The Probus Club of Kāpiti Coast’s 50th anniversary will be marked with a celebration lunch later in the year.
Club president Richard Chilton says about 180 people were expected to attend the gala luncheon at Southward Car Museum in early November to celebrate the first Probus club to be founded in the South Pacific.
Mr Chilton says the club started towards the end of 1974 on the initiative of Paraparaumu businessman Gordon Roatz.
He says Mr Roatz, a member of the Rotary Club of Paraparaumu, visited family in Scotland and was invited to a Probus club meeting sponsored by the local Rotary club and that gave him the idea of starting a Probus club in New Zealand.
The first meeting was convened on November 5, 1974, with 12 in attendance and this was the basis on which the club was formed.
The purpose of the club was to renew acquaintances each month with former working colleagues who lived on the coast.
Membership rose by 40 new members in 1976 and steadily increased to a peak of over 200 in the early 1990s.
Regular monthly meetings are held in the Ocean Road Community Centre, Paraparaumu Beach, with a 10-minute talk by a club member and then a guest speaker.
There are active interest groups ranging from walking, wine appreciation, books, dining, travel and trips.
Mr Chilton says the club is very well placed for the next 50 years.
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