A blooming good 50 years for gardening club

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A long-standing local club gathered together recently to celebrate decades of membership and shared interest of flowers and fauna.

Mangawhai Garden Club (MGC) honored their 50th anniversary with a traditional High Tea served on fine china, at Mangawhai Club on September 9. As well as current members, who reside all over Kaipara from Langs Beach, Waipu, Topuni, Kaiwaka and Mangawhai, 30 former members, some travelling from as far away as Tauranga and Hawkes Bay, also attended the celebration.

MGC president Rosemary Browne, who led the proceedings, said she was very happy with the anniversary festivities and the success of the club itself.

“We have a lot of extremely enthusiastic members who love doing the things we do which makes the club so enjoyable,” she says. “I also want to thank local businesses who gifted items for the raffles and the Mangawhai Club for the use of their facilities.”

Mangawhai Gardening Club sprouted in Kaiwaka in 1966 as a small group of keen gardeners. In the early days, activities focused more on floral and vegetable art due to the original members being primarily farmer’s wives who had extensive gardens.

The club has blossomed over the years to more than 30 members and these days the group are more likely to be seen venturing around the countryside, visiting privately-owned gardens from as far afield as Whangarei, Omaha to West Auckland, as well as public grounds like Auckland Domain’s Botanical Gardens.

“Not a lot has changed though… we still have floral and vegetable art competitions at our monthly meetings at the Anglican Church and have demonstrations on floral arrangements,” Browne says. “We’ve gone through some lulls with members moving away but at the moment we have a waiting list of people who would like to join us… we’re on a roll.”

1: Still growing strong after 50 years.

2: Club President Rosemary Browne (left) plays tribute to Lorraine Lusty, long-standing member and retired treasurer who dedicated many years to making club members birthday posies from blooms out of her own garden.

3: Enthusiastic members of the Planning Committee for the 50th anniversary.

4: Gardening Club founding members Lorraine Lusty, Wendy Cameron and Mary Wightman.

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