The Club was formed in 1989 when Sir James Fletcher attended the inaugural meeting of an enthusiastic group of retirees, and a motion to form a Club was endorsed. The Club's first ten years were celebrated with a Booklet which contained a brief record of activities in word and photographic coverage.
A fee of $15.00 per member (includes spouse or partner) is paid to cover the publication of a monthly newsletter which incorporates details of upcoming events, notable activities about members of the Club and items of humour.
We are based in Christchurch and membership is drawn from Ashburton through to Kaikoura. Current membership is 82, with a newsletter readership of 150 plus.
A programme of 8 or 9 outings, including mid-year and a Christmas luncheon is held annually and our group have travelled throughout New Zealand and Eastern Australia. Notable trips have been to the Gold/Sunshine Coasts, Norfolk Island, Tasmania, Bay of Islands and more recently a trip to mid-Canterbury, where a visit to a 'Five-star Beef' feedlot at Ashburton where the complex has a holding capacity of 2,000 beef cattle at any one time. The beef is produced solely for the Japanese market.
Members of the Fletcher Challenge Friendship Club tour group visiting the Montana Winery, Blenheim as part of the Top of the South Island tour, October 1991
Officers elected at the Annual General Meeting on 20th November 2003 are:
| President: |
Keith McFarlane |
| Vice President: |
Pat Gorman |
| Secretary: |
Des Aubrey |
| Treasurer: |
Jim Hughes |
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