richard Pierce Airport which is Timaru's Airport and had a tour of their museum and the control tower which is no longer used as the planes use their own technology. There were several planes on display including the famous Richard Pierce plane that he built on his farm at Waitohi and is still reputed to have flown before the Wright Brothers. This venue was very enjoyable and contained a lot of history. A short distance down the road is a new Truck Museum that is just a year old and has been created by the Traction Engine Club, so it now has many trucks and tractors as well as steam engines. All of these venues were well set up and had staff on hand to explain everything you ever wanted (or needed) to know.

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Fitzroy Ladies The September meeting of the Fitzroy Ladies Friendship Club saw a very successful fashion parade attended by 90 members. Spring and summer clothes from Black Pepper Fashions were modelled by four of their members.

Pictured are Margaret, Joy, Lyn and Jenny about to strut their stuff. Our models wore four outfits each complete with stunning jewellery. The parade was ably compered by a staff member at the Black Pepper Shop.

The staff at the Black Pepper Shop in Centre City reported that a steady stream of members had visited their shop proving that it was a worthwhile exercise and one that could be repeated each year.

Plains Ladies

Foundation members Joan Moore and

Noeline Murdoch cut the 25th birthday

cake for the Plains Ladies Friendship Club

in August where Rosemarie Shaw

presented the club with a certificate.

Mini speaker Janet McNally from Riding for

the Disabled spoke to the club and after

morning tea Danny Lysaght played songs

made popular by Elvis and other well

remembered tunes on an electronic organ.

New Brighton In October members of the New Brighton Friendship Club enjoyed a bus trip to the Awa Reserve at the foot of Mt Hutt. There they walked amongst an amazing

display of rhododendrons in full bloom

followed by delicious lunch at the Brown

Pub in Methven.

There was also time for a stroll through

the gardens at Mona Vale on the way

home.

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Hokonui Focus Club of Gore On 18 August, 15 members headed off to Invercargill to attend the Operatunity Show. This show was titled “Last Night of the Proms” - a great production with Susan, John, Karl, Bonnie, Penny Dodd the pianist and Invercargill singer Hamish McGregor. The show started off with the audience singing “God Save The Queen” followed by “There Will Always Be an England”. A great mixture of British patriotic songs and waving of flags, (which we were given on entry). The usual humorous songs like the “Laughing Policeman”, “Where did you get that hat?” where the singer changed the style of his hat with every verse, and “Goodness Gracious Me”. Then the pianist played the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” - it all started well however the cast then came out dressed in leotards and pink frilly skirts, causing fits of laughter in the theatre. The show ended with the traditional “Rule Britannia, Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory” concluding with “Auld Lang Syne”.

Hokonui Focus promotion The Gore club have advised they have just replaced the "other" club logo with the Golden F. Any visitor entering the beautiful little Southland township of Gore is greeted by a signpost displaying the various clubs and associations that thrive in our little town. The 'F' sticker was applied and photographed by a reporter from the local paper (Ensign). The photo featured in an article printed recently, along with an invitation to prospective members to come along and join the club.

Red Beach Combined This active club has recently held a car rally and also enjoyed high tea at a local café.

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Golden Bay Golden Bay Friendship Club is in good heart with 118 members - with meeting attendance being around 70 to 90 at most meetings. Speakers have ranged from comment on war-torn Latvia to sanctuary in New Zealand, the Neurological Foundation functions, the life of a test pilot, and an insight into early Pioneer women of Nelson from a research officer from Nelson Provincial Museum. The area has a very small remote population so it has been interesting also to hear how two of our local business, candle making and health products, have been so successful they now trade internationally and employ a lot of locals. A recent visit was made to our local Onetahua Marae which was established in 1986 and is used by the whole community for tangi, hui and wananga, and as an educational base. It is the home marae for three local iwi: Ngati Rarua, Ngati Tama, and Te Ātiawa, but it operates as a multicultural marae with the wider involvement of the whole community. "Onetahua" is the Maori name for Farewell Spit and translated means "heaped up sand". The wharenui (meeting house) was opened in January 2001, and is named ‘Te Ao Marama' meaning a new light, referring to a new (inclusive) way forward. The inside of the wharenui is a mix of traditional and modern styles, as befits a relatively new, multicultural marae. All members said they enjoyed the experience, learnt a lot and were impressed with the welcome they received and what they saw.

Marlin Bay At a general meeting on 9 October a Life Membership was presented to Ray Fowke by President Helen Jones (the first since we became Marlin Friendship). This award was in recognition of unstinting work for this club by Ray in many capacities, not least of all being newsletter editor for many years.

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Paremata Socius During September, 26 members went by bus into the Wellington Museum on the waterfront, where they had a guided tour of the three floors full of wonderful history and memorabilia of the Capitol City and surrounding areas. The highlight being the hologram of the Maori legend of how the Wellington harbour came into being.

They then went on to the cafe at the Botanical Gardens for lunch, and after a quick look through the begonia house, the bus took them on to the Corrections Department Heritage Museum on the Terrace. This proved very interesting and entertaining with a talk by our presenter who showed us many photos and recounted some amusing and also some harrowing tales of the penal system of

yesteryear.

Woolston The Woolston club’s trip to the Isaac Theatre Royal on 6 November exceeded all expectations. The short bus ride from the Woolston Club to the theatre had some asking where they were, such are the magnitude of the changes in the Christchurch CBD.

We learnt of the history of the 1908 theatre and the rebuild. The generosity of Diana, Lady Isaac, after whom the theatre is now named, and the contributions of Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Miles Warren, are both honoured in the names of the Royal boxes. Some members (at left) preparing for their ‘curtain call’. Not much remains of the original theatre after a rebuild of the backstage area and then, after

the earthquakes, it was rebuilt from the facade to Proscenium Arch. The visit to the pits under the stage showed some of the original building foundations and the groundwater drainage channels. Pumps are used to keep the groundwater in check. In heavy rains should the pumps fail, the pits can flood to over one metre in depth. The visit was followed by lunch in local eateries. A number of members also visited the new Margaret Mahy playground - so good many would have wished they were 60 (or more) years younger. Not sure if it was the sunny day or the lunchtime wine, saw two members extend the hand of friendship to a New Regent Street resident (at right).

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Woodend Forty souls, mainly from the Woodend Combined Club, set off for a trip to Westport recently. Having enjoyed Rob’s [bus driver] commentary on the way they arrived in Reefton to a tasty lunch and later stayed overnight at the Westport Motor Lodge.

The transport provided by Outwest Tours turned out to be two Unimogs and the “Popemobile” which were waiting outside the Lodge at 9am the next morning. The first stop was at the John Deere Museum just south of Westport where there is a very interesting collection of tractors, tools, machinery and more. From there it was on to Charleston where 12,000 people lived at the time of the gold rush 1866/70 with around 80 pubs! A short walk to the beach showed the very narrow gap where the boats were pulled in and out. A drive down the Nile River past a settlement and farm and up Madman’s Creek took members onto their main destination, the Awakari Valley. This drive, while rough at times, travelled through beautiful beech forest, across and up the creek to the lookout. From here we could see two houses, one belonging to Johnny Currie (a local identity) and the other to his son. After driving slowly down the hill and stopping near Johnny’s house, he could be seen enticing a wild stag with an apple. He kept doing this while we all approached and eventually the stag took it from his hand! Johnny then told us some of his history and that of the valley and then invited us into his home a few at a time. He sat beside his huge open fire and answered our many questions. The fire was used for nearly all his cooking, his dish washing and his own washing as he had neither running water nor power. Then, with Johnny giving commentary, drove over to his son’s home where we were given a BBQ lunch. Close by were fascinating limestone rock formations that are part of the Punakaiki Rocks which were formed around 35 million years ago while the land was still under the sea. On the way back a last stop saw the fitter ones climb up to see a waterfall named “The Piddling Cow” - very aptly named. The next day it was home over Arthur’s Pass this time with lunch at Moana. An interesting commentary from Peter helped get a very tired bunch home.

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Strathallan Ladies Sixteen members of other local clubs joined the Strathallan Ladies Hospitality Day held on 28 September. Tables were decorated with spring flowers and they were entertained by Rosie Staite, a Celebrant, resource minister and writer.

Bishopdale Ladies This club recently visited the Gunyah Country Estate, a lodge set in 25 acres of grounds and established in 1912 by Millicent Hall, daughter of TH Potts, one of NZ’s renowned botanists and conservationists. On arrival they were given the history and meaning of Gunyah - how they fared through the earthquakes, and their recovery followed by a tour through the house. We then joined together for a very tasty lunch which we had taken with us and tea and coffee supplied by the host. This was followed by a tour of the gardens.

In October the group was entertained by the Spencer Duo who played some great songs which had some of our members dancing in the aisles and all joining in singing the popular songs. The club plans to go to the Christchurch Casino to celebrate Christmas on the 27 November.

The club has arranged two buses with a tour of Christchurch to see all the changes happening in the city beforehand.

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Newlands A group of members visited the Stansborough Mill in Petone on a very wet Wellington afternoon in September 2017. They were taken on a tour through the mill which was using 1920’s equipment and also learned the story of how Cheryl and Barry Eldridge diversified their farming activities on their sheep station “Stansborough” in the Wairarapa. The unique fibre from their flock of rare grey sheep has been used to costume many of the main characters appearing in the blockbuster movies “The Lord of the Rings”, “Narnia” and “The Hobbit”.

At the end of the tour Friendship Newlands members were able to view and shop for items such as throws, menswear, babywear, knitting year and designer Eco Fashion. June Heinz retires as Almoner after 13 years of service to Friendship Newlands June Heinz, along with her husband Bill, signed up to become a member of Newlands Probus Club, Wellington on 9 June 2001, a month after the Club held its first meeting in May 2001.

During 2003-2004 June looked after the monthly Dining Out Group and in 2004 became Almoner. Over the many years June has kept in touch with the members, sending cards, and keeping in touch by telephone or a visit. On 9 May 2017 June retired as Almoner and the club recognized her service with a colourful bouquet presented to her by the current President Bruce Frost.

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Waihi District One club member of Waihi District recently celebrated a special milestone – her 100th birthday! Marie Couper was born in Auckland on 10 July 1917. She moved with her husband to Waihi in the 1970’s. She has been a very busy person being involved with various clubs and a member of the Waihi Club for 14 years. On 5 August, president Michael Masters and Secretary, Shirley Buckman visited Marie’s home and presented her with a FNZI Council certificate to recognise and celebrate her many years of service in the club as well as her 100th birthday. Marie’s thoughts on longevity were to be honest, keep busy and exercise by walking regularly.

Whangaparaoa Ladies This club’s 24th birthday was recently marked with a celebration morning tea and cake. Two long standing members, both named Lois, cut the cake. Following morning tea entertainment was provided by "Ukulele Rustic". A very sociable morning was enjoyed by those present.

Hamilton Ladies Twenty members braved the cold and made a trip to Rotorua on 12 September to take a drive around the lake and the government gardens. Then it was on to Palmers for lunch and a hot beverage to warm up. The highlight of the afternoon was ‘Wingspan’. The flying display of a falcon over the farmlands to prepare them for release into the wild was amazing. The free-flying falcons are passionately described as little ‘spitfires’ with their fast flight, steep climbs and stoops.

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South Island Association of Friendship Clubs (SIAFC) The South Island Association of Friendship Clubs (SIAFC) recently organised a ‘Fun Afternoon Tea Party’ for all of their members who were ninety years of age and over. This was held at the Rangiora Bridge Club and was attended by sixty nonagenarians from Christchurch and North Canterbury. This number also included a few people who were one hundred and over. The SIAFC committee was very ably assisted by thirty volunteers and helpers.

The guests of honour were given party hats on arrival and were seated at tables decorated with camellias set on old fashioned afternoon tea cloths. Entertainment was provided by the ‘Redwood Revellers’ from the Redwood Ladies Friendship Club and the ‘Sweet and Low Choir’. The ‘Redwood Revellers’ came out of retirement for this very special occasion and both groups were very well received. Everyone was treated to a very enjoyable homemade afternoon tea which was followed by the drawing of numerous lucky ticket number prizes. Guests were then presented with a small ‘goodie bag’ before leaving. It was really encouraging to hear the compliments from these lovely members as they left for home. The Association felt it was an honour and a privilege to have these more senior members of their clubs with them for the afternoon as the majority of these wonderful people have been foundation members of their clubs and have been involved in numerous ways over many years. The association have received numerous messages from the drivers who had brought their older members to the party saying that they could talk about nothing else on the way home. This Association is also holding an over-90's function in Timaru on 17 November. On 3 November a Friendship Day was held in Christchurch for clubs in the Christchurch, North Canterbury and Mid Canterbury areas and around 97 people attended. It was very friendly day where attendees from various clubs shared tables and got to know other members. These functions have been arranged by Paulette Lawrence, President of the South Island Association of Friendship Clubs.

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Riccarton Professional and Businessmen’s Club

Twelve of members of this club recently visited the Rolleston Prison. Bill, their tour leader, was

one of the Prison Officers. He told them that the Prison accommodates 280 minimum to low-

medium security male prisoners and employs 73 front-line custodial staff plus a number of

support staff. They were shown through the vehicle used to transport prisoner to and from court

or between prisons.

It is full of hi-tech security and surveillance equipment. Then there was a tour of the lock-down

cell area where prisoners who misbehave are locked up until they toe the line. It was an eye-

opener to us, cold and very austere with the merest of amenities and space.

On the morning of their visit, prison guards had found a package that had been thrown over the

very high perimeter security fence during the night by someone on the outside trying to get a

cellphone, its charger and tobacco to a mate on the inside. The attempt was unsuccessful as it fell

well short of where it needed to land if it was to get into the hands of any prisoner before being

found by a guard doing the rounds of the fence. Apparently it is not uncommon to find such

packets.

Prisoners follow a typical 40 hour working week, gaining job skills and education qualifications

and attending rehabilitation programmes. A group is involved in refurbishing quake damaged

Housing New Zealand homes while other groups work in a commercial nursery that supplies Local

Authorities with plants shrubs and trees, and a community garden the produce from which goes

to the City Mission. An impressive effort is put into keeping the prisoners usefully employed, and

into programmes aimed at rehabilitating them, but in spite of all the effort many inmates

reoffend and are returned to prison.

While the visit to the Rolleston Prison was certainly very interesting all twelve members came

away deciding that they will, forever after, be good boys! It is definitely not the place to be!

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Torbay Torbay Friendship Club continues to provide a number of activities for its members throughout each month outside of the General Meeting held on a second Thursday. Activities include monthly scrabble, craft group, coffee morning, casual lunch, an outing by coach and twice a month there is rummikub and mah-jong.

Photographs here are from recent outings when a busload visited Clay Works at New Lynn (in Aug) and from a visit to the Alpaca Farm Stud, Gordonton and a few kilometres further on to Woodlands Historic Homestead/ Gardens (in Sept). With the extensive choice of speakers at general meetings, members have had insight this year to English stately homes, Antarctica, Customs and Border Security, Churchill in Canada with its polar bears, St John in the Community, NZ history -Albertland Story and

local history of East Coast Bays where Torbay is located. Torbay Quiz Night Friendship Clubs in and around the North Shore held their annual quiz night in Mairangi Bay recently. The event has been held now for 10 years and is organized by Marion and Jan Schouten who are members at East Coast Bays Combined. This year's event was won by Glenfield retaining their title by a couple of points from Mairangi No.2 team! The MC Murray Allison, a Browns Bay Rotarian, was very grateful for a collection on the night of $129 to help Rotary's Worldwide push to eradicate Polio which has reduced to small numbers (8) of cases in Pakistan and Afghanistan! The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matches that money with a 2 for 1 grant so a healthy $388 goes to Rotary International with no fees for administration. So thank you to all contributors!

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Carterton On a recent bus trip to visit the National Library He Tohu exhibition in Molesworth Street, we actually arrived earlier than our appointed time so stopped at the Old St Paul’s cathedral in Mulgrave Street. This was an amazing added surprise to our trip and it was well worth venturing into this beautiful wooden church. As well as being one of the best examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the world, the former cathedral is a repository of many interesting stories, including that of its own survival. Having served the Anglican community up to the 1960s, it was threatened with demolition after the new St Paul’s was built one block away. Saved, restored and reopened to the public, today Old St Paul’s stands as a place of spiritual significance and a venue for special events (including weddings and concerts).

From there it was a short walk to the National Library where we were met and given a guided tour of the He Tohu exhibition. He Tohu is a new permanent exhibition of three iconic constitutional documents that shaped New Zealand. The documents are kept in a stunning new state-of-the-art conservation space, designed to preserve the documents for generations to come.

These documents are: 1835 He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand;

· ‘ 1840 Te Tiriti o Waitangi - Treaty of Waitangi; and · 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition - Te Petihana Whakamana Pōti Wahine.

It is certainly well worth a visit as the allotted one hour just flew by and much more time could have been spent there. There are many interactive displays to view and listen to as well as the very impressive room where the documents are held. The rest of the day was spent sightseeing around the Wellington coast with a lunch stop at The Pines in Houghton Bay.

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Mid Canterbury Central This club took a bus trip on 26 October, to the outskirts of Ashburton, where they visited McIlroys Bentley Workshop and later Williamsons 'Coniston' farm and museum. Twenty-seven members including six ladies attended an interesting afternoon. The Bentley workshop repairs and restores Bentley and Rolls Royce cars from around the world.

After visiting the 'Coniston' museum of vintage cars and farm memorabilia, they enjoyed afternoon tea in the farm homestead.

Benvenue Ladies The Benvenue Ladies Friendship Group in Timaru recently celebrated their 25th Anniversary in September with a luncheon. Cutting the cake is their first President Alison Sexton (left) and Irene Guy the present President (right). Another member, Margaret Stuart, composed a little booklet concerning their 25 year history and this was available at the luncheon.

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St Johns Remuera Dr Kira Bacal, the October speaker described herself as American by birth and a New Zealander by choice. A Pre-Doctoral Fellow at Baylor college of Medicine, she is now Phase 2 Medical Programme Director at Auckland University. Enroute she worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, focusing on the medical needs for a mission for Mars. Kira took the novel approach of inviting members to join her in setting the parameters for a voyage to Mars. The first decision was whether to just plant a flag, or establish a permanent base on Mars had the majority plumping for the latter. The next major decision was the size of the crew to be catered for. Kira pointed out that the first manned missions in space had only one astronaut. The first manned landing on the moon, Apollo 11, had a crew of three. But only two, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon. Jim Collins stayed on board the mother ship. The International Space Station also has a permanent crew of three, the number favoured by psychologists. Although cancellation of the US shuttle programme threatened to reduce that crew to two, national pride ensured that the numbers stayed at three. It appears the most space agencies today favour a crew of seven for a permanent Mars base. There was an interesting debate on whether mixed or single sex crews were more likely to be successful on the two-year return expedition to Mars. It appears that, although men are easier to cater for medically and less affected by radiation, international opinion will mean that it’s more likely a crew will be mixed. When it came to crew composition, apparently a psychiatrist would be a ‘shoe in’.

Tairua Focus 'Britz at the Beach' is held in Whangamata each year. People from all over NZ bring their British Vintage and Veteran cars. It is a great festival with all sorts of British things happening and is held over the first weekend in October, however this will be changing to February next year when the weather is better.

The cars come to Tairua on Saturday afternoon when members of Tairua Focus assemble as 'Dad's Army' and 'Land Girls' and parade through the town interacting with the crowd having a lot of fun in the process.

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Mt Hobson Ladies These days, 30 years is a significant milestone for a club, so the October meeting was this club’s chance to make it special. The meeting started with members signing a commemorative 30th Anniversary card as they arrived. After the guest speaker, District Councillor Peter McEniery presented a certificate of congratulations from FNZI. And in recognition of those who have kept the club running for 30 years, Val Simpson named each of the past presidents and gave a token floral tribute to the four who were present. The President, Rosemary Vial, then called on two special members to come forward: Eva Moses (foundation member and Outings) and Betty Hayes (20 years’ service as Almoner). Betty is pictured above with Jill Ensor.

Peter presented them with Life Membership certificates, beautifully designed by FNZI Administrator Rosemarie. A light interlude followed with Marion Trainer reciting some humorous items. It was then time to issue the new badges. Each member randomly selected a gift-wrapped badge and then found the person named on it and presented it to her. This was a particularly well-appreciated method of distribution which highlighted the fellowship, friendship and fun aspects of the club’s activities. After the formalities the 30th Birthday cake was cut by Eva (at left), and members and guests enjoyed a festive morning tea.

Dunstan Instead of the State Highway, a recent bus load of Dunstan Friendship members heading to Lake Hawea, drove the rural roads consequently enjoying vistas not normally seen from the main road, even coming across a mob of merino sheep along the way. The great food and the view across the Lake from the restaurant is always wonderful. A detour was also made to visit the famous Hoogland Glass from Nelson who have opened a gallery north of Cromwell.

The club is in excellent health with membership increasing monthly, currently standing at 168, with approximately fifty percent male and female. Following November’s monthly meeting they enjoyed a “Have a Go” day with members having the opportunity to partake in two of three sports - petanque, outdoor bowls and golf croquet. Around 80 members enjoyed the games and fellowship which went with the day.