It was the first time the club for retired or semi-retired women had met back at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Sumner since before the Covid-19 lockdown.
Honorary life member Robyn Gosset, 89, said it was great to be back with old friends during the commemoration on July 6.
Since 1990, women in the area have been able to connect and discuss a range of intellectual and cultural interests on the first Monday of every month.
“We still have several early members in their 90s,” Mrs Gosset said.
She said the club has always followed the same programme of having a mini-speaker and morning tea, before listening to an invited guest speaker.
She said the club started as the Sumner-Redcliffs Ladies Probus Club for people who had retired from Rotary but still wanted a social group where they could meet and have a speaker.
Originally New Zealand’s Probus clubs were run from the Australian body, but in 2016, it was decided they would control their own.
The Australian body said New Zealand clubs could not use the name Probus, and after discussions, some clubs remained under their banner and retained the name, while some chose the name Friendship Club.
Mrs Gosset said, over the years, the club has moved around several venues, beginning at the Sumner-Redcliffs Anglican Church.
“We have also used the Marine Hotel, which always smelled of beer and smoke when we opened it up on a Monday morning. We also spent time at the Sumner community centre, the bowling club and currently at the Roman Catholic Church in Dryden St.”
- If you are interested in becoming a member of the club, phone Lois Gant on 03 384 1975.
