HBCRSA March Monthly Newsletter

The search for a sustainable future Update from President David Newman

My thanks for those who took the time to attend the Extraordinary General Meeting to air their views on the Future Options Report or suggest new ideas of their own.

The 112 members who attended were asked to list the three options in preferential order – stay and change the way we operate, sell and look for a new location or amalgamate with another club.

There were more than 100 first preference votes to stay and change the way we work with 70 voters choosing sell as their first or second option, and 61 to amalgamate.

A sub committee was formed to work out how to go forward with a new operational plan to guarantee profitability. It will be presented to the members at a second EGM, to be called within the next three months.

As president of the club, I welcome ideas towards; Staying, Selling or Amalgamating. You are welcome to submit ideas ‘in hard written copy’ ie written form, left at Reception for the Ex Committee. An online form will be available, advertised in newsletter.

But remember, it is you the membership, who shall decide, by voting at the next EGM; whether to Stay, Sell or Amalgamate.

I have made my own view well known to members, making a profit is what it is all about. For me, we simply must become more commercially focused and have high visibility to passing traffic and trade, while preserving the services we now offer our Returned and Services members. All as stated in our Constitution.

Returned and Services members have separate and exclusive support from our Support Officer, through the Poppy Foundation and Anzac Day collections.

But stay, sell or amalgamate is an active, contentious and diverse issue, and I urge all members to become involved and think about the future.

We, the current “Full and Associate members”, are mere custodians of our assets, as long as we remain ‘open and trading’, which is what we all want to occur.

If not, then my understanding is that all funds end up back with Royal New Zealand RSA, in

Wellington.

Also many of our associate members, are the sons and daughters of those who have served, and the club is a centre point for them and their families, to remember their parents service.

As promised, within three months your committee will call another EGM to ratify what and where, we are going with your direction. I say again, we have to make profit or ultimately we will be forced to close.

Our bank held funds will not last for ever. We reported possibly ‘five to eight years’ of losses left, before our bank deposits run out, if we do not act now.

Currently we have cash in the bank, but we can invest that into something right now for the future, before it is all gone. Once gone, they ‘the funds’, are gone forever.

On a lighter note, Wednesday night raffles are continuing in a very positive manner and the Members Draw was not won last Wednesday, so get along and welcome in March……… maybe as a winner.

David Newman President

HBC RSA Future Suggestions/Proposals

If you have an idea or proposal you would like the Executive Committee to investigate as part of the future of the HBC RSA, please submit this in writing (forms available at reception), or online using this form:

https://www.hbcrsa.org.nz/future-suggestion-proposal/

FRIDAY’S BACK

Please Note that the adverts that appear throughout our Newsletters are for marketing purposes and enable the HBCRSA to raise funds.

The HBCRSA Function Room is perfect for holding small, medium and large events of up to 120 people.

We can host birthday parties, celebrations, weddings, conferences tournaments, business meetings and more.

Our events team, led by Vini, are absolutely dedicated to delivering a high level of service and event for every occasion.

Staff Contact Details

Got something to say or complain about Vini Rangihaeata-Stockman is Club Manager and looks after all club operations, which includes functions, events and activities, restaurant and bar operations and lots more. 021 0889 6795

Vini is available Monday-Friday 9.30am-5.30pm

Cherie Bennett is a Duty Manager with a special focus on training and mentoring new team members.

For Welfare services offered by the club to its members

Contact Sharon Edwards 022 069 5703

Sharon is available

Monday Tuesday and Thursday 10.30-4.30

Wednesday 9-5pm

Memberships are looked after by:

Liz Dombroski and Sharon Edwards 09 424 9026

Liz is available: Thursday 9-5pm and Friday 9.30-5pm

Kay Evison looks after club reports, the newsletter and promotions 09 424 9026

Kay is available Monday-Wednesday 9.30-4pm

Cornelius du Plessis looks after administration and accounts 09 424 9026

Please remember - only Vini is a full time employee. The rest of us are part-timers as are our magnificent bar staffers.

Shuttle bus available for pick-up from 13 March

Our shuttle bus is now available for pick-ups from Wednesday13 March for

Members Club Night

(Bookings close 5pm Tuesday’s)

It is also now available For Hire

Opportunity to Become a Sponsor at the Club

Are you a business owner on the Hibiscus Coast?

Here is an opportunity to get your targeted message across to your fellow members for just a little cost per month.

Mini Bus

A sign on the RSA bus is a great chance to spread your message throughout the districtliterally a moveable feast of promotion.There are limited spaces available and the major side panels have already been booked.

There are three panels available on each side of the bus. 35cm x 47cm deep. $600 a year each. Two panels one each side $1020 per year.

There is a panel on the front and back of the bus 200cm by 48cm deep.

Front and Back of Bus SORRY SOLD

Twelve month’s term only.

TV Screen Advertising

Take advantage of the RSA TV advertising, we have seven TV screens around the club, which is a great opportunity to advertise six days a week at the best time when people are relaxing and more likely to see your advert. $30 per month.

Billboards

We have opened three opportunities to have a double sided billboard between level one and two of the carpark. A great place to get your message across as members arrive and leave the club. Remember members like to support members $80 per month. Limited spaces available.

Newsletters

An advertisement in every issue for a month in the weekly newsletter which goes out every Monday and is keenly read by members to find out what’s going on in the club this week and catch

latest news. Options of quarter, half and full page advertising space available.

Club activities

Tuesday

Bar opens 12-6.30pm Bar Snacks available

Indoor Bowls:

12.45pm Names in by 12.30pm

Bob 027 339 9683 or Merlyn 09 424 8330

Line Dancing:

Beginner & Intermediate 5pm

Thursday Bar opens 3pm Restaurant 5-7pm

FLexercise: 9.30-10.30am Jennie 027 280 8165

Indoor Bowls:12.45pm Names in by12.30pm

Bob 027 339 9683 or Merlyn 09 424 8330

Fortnightly Bingo: 7pm Nikki 09 424 9026

Fortnightly Quiz Night from 5.30pm

Happy Hour: 5-6.30pm

Snooker Club: 7pm John Walding 09 426 3742

Saturday Bar opens 12pm Restaurant Open for Lunch 12-7.30pm

Pool: Starts 1pm names in by 12.45pm

Bronni 0211347029

Wednesday Bar opens 12pm Restaurant 5-8pm

Bingo: Starts 1pm Kay 09 424 9026

Raffle Draw: 5pm Members Draw: 6-7pm

Pool: Starts 7pm (names in by 6.45pm)

Friday Bar opens 3pm Restaurant 5-7.30pm

Happy Hour: 5-6.30pm

Raffles and Fun & Games: from 5.30pm

Steak Egg and Chips Night $22

Sunday Bar opens: 3pm Restaurant 4-7pm

Club’s contact details

Womens Section

Beth Kavanagh 09 426 6026 or 027 482 0610

Kay Chilman 021 176 0362

Meets first Tuesday every month 12 noon

Welfare

Do you have mobility issues or have a Gold Card and are needing a little assistance in getting to and from medical appointments on the Peninsula, Orewa, Hatfields, Silverdale or Millwater? We may be able to help you no matter what type of member you are. We offer a driving service to take our members to and from health appointments when members are unable to assist themselves, for any reason. No distance is too small.

Contact Sharon on 424 9026 or 022 069 5703 or email: welfare@hbcrsa.org.nz

Snooker Club

John Walding 09 426 3742

Meets Thursday 6.45pm

8 Ball Club

Bronni 0211347029

Meets Wednesday 6.45pm Saturday 1pm

Indoor Bowling

Bob Hill 027 339 9683 and Merlyn 09 424 8330

Meets Tuesday & Thursday 12.45pm

Golf Club

Art Clarke 027 687 7331

Fishing Club

John Perris 021 287 3975

Mark Harris 027 644 9122

Meets 2nd Tuesday of the month

KEV 60’s Up

Frank Townley 09 424 3026

Gloria Marsh 027 386 2339

Meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month

Naval Club

Vince Sturmey 09 428 5222

Meets 3rd Sunday of the month 3pm

Club reports

Golf Club

Sunday, 19 February was a hot, humid day at Wellsford golf course, making it a challenging walk for those who weren’t in carts. The fairways were dry and running, the course was in good condition and the greens were great. Nineteen golfers turned up to compete for the Jacket.

The longest drives were won by Dyan Baird and Craig Burgess. The nearest the pin in two was won by Dyan Baird and Craig Edwards. The nearest the pin in one, was won by Atholl Freel and Debbie Wylde. Well done to these big hitters and sharp shooters.

Low gross was won by Dave Bolton with his score of 80 - great game Dave. The NAGA for the day was Dyan Baird - despite her long drive and close to the pin shots. The best Stableford score was won by Paul Thompson with 39 points. The winner of the Jacket, with a net score of 68, was John Gillespie. Well done to these top golfers.

The Stableford raffle was won by Craig Edward with his guess of 601 - closest to the actual total score of 607. This was an average of 33.7 - the highest in a while.

The group enjoyed a cold beverage and food provided by the caterer afterwards.

The next tournament is on 17 March at Whangaparaoa Golf Course. This is St Patrick’s day so wearing green is optional. This tournament is the annual Rum for Fun event where HBCRSA plays against the golf course members. Birkenhead RSA members are

Women’s Section

The Women’s Division hosted the Purple Poppy day on 17 February and this was a resounding success. There was a large attendance and everyone enjoyed their time. The money raised will go towards supporting service animals.

The next meeting will be on 5 March where we will celebrate the end of summer. Please wear a sunhat, we will enjoy ice creams, and will be

also joining in. Dyan and Janet are organising this tournament so it is very important that HBCRSA golfers sign up as soon as possible as tees have to be booked. Tee times will be allotted between 9.30 and 11am.

If you have committed on the sheet to playing but are unable to play close to the date, please text Dyan Baird 0277486303. (Tex and Debbie are away).

More information will be sent out in the next two weeks about this event.

The following month will be at South Head for our annual Colour Memorial tournament on 21 April at 10.30am.

https://www.hbcrsa.org.nz/ RSA Golf Committe

entertained by Roger Skinner. A reminder that items for the sales table are welcomed.

There will be the usual raffles and a lovely afternoon tea. We look forward to seeing all of our members and any visitors on that day.

Jennie Champion Secretary

November Jacket winner Debbie Wylde

Jacket winner John Gillespie

8 Ball

Eight ball has now moved from a Tuesday night to Wednesday night starting at 7pm. Names are to be on the board by 6:45 pm.

Saturday 8 ball now starts at 1pm. Names are to be on the board by 12:45pm.

If you would like to play 8 Ball, come along, and join in the fun, we have 4 x 7ft tables, we play either Singles or Drawn Pairs depending on numbers, and can play up to eight games per night. If you wish to join the 8 Ball club it is $20 per year, and you need to be an existing HBC Community RSA member. The cost for the afternoon or evening is $5 per person. Anyone from the RSA can participate in the 8 Ball games. To be eligible to play in the competitions you need to be an 8 Ball club member and should have played at least twice between tournaments. New members are very welcome.

Our first tournament for the year was on 10 February, it was for the Donovan Cup for Drawn Mixed pairs, first place went to Bronwyn Van der

Snooker

Finally, the last match for the Snooker Handicap Singles has been played. Congratulations to Kayden Chen who became the champion after beating Dale Rowley four frames to two. Kayden also won the cup for the biggest break in the singles competition with a break of 36.

A special welcome to three new snooker players from Birkenhead RSA. They have joined our RSA as well as our Snooker Club.

Donovan Cup wnners Bronwyn & Derrick

Linden and Derrick Betty and runners up were

Angela Hillman and Toby Tobeck.

Angela

Last Thursday we had 20 players on our club night, and while that makes for shorter games, it is great to see more people using the RSA facilities.

More players are always welcome but remember that our new starting time every Thursday is 6.45pm.

John Walding Club Captain

Welcome to our New Members in the month of February

Mr Colin Turner

Mrs Karen Turner

Mr Grant Johnston

Mrs Louise Johnston

Mr Mark Lowans

Mrs Elizabeth Lowans

Mr Douglas Kitchen

Mr John Punshon

Mr Eric Punshon

Mr Daniel Turdeich

Mrs Marilyn Ward

Mr Robert Aspden

Mrs Anne Aspden

Mr Garth Woollams

Ms Julie Phillips

Mr Graeme Pearson

Miss Nicola Lafferty

Mr Glen Smith

Mrs Chyrel Freel

Mr Malcolm Sutton

Mrs Julie Lane

Mr Roger Hickling

Mr Austyn Reading

We continue to have good numbers attending indoor bowls on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon topping the afternoon off with a cold drink from the bar.

There is always room for more players and extra mats to be put out as required so if you want to join us you are welcome to just turn up by 12.30pm and make yourself known or contact the Club Captain Bob Hill (027 339 9683) for more information.

A reminder to bowlers there will be no play on 5 March as women’s section use the rooms first Tuesday of the month.

The Indoor Bowls AGM is to be prior to play on Thursday 7 March at 12 noon. The board is out each bowls day for names to be put up for

Fishing Club

There were two trips in February. The first trip was with “regulars” on 12 February and having not fished since late November we were all pretty keen and arrived early as the skipper needed to be back at the marina by 2.45pm as the boat was being hauled out for a clean.

As the fishing had been slow, we went out wide but there were no birds working and although the tides were in our favour the larger fish were difficult to come by. There were plenty of hungry undersized fish but even with a number of shifts we couldn’t get on to a decent batch and ended up with only 18 snapper to share by the end of the day.

committee and it would be great to see some new blood.

Remember if you only intend playing two of the three games on any day, please make the committee aware before the draw is done. Meanwhile enjoy the beautiful weather we are having between bowling days.

Merlyn Jacob Secretary

Two little old ladies were attending a rather long church service, one leaned over and whispered, “my butt is going to sleep”.

“I know” replied her companion “I heard it snore three times”.

The second trip was on 26 February and the day broke with lots of cloud cover and constant drizzle. We went wide but could not get the fish to bite so came back in around Tiri Island.

Unfortunately, the result was the same and so we upped anchor early and came home to share just one or two fish each. It seems the weather pattern has changed and there seems little point in commencing our fishing in February.

John Perris Club Captain

Hilarious!!

Saturday 6th April 7-10.30pm $15pp

Tickets from Bar

Comedy Hypnosis Show with Haiming Jiang for a great night of Fun and Laughter

“Olwyn Whitehouse” The Old Flag

Our southern sky of blue, And a little old flag in the corner That’s part of our heritage, too.

It’s for the English, the Scots and the Irish Who were sent to the ends of the earth, The rogues and the schemers, The doers and dreamers

Who gave modern New Zealand birth. And you, who are shouting to change it, You don’t seem to understand, It’s the flag of our law and our language, Not the flag of a faraway land. It doesn’t mean we owe allegiance; To some forgotten imperial dream; We’ve the stars to show where we’re going, And the old flag to show where we’ve been.

Shared

by

Michael A Lampard

LIBRARY ROOM

Remember that we have a good little library next to the pool room.

There is no time limit for borowing books. Just treat them well.

Thank you to those members who have donated books.

8 BALL CLUB

Please note that the pool club will now be held on a Wednesday night NOT Tuesday 6.45pm for 7pm start

Everyone Welcome

“What’s Coming Up”

FORTNIGHTLY

7th & 21st Mar/4th April

FORTNIGHTLY

14th & 2th Mar/11th April