Family front of mind for women at RSA helm

For the first time in its 100-year history, the Arrowtown Returned and Services’ Association (RSA) is being led by women.

Rosemary Chalmers, owner of D’Or Hair Stylists, is the organisation’s new president, and Linda Harrison and Kirsten Dennison are secretary and treasurer respectively.

For each of them, their connection with the RSA is personal.

Mrs Chalmers said being appointed president "makes me quite emotional", having grown up in a military family.

Her father, Bruce Henderson, joined the military when he was about 18 and went on to serve in Malaysia and went to war twice in the 1960s.

Back in New Zealand, he married Gloria, and in the early 1970s the family, including 2-year-old Mrs Chalmers, were shipped from Christchurch to Singapore.

They lived on a base there for a few years, before returning to New Zealand and being based in Invercargill from about 1975.

In all, her father spent over 20 years in the military and held "all" of the positions in his local RSAs.

"For me, I just watched all of that growing up — my father’s not involved any more, but my mother’s still involved with the Bluff RSA," Mrs Chalmers said.

"It’s a way to give back.

New Arrowtown Returned and Services’ Association president Rosemary Chalmers (centre), with...
New Arrowtown Returned and Services’ Association president Rosemary Chalmers (centre), with treasurer Kirsten Dennison (left) and secretary Linda Harrison. PHOTO: TRACEY ROXBURGH
"The numbers were dwindling when we joined [the Arrowtown RSA], and that’s when they opened it up to have associate members to try to keep the RSAs going," she said.

Mrs Harrison said her involvement was in memory of her father Alex Richardson, a World War 2 veteran who served about four years with the 23rd Battalion in Crete.

"I just grew up with the RSA — we lived in a little place called Mataura Island and Dad used to drag us kids around, taking the poppies around all the farms before Anzac Day and going to Anzac services."

For Mrs Dennison, her involvement started when her children were young and they attended services — now one of them, George, was serving in the air force.

Mrs Chalmers said the Arrowtown RSA was in good heart, with a strong membership, and she was looking forwards to expanding that even further.

"Moving forward with the new generation of RSAs and the Poppy [Day] funds, we’re trying to reach out to ex-service personnel from all age groups.

"There are a lot of people in our community who have served and they’re retraining and they’re young.

"We can actually help them, so it’s trying to reach out to a younger generation."

tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz

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