It is hoped the Omaui Pond restoration Project will be a fitting project that honours the historic links between the Club and YMCA and the Omaui Health Camp.
Past president Lisa-Maree outlined the historic links, and the plan for the restoration project that has been proposed for 2024. A District Grant has been applied for.
The partnership between the club and the YMCA goes back to 1938.
Between 1864 and 1874 preliminary steps and informal meetings to establish a YMCA in Invercargill took place.
The YMCA was not formally established in Invercargill with the National Association until 1876.
Early in the 1920s the association went into decline and patronage fell away. In 1926, the Invercargill YMCA went into recess and in February 1929 the Invercargill YMCA was officially closed.
In 1938 the National Office of the YMCA requested the Rotary Club of Invercargill to investigate the possibility of reviving the Assocation.
A public meeting was held on May 10, to discuss the revival of the YMCA and those citizens "interested in the welfare of youth".
A resolution to revive the YMCA in Invercargill was unanimously carried. Trustees were appointed and committees were established.
Our 75th history booklet includes a photo referencing in 1935 Frank Corkill organising working bees to clear the boulders from the site of the Omaui Health Camp.
We also provided much of the material and labour for the erection of the building.
An association was formed, and the building was handed over for use of summer camps.
Appropriately as a 50th anniversary project we returned to Omaui to redecorate the building.
In 2001, the Southland Childrens Health Camp gifted its Omaui campsite, situated on more than 3ha with a building complex located on the Omaui headlands.
The purpose of the complex remains for the good of the people of Southland, especially its young people.
Since then, upgrades have been undertaken on the site including building covered areas, developing outdoor activities and tracks, as well as significant upgrades to the building itself to ensure it is fit for purpose for user groups.
This pond restoration project is proposed as a centenary project that links back to the 50th anniversary and back to where it all started 85 years ago.