Our December 2023 meeting was a blast – literally! We enjoyed listening to local historian Lisa Truttman, who shared with us the story of the H.&W. Fowler factory explosion in 1966. This was one of the most dramatic events in Auckland’s industrial history, as the metalworks factory in Rosebank erupted Read more…
The December newsletter has an account of Nina Kitson’s talk on being New Zealand’s first female undercover officer. It is a gripping tale of deception, intrigue and nerve-wracking incidents where she came perilously close to being uncovered as a police plant. The newsletter has reports on the coffee morning at Read more…
During 2023, we have had an incredible run of outstanding speakers for our meetings in the New Lynn Friendship Hall. Probably the most highly credential of those speakers was Dr Paul Buchanan, who spoke at the October meeting. Dr Paul Buchanan served in the Clinton Administration as a Regional Policy Read more…
Back in August 2022, Senior Sergeant Bob Barrett (retired) gave a riveting presentation on his early years in the New Zealand Police. There were tales about notorious criminal Puru Anderson and Colin James Lucas who had a long history of offending. In September 2023, Bob Barrett returned to talk about Read more…
Charles Nicholls wife Helen made two nice cakes which Charles brought along to the August Meeting. One was a birthday cake for Bill Mutch and the other a birthday cake for Neil Castle. We had a number of women at the meeting because the guest speaker, Elin Noyer from Harbour Read more…
In this issue, we have a special feature on Murray Parker’s trip to Antarctica in 1973. Murray travelled down to Scott Base on the USCGC Glacier and returned on an LC-130 Hercules. He shared amazing photos and stories of his adventure with us at our last meeting. You don’t want Read more…
At our June 2023 monthly meeting, we were honoured to have Prof David Gerrard as our guest speaker. Prof Gerrard is not only a distinguished medical doctor and academic, but also a former Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimmer who has served in various roles for the NZ Olympic team. He Read more…
In his President’s Report for the June newsletter, Bill Mutch said that Richard Blakeborough from Independent Living Charitable Trust, who was the guest speaker at the May meeting, had an amazing number of products, knew his subject well, and even added some humour. The Whisper AI transcript of Richard Blakeborough’s Read more…
It is unusual for a coffee morning to be the standout article in the newsletter, but in this issue, the coffee morning at Selwyn Village takes centre stage. What was special about this coffee morning was that Kathy Fitchett and her team put on a free morning tea for our Read more…
Neil Castle despite being in his nineties, delivered another exuberant talk at the March 2023 meeting of the club, this one about his gold fossicking sojourns to the South Island. He brought along his homemade sluice box, his shovel modified with welds down the sides and vials containing gold flakes. Read more…