By Jake Beleski
The Masterton Club has bucked the trend of some clubs around the country by announcing their most financially successful year for some time.
Club manager Bill Johnson said clubs in Masterton had been through a testing period.
“It’s an interesting situation — the town itself has gone through a major upheaval with the news the Cossie Club will be closing in December.
“When I came here three-and-a-half years ago we were in deep strife financially — we had to make some changes.”
The club had seen memberships increase, loans paid off and further developments announced for the club.
“We had a good year last year financially — we paid off any monies that we owed at the bank, so you can say that we are now in a reasonable financial position.”
Their strong position was put down to functions hosted at the venue, as clubs could not survive purely on what members brought in, he said.
“Where we do okay here is with the function work — that’s what keeps us going.
“Last Saturday night one of the members had a wedding here, and that was good business for us — that’s what we survive on.”
The club now has 400 members, of which a large proportion are women.
“I think the important thing is around 25 percent of our members are women — that’s a fairly important stat.
“It’s only since around 2000 that women have been allowed in here.”
The profitable year meant the club had options in terms of spending its money.
Mr Johnson said they are about to put fencing up and a big mural right around the tank out the front, which will encapsulate some of the historic bits and pieces of the club.
He reiterated the outlook for the future of the club was bright, with other potential developments in the planning stage.
“There’s a few balls in the air, and if they all come to fruition then there will be a bit of a development here.
“We’ve probably had the most profitable year that we’ve had for four years.”
