Snippets from the archives of Stratford Plunket
Plunket was formed in New Zealand by Sir Truby King in Dunedin on May 14, 1907 and first started in Taranaki in Hawera in April 1913.
In August 1914, the Stratford branch was formed firstly as a sub branch of Hawera.
Stratford became its own separate branch, with Eltham becoming a sub branch of Stratford in 1921. Eltham became their own branch in 1949. Whangamomona was also a sub branch in the 1940s, until 1950, when infant welfare was taken over by the Whangamomona Health Board Nurse who had special Plunket training. Country committees were also in Toko/Huinga, Douglas and Midhirst and Cardiff and representatives from all the areas including Wharehuia, Tuna, Mahoe, Kupe, Tariki, Ratapiko, Te Popo, Bird Road and Monmouth Road were appointed to the branch over the years.
Activities over the years included:
1920s - Flower sales, fancy dress dances, gramaphone recital, Plunket Flower Show, mannequin parade, sewing circle
1930s - Garden Fetes, street stalls, mah jong afternoons, the annual Plunket Ball, bridge parties, a Plunket tent at the A&P; Show, an Annual Plunket Art Union, Baby Queen Carnival
1940s - Sewing and produce stalls, garden party, Karitane product sales
1950s - Bottle drives, used clothes sales
1960s - Baby photo contest, shop days
1970s - Mrs Stratford Contest, disco dances, cake stalls
1980s - Catering, Bride of the Year, sale of recipe books, raffles
1990s - Father of the Year, garden safaris, meals on wheels, catering
2000s - Baby Photo Contests
Plunket has always had an advisory board usually made up of businessmen in the community to advise the ladies on the Plunket Committee on any important matters particularly of a financial nature.
From the 1928 Annual Report:
"The Rev J MacGregor advised that he had been on the Stratford Plunket's Advisory Board since he came to Stratford, but the small amount of work the board was called upon to do suggested to him that the ladies themselves were quite capable of managing the affairs of the society."
From the 1934 Stratford Plunket Annual Report:
"Of the 140 new baby cases, 130 were wholly or partially breastfed, this being a very satisfactory feature. It certainly proves that the mothers are ore and more realising their responsibilities and that natural feeding is baby's birthright."
From the 1938 Stratford Plunket Annual Report:
"Mothercraft lectures were given to the St Mary's School girls during the year, all girls passing their examination well
From the 1939 Stratford Plunket Annual Report:
"The dummy is used far too frequently for the babies to be healthy and free from colds. If the mother would only stop and think what it means; after all she is laying the foundation for a little life, and it does not pay to treat this too lightly. It is a well-known fact that there are less dummies the further south you go. I mentioned this to a mother who answered very quickly " I know why, because there are more Scotch people down there". Oh, that there were a few more in Taranaki for the sake of the babies! What a splendid idea it would be if the Government were to put a heavy tax on the dummy."
The local branches paid the expense of babies from the district to go to the Wanganui Stewart Karitane Hospital and the numbers were reported each year. Annual donations were also given to help keep this hospital running.
The Annual Street Day in 1948 raised 135 pounds "A most gratifying result"
A new car was purchased in 1948 for 570 pounds. The trade in on the old car was 300 pounds.
Nurses during the 1930s and 1940s: Hooper, Mason, Rogerson, Boyd, Managh, Smith, Roach, Herbert, Miss Appellby.
From the 1944 Stratford Plunket Annual Report:
"The most common childhood illnesses reported during the year have been summer sickness which was very prevalent, the usual colds and measles and whooping cough and a few cases of meningitis and infantile paralysis. The Immunisation treatment for diptheria being carried out at the schools by the Health Department is meeting fairly good response from parents but could be better".
Nurses during the 1950s 1960s: Miss Barnett, Sister Dean, Miss Stringer, Miss Dobson, Miss Stewart, Nurse Hunt, A Kennedy, Margaret Sinclair.
From the 1950 Stratford Plunket Annual Report "A record sum of 199 pounds was collected at the annual street appeal but 38 pounds had to be expended to enable this pleasing result to be achieved. We must thank the parents and children as well as the teachers of all the schools who collected and sent us in a record total of 152 dozen eggs."
Also in the 1950 Annual Report the Stratford and County Hotels were mentioned with a thank you for providing lunches for visiting nurses.
The Hotels were mentioned over many years for providing this service.
During the 1950s, Plunket was very active in the Hydatids Campaign and had a representative on the Town Committee working with the veterinary and agricultural departments to enlighten the public to the seriousness and the treatment of this preventable disease.
The 1958 annual report, thanked all who those men who organized and ran the Plunket Golden Jubilee Radio-Telephone Appeal, particularly those from Federated Farmers, Jaycees, Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce and the Retailers Association. 1000 pounds was raised, half of which went to the Dominion and Karitane Hospital Funds.
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