How women gather in a corrugated-iron clad country hall

It is easy to define a CWA lady by their well-deserved reputation for whipping up a delicious spread but take a closer look and the real binding thread is friendship.

CWA North Eton members: secretary Letitia Daveson, president Terese Jansen and treasurer Joan Ruffell. Picture: Heidi Petith

It is easy to define a CWA lady by their well-deserved reputation for whipping up a delicious spread but take a closer look and the real binding thread is friendship.

The women of the CWA North Eton branch share a rare and sincere camaraderie that has kept them meeting at least twice monthly, despite some living more than 30 minutes away from homebase.

President Terese Jansen, from Walkerston, said she was roped in after her partner built the kitchen in the corrugated-iron clad country hall.

Spend 10 minutes chatting with Ms Jansen and you might just receive your own invite to join in on the lunch and hoy dates.

“Sometimes (cards) can go from early in the afternoon to two o’clock in the morning,” Ms Jansen said.

“There’s a couple of culprits,” she said cheekily while pointing squarely at Sandralee Brown.

Mrs Brown, a relative newbie, said the CWA had been her saving grace after flames engulfed her Kuttabul home.

“I always thought (the CWA) was for old ladies but that’s not the case at all,” she admitted as the group laughed.

Fellow member Andrea Pinkard said she incidentally became a member after using the hall to rehearse her children for an eisteddfod and found herself joining in on hoy games.

“I was always welcomed by the ladies and they always had the best morning teas,” Ms Pinkard said.

“These guys are the best.

“They’ve just been really supportive and I’ve had some hard times.

“My dad’s in hospital at the moment and I’ve had calls from everyone to see how he‘s going.”

The group also extends that support to Australian troops overseas sending them care packs complete with lip balm, notebooks, puzzles, books, toiletries, food, lollies and the quintessential deck of cards — in this case, Kings in the Corner.

“One of the troops responded to us and he said, ‘I’m so glad that you bought this game as I’m so sick of playing poker with the Americans’,” Ms Pinkard said.

The soldier added he would make a special trip to Eton to say hello next time his family was in Queensland.

Another soldier thanked the ladies for their community contributions.

“Country people are the best,” he said.

This story was thanks to the My Town series – a Daily Mercury and Mackay Regional Council initiative.

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Originally published as How women gather in a corrugated-iron clad country hall