RSA club marks 100 years in style

NEXT GENERATION: Kids enjoy the disco which was part of the Napier RSA 100 years celebration weekend. Photo Warren Buckland

The Napier RSA has celebrated its centennial with a unique weekend paying homage to the once services-only membership of the past and the potential membership needed to keep the club going in the future.

The club is one of the first in the country to stage its own centennial, with commemorations over the past 18 months having otherwise been associated with events from the Gallipoli landing in 1915 to the founding of the Returned and Servicemen's Association.

The Napier RSA dates back to the formation of the Returned Soldiers Association in Napier in 1916 and the opening of the Napier Soldiers club - possibly the first soldiers' club in New Zealand.

The club was built on Marine Parade in 1916 and opened on December 9 that year. While the building remains, just on the Port side of the Scenic Circle Hotel and opposite the Ocean Spa complex, it was sold before the Hawke's Bay Earthquake of 1931.

The RSA later bought the former Forresters Building in Dickens St, where it was based for more than 45 years.

It sold the building (since remodelled as Quest Hotel) and bought the former Hawke's Bay Education Board offices on the corner of Vautier and Hastings streets, which reopened as the Napier RSA on December 21, 1991.

For many years only those who had served their country in the wars were admitted, but the club's current membership of more than 3000 is 80 per cent non-service personnel, a consequence of striving to stay open through times of dwindling membership numbers which at times had the Napier RSA considering mergers with other chartered clubs in Napier. It now employs about 35 staff.

The focus of the weekend was a 100-year message board where messages could be placed with poppies sold during the weekend, with proceeds going to the Napier RSA Poppy Trust. Some of the messages were also destined for a centennial weekend book.

A centennial dinner was held on Saturday evening, including a "live" performance of the Ode, and yesterday there was a late-morning performance by pupils of Greenmeadows School, followed by a barbecue with proceeds to the Napier RSA Welfare Trust, and a children's party.

Assistant club manager Dorothy Paki said the celebrations had been an overwhelming success, with the club redecorated for each of the three main events.

"Full-house all weekend pretty much," she said with confidence for the future. "It might have been the first 100 years, but we will be here for the next 100 years."
Among those present were RSA national vice-president John Smith, of Taupo, and Bob Hill, of Masterton.

Several awards were also made during the weekend. They were:
Certificates of appreciation: Opal Reiri, Wendy McKenty.
Certificates of Excellence: Marie Baillie, Janice Shipman, Francis Mahony, Lorraine Ashurst.
Presidential Citations: Robert Jordan, Ron and Ngaire Rowe
District Long Serving Certificate for 30 years service to veterans: John Gilmore.