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The Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Garden Club marked 60 years of gardening, friendship and community with a high tea celebration at The Club Mangawhai last month.
Current and former members, along with representatives from the Mangawhai Community Garden, gathered to celebrate the milestone.
During the celebrations, four long-serving members — Ann Dowson, Christine Bygrave, Sharyn McLean and Rosemary Browne — received Lifetime Membership certificates and badges in recognition of their dedication, significant contribution, loyalty and outstanding service to the club.
Among those in attendance was Anne Tantrum, daughter of Ella Tantrum, one of the club’s founding members. At the club’s 25th Anniversary in 1991, Ann Dowson presented Ella with a special Honorary Merit Membership, so it was fitting when Tantrum presented Dowson with her Lifetime Membership certificate.
Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Garden Club president Annie Marriott spoke of the club’s history and its aim to continue creating a sense of belonging, an excitement of displaying home-grown produce, sharing goods on the trading table, and continuing the legacy of the women who started it all.
The club was created in Kaiwaka in 1966 by a group of farmers’ wives to bring women together and find friendship. They would meet at different members’ homes and share their gardening, floral creativity, and home baking.
As the club grew, various categories of competitions were set up, with points awarded and trophies and prizes given out at the end of the year. With no local florists available, the women became known for creating beautiful bouquets for weddings, birthdays, and special events.
In 2011, “Mangawhai” was added to the club’s name to reflect many of its members moving to the area.
Today, meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month at a church on Molesworth Drive, with many of the club’s original traditions continuing.
Marriott said the anniversary was an opportunity to celebrate the club’s history while continuing the traditions established by its founding members. She also highlighted the generations of families who have been involved with the club.
“I think it is important for our club to recognise, acknowledge and honour the generation and the people who have carried us here to today.”
She also spoke of another longtime member, Sue Dow, whose mother Rona Bennett was also a founding member. During last year’s Christmas celebrations, Sue brought her granddaughter Ella to the event, representing four generations connected to the club.
“How wonderful for young Ella to experience making posies and taking a step back in time to do what her great-grandmother did, but also sharing the experience with her grandmother,” Marriott said.
As part of the celebrations, guests listened to the Hyundai Country Calendar theme song, with both the television programme and the garden club celebrating their 60th anniversaries this year.
Historic photographs and memorabilia, including display boards created by Christine Bygrave, Ann Dowson and Rosemary Browne, were displayed during the celebration, while the four lifetime members cut the anniversary cake, made by Bluebell Cafe and Bakery.
The afternoon concluded with conversation, laughter and the opportunity for newer members to connect with those who have been part of the club’s six-decade history.
