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Camden Haven Day VIEW Club
About
Camden Haven Day VIEW Club was formed in 1992.
Currently, the Club sponsors four Smith Family Learning for Life students and is actively involved in fundraising activities to raise donations for The Smith Family programs.
We are always open to new members, so please get in touch today and come and see what it's all about.
Location
- When: Meeting Day on the 3rd Monday each month
- Time: At 11.00am
- Where: Laurieton United Services Club
- Address: Seymour Street, LAURIETON NSW 2443
Club News
Meet Our Committee
Members held the Annual General Meeting and first meeting in February. Our Zone Councillor, Barbara, presented each of the Committee members with their official badges.
April 2025
There was a good number of our Members to enjoy their time together at our April Club Luncheon Meeting on Easter Monday.
Our guest speaker, Elaine from Laurieton Museum, told us all about the history of Laurieton which is named after one of the original landowners and a timber miller in the area way back in the 1870's. This village in the Camden Haven was officially named Laurieton in 1946.
Accompanying photo shows Elaine with Assistant Secretary Jackie.
March 2025
At our March Luncheon Meeting, Marcia shared photos and tales of her adventure to South Island New Zealand with her travel buddy Dinny the Dingo. Dinny can be spotted with his new kiwi friend on the table behind her and our club secretary Helen.
Guest speaker at 2025 International Women's Day morning tea
On March 3 at the Club's International Women's Day morning tea, our guest speaker was Diane G, President of the Port Macquarie and Districts Family History Society. Diane's presentation was engaging and informative, sharing some insights into the lives of the convict women who found themselves in Port Macquarie in the early 1800's. Life for these women was very different to the lifestyles of most women today. One of Diane's colleagues, Beryl, shared the story of Catherine, a 13 year old who was sentenced to serve 14 years and spent some time in Port Macquarie. Beryl was dressed in one of the Forget Me Not bonnets that have been made to represent each of the female convicts who spent time in Port Macquarie.
While we have seen dramatic changes over the past 200 years, there is still room for growth and improvement as we accelerate action to raise awareness of the needs of women and the areas of inequality that remain in our society today.
March 2025 International Women's Day morning tea
On March 3, Camden Haven Day VIEW Club celebrated International Women's Day with a morning tea at Laurieton United Services Club.
The theme for this year's International Women's Day was: Accelerate Action, to encourage action to heighten awareness of the resources, strategies and activities that positively impact women.
By way of introduction, our National Counsellor, Dianne F, spoke about VIEW and the role our Clubs play in providing a voice for women and why we celebrate International Women's Day. She also outlined how VIEW has played a significant role in making positive changes and raising awareness in the past and continues to do so.
By way of introduction, our National Counsellor, Dianne F, spoke about VIEW and the role our Clubs play in providing a voice for women and why we celebrate International Women's Day. She also outlined how VIEW has played a significant role in making positive changes and raising awareness in the past and continues to do so.
We had almost 100 guests in attendance, including three gentlemen, and raised over $500 for The Smith Family.
November 2024 Guest Speaker
At our November Luncheon Meeting our guest speaker was one of our own Members; Inara.
Inara was born in Latvia and migrated to Australia with her family when she was 13 years old. She shared some interesting facts about Latvia and the challenges she faced when she first moved to Australia, learning how to speak English and discovering that she would not be able to have a pet monkey, nor would she be living in a house on stilts - not in Newcastle anyway.
Inara also showed us some of the traditional Latvian clothes and amber necklaces.
Melbourne Cup Celebrations in November 2024
Members had a thoroughly enjoyable time together for our Quiche, Salad & Dessert Lunch on Melbourne Cup Day. Drinks and nibbles were on hand as we settled in to have some fun together. With entry fee, raffle and donations for take away containers of leftover food, we raised just over $200, a great effort for our small group of 18 guests. This money will go towards supporting disadvantaged Learning for Life students through The Smith Family.
Everyone went home with tummies full of delicious quiches, tasty salads, terrific trifle, magnificent mousse and scrumptious pavlova. Of course everyone's attention turned to the race that stops the nation at 3pm, and a couple of lucky winners went home with some extra money from the sweep.
Fashions for the Melbourne Cup Celebrations
Accompanying photo shows Members Anne, Rita and Caroline all dressed up for Cup Day.
New Member Welcomed in October 2024
Members had so much fun at our October aka Socktober Luncheon meeting. Why Soctober? Well, as Members and guests arrived they were given a sock, and when it came time for dessert they found the person with the matching sock to eat their dessert with and to spend some time getting to know each other better. Many brought a photo of themselves to share as a talking point. There were baby photos, family photos, teenage, wedding and school photos. This created such a lovely buzz in the room as everyone chatted and had a great time learning more about each other.
We also played a Guess Who game where we matched some of our people with a statement they had written about themselves, thus finding out that amongst us we have someone who was kissed by Hopalong Cassidy, a motor bike rider, someone had met the now King Charles when he was in short pants, another met Margot Fontayne!! Other great experiences were shared some funny, some scary, some emotional and others amazing and interesting.
During the formal part of our meeting our President Bev was able to present another new Member with her name badge and welcome her to our club, as can be seen in the accompanying photo. Another lady signed up to join on the day as well.
Guest Speaker in September 2024
Members had a happy time at our September Luncheon Meeting, with several sharing their good news stories, some of which were quite entertaining and had us all laughing.
Our Guest speaker, Lynn Gill, spoke about her experience as a young single mum training and serving in the army reserves to help make ends meet. She shared several anecdotes of her time in the army, including the challenging training exercises and her involvement in the clean up and recovery following the devastating Newcastle earthquakes in 1989. Some of her stories made us laugh, some made us sad and others had us shaking our heads in disbelief. We were inspired by Lynn's resilience and thank her for sharing with us.
New Members Welcomed in September 2024
Accompanying photo shows President Bev welcoming two new Members Gayle and Carol, to our Club, and presenting them with their name badges.
Festival of Spring Fashion Parade in September 2024
Our Club's Festival of Spring Fashion Parade proved to be a lovely day out. We had a full house of 80 guests who enjoyed their time together in the Mountain View Room at Laurieton United Services Club. A buffet lunch preceded the opportunity to view a collection of lovely clothes supplied by JA Fashions, along with an incredible array of shoes from Laurieton Footwear.
Several ladies went home with lucky door and raffle prizes. To date we estimate to over $700 has been made from the event. This amount will increase, as our lovely JA Fashions donates 10% of purchases made by attendees of the fashion parade during the week following the parade to our club. This money of course goes towards supporting disadvantaged children with their education through The Smith Family. We are so grateful for the support of our local businesses and the Laurieton United Services Club for enabling us to run this fundraising event each year.
Models of the Spring Fashion Parade
Our Festival of Spring Fashions was a wonderful success, and the accompanying photo shows off our beautiful models.
Birthday Celebrations in August 2024
Members had a lot of fun celebrating our 32nd birthday with a Tru Blu Country Do. President Bev and her team did a fantastic job of decorating our venue at Laurieton United Services Club to help us all get into the good old Aussie country spirit. Everyone came dressed in their country best and were treated to some good Aussie tucker. Our birthday cake looked fantastic and tasted even better! Thank you Bev!!
Some live music from The Merry Musos of Laurieton Resort had us tapping toes and singing along. Jackie shared an Aussie poem about shearers, and well over $300 was raised from our terrific raffles. The 100 club added another $100 towards our fundraising for Learning for Life students. There were lucky door prizes for 6 lucky Members, and everyone went home with full tummies, some birthday cake and cute farm themed lolly bags.
Recognition of Members Service in August 2024
Accompanying photo shows our Zone Counsellor Barb wishing us a Happy Birthday and presenting 20 year service pins and Certificates of Appreciation to our President Bev and to Cheryl who has previously worked on our committee as a Delegate and in other roles at another club before moving to our area.
While Bev presented certificates of appreciation to three of our members, and also welcomed another new member to our club with her badge.
Christmas In July 2024
Members had a fun festive time at our Christmas in July Lunch at Laurieton United Services Club on July 29. Delicious food, fabulous service, fantastic people joining in the fun and festivities, great raffle prizes and lots of other prizes for our Christmas themed games - all this ensured a successful day raising well over $600 for The Smith Family.
So grateful to everyone who contributed by coming along and joining in the fun. We had 73 people attend, including 13 Members from other VIEW clubs in our Zone, and many friends along with some husbands and partners.
Accompanying photo shows the festivities from the day.
Welcoming New Members in July 2024
At our July Luncheon Members welcomed four new Members, who were presented with their badges.
Welcome Lynne, Margaret, Rita and Caroline who can be seen in the accompanying photo.
Guest Speaker in July 2024
New Member Lynne, was also our July guest speaker, and we were all inspired and touched by her presentation about Living Well with Dementia.
Lynne is on the Board of Directors of Demential Friendly Communities and was supported by her associate Marg. Lynne’s talk was open and honest as she shared such important and sensitive information.
Guest Speaker in June 2024
Our guest speaker for June was Robyn Van Loggerenberg from 2Way FM Wauchope, who presented a very interesting talk about women in radio.
Robyn spoke about the significant role women have played in radio over the years, and shared some anecdotes about her experience as a radio presenter. It was very interesting and entertaining.
Photo L-R: Robyn and Assistant Secretary Mel.
Welcoming New Members in June 2024
Members were thrilled to welcome four new members, and our President Bev presented each of them with their name badges.
New Members Welcomed In May 2024
At our May Luncheon meeting we welcomed three new members who were presented with their name badges.
Photo shows Bev welcoming Jayne, Lyn and Margaret.
Guest Speaker in May
As well as being our guest speaker, Dianne Andrews from Diamond 'n Denim Line Dancers taught us some new moves.
Photo shows Assistant Secretary Mel with Dianne.
Soup Slice and Damper in May 2024
Our Soup Slice and Damper Day on May 6 was a delightful success, raising almost $400 for The Smith Family. The weather was perfect for indulging in delicious soup with some damper, and tasty slices with a hot cuppa.
With twenty-three ladies attending we were able to enjoy a lovely time together filling our tummies, and most of us took some treats home as well for a gold coin donation.