ELDERLY PEOPLE'S CLUB

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21480, 2 May 1933, Page 11

ELDERLY PEOPLE'S CLUB

"NOTHING UNDER SEVENTY" CHARITY AND HARMONY Members of the " Nothing Under 70 Club" decided at their first annual meeting in Sydney lately to visit institutions for the aged in and around Sydney, "to.cheer up the old folk." Derisive laughter, groans, and loud cries of dissent followed the suggestion of a speaker that the procedure should' be altered in view of the limited years of service which, he said, were ahead of members. A sweet-faced old lady shook her umbrella in "well-simulated indignation. There were present 24 members, whose collective ages totalled more than 1800 years. The oldest male member is Mr. T. Buckley, who is 91 years of age. An inquiry a$ to the age of the oldest lady brought the crisp retort from the president, Professor Randal Woodhouse. that there were no old ladies in the club. It was a happy assemblage, typical of an organisation whose members, mellowed rather than embittered by the passing of the years, find in association with those'pf their own day and generation a community of interest and a useful field of service to their lessfortunate fellows. During the year, members have broadcast entertainments, have appeared in a talking film entitled "Nothing Under Seventy," and have cheered the inmates of many charitable institutions by their genial fellowship. Members refer with pride to the fact that theirs is a "harmony" club. Before the meeting dispersed, songs from the club's extensive repertoire, ranging from " Come Into the Garden, Maude," to " The More We Are Together," were sung with cheerful vigour. But it was impossible to escape the note of sadness when it came to " Auld Lang Syne."