1990 - Christchurch

The 1990 national gathering was held in Christchurch on 9 -11 March.
 
On the Friday evening, Elinore and Ken Gray opened their home to all, and the next morning cousins gathered at the Mount Pleasant Community Hall for the main day's activities.
 
They began with morning tea and the general meeting, with the Chief, Peter Ayson, being in the chair.   Bruce Ayson was warmly welcomed as one of only two surviving third-generation cousins, the other being Mabel Neame, who was unable to attend.
 
The meeting heard that $1,100 had been paid to the Otago Early Settlers Museum for restoration of pioneer's photographs, and that through Mabel Neame's generosity work could be undertaken at the Warepa Cemetery.
 
Ayson Clifford was thanked for his painstaking work on the family tree (displayed along one wall of the hall) .   He gave an absorbing talk on the structure of the clan, and made members present feel very much a part of it by asking them to identify themselves by standing in turn as he called the names of the pioneering generations.
 
A barbecue  lunch was followed by group photographs, taken by Walter Sim.
 
In the evening  there  was  a  dinner, complete  with haggis ceremony, and this was followed by a display of the clan's musical talents.  A rousing "Auld Lang Syne" rounded off the night.
 
On Sunday morning a church service was held at Knox Presbyterian Church, with Ayson Clifford contributing the sermon.
 
The finale was a luncheon at which members agreed that the next national reunion would be held at Rotorua in 1995
 

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