Those members and guests attending the September meeting of the Cowra CWA Evening branch at Club Cowra were treated to an interesting talk by branch member, Anne Jeffery about her earlier life.

Her childhood was in Camden and education was at a boarding school in the southern highlands.

After finishing school, she studied industrial design at a time when female students were a novelty to the male teaching faculty.

Anne then moved on to completing her studies at Waverly in Early Childhood, a field in which she has worked for about 40 years.

After moving to Cowra, she held an itinerant position in Early Intervention working with families at home and in child -care centres.

In 2010, local member, Katrina Hodgkinson nominated Anne Jeffery to be the Local Woman of the Year.

In 1967 Anne’s family built a tiny lodge in the newly developed ski resort of Thredbo and they enjoyed regular skiing trips to the then very tiny village of about 50 inhabitants.

They hosted many after-ski parties at their ski lodge.

Thredbo expanded rapidly as access to the snowfields grew, and a tourism industry developed.

Anne and her husband, Peter, were involved with the National Australian Ski Patrol Association (NASPA) and developed a peer support programme at Thredbo.

They travelled to conferences in Sweden, Canada, France, South Korea, and the UK.

They were instrumental in hosting a ski conference in Thredbo in 1981, and then again in 1991.

In 2001 they were awarded Life Membership of the NASPA.

Peter and Anne grew grapes after they came to Cowra, and they often won medals for their wines including the Chardonnay trophy at the Cowra Show in 2008.

Between 2016 and 2018, Anne served as President of the Cowra Show Society and helped with several major grants for the pavilion upgrade.

She now is mostly involved with Riding for the Disabled and is their Treasurer.

Kaye Kilby thanked Anne for sharing and inspiring us with her life story.

President Ros Ryan invited 3 members to attend the 2025 Volunteer of the Year Awards for the Central West region which will be held on 24 Sept at the Ex-Services Club, Orange.

Cowra Evening CWA Branch is one of the nominees for the award.

Wendy Dick spoke about our latest fundraiser, Dorothy Flannery’s 100th Birthday celebration for 70 guests at the Rugby Club.

Rowena Casey called for volunteers for the next fundraiser, a morning tea for 100 guests attending the Baroque Fest at the Billimari Hall on Sunday, 21st September.

Cheryl McAlister asked members to donate small bottle lids like the ones on milk, water and soft drink bottles to the Lids for Kids drive.

Other planned fundraising events are the Spring Fair on 11th October at “Warrengie”, home of Ruth and David Fagan, for lunch, afternoon tea, and a fashion parade by “Buchmans Boots and All” showing Men’s, Ladies and Children’s attire (tickets $30 available at Relish); the Cowra Show on 17-18 October, and the Australian National Field Days in Orange on 23-25 October. It will be an ‘all hands-on deck month” for members of this branch!

Rowena Casey was awarded our special trophy for this month for her tireless work for CWA and for always having a plan!

Our next meeting on 8th October will be the Annual General Meeting, and members are invited to nominate someone for a position or to stand for a position themselves.

All positions will be declared vacant.