There were many anxious moments for the Society’s film handler when a film had not arrived from a previous Society or, for some unfortunate reason, our previous film had not found its way to the next venue. On a particularly notorious occasion, the author as the projectionist, set the first reel going, then cycled back home having realised that the third reel must have fallen out of his backpack somewhere on the way to the venue. Both in the dark and just after dawn the next morning, I was unsuccessful in finding the lost reel. Publicity in the Otago Daily Times brought a response some days later from a railway worker who had found it by the side of the road before dawn. The rail gang at Waitati station handed over the reel and claimed that they would give the reward to the worker who was up the line at that moment. Whether they did or not, was a subject of conjecture.

 
Another well-remembered occasion was at a pre-season membership recruitment drive. At the moment when the large audience was preparing for the special screening, the designated projectionist rushed in pronouncing that his car, with the film and projector, had been stolen. He immediately commandeered one member and they drove as far as Seacliff looking for the missing vehicle. Both the police and a Dunedin radio station were informed, but to no avail. Disappointed, the audience of potential members meandered home. Membership did not increase that year. The car and its contents were found the following morning in the bushes just below where it had been parked, it having quietly slipped down a bank in the dark because of an ineffectual hand brake.

 
Late each year, the WFS circulates to its members a list of films available for the following year. Some have had their screening rights negotiated by the Federation just for a year. In addition, catalogues covering all films in the permanent collection were available for further choices. Members were asked to list their choices for the following season. Based on these lists, a programme was selected and aligned to the screening  dates. The WFS traditionally  screened  22-25 films each year with additional screenings for special occasions, like early season membership drives, school holidays etc. In the early 2000’s members requested more screenings, so it has become common to have up to 29 sessions per annum. Programmes have  always been an eclectic mix of foreign language (sub-titled in English) to English speaking; vintage to contemporry; silent to stereo sound; black and white to TechniColor; documentary to fiction.

 
From 1980 onwards, the Federation, to the consternation of smaller Societies like Waitati, decreed that the levy had to be paid on the basis of a minimum membership of 30. Membership of the WFS had rarely been more than 15, many of whom never attended screenings but retained their membership as a form of support for a local community activity. Local plumber, Jim Bissland was a typical such member. Many protests from the WFS’s secretary (the present writer) failed to persuade the financially challenged Federation to rescind its decision. Consequently there was a need for the WFS to raise additional funds from sources other than membership fees. The bulk purchase of frozen fish for resale provided a lifeline to its continued existence.

 
Membership halved to a mere 10 in 1981, taking the Society into a lean period. Attendances declined during that year. Indeed this author recalls one screening in his own lounge at which he was the projectionist and sole audience for two of the three reels. Nothing must have come from an official request in November 1979 for the Society to become a sub-branch of the Dunedin FS. Instead the WFS went into recess over the subsequent period of 1982-84 inclusive. In most instances this would mark the permanent cessation of an organisation’s activities. Yet astonishingly, in 1984 there was sufficient community interest to restart.

Secretary Val Walton, in a letter to the NZFFS and dated 9 Sept 1984 stated that a meeting would shortly take place to “… explore the possibility of re-activating the WFS”. That meeting must have been very positive as the phoenix emerged from the ashes with Mike Collett as Chairperson, Val Walton as Secretary and Glenys Clements as Treasurer. A confirmation letter from the Secretary to the NZFFS has the date 13 January 1985. It outlined re-activation occurring tentatively as a sub-branch of the Dunedin Film Society with the WFS being invited to input into the choice of programme. Only about two thirds of that programme was chosen to be screened in Waitati. Sufficient support occurred during 1985 for the WFS to once again become an independent organisation the following year.

 
Perversely, a sub-branch to the WFS was formed in 1992 and ran for just one year. It was organised by Paul Bellugue and Colin Facer with screenings in an old, cold, warehouse in central Dunedin where part of it had been converted as living quarters for Colin and his partner. As there was an existing Dunedin Film Society, this sub-branch of Waitati FS was called Purakanui. Having these extra 11 members did help to increase the Society’s income, sufficiently to stop having to supplement income through on-selling bulk-purchased frozen fish.

 
1992 marked the beginning of 14 years of a strong community interest in the Society with membership booming with 46 in 1997, 48 in 1999, 43 in 2001 and 43 in 2005.