ONLY three of its members remain in the district but there was strong support for the Millthorpe CWA last week when it celebrated its 90th anniversary.
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Among those who attended the celebrations was the association’s world president Ruth Shanks who was guest speaker at the celebration lunch and spoke about the various versions of the women’s group around the world.
About 40 people, including the 12 current members, their partners, representatives from Millthorpe community groups, local politicians and CWA representatives from surrounding branches also celebrated the milestone anniversary.
As a tribute to days gone by, members brought along their fine china from home for guests to use.
The celebrations also included a service at St Mark’s Anglican Church, a lunch at the Old Mill Cafe and a cake cutting ceremony at the CWA hall by junior member Shannon Pond and the oldest member 93-year-old Irene Chapman.
President Joyce Pascoe AM joined the Millthorpe Branch in February 1960, a year before she got married to a local farmer, and said although many of the members have relocated they still travel to the monthly meetings.
“Some of the women, when they left the district they retired to Orange but they still like to come back, we have not got one lady who lives in Millthorpe, they are all district ladies” Mrs Pascoe said.
She said it was that friendship and fellowship through the Millthorpe branch that led her to take up positions at regional, state and national levels with the CWA where she spent three years as the national treasurer from 1997 to 2000.
Mrs Pascoe said the Millthorpe CWA was started on November 22, 1924 when Mrs TP Smith called together a group of women in Millthorpe to form a branch.
“We’ve had meetings every month, bar January, on the first Tuesday ever since,” she said.
Among the achievements celebrated were the formation of a baby health centre, which the branch started in its rooms in 1934 and continue to run today as an early childhood development centre with increased home visits.
“It started with eight babies the first day then it went to 15, it wouldn’t be as many today but it’s still enough for use to maintain the rooms,” Mrs Pascoe said.
