Celebrating 50 years
The weekend of 7-9 October, 2011, saw us gather together friends, members past and present, and well-wishers to acknowledge 50 years of activities, good times, and memorable members.
The weekend's programme went like this:
Friday 7 October: A Cocktail Evening at Hutt Valley Irish Society (adults only) began at 7.30pm with a complimentary drink on arrival to set the scene and get the evening underway
Saturday 8 October: This was a 'traditional Afternoon Tea' at Hutt Valley Irish Society, beginning at 3.00pm and featuring good, old-fashioned, home-baking and other treats. As the Rugby World Cup was in full swing, and Ireland were scheduled to play Wales in one of the Quarter-finals, we screened both Quarter Finals on the big screen at 6pm and 8.30pm, leavened with a light supper between games.
Sunday 9 October: A highlight of the weekend after the disappointment of the loss to Wales by the Irish rugby team the evening before was a Family barbecue Lunch at Hutt Valley Irish Society. The afternoon also featured Judging of the children’s Irish drawing and story writing competitions. It also saw a number of members deliver 'speeches' to an attentive audience.
Of course there were a number of photos for people to look back on, as well as a number from the weekend itself.
And we produced a couple of mementoes of the event:
We produced a short DVD for the weekend. It consists of over 600 individual still images from a variety of events, times and sources. Included are some enchanting 'home-movie' clips by one of our former members, now back in Ireland - Lower Hutt as it was in the early 1960.
You can watch an extract from the DVD below:
If you would like your own copy of the DVD, please get in touch.
We also produced a book of photos, which has a selection of the photos from the DVD. It proved a popular attraction throughout the weekend. If you would like to buy your own copy, you can do so online.
