Coasters preserve ties

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33981, 23 October 1975, Page 2

Coasters preserve ties

What speaks slowly,' does not talk about business while drinking. and displays a remarkable urge to congregate with its own kind? Answer A resident, past or present, of the West Coast. Every third Tuesday of the' month, a bit of the West Coast is brought to the New Market hotel in' Auckland, with a meet-j ing of the Auckland branch of the West Coast. Association. Shown at a Coasters’ social in the hotel are. from left. Mr A. Wall. Miss A. Williams. Mrs M. Capener. and Mrs A Chong Mans of the 400 members attend for a quiet ale and chat with “kinfolk." “A lot of Coasters leave because of lobs, and also because of the climate.” said the secretary of the branch (Mr R. A. Wall) "When they get to a place like Auckland they realise that they are all alone, and they look for companionship That's whv the association was started.” Well-known Coasters who have settled in Auckland include Brian Fairlie. the tennis plaver: Percv Jones, many times the winner of the national singles bowls title: the tockevs. the Skelton brothers; and Mr J. D. Hinton. the Victoria Cross winner. Rotorua. Thames, and Tauranga had branches of the association, said Mr Wall, and he hoped that another would be formed in Whangarei. “I don’t know what it is about Coasters: thev just seem to like getting together.” he said. One Coaster could pick another bv a simple test. "We knew you weren’t Coasters.” a reporter and photographer were told "We talk slower than you do, and we don't talk business while we are drinking."