NEWSLETTER
April 2025
Office Hours: Monday and Friday (except Public Holidays) 1pm - 3pm
Club Night: Wednesday from 4:00pm to 7:00pm at Bowls Palmerston North Club Rooms Lounge, Linton Street.
Membership and Subscriptions
Subscriptions were due on the 1st July, our Treasurer Kevin has either posted or emailed out notices. As per the rules you have 30 days to comply. You can either pay by internet, or come into the office and pay by cash.
PNRSA (2014) Inc Account Number 06 0746 0384063 00 or cash at the office. Don't forget to put your NAME and LAST FOUR DIGITS of your membership number in the reference if you're paying by internet banking.
I take this opportunity in thanking those that have paid and to those that have given a donation. Give us a call on 06 354 8271 to see if your new card has arrived.
Subscription for 2023 – 2024:
- $35 for members under 80 years of age.
- $20 for members over 80 years of age, up to 90 years of age and widows.
- Free for members over 90 years of age and serving members.
Please come and collect your membership card before we close on the 13th December. You may need your card if you're travelling over the holidays and want to visit other RSAs/Clubs. The BPN cannot help with any enquiries or get your membership card.
A note to members who may have friends joining or those joining them up, please tell them to print clearly their email address (if they have one). We are finding many times; we cannot decipher what they have written.
When new members apply for membership and have email addresses, please PRINT CLEARLY. Many are unreadable! If we haven't got the right email address, then we can't send you information.
Club Activities
CLUB NIGHTS
Members, if you have not come along to Bowls Palmerston North do make the effort. Members are a friendly group that would welcome you. We have reasonable bar prices, raffles, nibbles, Cook Night’s Off and other activities.
Wed 16 April: Yakedy Yak, catch up with each other
Wed 23 April: Chit Chat
Wed 30 April: Members' Draw
NOTICES
Friday 11 April BOOK & BUBBLES Vanessa Her contact number is on the flyer if you wish to purchase this book.
ANZAC NOTICES
Mark Wright asked to let you know about his ANZAC performances of Voices of Gallipoli at Globe Theatre. Here is the link to information about this performance and where you can book.
Senior Time
Veteran's Affairs
Please help us reach other veterans with qualifying service
We are very keen to contact and keep in touch with all veterans who have qualifying service. If you have an old service friend who you know isn’t in touch with Veterans’ Affairs please encourage them to call us at 0800 483 8372 or email us at veterans@nzdf.mil.nz or just even subscribe to this email newsletter. We really want to let as many eligible veterans as we can know about the support that they may be able to get from us.
Force Financial Hub The Force Financial hub would like to highlight this InForce Insurance package available to the NZDF community including veterans, provided through Tower. They provide insurance for your contents, home, and motor, designed for your specific needs. There is a 10% discount off Tower products, and a further multi-policy discount available. Highlights - 10% automatic premium discount for all INFORCE policy holders - You can purchase online at your convenience, 24/7
- A range of payment frequency options to choose from
- A dedicated team of advisors who recognise your special needs are available to provide expert advice 8am to 7pm Mon-Fri, and 9am to 6pm on Saturday.
For all enquiries or help with any policies call 0800 808 808 or email inforce@tower.co.nz.
Any issues and feedback, please email benefits@nzdf.mil.nz.
Check out their website or Facebook, or call us 0800 483 8372 Our phone lines are open from 9am to 3pm, Monday through Friday.
Home help for veterans 80 years and older: Discretionary VIP Services is available to veterans with qualifying service, who don’t have service-related illness, but are 80 or over (as of 1 July 2024) or have a terminal illness. Veterans who fit this criteria can apply for one or more of the Discretionary VIP Services including: garden maintenance, lawn mowing, foot care, exterior house washing, interior house cleaning, or a personal medical alarm. For more information and to download the form, visit our website.
Commemorative Travel Funding, Veterans Affairs
Commemorative travel funding is available to help veterans with Qualifying Operational Service to attend a commemoration or reunion that is related to their Qualifying Operational Service — in either New Zealand or overseas. It can also be used to revisit the place of their Qualifying Operational Service. The contribution is a lifetime maximum of $2500. This can be used to be reimburse for costs such as flights, accommodation and travel insurance.
When you submit your application, you need to supply supporting evidence, this can vary depending on if you apply before or after your trip, but in essence we need to see that there is a financial commitment to the trip. You can find out more information about the commemorative travel fund and how to apply on our website.
Veterans' Independence Programme
If you are an eligible veteran you can apply for a service from the Veterans’ Independence Programme (VIP) by going to this page on our website and then download and then complete the VIP application form. If you are already a client of Veterans’ Affairs and have a case manager, please don’t apply, you can catch up with your case manager about your needs.
VIP is a non-urgent needs-based programme, and it aims to help veterans with qualifying service, who don’t have access to any other support, to stay safely in their own homes. If they have more complex requirements, we recommend that they approach their GP to access more appropriate community support through Te Whatu Ora. If the veteran has a service-related health condition, we would like them to make a claim before applying for a VIP service.
MILITARY HISTORY PRESENTATIONS
22 Apr (Tue - EPLP) – “110th Anniversary of the Gallipoli Landings”, by Dr Ian McGibbon, ONZM, former Chief Historian, Ministry of Culture and Heritage
25 April ((Friday) ANZAC DAY
8 May (Thu - MMMHP) – “60th Anniversary of RNZAF No 3 Squadron Transition to Helicopters”, by WGCDR (Rtd) Ron Thacker, MNZM, RNZAF, Former CO, 3 Sqn RNZAF
12 Jun (Thu - MMMHP) - “20th Anniversary of the Deployment of NZDF UNMOs to South Sudan”, by COL Mel Childs, Dep Sec, Governance, People and Exec Services, NZ Min Def
24 Jun (Tue - EPLP) – “110th Anniversary – Men and Their Horses: The Sinai-Palestine Campaign, 1915-19, during the First World War”, by LTCOL Dr Peter Wood, ONZM, RNZIR
Happy Birthday
Birthdays for April 2025:
Kevin Hicks, Barbara Papuni, Mark Dunwell, Jen Kearins, Eileen O’Brien, Janet Darvill & Kim Dunwell
Last Post
Sadly, we have to announce that David Hartley has passed away. David was a loyal member of PNRSA. His service will be at Beauchamp Funeral Home, 167 John F Kennedy Drive on Wednesday, 28 March at 11:00am
From our President Peter to David's family and friends.
We were shocked and saddened over the weekend to hear of David Hartley’s sudden and untimely death.
David was a staunch supporter of the Palmerston North RSA as was his mother Jeanne Hyde -who was a member of the executive committee and who also died after a short illness in 2023.
David was confined to a wheelchair, but he did not let that detract him from being independent and living life to the full.
In addition to being a regular attender at our weekly meetings he also contributed technically to our web page and Facebook page and provided advice to the Club executive. He was always willing and cheerful and did not dwell on his disability.
Farewell David you have been a good friend and will be missed. Rest now in peace.
PNRSA Welfare Trust
The PNRSA Trust is located at the Senior Citizens Lounge, Main Street, Opposite the Globe Theatre. The Trust operates on Tuesday’s 9.45am -11.45. For enquiries, please ring Mike O'Connor 06 358 9983 or Albie Armstrong 06 358 6881,
Remembrance Army Working Bees
If you can help, please contact Ian Bailey 06 356 7517.
The Manawatu co-ordinator for the NZ Remembrance Army has ceramic poppies available to place on service graves in the area. If you would like one, please contact Sarah Cole on 021 2930333 or sezy.lvn@gmail.com with grave details.
Please note: They are not to go in RSA sections or on CWG, so must be in a public section. Please also advise if you would like a clean and/or restoration.
A donation to the NZRA would be appreciated though the givealittle address.
https://givealittle.co.nz/org/the-remembrance-army-charitable-trust
RSA Women's Section
PNRSA Women’s Section sadly lost their 104 year old member
last week. When her husband came back from the War it was on Ada’s 25th Birthday they moved into the house she has been in for the last 79 years. Over the years her hearing and sight were slowly going but she knew where everything in her house was, her memory was very sharp. She joined the Soldiers Club in 1954 and became a Women Section member, she helped the Club making soft toys to raffle to raise money for the items that the club needed.
Ada resigned from the Women’s Section in 1963 and rejoined in Broadway in 1986.
She was a volunteer for Methodist Social Services, Trade Aid, the Red Cross and YWCA, Meals on Wheels and a couple of other clubs. Ada in those years was a very active lady. She was a very pleasant and lovely women that will be missed. But saying that what a life she had and thanks to her daughter she was able to stay independent and yes on her own. Pauline was only a phone call away if needed.
RAZA Pool Club
Club nights held on Thursday evenings from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Why not pop down and join them. As Harry would often have said “let the cue do the talking”
JOKE TIME
One day, a mechanic asked a surgeon "Do you think the human body is a machine?". The surgeon replied "Sure, it has parts and each part has a purpose to fulfill just like each an every gear in a machinery as a purpose."
"Then why do you get paid so much as compared to me? I open up machines and repair them. Isn't that exactly what you do?" The mechanic asked bluntly.
The surgeon replied: "Son, try repairing it with the machine running."