A crowd of around 100 gathered at the Rotorua Netherlands Society clubrooms yesterday to celebrate 50 years since it was established.
Society president Anneke Meerkerk said she moved to Rotorua from the Netherlands 43 years ago and had been involved with the club for more than 25 years.
"I've been president for the past two years. This building [at Neil Hunt Park] opened in 1986 but the club started 50 years ago. At the moment we have around 100 members but it seems to be the older generation.
"A lot of our members are very old, over the age of 80. It is very hard to get the second generation to become members. People are too busy these days," she said.
"When the club started, people had come from Holland and needed somewhere to be together but nowadays with social media it is totally different. It's quieter. But our market days are always a big hit. We have one every two months on a Saturday here at the club and people love to come along to buy all the Dutch food."