Former Johnsonville Club member Jean Denne passed away on 9 April 2024 at the age of 83.
She was a club member from 2004-2015, joining the same year as Prisilla and a year after Elizabeth Ngan.
Jean was a keen dancer, enjoying tartan nights, annual dances, summer ceilidhs and mid-winter dinners.
Jean also gave a great deal to the club, serving as a committee member, and on the supper team for many years alongside both Elizabeth and Prisilla.
Jean could always be relied upon to do whatever was needed that others might not think to do (like cleaning the bathrooms in preparation for the annual dance).
We have missed her smiling face and willing work at club in the years since she stopped dancing.
Jean was farewelled by family in a private service.
Allison is stepping down from the committee after 10 years of service, nine of them as treasurer as well as a part-year as acting treasurer, when Barbara Thomson was unable to continue due to illness.
Allison’s extended service as treasurer was acknowledged at the 2022 AGM, when she handed over the reins to Christine Crewdson. Her final job as treasurer was to supply a comprehensive deskfile as a reference tool for Christine, with detailed information on the role of club treasurer.
It is typical of Allison’s strong sense of commitment to the club, that she continued on the committee a further year to provide any backup and support that Christine might need. Allison is now retiring from the committee in the knowledge that she has ensured a seamless transition from one treasurer to the next.
As outlined at last year’s AGM, Allison has been involved in the organisation of many events during her years on the committee, in addition to her financial duties.
She served on the shared annual dance committee from 2018-2022, supervised the kitchen at mid-year dinner socials, and has been involved on the catering side for any number of club events. Despite leaving the committee, it’s fantastic that Allison has offered to continue to help with catering for future club events.
Allison has always been an involved and totally reliable member of the club committee, and I am grateful to have had her input and support over the last 10 years. Thank you Allison.
John Markham: Eight years on the committee
John is another stalwart of the committee, having served as a general committee member for the last eight years. I think he may have missed only one meeting in those eight years, and it has been a pleasure to work with him on the committee.
John brings the valuable perspective of someone who has danced for over 50 years, and also been a member of other Wellington clubs Kelburn and Ngaio. He is always positive and supportive, appreciating and acknowledging the work that others do to keep the club running.
John is the epitome of a willing worker. He has been a constant help with hall setup for club events, and will forever be associated in my mind with the club’s tartan bunting, as he has strung it up so many times over the years.
He has volunteered on the supper team since at least 2018, starting as a casual supper helper then becoming a monthly supper team member. He has also been part of the summer Beginners’ Class poster team, putting up posters each year in January to publicise our classes – initially in Ngaio, then in Thorndon once he moved into town.
Then there are the special contributions that John has made. When still working as a PE teacher at Onslow College, he taught Scottish Country Dancing to his students as part of the PE curriculum and brought them along to club, giving both groups a lot of fun.
John is also a regular performer at the club’s Summer Ceilidhs, starting with the very first one held in 2014 at our home in Newlands where he kept us all entertained with his humorous recitation of the The Lion and Albert. At later Summer Ceilidhs at the Johnsonville Bowling club, John has acted as quiz master, and also sung for us.
John is a very loyal member of Johnsonville Club, and has served it well. He even came along to club on crutches after his hip replacement, despite being unable to dance. Although he is stepping away from the committee, like Allison, John plans to continue to help whenever he’s needed.
Thank you John for your commitment to Johnsonville Club, and all you’ve done for it.
Maureen Sullivan: Eight years and more
Maureen last received a service award in 2019 for her work co-ordinating potluck food at the summer ceilidhs, the hall roster when Rod and I were away for extended periods over a number of years, being key holder and opening the hall during those times, and standing in when all members of the executive were away due to travel/illness.
Four years on, Maureen continues to serve the club, and is now in her seventh year as a committee member. She has continued to co-ordinate potluck offerings at the Summer Ceilidh since her award in 2019, and has been second in command in the kitchen at our midwinter dinners at St Johns for the last few years, giving Allison some time out of the kitchen.
Maureen comes early every week for hall setup, and produces a master running list of events across the Region, updating it weekly for the noticeboard. Robert and I find this list invaluable in keeping track of upcoming events for inclusion in the newsletter, and for planning purposes to avoid clashes with other clubs’ events.
Last year Maureen developed a comprehensive Khandallah Town Hall storage cupboard inventory, so we know what the club has in storage. She made a master list split out into sub-lists for each shelf so we know where to find things and where to return them to.
This year, Maureen took the lead in organising the very successful Stars and Stripes dinner. Whenever we move to a new venue or use a different caterer, there’s lots of initial work to be done. Maureen put in a lot of time liaising with both the Johnsonville Club re the venue, and the chef of the Capital Bistro for catering.
Additionally, Maureen is a volunteer on the summer Beginners’ Class poster team each year, putting up posters around Johnsonville. She is also a backup for sound equipment setup, and has been a tester for John Homes’ deskfile instructions on how to set it up.
All in all Maureen gives service to the club on many different fronts, and has now added tutoring to the list. Thank you Maureen.
Aline Homes: Club Artiste
Aline Homes has been a member of Johnsonville Scottish Country Dance Club since 1982, and was awarded Honorary Life Membership in 2011. She has served on the club committee, the Wellington Region committee as a Johnsonville delegate, and used skills from her preliminary certificate to act as relieving tutor at club.
Although Aline is not able to do a great deal of dancing these days, she retains an active interest in the club and has continued to create wonderful floral displays at club Annual Dances – something she’s done since at least 1995!
She also created decorations for any number of theme nights over the years. The wall hanging at this year’s Stars and Stripes Ceilidh was one from the past, on the theme of ‘a moonlit night’ and was perfect as a centrepiece for this year’s celebrations.
In 2022, Aline added ‘club bard’ to her artistic endeavours, sharing her first story with us at Halloween. In 2023 she added St Patrick’s Day. It is not an easy thing to stand up in front of the club and offer us her version of ancient Celtic tales. We are grateful for the ancient knowledge and verse-making Aline shares with us at our St Patrick’s Day and Halloween celebrations.
More recently Aline has done some video recording of dances at club events, the most significant being Johnsonville dancing Linton Ploughman for the New Zealand Branch’s PickUp 52 centenary project.
Thank you Aline for your commitment to the club over so many years, and the richness you add to our lives through your artistry.
Elizabeth Judge and Maura Beattie: Supper team and more
Last, but most definitely not least, Elizabeth and Maura are both members of our very much appreciated supper team. They give up their own dancing time at club to bring us a hugely welcome cup of tea and a biscuit, and also volunteer as supper helpers at events like the annual dance.
Supper co-ordinator Elizabeth Ngan says ‘they both deserve a medal’ for always being there to help without being asked. And always with a smile and a cheerful word.
Elizabeth Judge has now been volunteering for at least four years, possibly longer. I have a picture in my mind of her helping Elizabeth Ngan cut up cake at Johnsonville Bowling Club in 2020, and I believe she was already offering a helping hand at suppertime in her first year of dancing at Johnsonville School Hall in 2019.
As long-serving supper team members have stepped down, Elizabeth has stepped into their shoes as someone to be relied on to do whatever is needed in the kitchen, with no fuss and a great attitude.
Elizabeth’s caring nature means she also encourages and supports new dancers who may happen to live along her route to the hall by offering them a ride, and helping them feel at ease once they reach their destination.
Additionally, this year Elizabeth was involved in club community outreach – a visit to Newlands Brownies. Elizabeth was one of an enthusiastic set of volunteers, who spent the evening demonstrating for and dancing with the brownies, as part of their badge promoting good health through fitness.
Maura Beattie also joined the club in 2019, and became a supper team member in 2021. She then joined the club committee at the end of 2021, and brings her knowledge of the supper team to committee discussions. Maura does the purchasing of supper supplies, and has represented the supper team on the Annual Dance sub-committee and New Dancers Celebration sub-committee.
Maura also contributes to other activities with her committee hat on. She helped with protracted process of sorting, recording, and repacking the contents of the store cupboard, and is responsible for checking and updating the club’s first aid kit annually.
This year Maura has also taken on extra duties, co-ordinating Beginners’ Class poster distribution in January, and organising the upcoming club Christmas Lunch in December. She also continues to be responsible for booking the venue for our committee meetings, and picking up and dropping off the key.
Thank you Elizabeth and Maura for your cheerful and willing service. It is wonderful to have helpers who are always ready to lend a hand, and quietly step in when needed.
This year, 2023, is the Centenary of the founding of the RSCDS. It is also the 70th Anniversary of the formation of the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay Association in 1953. This was the first Scottish Country Dancing association in New Zealand, which later morphed into the RSCDS New Zealand Branch
See a ‘potted history’ of the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay Association and of organised Scottish Country Dancing in New Zealand from 1953-1978 in this copy of the Foreword to The Morison’s Bush Collection
In 1993, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay Association and the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the New Zealand Branch of the RSCDS, dancers gathered in Napier for a Jubilee Weekend from 8-10 October.
Below is a piece about the Jubilee celebrations from the organiser Carine Mayhew extracted from the New Zealand Scottish Country Dancer Volume 41, 1994 p17.
Happy celebrations
1993 was an important for Scottish Country Dancing in New Zealand—it was 40 years since the forming of the first Association of Scottish Country Dance CIubs.
In 1953 the Wellington-Hawkes Bay Association was formed from clubs in Wellington, Lower Hutt. Wallaceville, Hastings, and Whakatane, with affiliated clubs in Napier, Napier Boys’ High School and Paraparaumu.
Also it was the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the New Zealand Branch of the RSCDS. What better reasons could we have to celebrate? On the weekend of 8 to 10 October 1993, dancers from Hamilton to Christchurch gathered in Napier to do just that.
From the Friday night Social Get-together, arranged by Madge Laing, to the Sunday Combined Classes and final lunch everyone appeared to have a happy and enjoyable time. which was the Region‘s aim.
Some 120 dancers from 25 clubs attended. Classes were held on the Saturday with Dianne Murdoch taking the Intermediate Class and Gary Morris the Advanced Class, and on the Sunday morning each took a Combined Class. The fact that eight sets were on the floor at 9.00am to commence the first class was an indication of the enjoyment and enthusiasm.
On the Saturday afternoon four sets of dancers from the Hawkes Bay and East Coast Region gave a display at the ‘Charity Tattoo in the Spirit of Hawkes Bay’ at McLean Park, which was organised and hosted by the Napier Caledonian Society and the Napier City Council.
The dances performed were The Reel of the Royal Scots, The Robertson Rant and the Thirty-two some Reel, which were well received.
However, the highlight was to have the special guests with us who were involved in the forming of the Wellington-Hawkes Bay Association 40 years ago.
These were Marion Cunningham of the then Wallaceville Club (now Upper Hutt), Bruce Fordyce of the Hastings Club, Nancy Baxter (founder of the Napier Club), and Jessie and Les Coe of Morison’s Bush, who arranged the first Scottish Country Dance Ball in New Zealand and hosted the ‘travellers’ at their farmhouse or the barn—wherever there was space to “put a body”!
Maurice Colbourne, originally from the Hastings Club, was to have attended but unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute. We were delighted to have our New Zealand Branch President, Min Jaeger, with us for the weekend, and also Ian Seton from Tauranga, Jack Seton’s son.
Jack, who will be remembered by many, was the prime instigator of the original Association, and who will forget his enthusiasm and wonderful organising abilities. Alma Secker from Featherston was there too, as she was at the first Summer School which was held in Napier in 1953.
Our Guest Speaker at the Dinner on the Saturday night was Bruce Fordyce, who spoke vividly of those early days. May Brooker, President of the Hawkes Bay and East Coast Region, and Carol Smith, President of the Wellington Region, spoke on behalf of their respective Regions.
Bruce also piped for the Grand March, playing a tune called Dancing Years which he had composed especially for the gathering.
The evening was a happy affair, with the MC duties shared between Joy Tracey and Gary Morris, continuing the Wellington-Hawkes Bay theme. Our Anniversary cake, which was made and iced by local dancers VaI Darragh and Margaret Vas, was cut by Min after she had given a delightful speech.
Forty years may have rolled on, but the enthusiasm is still there, as commented on by our special guests. We have much for which to thank them. They introduced us to a wonderful interest and the opportunity of making lasting friendships. Long may we retain these happy associations!
Carine Mayhew 1993
Photos supplied by the Fordyce family, except where otherwise noted
Wellington-Hawke’s Bay Association 50th Anniversary Ball
in conjunction with
Wellington Region Weekend School: 25-27 April 2003
Formed in 1953, the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay Association was the first Scottish Country Dancing association in New Zealand. This association later morphed into the RSCDS New Zealand Branch
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay Association, dancers from around the country enjoyed an Anniversary Ball on Saturday 26 April 2003 in conjunction with a Wellington Region Anzac Weekend School at Onslow College.
With Carol Smith as convener (centre in the image below), the weekend school was promoted as:
The Place To Be in April 2003
Highlights of the 50th Anniversary Ball
A programme of well-known dances for all to enjoy
24 sets on the floor
Music from Peter Elmes((Tributes to Peter Elmes following his retirement from playing his accordion for 60 years in Wellington Region and throughout New Zealand, Harbour City Happenings, Volume 21 No. 3, December 2018)), Lynne Scott and John Smith
Floor show prepared by Ian Simmonds((Ian Simmonds retires after 52 years of teaching Linden Club, Harbour City Happenings, Volume 14, No. 2, July 2011))
Below is a piece about the 50th Anniversary Ball by Carol Smith, extracted from her article on the Wellington Region Anzac Weekend School published in Harbour City Happenings Vol 6, No. 3 July 2003, p4-5, with accompanying photos (photographer unknown).
“The Saturday evening function at Onslow College, the Anniversary Ball celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay Association, was a superb night and it was a wonderful sight to see 24 sets on the floor with so little room between sets. Perhaps a little tight for dancing, but it gave a great atmosphere.”
“From the Grand March to the last dance the hall seemed to be buzzing and although a formal night was also great fun.
It was nice to be able to welcome the NZ Branch President Jenny Kuttel, the Region President Chris Kelly, along with many other Branch and Region executive members and make a special welcome to Bruce and Mary Fordyce. Bruce being the only member of the original Wellington-Hawke’s Bay committee still dancing.
The floor show prepared by Ian Simmonds was great entertainment and it was a delight to see a set of dancers enjoying themselves so much. Thank you Ian and the team for a great effort.
Peter Elmes, Lynne Scott and John Smith provided great music and it just seemed that the dancers and the band sparked off each other, responding to each others enthusiasm.
Janice Henson provided a lovely cake celebrating the 50th Anniversary. All in all a great night.”
The cutting of the cake was shared by Bruce Fordyce (one of the original committee members of the Wellington-Hawkes Bay Association), Peg Hutchison((Peg Hutchison Wellington Region President for four years in the 1970s; RSCDS New Zealand Branch President 1985-1986; RSCDS New Zealand Branch Life Member 1998)) and Gary Morris((Gary Morris Extract from Sociable Carefree Delightful A History of Scottish Country Dancing in New Zealand 1995 p150-151)) (long-time Region tutor and RSCDS examiner).
Lynne Scott, John Smith and Peter Elmes from the band are on the stage behind the group cutting the cake.
Highlights of the Anzac Weekend School: 25-27 April 2003
Intermediate/Elementary: Philippa Pointon, Wellington (Johnsonville Club President at the time)
New Dancers: Maureen Robson, Wellington
JAMS: Melva Waite, Wellington
Musicians
Special Guest Musician: Jennifer Foong, Sydney
Other Class Musicians: Merren Simmonds, Peter Elmes, John Smith, Gary and June Stratton
Fiddlers Class: Guest Teacher Cathy Fraser, Australia
Read about the fun of the dancing and social activities at the April 2003 Wellington Region Weekend School in this review by Ellen Bracefield (‘a weekend school novice’), Harbour City Happenings Vol 6, No. 2 May 2003, p3.
A weekend to remember!
Thank you to all those who contributed to the success of this celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay Association and the Region Anzac Weekend School, particularly Convener Carol Smith and her committee of Eileen South, Shirley Kalogeropoulos, Ian Taylforth and John Gregory.
As Ellen said in her review of this celebration, “Anzac Weekend School in Wellington was the place to be in April 2003”.
It was so nice to look around the hall and see so much tartan at our Tartan Night on 29 May.
I already knew the history of some of the tartan regalia, but some of the items were new to me. With time to chat, I found some interesting stories behind those ‘new’ tartans.
Janet Thomson: Her mother’s kilt brought back to life
Janet was wearing her mother’s muted Thomson Hunting tartan kilt skirt for the very first time on Monday. The story of how Janet and the kilt skirt arrived on the dance floor involves many twists and turns, and a lot of detective work on Janet’s part.
In 1977, Janet’s mother placed an order for a kilt to be made for her trip to visit clan places in Scotland the following year. At that time Janet’s parents lived in Timaru, and her father was doing research in Southland for a school centennial publication—the right neck of the woods to commission a kilt.
After her mother’s death, the kilt was passed on to Janet’s stepmother who pulled it apart with an eye to re-modelling it, but that never happened. The kilt sat in pieces until recently, when Janet decided to see if she could have it restored so she could wear it.
Amazingly, Janet managed to search out the original order docket for FP Helean Kiltmakers of Dunedin (now Helean and Co). She packed up all the pieces (lining, zip, waistband and a small remaining piece of cloth) and sent them off to Kathryn Corry, Frank (FP) Helean’s granddaughter.
Janet says Kathryn was keen to see the work her grandfather had done over 40 years ago and did a fantastic job of restoring the kilt ready for the tartan night. Or almost ready—at 5.00pm the night before, Janet realised she had better cut away the tacking which had held the pleats in place.
Veronica Young: From Melbourne to Wellington
Less than a month before the tartan night, Veronica became the proud owner of one of the kilts in the club’s second-hand collection. It was love at first sight for this subtly coloured, beautiful fine wool kilt skirt by Fletcher Jones.
The kilt had barely made it onto the club night display table when Veronica walked in the door, spotted it, and said she’d take it—before even trying it on.
This is the second of two kilts donated to the club by Jane Aim. The first was from her childhood and is now worn by Lizzie Tan. It was the first kilt to emerge as Jane cleared out her house prior to moving.
Some months later, at the end of the clearing out process, Jane found a second kilt, which she also donated to the club. Jane told me she bought this second kilt for herself on a trip to Melbourne as an adult and wasn’t sure if she ever actually wore it.
I kept the kilt at home for a few months, wondering if it might be right for me, but eventually brought it along to club. Now this second kilt has found a good home with Veronica and got a second lease of life on the Scottish Country Dance floor.
Ian Leask: The latest in a long line to own his kilt
We’ve grown used to seeing Ian at club tartan nights wearing a Clan Leask tartan tie given to him by his father. But on Monday, there he was looking very much the part dressed in a kilt.
This kilt was passed on to Ian by Johnsonville dancer Bruce Jones and should have become Ian’s at the club’s 2022 Halloween theme night. However, a medical emergency took priority and the kilt has only recently made its way to Ian.
In trying to find out more about the kilt, it became apparent that Ian is just one in a long line of Scottish Country dancers to own the kilt.
Ian knew it had been passed from Pat Reesby to Bruce, before coming on to him. Contacting Pat, it turns out the kilt came to her from Jill and David Andrews, past Johnsonville and Ngaio dancers. After David’s death, Jill gave it to Pat to find a good new home for it.
We can trace the kilt even further back—David himself inherited the kilt from longstanding Ngaio dancer Murray Allardice.
It should be noted that as a first-time kilt-wearer, Ian was very careful to wear some shorts underneath his ‘new’ kilt on Monday night. He’d been warned that blokes don’t realise they need to learn how to sit in a kilt!
Prisilla Conroy: A vintage waistcoat
Now that Prisilla dances at two clubs, her tartan wardrobe is coming under pressure.
On Thursday night, Prisilla wore her usual red tartan skirt to Tawa’s Tartan Night, so what to wear to the Johnsonville Tartan Night the next Monday? As it turned out, she was there in a very smart bluetartan waistcoat.
The waistcoat is not new, in fact Prisilla bought it for around £25 when she was in London in 1978-79. It wasn’t bought for any special event, rather because it was beautiful, but somehow it disappeared to the back of the wardrobe after her trip and was never worn.
At our tartan night, Prisilla’s Laird-Portch of Scotland pure new wool waistcoat finally came into its own, adding colour to our tartan night. From what I see on the internet, Laird-Portch no longer exists as a company, but their high-quality pure wool tartan items are now sought-after vintage items.
It was wonderful to have all these tartans adding colour to our Tartan Night. Knowing their stories adds that extra touch.
Of course, there are plenty more tartan tales to tell. Three of our dancers wear tartan regalia bequeathed by life member Isla Norris.
Additionally, many of our members have taken the time to write about their Scottish connections, including other tartan tales. Explore their stories here.
Click on the gallery below to see all of Loralee’s photos of this evening of fun and friendship.
My attention was drawn to the history of Percy Reserve by past Johnsonville member Margaret Bailey (now Bailey-Allison), when she commented that she had a family connection to the Percy family, who donated the land for Percy Scenic Reserve.
Margaret tells me her 2x great-aunt was Anne Maria (Welch) Percy, wife of Joseph Percy, who was ‘the mother of all those Percys who didn’t marry, and who bequeathed the family land’. In New Zealand, you never have to look far for a family connection.
This seems like the time to focus on Margaret, her many contributions to Scottish Country Dancing, and her connections to Johnsonville Club.
Margaret started dancing in 1959 and is still dancing. In that time she has served on four different Region committees, and danced or taught at Whanganui Girls’ College, St Aidens/Linden, Plimmerton, Johnsonville, Mana Juniors, Whitby, Stratford, Hawera, Schiehallion, Nelson, Richmond and St Andrews. She was also a RSCDS New Zealand Branch JAM (Junior associate member) examiner and Committee member.
In her many years of dancing in the Wellington Region, Margaret served on the Region committee, and was involved in region demonstrations and events. She was tutor at Plimmerton Club, Whitby and Mana Juniors and taught for short periods at other clubs when tutors were away or indisposed.
Before becoming a member at Johnsonville, Margaret spent many years dancing at Linden Club, and had often enjoyed the annual Linden-Johnsonville exchanges that were part of the earlier history of the two clubs. Margaret’s records also show she was attending Johnsonville annual dances from as early as 1977!
It was not until the 2000s that Margaret (with husband John Bailey), became a member of Johnsonville Club. At that time she also joined the list of Johnsonville tutors, acting as an alternate tutor (in addition to Philippa Pointon), during Rod’s work trips overseas.
Margaret was a generous mentor to a number of younger tutors. Rod remains grateful for her encouragement and advice, especially in his earlier years as a tutor at Johnsonville. Over the years Margaret has continued to support both Rod and the club by donating dance books, and is currently sorting and sending her collection of dance leaflets in his direction.
In July 2004, Rod devised the dance The Spinnaker Hornpipe in honour of Margaret and John (who then lived at Spinnaker Drive, Whitby). Margaret’s love of energetic dances fitted well with a hornpipe, and with the Gay Gordons Poussette – a new and lively progression Rod devised for the dance.
Watch a video taken by Joanne Ang of the Johnsonville dancers above including Margaret dancing Kristin Macdonald’s Strathspey at Kristin’s 50th birthday celebration.
Margaret also devised dances, publishing The Whitby Collection in 1996. Her dance The Three-Legged Cat regularly appears on Johnsonville Club night programmes, together with the photo of her cat Tripod, showing a missing front leg. The Three-Legged Cat was also one of the dances that Rod included on the programme for Johnsonville’s Tribute to Wellington Devisers on Monday 28 September 2015.
Watch this video of The Three Legged Cat from Pat Reesby, filmed by John Patterson at the Tribute to Wellington Devisers in the Johnsonville School Hall in 2015.
There is much more that could be said, but why not say it in pictures.
Check out the gallery of Scottish Country Dancing photos of Margaret from 1987 to 2016, put together by club photographer Loralee Hyde.
Rod and I have known Loralee since we started dancing in 1991, and she has been increasingly involved in supporting Johnsonville club activities across the last 30 years or so.
Apart from time living overseas, Loralee has been a Johnsonville club member since at least 1993 (the earliest date recorded), and was dancing at the club prior to that while still a member of Ngaio club.
She was Club President in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and under her stewardship club membership increased from 27 in 1997, to 50 in 2000. Loralee encouraged the relaxed and informal atmosphere that we continue to enjoy in the club today, with mixing between newer and experienced dancers, and an emphasis on having fun.
Loralee has also served the club in many other capacities during the last 30 years, even though she hasn’t been able to dance regularly in the last few years. Although not official roles, they are integral to building the club’s membership and its sense of community, as well as providing support for the club’s ability to operate effectively.
Photography
Loralee’s most visible role is as club photographer. She’s taken photos at club events over many years, as far back as 1991, and at Wellington Region events such as Hogmanays and New Dancers’ Celebrations where she manages to capture as many club members as possible dancing at these evenings. She also takes photos of club members as required for newspaper articles, the newsletter, the website etc.
You will see Loralee’s photos accompanying newsletter items, in articles posted on the club website and Facebook, and in the Wellington Region newsletter, Harbour City Happenings. Whenever I’m writing any sort of historical article about the club or our people, I am able to call on Loralee to provide a photo from her vast collection.
Loralee also employs her photo editing skills to help enhance the photos she and others take – cropping photos to show the subjects to best advantage, scanning printed photos in high quality, improving the light or clarity, and resizing photos so they’re suitable for publication.
Behind the scenes Loralee has taken on the role of photographic archivist – at the end of each year she backs up all the club photos that she has taken that year (or received from others), onto an external hard drive. We now have an archive of over 2000 photos.
For the club’s 50 Golden Years Celebration in 2016, Loralee not only took photos on the night, she curated a collection of archival photos which were displayed as a video presentation at the event. This was a huge amount of work, and was a very special feature of the celebrations.
Then during lockdown in 2020, Loralee broadened her scope, taking on some video-recording to illustrate Rod’s website articles on practising dancing.
These continue to prove useful, especially for the club’s new dancers. (For example, this year, the Talking about reels page was one of the most-viewed posts at the time when Rod was teaching reels.)
Digital communications
Loralee’s professional background in communications and marketing has been of great value to the club.
Facebook page
Loralee set up the club’s Facebook page in 2014, a first foray for the club into social media, allowing us to increase our club profile, and promote beginners’ classes and club events more widely.
Club website
Two years later, in 2016, Loralee was responsible for setting up the club website, which really has made a huge difference in our digital presence. It provides a central point of information for club members, relating to events, dancing resources and news. It is also a historical repository.
Website statistics from 2017 to the present show large increases in the number of visitors each year (rising from 1531 to 3937), and number of views (4365 to 9808). It is clear the website provides a great service to our members, and many others.
The website really came into its own during Covid, keeping members engaged and informed when we were unable to dance. In 2020, there were almost 11,000 views of the website from more than 3000 visitors.
Loralee continues to maintain the website, restructuring it as required, and updating the calendar, beginners, membership, and ‘about us’ pages. She also posts all the articles that appear on the website, involving formatting text, and supplying, editing and inserting photos.
Her design skills are employed in beginners’ class advertising, poster design for beginners’ classes and dance programmes, and designing promotional material for other events such as the club’s mid-winter dinners. She also develops online forms for event registration and club membership, making club operations more effective and efficient.
Loralee also writes articles for the club website and for Harbour City Happenings, mainly historical photo stories about special events club members have participated in over the years such as Hogmanays, and tributes to those who have contributed to Scottish Country Dancing in the Wellington Region.
Mailchimp newsletters
In 2019 Loralee suggested we create special e-newsletters to inform and encourage new dancers in particular, to attend the Annual Dance.
She created a template and edited Mailchimp newsletters over four weeks, resulting in a very successful event with a large turnout of both newer and experienced dancers.
Based on this success, Loralee went on to develop the Mailchimp template which has become standard for the club’s weekly newsletters.
Initially she also edited the newsletters, later training John Homes and me, and continues to give ongoing support. The club has received many compliments regarding the professionalism and presentation of the newsletter.
Altogether, Loralee averages 75-100 hours a year of work on the club’s behalf, and during covid lockdown in 2020, that increased to almost 130 hours loading articles onto the website to keep dancers engaged and informed when club dancing was not possible.
There are now 258 articles on the website, which along with Loralee’s photos, provide a valuable historical record of the friendship and fun we have at Johnsonville club.
Thank you Loralee for your long and active support of the club through digital communication and photography, beyond the call of duty.
Allison joined Johnsonville Scottish Country Dance Club as a beginner in 2013. At the end of 2013, club treasurer Barbara Thomson became very ill, and in early 2014 Allison volunteered to take on the role of acting treasurer.
Allison stood as treasurer at the 2014 AGM, and has been club treasurer ever since, an amazing tenure of nine years in the job. No other Johnsonville club treasurer has approached that length of service. (According to club records the next most long-serving was Ron Hook, treasurer for five years from 1984-1988.)
Changing times
Over the last nine years, quite a few things have changed in the life of the club, increasing the number of financial transactions, and expanding the duties of treasurer.
The club:
has widened its advertising campaign for beginners’ classes
holds more social events like the summer ceilidh and midwinter dinner
continues to increase the number of live music nights
has introduced the option of an annual door fee.
Each of these comes with an increasing number of costs and payments, and consequent increased workload for the treasurer.
The ANZ:
reduced its opening hours and then closed its branch in Johnsonville, making banking of door money less straightforward
phased out cheque books, necessitating the club switching to online authorisation of payments, not an easy transition due to ANZ processes
Covid also came into play. Cancellation of club nights and events over the last three years has resulted in reimbursements to those who had paid annual door fees, and registration fees for cancelled events.
Additional service
In her time on the committee, Allison has also taken on other responsibilities.
She has:
been heavily involved in Midwinter dinners since we introduced them in 2015, delighting us with her mulled wine, co-organising catering, and taking on the role of kitchen co-ordinator
served as finance person on the combined Annual Dance sub-committee each year since 2018, when we made the move to shared annual dances with Capital City Club
handled finances for special club events like the club’s 50 Golden Years Celebration, and one-off region events organised by Johnsonville, such as Hogmanay and New Dancers’ Celebrations.
I am extremely grateful to have had the continuity of service that Allison has brought, and particularly to have had her support during the Covid years. It has made my role as President an easier one, having someone with an intimate knowledge of the club’s finances, who I can rely on completely. Thank you Allison.
Christine Crewdson
For her spreadsheet work (membership and dance books)
Christine is a very recent member of the club, only joining us at beginners’ classes in February.
Despite this, in April she stepped forward when I asked if anyone could help with updating the club’s historical spreadsheet of membership. This list was created by Joan Clayton in 2016 for the club’s 50 Golden Years’ Celebration, but hadn’t been updated since then.
On 21 April I passed on five years’ worth of membership lists, and by 4 May it was done and dusted, and I thought I would try my luck and see if Christine would be interested in cataloguing the club’s dance books.
With dreary weather coming up, Christine thought it could be a good autumn-winter activity. Over the next 2-3 months we exchanged packages of books on Monday nights, and Christine created a catalogue of the 227 different books held by the club, Rod’s copies of those books and the additional 164 which Rod owns personally.
A lot of the books have been donated over the years, to the club and to Rod. Christine suggested including donor information, along with all the other information. In total, Christine worked her way through 629 books once duplicates were included. A mighty effort.
Spreadsheets are not everyone’s cup of tea, but fortunately for us, Christine enjoys ‘playing with spreadsheets’. Her work has added to the club’s historical records of membership and made life easier for Rod ,and for future tutors using the club’s collection of dance books. Thank you Christine.
Each year it is the turn of one club in the Wellington Region to organise what is the highlight of the Region’s dancing year.
The 2022 New Dancers’ Celebration is the third hosted by Johnsonville since Rod Downey became tutor. The first was in 2003, and the second in 2013.
Johnsonville hosts the 2003 New Dancers’ Celebration
We have documents for earlier and later periods in the club’s history, but we are missing most documents from a period including 2003. We must make do with the New Dancers’ programme of dances, the accounts for the event, and a single paragraph in the 2004 NZ Scottish Country Dancer magazine.
The 2003 New Dancers’ Celebration was held at Onslow College, a popular venue for large events at the time, taking over from Newlands College.
It’s interesting to compare door fees. In 2003 they were $10 Adult, $9.00 RSCDS and $4 Juniors. In the last 19 years door charges have risen relatively little, in 2022 they are $16, $13, and $5 with a lower charge of $10 for new dancers.
Music was provided by longstanding musician Peter Elmes and associates (individual musicians were not listed in those days). We can see that musicians’ rewards have also not risen greatly over the years. In 2003, Peter received $450 for his three-piece band, these days it’s around $600 divided amongst three musicians.
The 2003 dance programme listed 20 dances, more than we do these days – perhaps because our population of dancers is a little older. But many of the same dances are on the 2022 programme including perennial favourites Minister on the Loch, The Reel of the 51st, and of course The De’il Amang the Tailors.
It seems no-one wrote about the event as such at the time. The only written reference I’ve found was in the Wellington Region notes in the 2004 NZ Scottish Country Dancer:
There was some surprise but delight when Alan Burn (RSCDS NZ Branch Membership Co-ordinator) telephoned to advise that Wellington Region had won the ‘large region’ class of the Branch’s Membership Challenge. Murray Corps (NZ Branch secretary) presented the award to Phyllis Henry the Region Treasurer at the Region’s New Dancers’ Celebration dance hosted by Johnsonville Club.
The accounts show door takings of $1,040, so at $10 maximum entry fee, there must have been over 100 dancers. This was typical for the times, making for a very special night for all the new dancers that year – including Elizabeth Ngan, our very own Kitchen Faerie.
And again in 2013
By the time the 2013 New Dancers’ Celebration came around (this time with 18 dances on the programme), things were very different, with records galore.
Johnsonville Club now had a weekly email newsletter, with no need to rely on paper records.
Additionally, our photographers/videographers were taking digital photos and video recordings of our events.
In the Johnsonville Club newsletter of 23 October 2013, Secretary Pat Reesby wrote enthusiastically about the 2013 New Dancers’ Celebration held at Newlands Centennial Hall on Saturday 19 October:
“What a wonderful time we had at the New Dancers’ Celebration, with lots of dancers (new and ‘old’) from other clubs. Twelve sets! And special thanks to Debbie and friends who organised the (tartan) bunting. It was much admired and I’ve heard on the grapevine that another (bunting) bee is planned sometime – there are heaps of cut-out pennants left over. The bunting is a wonderful club asset.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve set a trend. Bunting bees may pop up in all sorts of places …
We had a wonderful band for the night – Lynne Scott, Jean Malcolm and Richard Hardie. Lynne says: “I think a lot of people enjoy the sound of the band with the double bass in it. And Richard and Jean are such good musicians! I really enjoy playing with them. Also, I do work quite hard to select and arrange music that suits the shape and formations of the dance, and perhaps that helps underpin the playing. It’s certainly fun!”
Pat goes on to say:
“Loralee Hyde took lots of photos at the dance and has shared them with us. There’s a lovely one which shows at least four of our new dancers.“
Club photographerLoralee Hyde, had been taking photos of dancing since the 1970s. In 2013, armed with a better camera than previously, Loralee recorded many happy memories of the 2013 New Dancers’ Celebration.
Fortuitously, Pat had also just begun her career as a Scottish Country Dance videographer, and filmed some of the dances on the night. Her videos bring back memories of our younger selves and fellow dancers, some who no longer dance, and some who are no longer with us.
The dances Pat filmed are still new dancer ‘staples’ at Johnsonville. Looking at her videos you can see the capacity crowd filling the hall, and feel the wonderful atmosphere of music and laughter.
You’ll see quite a few children on the dance floor and you may spot some parents swelling the crowd of spectators. It was a pleasure to include the presentation of RSCDS NZ Branch medals to the Region’s junior dancers on the night’s programme, making for lots of energy on the dance floor and an audience who really appreciated the skills and achievements of these young dancers.
Nearly 50 years of photographing Scottish Country Dancing
It wasn’t until I inherited thousands of photos and slides from my mother Tess Hyde after she died in 2018 that I fully realised where my love of photography came from.
In this treasure trove of photos, I discovered my mother had kept her own mother’s collection of dozens of photos of her family from the late 1890s onward. The first photo my grandmother had of my mother was taken in 1924 when she was just three weeks old.
Mum had told me she’d been given a Brownie box camera when she was in her early twenties. That started a lifetime of recording family life and activities including birthdays, weddings and travels.
My father Jim Hyde was a keen photographer as well, capturing records of farming life in the 1930s on the family farm in Horahora, near Cambridge. Dad kept a diary in 1937 when he was aged 16, detailing life on the farm and his first year of paid farming work for a neighbour. His diary entry for 22 February says, “Mr Scarlett took me to town. I bought a camera for 9/3.” (9 shillings & 3 pence; around NZ$0.92).
In 1962 mum finally got a high quality camera which could take colour photos; a Zeiss purchased duty-free by her mother and step-father when they went to the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia. Right through the 1960s and early 1970s she took slides as they were cheaper to develop than colour film. In the late 1970s she changed to colour film when she and my father toured Britain and Europe.
An early start to my photography journey
Mum passed her Brownie on to me in 1962 and that started me off on my photography journey, initially taking photos of our family activities.
The Brownie was old by then and didn’t produce great shots so I was thrilled to get a new camera for Christmas in 1962 (I can’t remember what type it was).
From that time on, I invariably had a camera around my neck at family celebrations and holidays.
Near the end of the 1960s, I got a Kodak Instamatic, a very popular camera with ‘magic flash cubes’ that clicked on to the top of the camera.
Early photos of dancing
By the mid-1970s I’d moved on to a Pentax Spotmatic, a 35mm single-lens reflex camera which I used for years.
My friend Christine (who now lives and dances in Rockingham south of Perth) introduced me to Scottish Country Dancing in Hamilton in 1974. I was hooked from the first evening. My sister Karen started dancing in Hamilton at much the same time.
I soon began taking photos of dancers and dancing. However, the flash on my Pentax Spotmatic wasn’t strong enough to take good photos of people actually dancing in the low-light conditions of many halls. So I generally stuck to photos of groups, particularly when dressed up for special occasions such as theme nights or ceilidhs.
I moved to Wellington from Hamilton in 1983, initially taking up dancing at Lower Hutt Club before moving on to Ngaio and then Johnsonville. Some of the halls we danced at did have good lighting. Even with a limited flash, at times I managed to get reasonable photos of dancers taking to the floor.
I spent 2003-2004 in Tanzania with Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA); an amazing opportunity for wonderful wildlife and landscape photos. In 2004, I got my first digital camera, a Lumix DMC-FX1 which had a small zoom lens; great for capturing wild animals but not so good for photographing birds (which I was increasingly passionate about.) The size of the images was just 3 megapixels, compared to the 12 megapixel photos available on many mobile phones nowadays!
Although there wasn’t any Scottish Country Dancing available in Tanzania, I still had the opportunity to dance occasionally. Here I am dancing with Maasai women at a friend’s family celebration. I handed my camera to the driver who took us out to my friend’s home in the grasslands in northern Tanzania. He enjoyed taking some great shots!
A digital single-lens-reflex camera: A boon for better photographs
My photography of both dancing and birds took off when I got my first digital single-lens camera in 2008; a Panasonic Lumix with a small zoom lens. Being able to take clearer and close-up photos was a revelation.
As this camera produced higher-quality images of dancing, I recorded more and more events for Johnsonville Club along with other celebrations throughout the RSCDS Wellington Region.
Hogmanays
Welcoming in the New Year with toe-tapping music and fine dancing at a Hogmanay is a special celebration for Scottish Country Dancers.
Tributes to those who have contributed to Scottish Country Dancing in Wellington
The archive of photos Johnsonville photographers have produced over the years provides a visual history of those who have made major contributions to dancing in the Region or who are no longer with us.
Click the links below to see more about some of these dancers and musicians:
2022Kelburn’s Farewell Kelburn Club held its final dance on 19 June, closing after more than sixty years. John Gregory was presented with a Tribute from the Region to mark his enormous contribution to dancing.
2018Tribute to Peter Elmes On 24 November, a Region tribute dance marked Peter’s retirement from playing his beloved button accordion for Scottish Country Dancing.
The joy of special Scottish Country Dancing occasions
I got my current camera, a Nikon D7200, together with a great zoom lens in 2015. With this camera I can get wonderful shots of birds…as well as continuing to photograph special dancing events in the Region.
2021Wellington Region 60th Anniversary Ball A fine dinner and dance to commemorate 60 years of the Wellington District Branch of the New Zealand Scottish Country Dance Society.
2021Ngaio 50th Anniversary As a member of Ngaio Club from 1990-1992, I was thrilled the club asked me (along with John Patterson) to take photos at this celebration, another evening filled with the joy of fun and friendship.
2018NZ Branch 50th Anniversary Ball at Government House With swirling kilts and fabulous colours of the ballgowns, this evening proved a grand celebration with a welcome from The Governor General, The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy.
2014Wellington Region 1920s Ball An elegant evening of dancing in a beautifully decorated ballroom to celebrate the decade in which the RSCDS was formed.
To make sure I occasionally get a photo of me dancing, I sometimes hand my camera over to someone on the side-line, asking them to get some shots, like the one below.
2012Wellington Region Diamond Jubilee Ball This Ball at Government House celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll. The Governor General Lt. Gen The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae and Lady Janine welcomed us and joined in some of the dancing. The smiles of the dancers, their laughter and the fun had by all made photographing the event an enjoyable activity.
Continuing to make memories…
I’m still working hard to get good photos of birds. Although dancers move around, I’m more likely to anticipate where they’re going than for birds which flit around or simply fly off!
There’s nothing quite like photographing the joy of Scottish Country Dancing; attempting to catch the moment dancers smile to their partner or across the set, and covering well. As shown in my photo on the cover of the New Zealand Scottish Country Dancer 2022, Volume 69.
My plan is to continue recording dancing celebrations and tributes, so we can easily reflect on the fun we’ve had and the friendships made.