Over 80 members and guests snuggled into the club’s new clubhouse as president Geoff Russell welcomed everyone to the celebrations.
The new home was the former St Paul’s Tennis Club’s pavilion, which was extracted from behind the Papanui RSA back in June, then moved by transporter 16km to the croquet club’s new site at 50 Courtenay Drive, inside the Kaiapoi Community Hub area.
Mr Russell and club members worked tirelessly over the next three months to repaint the rooms inside and out, create a new deck and make it suitable for use.
The late Noel Bain helped in all phases of the project and also made sure the club’s two new playing lawns were up to competition standard.
Sadly, he passed before he could see its completion, and because of his years of work as the club’s greenkeeper, the number one lawn was dedicated to him by his wife, Mary Bain, while Pam King dedicated lawn two to the late Norma Johnson, a longtime club member for over 30 years.
The club rooms were officially renamed the Sir Isaac Wilson Clubhouse in memory of the Kaiapoi businessman / politician, and community supporter who donated a parcel of land to be used as the club's original site, down by the Kaiapoi River at Murphy Park, in 1904.
Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon said Mr Wilson helped lay the foundations for organised sport in Kaiapoi.
The club was established in 1905, and Mr Gordon said this new club room and relocation marked a new chapter in its history.
The opening ribbon was cut last Friday by Sir Isaac Wilson’s granddaughter Dorothy Adams, Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon and club president Geoff Russell. The 120th birthday cake was cut by Mrs Adams and Mr Russell, following a speech by Canterbury Croquet Association president Gay Jones, who spoke of the club’s history and the resurgence of interest in the sport by younger players.
