Te Puke Club reaches its centenary

Te Puke Club president Chris Treloar with the original rules of the club.

When Te Puke Club was formed 100 years ago, times were different.

The club, which now owns the building that also houses Te Puke Bowling Club, was formed in 1923 in a tin shed on the site of its long-term home, between Jellicoe St and Commerce Lane.

“At that stage, it was a closed membership so you needed seconders and nominations,” says president Chris Treloar. “You had to wear a tie, had to be well dressed and no women were allowed in the club.

“People look back on that now and frown — but during that time that’s just what it was.

“It was a general meeting place for the people that were farming and the early days of orcharding. In its heyday it was a very affluent club.”

The same can’t quite be said now, but the club is still on a sound financial footing and planning for the future.

Last weekend, the club held a small celebration of the milestone.

“Not a lot of clubs reach 100 years and are still in a [good] financial position,” says Chris.

The club moved to its present location at the start of 2012.

“The premises had outgrown us, to be honest. The maintenance was getting to be too high, and membership had fallen quite a bit at that stage.”

The club sold its premises and used the money to buy the bowling club, which is now run as an adjunct to Te Puke Club.

“We need the bowling club as much as they need us. We work closely together.”

The clubs actually amalgamated some time before the move.

Te Puke Club still has the handwritten minutes from its first meeting. The first president was H.O. Cooney and it was originally called The Korero Club.

“They raised debentures to build the club,” says manager Kylie Stott.

In the time it was at its old site, the club was removed or rebuilt three times.

The old club had a lot of fishing and hunting trophies, with plenty of room for them.

“We do have a fishing club that goes along with our club and would like to revive and carry on with that,” says Chris.”

The club survived the lockdowns and struggles of the pandemic.

“I wouldn’t say we are an absolute blooming club, but the bowling side of it is pulling in really well — we seem to be punching pretty well above our weight in Bay of Plenty and New Zealand bowls.”

Thursday-night social bowls, which starts again later this month, is a popular event and the annual Anzac tournament attracts bowlers from throughout the North Island.

While out of necessity, the main target is survival, plans to attract more people to the club are being devised.

“It’s a very friendly place — people are greeted and made to feel welcome.”

The club is open six days a week — seven if there is Sunday bowling.

“We lack young members like all clubs, but we’ll keep working on it. We have plans for the future now we’ve done the reflooring, repainted and we’ve got brand-new furniture and gone a bit more for the wow factor.

“We are pretty proud of our club.”