The Arrowtown Rugby Football Club will celebrate 30 years of a second coming at Easter.
The club will hold a get-together at Easter which will be combined with a key game for the premier side in the Central Otago competition.
The Arrowtown club went into recess in the decade after World War 2 as the area had few players.
That continued through until 1989 when the club reformed.
Every year until then the area had a three-way tournament involving players from Glenorchy, Queenstown and Arrowtown and played for one day in Glenorchy.
Players for the Arrowtown team were drawn from the two taverns in the town - the Royal Oak and the New Orleans Hotel.
Eventually a plan was hatched to form an Arrowtown team to enter the Central Otago competition. It was made up of players who turned out for Arrowtown at the annual tournament.
The first few years were something of a struggle - the player pool was not large and some players had to be dragged out of bed while the odd hitchhiker was roped into play.
The launch of the club did not get universal support as many thought the area could only support the one team - Wakatipu.
There were no clubrooms at Jack Reid Park in the early days and teams used to change in the shed where the ground's tractor was kept.
After-match festivities were carried out at the two taverns and plenty of fun was had.
Clubrooms were eventually established at Jack Reid Park and will be used for the celebrations, having just been opened in the past couple of months after extensive renovations.
The festivities will start with a get-together on the Friday night when old team-mates willld meet.
On Saturday, there will be a barbecue lunch which will be followed by the premier game against Wakatipu.
Arrowtown is the holder of the White Horse Cup and it is hoped it will still have the trophy when the game is played on April 20.
There will be a dinner and dance at the new clubrooms on Saturday night.
The following day, festivities will conclude with a golden oldies match if mind and body are willing.
Up to 200 former club members are expected to attend.
