1960
.
.
. |
Local hams decide to form Club. |
| Inauguration 30.11.1960 |
The Inaugural meeting of the Papakura Radio Club was
held at Mr.H.B Passau's building at 8.00 pm on November 30th. 1960.
The meeting was opened by the then national President
of New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters, (N.Z.A.R.T.), Gordon
McB. Salt. After a short address by the President, he called for nominations
for Officers of the proposed Club. |
| Committee: |
The following are the foundation officers
elected, and members present.
| President |
Hilton
|
McFarlane |
ZL1AKW |
| Secretary |
Geof
|
Reed |
ZLlAKY |
| Committee |
Merv.
|
Passau |
ZLIAKX |
|
Brian
|
Egan |
ZL1LE |
|
John
|
Cox |
ZLIAJX |
|
Ron
|
Sykes |
ZL1AHO |
|
Grant
|
Hartnell |
(Non Tx member) |
|
| Club Members: |
Other members present at this meeting were:
|
J.H.W.
|
Chamberlain |
ZLIUM |
............. |
|
S.
|
Davis |
|
|
|
M.
|
Franke |
|
|
|
V.J.
|
Grant |
|
|
|
C.
|
Hunt |
|
|
|
W.J.
|
Johnson |
ZL1ASB |
|
|
C.M.
|
Reed |
ZLIALK |
|
|
K.
|
Richardson |
|
|
|
A.
|
Thorley |
|
|
|
N.G.
|
Warren |
|
|
|
| Subscriptions: |
These were set at 10 shillings for full members, and
five shillings for primary and secondary school pupils not holding transmitting
licence. |
| Meetings: |
A decision was made to hold meetings on the second Wednesday
of each month, commencing at 7.30 pm. |
| Official Function: |
An official function to celebrate the founding of the
new Papakura Radio Club was held in the Manchester Unity Hall (now renamed
"Papakura Senior Citizens' Hall") on ebruary 8th.,1961.
His Worship the Mayor of Papakura, Mr. I.C. Mack opened
the meeting and wished the Branch every success in the future.
In the absence of the National President of N.Z.A.R.T.,
Mr. J Freeman, the Immediate Past President welcomed the new branch to
the Association.
Other speakers were Mr. A. Allen, M.P. for Franklin, and
the Head Master of Papakura High School, Mr. A.J Campbell, who congratulated
those members of the branch who had conducted the very successful night
classes at the school in the previous year. Mr. Campbell offered
to place the full facilities of the High School at the Club's disposal
for the Radio Theory classes to be held during 1961.
The President of the Franklin Branch, N.Z.A.R.T., Mr.
B.F. Barnard, presented the fledgling branch with a Gavel as a reminder
of the happy associations enjoyed by those who had previously belonged
to the Franklin Branch, and which now had assisted in the formation of
the Papakura Branch.
|
| Radio Classes: |
Prior to, and ever since, the inception of the Papakura
Radio Club, classes in radio Theory and Morse have been held on a regular
basis. These classes are still being held (now in the clubrooms) to help
candidates through their Amateur Radio Opera-tor examinations. Many of
the present members of the Club owe their success to the more knowledgeable
members who have given so much of their time to coaching students. The
high examination pass rate speaks well for this section of the Club's activities. |
| Meeting locations: |
Except for the official function held in the Manchester
Unity Hall on February 8th 1961, monthly meetings were held In Mr. M. Passau's
building until October 3rd 1962, on which date the meetings were moved
to the Girl Guides' Hall. This hall was made available subsequent
to the help in its erection given by members of the Papakura Radio Club.
The rninutes of the Committee meeting held on April 1st 1962 include a
proposal to provide and install the electrical wiring. The minutes
of the Club's monthly meeting, held on June 6th., 1962, mention
arrangements for the use of the GIrl Guides' Hall, those
of the meeting of August 1st 1962 mention agreement to use,
and arrangements to complete the wiring. At the meeting held
on October 3rd 1962, Mr. M. Passau reported that the cost of wiring
the Girl Guides' Hall was under Seventeen Pounds, and it was moved that
letters of thanks be sent to the electricians who had donated materials. |
| Clubrooms: |
In 1972 movement was afoot to provide the Radio Club
with its own premises. In the first branch circular for 1973, it was announced
by Mr. Roy Needham, ZL1XG, that a site had been granted by the Papakura
City Council on their land at the end of Wood St. for the Club Roorns.
Finance having been assured by club members, and a floor plan approved
by the Committee, it only awaited the Club's official approval of the project
before the detailed plans were submitted to the appropriate authority. |
| Building starts: |
On Saturday, September 1st 1973, the concrete floor
and footings were poured. The new clubrooms were first
used on March 15th 1974. Extensions to the Clubrooms were proposed
in 1978, and were built using voluntary labour from the members. These
extensions were completed in 1979.
Since their completion, the clubrooms have been used for
a wide variety of activities: an Art Group, a Yoga class, the Garden
Club, dancing groups, a Maori social club, Camera club,
and for many varied social and business purposes.
The Club has received grants from the Sport and Recreation
Fund on three occasions: the first grant was to assist in the building
of the original clubrooms, the second helped in building the extensions
to the clubrooms, and the most recent was a grant toward the purchase of
60 new comfortable padded chairs. |
| AREC Section: |
Amateur Radio Emergency Corns (A.R.E.C.).
At the monthly meeting of the Club held on September
13th 1961, the Club President, Hilton McFarlane, ZL1AKW, asked for a show
of hands of those interested in forming an A.R.E.C. Sec-tion. At
the monthly meeting on October 11th 1961, notice was given that a meeting
would be held in the Clubrooms on Tuesday October 17th to form an A.R.E.C.
section. Present at this meeting were ZL1AKW, ZL1AHO,
ZL1AWQ and ZL1AKX; apologies were received from ZL1AWN and ZL1AVU.
It was resolved that Council of N.Z.A.R.T. be approached
for permission to form a Section at Papakura, and
at 7.30 PM. on December 20th 1961 the first I official
meeting of the newly constituted A.R.E.C. Section was held at M.
Passau' s Buildings.
The following officers were elected:
Section Leader:
ZL1AKW
Deputy Section Leader: ZL1AHO
Section Secretary:
ZLIAKX
Also present were: ZLIAWQ, ZL1AXV, ZL1ADU and Errol
Davis.
Since the A.R.E.C. section was formed, there have been
annual practice sessions involving members in simulated Civil Defence communications
exercises, and Search and Rescue exercises held in conjunction with the
Police and Tramping clubs.
Over the years the Club's A.R.E.C. section has cooperated
with the organisers of St. John Ambulance, various car rail les,
the local "Run-for-Fun", cycle racing, and the "Iron Man compe-tition.
More serious activities for the A.R.E.C. section
have in-cluded assisting in many searches for lost trampers, Girl
Guides, and aircraft; more recently members rendered assistance
during the floods at Te Aroha and the Post Office link to Whangarei. |
| Finale: |
From this original group of 17 enthusiasts, the club
has continued to grow, now boasting a membership of 85; the roll includes
15 lady members, or whom 11 are licensed amateurs. As a result our
club is the N.Z.A.R.T. branch with the highest propor-tion of lady members.
As with any club which caters for a wide range of interests,
the ages of our members range from the youngest at 14, to ? (I can't get
any of the REAL oldies to admit their age!)
to be continued ....... |
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