Chair                           Richard

Grace                          Andy

 

Andy welcomed members 

 

Apologies                   Peter Graham, Lynne, Paul,  Phil ,Simon N, Nigel  

Visitors                       Tina Godbert
Club Visits                  Nil 

 

 

Andy – Bike trip next Tuesday  from perfume point to Source we had 12 people last time. 

 

Tina Godbert – Ahuriri school  food and music festival. We are needing volunteers to supervise the children on the inflatable rides, it is not onerous but does involve standing. It runs from 4.30 to 7.30 and we ask volunteers to arrive by 4.00 and gather outside the office steps for the safety briefing. We will make sure you get a break and some food during the festival. 

 

Andy - thank you from Nicola at MS  it was their biggest event ever with over 500 people  it was a perfect night. 

 

 

Simon  Wenley introduced his friend and colleague Regan LESLIE as our latest member  Simon had met Regan when they had  both worked in the same dental  franchise and later the same surgery .

 

Regan started life as an electrician but wanted to put a  spark in peoples smile. He is married  to Namiko has two daughters Olivia 4 and Rebecca 2.

 

We welcome Regan as one of the team 

 

Sergeant –Andy conducted a swift session  due to  leaving time for the speaker on Andy’s favourite tipple 

 

Raffle –7 Claire

 

Speaker – Andy introduced Godfrey QUEMENEUR from  God zone, whose  establishment had been visited by many of us on the way back from the farm visit 

 

Godfrey started home brewing in Nigeria where he lived for two years.  Imported beer was banned and the local beer was a bit of a lucky dip. It had a range from water to petrol! His wifes dabbled in a bit of home brew and after a visit to NZ they returned to Nigeria with a ‘kit and kilo’.  The initial product was nearly as good as the Nigerian brew! Despite this Godfrey was hooked. Well, isn’t beer great for bringing people together to enjoy life!

 

Over the course of the next 10 years this dream became a brewery, GodsOwn (a play on belonging to Godfrey and being in Godzone), surrounded by a natural environment where families could relax and enjoy themselves. His wife convinced Godfrey, who grew up in South Africa, that her home country was the perfect place .

They set out in a 1973 caravan to find the right location. Hawkes Bay stood out   Breweries fit in well with food, wine and sunshine.  They searched for a liveable house, some flat land, and the right ‘feel’.  As soon as they got out of the car they knew we had found it, a beautiful spot in Maraekakaho. They loved the old villa, small local community and a school 'round the corner and moved onto the  6.5h property on the 1st Feb 2010.

Since then they have added a daughter, extended the old villa (with only one bedroom it was a bit small), developed a hop farm and built an 800l brewery in the back yard!

 3672 State Highway 50

 

Andy thanked Godfrey  and presented him with the pathways coin and  assured him that we will be back