During much of the 1990’s Leonie Rousselot and Hank Rebmann took most of the administrative loads, being relieved somewhat from 1997 onwards by significant contributions from Brigitte Nohl. These three, with the present writer, continue to shoulder much of the key organisational aspects of the Society. Typical of many community stalwarts, they efficiently deal with the everyday running of the Society such that the membership is largely unaware of the energy and dedication they have given to the cause. Long time members of the Society, other than those mentioned above, have included: the late Mrs Sipoecz who used to sit in a matriarchal chair at the rear of the auditorium; the ubiquitous, now deceased, Pete Smith; Mike Collett a key figure in the continuation of the Society through the 1980’s; the present author who has rotated several times through just about every position/office since 1976; Geraldine Tait who, besides being the tea lady was also President for four years in the late 1980’s; Jürgen Gnoth has been a keen member and occasional office bearer for many years; Brigitte Nohl represented the Society on the national body for many years as well as functioning as the ever reliable membership secretary and film handler. In more recent years .ara Nokomis has been taking an active part in Society’s organisation.

The Society must have remained an oddity to the Federation. For many years it was one of the few Societies to own its film projector. It’s membership cards, as illustrated in the printed history, have always been highly original and imaginative from the hand of Ulf Schmidt to 2004 then Leonie Rousselot and taken over by Brigitte Nohl and others from 2010. Indeed they have always been a class above those of other member Societies of the Federation.

Background notes from the pen of this author, were always found to be sufficiently informative for potential viewers to decide on which screenings they would attend. Two brief sentences to give the story line, followed by one more on some interesting aspect of the film.

During the period of its affiliation with the NZFFS, WFS has for long periods maintained a healthy membership despite the very low population in its catchment area. During the now 40 years of affiliation the membership of all other Film Societies have declined dramatically, indeed most have ceased to exist. This demise is clearly illustrated by the following figures of the numbers of NZFFS affiliated societies: 1952, 20; 1961, 54; 1996, 22; 2001, 12; 2015, 15.

Successive officials of the WFS have gained the impression that the Federation was never particularly tuned to the small member societies, with the 30 minimum membership rule being a prime example. Certainly in earlier years it seemed that the Federation considered the logistics of dealing with the smaller societies was a disproportionate burden in the light of their low membership. Yet it is somewhat surprising that over the past 39 years since Rosemary Hope’s brief visit, no member of the Federation hierarchy has ever visited Waitati in order to study our successful formula for equipment ownership, high membership and longevity within such a small community.

Currently the Society remains financially buoyant, though, as is typical historically, membership and attendances fluctuate. Awareness of the importance to audiences of the appeal of individual films keeps the current organisers on their collective toes when they carry out their annual selection of films. It is to be hoped that their success for the past 40 years will continue. The resilience of the Society to date has been truly remarkable. It has survived in the face of financial hardships, limited local facilities and within a geographical area with such a small potential source of members. The role of the Society within the Waitati community is impossible to define, however it has afforded both on and off screen, 40 years of drama, comedy, history and often just plain entertainment in a warm, pleasant environment with convivial company.