Merry Christmas

The committee of the Bay of Plenty Sun Club wishes all members a very happy Christmas and peaceful and healthy New Year.

We hope that some of you will visit the club over the holiday period and make use of the fantastic facilities that the club has to offer.

We are expecting a number of overseas and local visitors at the club so it would be great if there were some members staying at the grounds to welcome them and make them feel at home.

Don't forget our pot luck dinner - a BBQ with salads - on 21 January. Come along to enjoy the long summer nights and good weather while it lasts.

Christmas at the Bay of Plenty Sun Club

Another Christmas feast was the order of the day at the Bay of Plenty Sun Club's annual Christmas party. One thing is for sure, you never go hungry at the BOP Sun Club!

The Christmas themed pot luck dinner this year will be remembered for 'ham'! While normally, chicken is the most popular item on the menu, this year it was ham. And the desserts - well they were to die for. However, no-one was complaining and all went into the unique 'pressie swap' well fed.

As usual, the pressie swap was a lot of fun. For the uninitiated, all the presents are placed in the centre of the room. Each person is allocated a number and in order, participants choose a present. If they like the look of another's present, they can swap it BEFORE opening their own. Sometimes, presents can change hands several times throughout the swap. This year, the pressie swap will be remembered for 'chocolates'! Those people with the highest numbers who were chocoholics were able to feed their habit well.

Don't forget BOP Sun Club's Christmas party

Only 5 days to go until the BOP Sun Club's Christmas party at the club grounds. On Saturday (17 December), happy hour will be followed by a Christmas themed pot luck dinner. Bring a dish to share and wear your favourite Christmas outfit.

Also everyone is to bring a wrapped gift to the value of no more that $5 for the BOP Sun Club's unique Christmas pressie swap. If you don't know what this means, you had better get to the club this weekend and find out. Remember - if you don't bring a pressie, you don't get a pressie!

So don't forget to come along and enjoy the fun and convivial company of the friendliest little naturist club in the country.

We'll see you there!

PS Can someone in authority have a word with the powers that be and turn on a fine weekend for us please! But even if it is wet, the clubhouse will be warm and dry and the company great.

Phoenix Shield returns to the Waikato

The only downside of the annual Phoenix Shield challenge between BOP Sun Club and Waikato Outdoor Society at Planet BOP was that the shield went back to the Waikato with the WOSarians. Never mind – you’ve heard of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’… Watch out next year WOS!

Food of the future?

At Planet BOP for the Phoenix Shield, food of the future was served up for dinner. This consisted of a different pill for each course starting with an orange pill for shrimp cocktail, with seafood sourced from Cancer and Pisces. After that, the brown pill was the main course of cold meats and Martian pies with a green pill of fresh vegetables from Venus and potatoes from Jupiter. Dessert consisted of a pink pill, subtley flavoured with moon cake (pavlova), rocket cake (chocolate log) and fruit from Saturn.
The spacemen received an extra 'little blue pill' as a rocket booster!

Spacefolk arrive at Planet BOP

With the theme of 'The Future', the recent Phoenix Shield Challenge between BOP Sun Club and Waikato Outdoor Society saw participants joining in all aspects of the event and, as we all know, naturists love to 'dress up'.

So it wasn't surprising to see a large number of spacemen and women arrive for Happy Hour suitably attired. Even a spaceship landed on the grounds and two 'aliens' disembarked.

Phoenix Shield games

With a theme of 'The Future', the games we play today on Planet Earth were not appropriate for the Phoenix Shield challenge. So Planet BOP had to come up with some more futuristic games.

The resultant games, such as Meteors (petanque), Flying saucers (Frisbee golf), Toss the alien (a game all of its own), Shooting Stars (target shooting), Black Holes (putting a table tennis ball with a golf club) etc were all played in the spirit of the shield. Another fun game was making a rocket from a whistling balloon. The balloon was carefully blown up and then let go. No way could the direction of that be determined. One even flew in through the door of a nearby campervan! Many landed in trees and one even landed on the clubhouse roof!

Annual Phoenix Shield challenge

Tha annual Phoenix Shield challenge between BOPSC and Waikato Outdoor Society was held at the BOP Sun Club early in November.

A contingent of eight WOS members travelled to the BOP Sun Club to join over 20 BOPSC members in the fun challenge, with the theme of 'The Future'.
More details soon.

Craft market at the 40th anniversary

On the Sunday at our 40th anniversary, the BOP Sun Club held a craft market, with goods on display all made by members. A good turnout bought knitwear (clothes and toys), cards, Christmas goodies and a special anniversary tomato relish, made especially for the occasion and labelled appropriately.

1976 and 2011

One of the memories six former members of the BOPSC (who were all at the 40th anniversary of the club) had from the 1970s was attending the NZ Sunbathing Association's rally in Wellington (aka 'The Gumboot rally').
At the Percy Cousin's Trust concert at that rally, the club members, including children, decked out in their yellow T-shirts and gaining the name 'The Canaries', sang 'Rockin' Robin', ably led by Barry (aka the Two Ton Canary).
This song was re-enacted at the anniversary by those six members present - once again led by Barry.

 The photos show the difference 35 years makes.


Can you spot me in the pic from 1976?

1970s revisited

The theme for the BOP Sun Club's 40th anniversary was the 1970s, as that was when the club became an Incorporated Society. In accordance with this theme, many dressed in 1970s gear. Subsequently there were a few hippies attending the dinner.
A three course meal was catered and served by the committee and helpers and we managed to seat all 50 guests in the clubhouse. After dinner, the tables were cleared away and we were then entertained by a current member, who played some old country music songs. Then a former member (who in the past had been named 'The Two Ton Canary') entertained us. Those who were members in the late 1970s will know who I am referring to!

How do you like our 40th anniversary cake?

Didn't our anniversary cake look great? It featured the current club logo and was decorated in the club's sunny canary yellow, testament to the atmosphere at the Bay of Plenty Sun Club!

Our wonderful 40th anniversary

Over Labour Weekend, fifty people including several former members from the late 1960s, attended the club's 40th anniversary.

Although it was a little damp on Saturday, it didn't dampen the spirits of those attending the event. Our new undercover area was well used as a cooking and serving area for the food so no-one got wet. We even managed to seat all 50 guests for dinner inside in the clubhouse.

More information to come - watch this space!

All go for our 40th anniversary

The grounds look great, the tasks are all allocated and with 42 registrations already, the club is looking forward to a great weekend.

A celebratory dinner on Saturday night will be followed by an evening of entertainment with a live show from a past member which will fit in with the theme of the 1970s. A craft market will be held on Sunday morning and we will wind down to the RWC final later that night.

It is great that some members from as far back as the late '60s and early '70s will be attending and helping us to celebrate the club's history.

There is still time to register so come along and join in the fun.

(Un)dress rehearsal for our 40th anniversary

Don't forget the big event on our calendar - the 40th anniversary of Incorporation at Labour Weekend (21-24 October). The weekend before (15-16 October) will just be a chance to get together and tick off all the small items that are outstanding at the moment, finalise where all our campers will be located on the grounds and ensure we have all the food and prizes organised. The swimming pool should also be ready for the first dip of the season, provided it warms up a bit.
There will be a pot luck dinner on the Saturday night, so come along and see how things are going for our anniversary.

Daylight saving time means summer is coming!

Now that we have daylight saving time, why not come along to the Bay of Plenty Sun Club and enjoy the long daylight hours with a BBQ and a swim in the pool or soak in the spa. By Labour Weekend for our 40th anniversary, the pool will be welcoming and the grounds will look fantastic (as they always are).

If you haven't booked for the anniversary celebrations, it isn't too late. You can come for the whole weekend or just for part of it. Whatever you come to, you will be made most welcome by members of the friendliest naturist club in the country.

"Ahoy me hearties!"

Celebrate the arrival of spring at the friendly BOP Sun Club for our pot luck dinner this Saturday night (17 September) with a pirate/shipwreck theme. Hope to see you all there. Visitors also welcome so bring some friends along to join in the fun.
Also, don't forget to register for the 40th anniversary of the club's incorporation at Labour Weekend. A fun weekend, including a dinner, entertainment and craft market is planned. For more details and to register, go to www.gonatural.co.nz/BOPSun

Cleaning up the club grounds

A big thank you to the eight members who turned out for the working bee weekend and the two who made the effort to come and help on Saturday afternoon. We managed to get a few jobs done but there is still a lot to do. The fish and chips went down well in front of a blazing fire on Saturday night and we had a pack of chips left over (a bit like our pot luck dinners) which could have been used for breakfast or lunch if someone had remembered. We will be continuing with the outstanding jobs over the next two months so that everything is in order for our 40th  anniversary celebrations on Labour weekend.

Fish and chip night at BOP Sun Club

On 20-21 August, we will have our usual club weekend. This time we will be tidying up the clubhouse and grounds ready for our summer activities, followed by a fish and chips night. Come along and join in the camaraderie while you work, have your evening meal cooked for you (you won't even have to go and get it), and soak away the efforts of the day in the spa, ready to carry on the chores the next day.
As we have our anniversary at Labour Weekend, closely followed by the Phoenix Shield, we would like to get the jobs completed during this weekend.

Remember, many hands make light work, so let's see some other members come along to help the committee, thereby sharing the load. Remember it is your club so your input would be most appreciated.

BOP Sun Club members visit The Lazy Tramper

Eight members of the BOP Sun Club joined the BOP Naturists for a weekend sleepover at The Lazy Tramper, a lodge high in the Kaimai Ranges, near Tauranga. The weather was fantastic, the company great, the food plentiful and scrumptious and the entertainment superb! Read more about this great weekend on bopnaturists.blogspot.com.

Shade Sail

If you haven't been to the Bay of Plenty Sun Club lately, you wouldn't have seen our new shade sail. Thanks to a grant from Pub Charities, based on our philosophy of  'sensible sun exposure', we have now some shade over the pool area. Why not come along to the club and have a look.

40th Anniversary of Incorporation

The Bay of Plenty Sun Club started out as the Tauranga Sun Club in 1967. It leased land in Belk Road, near Tauranga until it moved to its present location near Matata and changed its name to BOP Sun Club in 1974.
In 1971, the club became an Incorporated Society and this event will be celebrated at Labour Weekend (21-24 October), with a full programme of events planned for the weekend. We are inviting former members of either the Tauranga Sun Club or BOP Sun Club to come along to help celebrate the event. Please contact the secretary on bopsc@gonatural.co.nz for more information. A full programme and registration form are on our webpage: www.gonatural.co.nz/BOPSun.

A history of the club is currently being compiled and if any former members have photos of the early days, either at Belk Road or at Matata, please contact the secretary as most photographic records were lost in the clubhouse fire in 1987.

Welcome

Welcome to the BOP Sun Club blog site. I hope that I can keep you up to date with the fun events that we are planning over the summer months. Meanwhile, please feel free to sign on as a follower and come and visit us real soon!