CHARTERING OF THE CLUB:

The Zonta Club of Hibiscus Coast was chartered on 13 December 1989. The sponsoring (SOM) club was the Zonta Club of Auckland North Shore. District Governor Susan Laidlaw presented the charter to President Lorna Speary at an event on 7 April 1990 held at the Police Centennial Centre in Stanmore Bay. Lt Governor Cherry Raymond, Rodney District Mayor, Gordon Mason, Albany electorate Member of Parliament Don McKinnon and Zonta members from other Auckland Clubs attended in support of the new club and its 32 members.

ORGANISATION OF THE CLUB:

Generally, club presidents, secretaries and treasurers served for two years. One thing that  worked well for the club was having Co-Committee chairs so the workload was shared. The names and number of committees varied according to the Club’s needs, but their focus remained broadly the same: membership, programme, service, advocacy, and scholarships. Club meetings were held on fourth Tuesday of month, and were held at various locations on the coast including the Police Centennial Centre, Parklands Restaurant in Puriri Park, the Orewa Surf Life Saving Club, Joust Restaurant, Kaizen, Emidelli and from 2020 at The Wade in Silverdale.

MEMBERSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP:

In the early years club membership grew steadily reaching 39 in 1997, however, by 2001 membership had declined and there were discussions about the future of the Club. In 2002 the Club was unable to fill the slate of candidates and went into recess but did not formally disband. The Zonta Club of Auckland, under the leadership of the late Jan Bowman and a few dedicated Zontians, worked very hard to rejuvenate interest in the Zonta Club of Hibiscus Coast. June 11 2003 saw the beginning of the “new” club with 6 members being inducted along with Lynda Garrett, Past President of the Zonta Club of Thames, who had relocated to the Hibiscus Coast. Membership fluctuated over the years reaching 22 at its peak, however after several years of lock downs resulting from the COVID pandemic and a sense of disconnection, in 2023 there were 12 members. Again, there were discussions about the future of the club and a motion was put for the club to disband as at 31^st May 2023.

There was always an element on fun in club activities with mystery bottle auctions, Melbourne Cup hat themed meetings and other dress up opportunities to celebrate International Women’s Day or recognise a cause that aligns with the Zonta mission, e.g., breast cancer awareness.

CLUB SERVICE PROGRAMME:

From 2003 HBZC has focused on service within the local community. Hestia Women’s Refuge -­‐ Fresh Start Buckets (ongoing each year), Eden Teen Parent School, hosting a “Breast Cancer Awareness” evening, a gardening project at a Women’s Refuge in Muriwai, worked with Te Rito Rodney -­‐ White Ribbon Days, financial support to Women’s Refuge in Christchurch (after the earthquake), as well as sponsoring a Zontian from ChCh to attend our District Conference, which was moved from ChCh to Auckland after the quake -­‐ Feb 2011.

Fish and Chip knitting sent to fill a need in Kaipara District north of Auckland (ongoing), Health Forum -­‐ May 2012-­‐ open to community, Pamper Days for Mums Supporting Mums, Plunket -­‐ information booklet for community and packs for families facing emergency situations around a new arrival/ illness.

Service and Fundraising and the Orewa Beach and Bites event February 2020. From left: Noelene Smith, Jill and Jacqui Burnett, Marama Winder, Margaret Wright, Nate, Marina & Heleina Vaha, Betsy Kettle and Linda Dalbeth.

FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES AND SERVICE

The Club was probably best known in the early years for the “Living and Leisure” shows held at the Stanmore Bay Leisure Centre as an annual event from 1992 to 1994 and then biennially from 1996 to 1998. The proceeds from these events netted between $20,000.00 and $30,000.00 which were distributed to organisations in the community. Another fundraising project was a Zonta Cookbook – 2000 copies were printed at a cost of $5.80 each and then sold by the Foundation for the Blind for $10.50. The Club also had a very visible presence at the annual Orewa Christmas Parade.

More recently fundraising has been achieved through movie nights and quiz nights, donations in return for service, mystery bottle auctions and silent auctions. Service activities included gardening at a Women’s Refuge in Muriwai, donating “fresh start buckets” filled with cleaning products to Hestia Rodney Women’s Refuge, hosting information events such as Breast Cancer Awareness and A Women’s Health Forum, hosting pamper days for Mums supporting Mums, helping with cook ups for Bellyful, volunteering at the Orewa Beach and Bites Event and volunteering at Zero Waste events.

ADVOCACY AND SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME:

International Women’s Day which is also Zonta International Rose Day was observed by recognising local women and their contribution, paid or unpaid to community. In 2015, as part of celebrating 50 years of Zonta in New Zealand the Club successfully nominated Kerry Petrie (A Girl Called Hope) and Dianne Maxwell (Commissioner for Financial Literacy) for Women of Achievement awards and in 2019 as part of the centenary celebrations of Zonta successfully nominated Barbara Kendall (Olympic athlete), Denise Ritchie (Founder of Stop Demand) and Janet Hope (club member and past Zonta District Governor) for this award.

A strong scholarship programme has been in place since 1991 when the first Club Young Woman in Public Affairs award was made. In 1992 the Club award winner, Marita Hatcher from Orewa College went on to win the District 16 award. In 2006 a scholarship fund was established in order to offer a Second Chance Study Award to a young woman residing on the Hibiscus Coast. The first award was made in 2009 and it was offered every two years. Since 2012 a Year 12 Young Woman in Leadership Award has been offered to the local high schools. In 2023 a final scholarship was offered through the New Horizons for Women Trust valued at $3,000.00.

Advocacy actions have focused on White Ribbon Day by supporting Te Rito Rodney at their information events and since 2012 supporting the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women Campaign.

PECIAL CLUB ACHIEVEMENTS:

2006 -­ Hosted Area 1 Forum at Gulf Harbour Lodge, a good effort with such a small club. Numbers maybe small however energy and enthusiasm abounds, the same applies today.
2014 -­ Hosting Area 1 Forum -­ Northridge Country Lodge as well as a pre forum dinner. Lynda Garrett ‐ Area 1 Director 2012 ‐ 2014.
Janet Hope -­ Advocacy Chair District Board 2012 ‐ 2014. Janet Hope ‐ Lt Governor District 16 ­‐ 2014 -­ 2016.

The above is a very brief overview of Zonta Club of Hibiscus Coast from 2003 until Dec 2013. Information has come from Club and Board Minutes and a questionnaire which was sent out to members so that we could cross reference information, kept on file from this period.

Archivist / Historian duties are shared between Noelene Smith and Suzanne Coleman and we will continue to work on putting together a more” in depth” history of our club’s activities and archiving information and memorabilia.

AREA AND DISTRICT INVOLVEMENT

Hibiscus Coast members have supported Area Meetings, hosting the event in 2006 and 2014. Lynda Garrett was elected as Area 1 Director for the 2012-2014 biennium and was appointed as District liaison to the Zonta International Membership Committee in 2014-2016; Janet Hope was appointed as the District 16 Advocacy Chair in 2012-2014, elected as Lt Governor 2014-2016, Governor 2016-2018 and Zonta International Nominating Committee 2018-2020, appointed as the Chairman of the Zonta International YWPA Award 2020-2022 and appointed as the District 16 Foundation Ambassador 2022-2024. Suzanne Coleman was appointed as District Secretary 2016-2018 and elected to the District 16 Nominating Committee for 2020-2022; Margaret Wright, then a member of the Whangarei Club, was elected as District 16 Treasurer, serving two terms from 2004-2008 and Cathy McConnell was appointed as Vice Area 1 Director 2018-2020.