General News
19 June, 2023
Maryborough Apex Club reminisces on achievements
Former Maryborough Apex Club members gathered for a reunion on Saturday night, six years after the club ended. Hundreds of local residents gave their time to the Maryborough Apex Club over the years. It was started in 1940 and operated until 2017...
Former Maryborough Apex Club members gathered for a reunion on Saturday night, six years after the club ended.
Hundreds of local residents gave their time to the Maryborough Apex Club over the years.
It was started in 1940 and operated until 2017 when it closed due to lack of members.
Glenn Hooper joined the club in 1973.
“We supported a lot of community work in the town, and donated a lot of money to different charities,” he said.
“When you hit the age of 40, you had to retire out of Apex, that was the golden rule. You had to retire and let the young ones come through. By the time it closed (the Maryborough club), young ladies could join the Apex Club too and they raised the age limit to 45.”
The inaugural meeting of the local Apex club had 16 people in attendance and sponsored by Castlemaine, Maryborough became club number 44, District 1, Zone 7 and was chartered in 1941 — the last club chartered until the end of WWII.
Glenn said Maryborough Apex Club was “very strong” from the 1960s through to the 1990s.
“In our days when we joined there was a need for community support, and we ran paper drives and delivered Christmas dinners and did wood bees to help the community out,” he said.
“We also used to cut lawns, well that’s a trade now for people and they make money from it, whereas we did it for nothing.”
About 50 people turned up for the reunion at the Highland Society on Saturday night.
“It was excellent. Many stories were told and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it,” Glenn said.
Apex clubs across Australia have raised millions of dollars for charities and community organisations since the group began in 1931.
