Keitha Journeaux, top Raetihi citizen

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 626, 5 March 1996, Page 7

Keitha Journeaux, top Raetihi citizen

Late last year an embarrassed but proud Keitha Journeaux received the Raetihi Citizens Award, presented by the Waimarino Community Board. Keitha arrived in the district in 1950 to teach at Raetihi Primary School. Through her association with the school and later when she had a family she became immersed in community activities with an energy and commitment that has never ceased and has earned her the admiration of the entire community. Over the past forty-odd years, Keitha has been involved in the Raetihi swimming club and as an offlcial at the Wanganui swimming centre, Plunket, Playcentre, the board of trustees at Ruapehu College, the Raetihi Parent Teacher Association, the Crippled Children' s Society committee, Meals On Wheels, the Cancer Support Group, Girl Guides, ITC (Toastmasters), the Raetihi Repertory Society, the Taihape writers group and the gardening club. Keitha has many anecdotes. In the 1970's when Keitha was president of the Plunket Society a "Mrs New Zealand" fund-raiser competition was organised. Keitha said entrants had to be married and contestants featured in a fashion parade and then had to answer questions on subjects such as child rearing and preserving. A Mrs Raetihi and a Mrs Ohakune would be named and then they would compete for the Mrs Waimarino title, an honour bestowed on Ellen Gould one year. Forever fundraising Keitha remembers the PTA was forever fundraising and organising great school galas. She also remembers attending some very li vey meetings whenever something controversial happened. She has been active in the swimming scene as she considers swimming a skill that all children should learn for their own safety. Over the years Keitha has been the president, a coach, and the secretary of the local swimming club. It was partly thanks to her effort that the gates and diving board were built. As she is terrified of dogs, door to door collecting is a real trial for Keitha. However the satisfaction she gets from collecting money each year for the Crippled Children' s Society, far outweighs any concerns she has for her own safety. The theatre used to be a big thing, says Keitha, and the annual concert put on by the Girl Guides would draw a theatre full. As a Girl Guide leader Keitha had a large input to these concerts, where the girls would sometimes perform the highland fling (under Keitha' s tuition) and sing choral works. Repertory In the 1 950' s the Raetihi Repertory Society was the real fun. Performances were held in the picture theatre, and as there were no films on Monday or Tuesday nights the repertory society would put the set up on Sunday night after the film and dismantle the stage set again on T uesday evening after the performance. "We would be there till all hours of the night pulling the set down so the theatre would be ready for Wednesday's film, but it was such a.lot of fun," reminisces Keitha. Husband Ross Journeaux, who won the Raetihi citizens award in 1 99 1 , would do the lighting and sound and Keitha said he was very good at making thunder and lightning. Keitha also organised baby carnivals to raise money so the Playcentre floor could be re-raised. "That floor was such an effort to clean, we had to organise working bees where everyone was given a mop

and had to stand in a line which slowly progressed across the floor." Keitha is a keen member of the gardening club although she says she is not a good gardener herself but enjoys seeing other people' s gardens and helping out at A&P shows. Keitha is a member of the Taihape writers group as she got into the habit of writing when she started writing letters to all the members of her big family, but says she "has not written a best seller yet". She also contributes articles to the Wanganui Chronicle. Keitha says that many of the committees

she was on 40 years ago have lapsed or merged together because people haven't got the time to be as involved now. "In many families these days both the parents have to work, whereas 40 years ago parents, particularly women, had more time to give," she said. Keitha says she has put so many years into community work because she "really likes doing things, and really likes being involved." She says she is out and about doing things each week and looks forward to really exciting days when good but unexpected things happen.