On June 25, 2016, 80 women gathered at Distinction Te Anau Hotel & Villas to share the many happy memories, combined with lots of laughter.
Fiordland has a unique club of different organizations that have reached their 40th year in operation. Fiordland Women’s Club is another club to reach that milestone.
uest speaker for the evening was Southland netball stalwart Robyn Broughton to share her past, present and future netball career. Robyn takes up the position of first Director of Netball of UK club Mavericks having taken effect from 1st August 2016. She returns to the club following a season as Assistant Coach in 2016.
Marie Galland, Irene Barnes and Judith Risk, three original and still current members after 40 years, shared in the cutting of the cake.
The club’s popularity hasn’t waned since Jaye Brown floated the idea of a women’s only club with no plates or stitchery, plant or vegetable growing to her newly found friends over coffee, 40 years ago.
Jaye proposed a few ladies gathering to share a meal, perhaps a wine and a speaker.
The club proposal quickly gained momentum and popularity, where venues were sought and Fiordland Women’s Club was under way.
The club has had up to 100 members and long waiting lists. Today the list have been abolished and now enables all interested women to immediately become members.
The speakers have been varied, such as Carmen, Tim Shadbolt, Gary Tong, Paula Ryan, British Ambassador Anne Crawford who battled a heart/ling transplant, Professors, locals who have shared their knowledge, passions and talents. It has been a privilege to be entertained by these wonderful speakers!
There have been a number of establishments in Te Anau who have hosted the monthly meetings but the pressure of tourism has not enabled them to accommodate the numbers over the season. The Te Anau Club has been the venue for the meetings for a number of years now.
President Michelle Maynard, a relatively new member to the club, joining in 2011 and now in her second term said: “All those great women, I was standing up their talking to. I felt it was a huge weight on my shoulders”.
The club is changing their venue to Kingsgate Hotel Te Anau from September and meetings are held the last Thursday of the month.
- Julie Walls