PRESIDENT’S
REPORT 2002-2003 |
Once again it is my pleasure and privilege
to present the annual report for the Shetland Society of Wellington on behalf of the Management Committee.
It has been a busy year. We concluded our 80th Anniversary year in style at Premier House, and 2003 saw us introduce
some different events, all of which were pleasantly successful. If change and
innovation are required to see the Society progress to the future, then we are well under way.
FUNCTIONS
Hastings Blossom Festival
Weekend 6-9 September 2002
Years ago our Viking Squad joined in centennial
celebrations in Dannevirke, Ekatahuna and Norsewood. This year we joined the Hawkes Bay Shetland Society in the Hastings Blossom
Festival and it was the first time that we had taken both Junior and Senior Squads away to another centre.
It was a very warm spring day and a very warm
welcome from the members of the Hawkes Bay Society. As a collaborative event,
it was a great success, with both junior and senior members from Hawkes Bay joining our squads. We enjoyed socialising with our fellow Hawkes Bay members in the evening for a meal and later at a Saturday
night dance at the Hawke’s Bay Racing Centre.
Our thanks go to Lily Baker for her great
organisation, and providing a changing venue and a truck for the galley. Many
thanks also to Gideon Anderson, Garry Moller and Alan Dixon for transporting the galley and the gear, and to all the Squad
members and supporters for their participation.
We have been invited to join the Hastings
Blossom Festival again this year. We declined for although we feel that we would certainly like to participate again in the
future, we don’t anticipate that it will be on an annual basis. The organisers
have indicated that we are welcome to join them as and when we can.
Christmas
Tree Party
Sunday 1 December 2002
There was the usual enthusiastic collection
of children, parents and grandparents for our annual children’s Christmas party and afternoon tea for members. The entertainment, games and food were thoroughly enjoyed by all. My thanks to all
for the excellent organisation that makes this day so successful, and especially to Father Christmas for once again including
us in his busy itinerary.
The funding for the Christmas Tree Party (and
also our picnic) comes from any profits made from the Society’s activities. You
only need to see the children’s faces when they meet Father Christmas to know that all the efforts are worthwhile.
80th
Anniversary & Christmas Dinner
Saturday 7 December 2002
Undoubtedly the highlight of our 80th
Anniversary celebrations was the combined Anniversary and Christmas Dinner held at Premier House.
The setting was just magnificent. An excellent gourmet buffet dinner once again organised by Pat Dixon supplemented the splendour of the
reception room and garden setting. The fine food, background piano music (provided
by a Shetland descendant), the speeches and the splendid setting all combined to make this an occasion that will be long remembered.
Our special thanks go to our Prime Minister
Helen Clark for her generosity is making her home available to us. Our thanks also to Margaret Smith, Premier House housekeeper
for her assistance, and also to the police for their patience at the end of the night when we did not realise that they had
anticipated a set finish time.
I would also like to record my gratitude to
the Committee, and especially to Pat for the hard work and excellent organisation in providing such a memorable evening.
Picnic
Sunday 16 February 2003
A fine day, a good turn out of members and
once again those who attended the picnic thoroughly enjoyed their day.
Congratulations to Andrew Pitt and Fiona Inkster
on winning the Gifford Tait Memorial Cup and the Robert Stout Rose Bowl respectively for the championship races. Lillian and Kenny MacKay made sure that their china cabinet in their new home in Tauranga will be full
of trophies – Lillian won “stepping the chain” and Kenny the “baling da boot”.
Our hospitality is often extended to guests
at our picnic, and this year was no exception with Kenny MacKay’s nephew Angus also taking home to Scotland a share
of the prize booty!
A special thank you to Margaret Jenkins for
once again organising the picnic races and prizes. A very successful day, ending
as usual, with a lolly scramble and barbecue.
Scandinavian
Parade
Saturday 8 March 2003
Members of our senior Viking Squad accepted
a rather late invitation to join in the 11th Scandinavian Gathering in Wellington.
As there was not enough time to organise the galley, squad members joined other Scandinavian groups in marching from
the Civic Centre to the Cenotaph.
Our squad drew many comments from both other
parade participants and from the crowd lining the streets.
I would like to thank the organisers for including
us in their celebrations. We know that it was a very successful weekend for them.
St
Patrick’s Day Parade
Friday 14 March 2003
Less than a week later, Jarl Richard
Rumbal again led a Viking Squad in the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade. Held
on Friday evening, this parade is challenging the Christmas Parade for both being spectacular and popular with the spectators.
Our thanks to Barry Doyle and the Irish Society
for both the invitation to join them as well as the “after-match” hospitality.
Special thanks also go to the Museum Hotel for providing a room for the squad to get changed in.
Film
Evening
Friday 4 April 2003
A new initiative, a new function at a different
venue and what a good result! After Gibby’s comprehensive (but very entertaining)
report in our winter newsletter there is little left for me to report on here!
However, for those who may have found the
written Shetland dialect a little difficult to understand, I will report that the evening was held at John Bell’s private
Time Cinema in Lyall Bay. He showed us a selection of old time newsreels and
cartoons, before the interval where we enjoyed a light supper and music from an old pianola. As others admired his great collection
of old cameras, film equipment, old Wellington photographs and other memorabilia,
some members were spotted hooked on the old penny-in-the-slot machines!
After the interval John showed us the feature
film “The Edge of the World” filmed in Foula in 1937. The film includes an epilogue where one of its stars, John
Laurie (of “Dad’s Army” fame) returned to Foula in the seventies to revisit the location of the original
film.
It was an excellent evening, and those that
were there really enjoyed themselves. We know that several members who missed
out then due to other commitments, would be keen to come another time. Certainly
worthy of a repeat visit.
Viking
Night
Saturday
24 May
A good representation of our Senior Viking
Squad, Committee, helpers and supporters turned out for our Viking Night where the senior squad elects the forthcoming Jarl. I have much pleasure in reporting that Andrew Clark was duly elected for 2003.
Dancing
Classes
Friday 30 May & 13 June 2003
A request was made to the Committee to provide
dancing classes before the Ball so that potential ball patrons could brush up on their dancing techniques
Somewhat reluctantly, as we no longer have
Peggy and Jim McColl with us to demonstrate the dances, we agreed and were surprised by the variety of people who joined us
at the Scots Hall on a cold, wet and windy night.
The thirty or so who attended soon warmed
up and all thought that it had been worthwhile. Most joined us again a fortnight
later (along with some new ones) in the Island Bay Presbyterian Church Hall, where we were hastily relocated after a double
booking at the Scots Hall. Our thanks go to Irene McLachlan for finding us an alternative venue, and our thanks also go to
the Island Bay Presbyterian Parish for making the hall available to us at such short notice.
It was fun, there were a lot of laughs (and
mistakes) and we met new people and made new friends. They told us that they had all enjoyed the lessons. Later, after the ball, we were assured that they had enjoyed the ball that much more for knowing the dances
that little bit better – and please could we do it again next year!
32nd
Viking Ball
Saturday
28 June 2003
When we set the date for the 2003 Ball to
be late in June we wondered whether we would attract our usual patronage. We
need not have worried as over 350 enjoyed a wonderful evening starting, as usual, with a buffet dinner and followed by continuous
dancing.
The Jarl’s procession began with piper
Gibby Inkster and five Junior Vikings leading the way for Jarl Andrew Clark and his squad. Then our Vice President Barbara
Baker welcomed the Jarl’s Ssquad members and everybody there. This was
followed by members of the Viking Squad taking their partners for the Snowball Waltz. This is the traditional start to the
dancing and usually gets nearly everybody up on the floor.
Once again Tony O’Brien of The Pines
provided the excellent dinner – thank you Tony, both for the dinner and the bar provisions. Thank you also to Tom and Christine of Highland Country, and to the band members of Dr Feelgood for their
music.
To all who help make the Ball such a success
– those who make all the decorations, those who get the hall ready, those who sell the tickets (most important) and
those hardy souls who stay behind and help take the decorations down – a huge thank you.
Another great success.
OTHER EVENTS
Celtic
Connections:
Irish-Scottish
Studies Down Under
Labour Weekend, October 2002
The Society was well represented at this conference
by our members Susan and Graham Butterworth, professional historians as well as being the authors of our publication Chips Off the Auld Rock.
Susan had been asked to present a paper on
Shetland, which she did with accompanying video footage. Not unexpectedly she
found many were unaware of Shetland’s unique Celtic and Viking heritage.
NZ
Tartan Launch
Wednesday 26 February 2003
Earlier this year I was invited, along with
our Vice President Barbara Baker, to a reception at the Beehive to mark the official launch of the New Zealand Tartan in association
with the Piping and Dancing Association of NZ. We were also fortunate to have further representation there, in that Margaret
Jenkins was invited in her capacity as Secretary of the Association of Scots Societies in Wellington.
The tartan, which was designed to incorporate
elements of both earth and sky, was launched by our Prime Minister, Helen Clark who had been in Shetland only a couple of
months earlier. The Speaker of the House, Jonathon Hunt and also well-known writer
and British Parliamentarian, Austin Mitchell had accompanied her to Shetland. It
would be interesting to hear how they found their Shetland experiences!
PUBLICITY
We have enjoyed excellent publicity with especially
good media coverage from our participation in the Hastings Blossom Festival. Our
involvement in the Scandinavian and Irish parades was also reported by the media. Coupled
with our representation at events such as the Celtic Connections Conference and the launch of the New Zealand Tartan, we are
achieving our goal of increasing public awareness of our Shetland heritage.
We believe that that more and more of the
general public have come to appreciate that an understanding of the cultural diversity that we are part of benefits the whole
community.
Internet Web Site
Our thanks go to Ian Laurenson for continuing
to look after our web site which is continuing to record visits from all over the world. Maintaining a web site is a responsible
and onerous task to make sure that it is up to date and that the information is still relevant.
Our web site can be accessed through any major
search engine. Google is easy (www.google.co.nz) and search using Wellington Shetland Society. Then bookmark it into your
favourites!
PUBLICATIONS
Chips Off the Auld Rock
Copies of our publication are still selling
steadily. Extra sales were achieved by a mail out to selected members of the
Genealogical Society. Our thanks go to Gideon Anderson for his initiative and
work in achieving this.
We are also receiving enquiries and sales
through the internet, where people have found our website and want to purchase a copy.
As yet we are not able to accept credit cards, but payment can be made through internet banking in New Zealand.
Copies are available from the Society, Box
14-708, Wellington at a cost of $39.95 + $3.00 postage and packing.
Newsletter
This year we have issued three newsletters,
Spring 2002, March 2003 and Winter 2003. Ian Laurenson resigned as editor after
the March 2003 edition, and Mary Wood took over as editor as from the Winter 2003 edition.
We believe that the newsletter is of utmost
importance in maintaining contact with our members, especially those who live some distance out of Wellington. It therefore
follows that the position of editor is also of utmost importance and critical to the future of the Society.
To Ian I would like to extend my sincere and
heartfelt appreciation of the tremendous contribution he has made to our newsletters.
They have been interesting and informative, and Ian introduced a new focus
presenting material designed to appeal to younger readers as well as finding original material on Shetland and its neighbours. A real pleasure to receive and read.
I would also like to express my thanks to
Mary Wood who has agreed to take over as editor of the newsletter. The Winter 2003 newsletter continued with the high standard
of content and presentation and I am confident that we will all continue to look forward eagerly to future issues.
Over the year we have received many appreciative
comments – and as is usual, many express their appreciation but seldom directly to the person(s) responsible.
Thank you Ian and Mary.
VISITORS
Shetland
Tour 2004
Very sadly I have to report that the proposed
tour from Shetland scheduled for February/March 2004 has been cancelled. There
were several factors preventing people from travelling, including amongst them concerns over SARS and the war in Iraq.
MEMBERSHIP
Marriage
Our congratulations to Marie MacKay and Marc
Warner on their marriage in February 2003. Marc also has a Shetland heritage
which he was keen to explore on their recent family holiday to Shetland, Scotland and England.
Accompanied by their children Shane, Mathew and Rachael it was a memorable holiday for them all, but not long enough
in Shetland. And say so all of us!
New
Pastures
It is always a sad moment when friends and
family decided to move away and make their home elsewhere. It is especially hard when it is to the other end of New Zealand,
or in the case of Ann Niven, to the other side of the world.
We farewelled Ann in May 2003 as she decided
to return to Shetland and make her home there after 37 years in Wellington. Ann has always been a staunch and loyal supporter
of the Society and we wish her well. Her knowledge of Shetlanders both in Shetland and here in New Zealand is amazing, and
we look forward to continuing news direct from Shetland.
Within New Zealand Tony and Frances Cook have
moved their family to Invercargill, and following their move south, Rhinda Burke decided to move to Auckland to be closer
to her daughter. Joy and Ewan Henderson and their family have also moved to Auckland, and Lillian and Kenny MacKay are about
to make their move to their new home in Tauranga.
We wish them well in their new homes and are
pleased that they all want to keep in touch.
Obituaries
It is always a sad moment for me to have to
record the passing of members each year in our Annual Report. Inevitably there
are some that we only hear about some time after their death, and this happened with the passing of Gordon Peace last year. Gordon had been a member of the original Viking Squad and was active in the Society
for many years.
In August 2002 we mourned the loss of John
Inkster, a remarkable character as well as a notable seafarer. For years he was
the remaining link with the Island Bay fishing community which so many Shetlanders had been part of. His knowledge of fishing
will be sorely missed, as will his entertaining stories and great sense of humour.
There is nothing more heartbreaking than the
loss of a child, and in November 2002 we were extremely sad to learn that little Zac Jenkins had died. Youngest son of Bruce
and Mary Jenkins, and grandson of Margaret, baby Zac’s battle for life from birth had given them many anxious moments,
but nothing can prepare you for when it is finally over.
Then a month later we received news of the
passing of one of the Society’s Life Members, Doug Laurenson. He had held various offices and served on the Committee
in the late twenties and early thirties. A great supporter of the Society, Doug continued to take a great interest in the
Society until shortly before his death.
The Society also lost another great supporter
when Jean Neville passed away recently in June. Although Jean
had been unwell for some months her death
came as a great shock to her family and friends. Jean had worked very hard for
the Society, serving on the Committee for many years, and could always be relied on for support
News of the death of Ken Nelson of the Otago
Shetland Society also saddened us. The Nelson family has played a key role in
the Otago Society, and we know he will be sorely missed.
To all the families who have lost loved ones
during the year we extend our sincere condolences.
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE & OFFICERS
The following were elected at the Annual General
Meeting held on Sunday 15 September 2002
Patron
John Smith
President Jim
Coutts
Vice President Barbara Baker
Secretary Margaret
Jenkins
Treasurer Rose
Coutts
Committee
Gideon Anderson, Margaret Anderson, Pat Dixon,
Jane Dowson, Eunice Hill, Margaret Pitt and Ross Mainland. Mary Christie as Immediate Past President also served on the Committee.
Hon Solicitor Ian Laurenson
Hon Auditor Marc Warner
Margaret Anderson resigned from the Committee
in August 2003, and Eunice Hill in September of this year. Both Margaret and
Eunice brought new perspectives to the Committee and I would like to thank them and all the Committee for their hard work
and contribution during the year.
KINDRED SOCIETIES
Shetland Family History Group
I hope to further our contacts with the Shetland
Family History Group when Rose and I visit Shetland in January 2004. As many of you know, I have been privileged to be asked
to be part of the Jarl’s Squad for Up Helly Aa.
Shetland
Societies in NZ
Besides the trip to Hastings last September,
we have also enjoyed the company and support from members of the Manawatu Shetland Society at our Ball.
The contacts and friendships we make are important
in maintaining the awareness of a Shetland community in New Zealand. We know
that the Otago Shetland Society were requesting confirmation from its members that the society should continue. We sincerely hope that it does.
Association
of Scots Societies
Once again my sincere thanks to Margaret Jenkins
for her continued representation on the Association and for her very valuable contribution to it as Secretary/Treasurer
CONCLUSION
Without new migration bringing in new members
and ideas to the Society, we must look to the generations present in New Zealand
with a Shetland heritage. There is no doubt that there are many out there, keen to explore their roots, seeking to learn about
their family history and background.
With the enormous growth in technology, genealogical
research is becoming more and more accessible. As a Society we have unprocessed
data that could be invaluable to those that are keen to research their roots.
This is only one area that the Society could
explore for the future. There are many others, such as education, travel and
oral history as well as continuing with the opportunity for friendship and a sharing of a common Shetland heritage. The future
is there, it’s what we make of it that counts.
