How a tiny club made its mark: 50 years of Ahuriri Rotary

John Hennessey, left, former Napier mayor Barbara Arnott, and Lynne Anderson president of Rotary club Ahuriri. Photo / Paul Taylor

A dinner in Napier this week marked the 50th anniversary of the Rotary Club of Ahuriri Napier, which as community service clubs go has made its mark on it environment more than most.

That mark is the network of pathways which have spread throughout Napier, Hawke's Bay and even further afield over the 16 years since it was first mooted by club member John Hennessey.

As indicated by the numbers on the pathways over this holiday weekend, the kilometres of free walking and cycling space has become an unlikely success story.

Many weren't convinced, until Hennessey found the ear of Barbara Arnott, then in the early days of her 12 years as mayor of Napier.

The club, inspired by the Hennessey and Arnott enthusiasm, roped in the four-other Rotary clubs in Napier — including the Rotary Club of Napier, which had formed the Rotary Club of Ahuriri Napier.

Together, they raised many thousands of dollars, much of it by traditional community efforts such as raffles (the Ahuriri club's now trademark trailer raffle, sausage sizzles and cake stalls), not only for the pathway but also their other projects.

Taking the path the complete length of Napier's coastline and inland to Taradale and the Esk Valley, also found an ear in Prime Minister John Key, with significant Government contribution following, and ongoing support of close to 50 per cent where there are safety benefits.

The clubs have maintained and developed commitments to other community projects, in the Ahuriri club's case including redeveloping a playground beside the pathway on the Hardinge Rd, Ahuriri, foreshore.

Some of the input was recognised at the dinner last Monday with the presentation of Paul Harris Fellow sapphire pins to members Max Patmoy (a second pin) and Judith Buckeridge, two of 69 presentations made within the club in the name of Harris, an attorney who founded the Rotary movement in Chicago in 1905.

While always convinced of the appeal of the pathways network, neither Hennessey nor Arnott foresaw their own endurance. The pathway trust was formed in 2003, and they've attended monthly meetings ever since.

An honorary member of a movement that for many years did not include women as members, Arnott was guest speaker at Monday night's dinner, where the jubilee cake was cut by long-standing members Don Alexander and Stuart Claridge.

Acknowledging president Lynn Anderson, she said: "It's no small commitment for an organisation to last 50 years, and I look forward to another 50 years."