50-year Boots

June 2009

A note on the history of a unique club custom honouring long-standing members.

These boots are awarded to people who have been with the club for 50 years and are meant to be pretty worn out and battered (the boots, that is, although the recipient may also show a little wear and tear).

 A fine pair of 50 year boots These little leather boots were originally made out of pottery. However, when Joyce O’Connor saw a souvenir made of leather from Tauranga, she painstakingly unpicked them and has used them as a pattern for the 25 years since then that she has been making the boots. A great undertaking, Joyce, thank you.

Recently, we have tried to make sure this custom does not die out, so a ‘team’ of very amateur bootmakers has tried to master this fiddly skill. Many thanks to Ann Simpson and Jeanette Howie for being persuaded to join me in making some of them, and to Maureen Harris for keeping the results of our efforts.

Chris Ashton