Good Sorts - Jan Dugdale

Using her talents to bring enjoyment to others is what Waimate volunteer Janice (Jan) Dugdale (74) loves to do with her spare time.

Jan Dugdale was born in Roxburgh in 1949. She lived in the Roxburgh Hydro Village and started her schooling there. Her father worked for the Ministry of Works (MOW), at the Roxburgh Hydro Dam and then when she was 10 her family shifted to Otematata for the building of the Benmore and Aviemore Dams. When Jan was growing up she joined Girl Guides, which would lead to further volunteering as an adult. For her last year at school she went down to Invercargill and attended James Hargest High School and then did some of her General Nurse training at Kew Hospital. After 18-months at Kew Hospital she moved to Waimate, to do her Community Nurse training for a year and be closer to home.

While in Waimate, Jan met Bruce Dugdale who was a farmer and married him in 1970. They had three children, Peter, Sharon, and Christine. The family farm was through the Waimate Gorge on Valley Road in the Waikakahi area.

Jan said she joined the Waihao Downs Country Woman’s Institute (CWI) in 1970, she was on the committee and was the secretary, treasurer, and president at different times. She said volunteering with the CWI was a way of getting to meet other farming families, as back then living on the farm, you rarely got a chance to socialise. “I was fully involved in the CWI; I enjoyed getting the chance to meet and talk to other people. It also had a great singing group that I loved being part of,” she said.

In 1971 Jan became part of the Waimate Theatre Company and used her talent for singing in the musical ‘Land of Smiles’. Before her children were born, Jan did a stint as a Waimate Girl Guide leader and when her daughter Sharon reached the age of being a Girl Guide Brownie she became a Brownie leader. She said she would take her daughter Christine, who was a baby a long with her. “The Brownies loved looking after a baby,” she said. Both Jan’s daughters went through Waimate Girl Guides, while her son went to Scouts, which at the time was the equivalent for boys. In her time volunteering for Guides she went up the ranks, from Brownie leader to 2nd in command, to Captain, to Waimate Commissioner.

Jan said she was also fully involved in the life of the Waimate Knox Presbyterian Church, from being a Sunday School teacher, to a Bible and Schools teacher. “Sundays were always a highlight for the family, as we went to the Knox Presbyterian Church. Did our weekly shop at the corner store, picked up hot pies and visited Bruce’s mum and dad to eat the pies,” she said.

Once the children left home Jan and Bruce moved nearer to the Waimate township, to a smaller farm on Slaughteryard Rd, and she went to work at Lister Home for 10 years. After that they downsized and shifted into a motorhome and travelled the country for about four years, but sadly Bruce passed aways suddenly in March 2011. Through Bruce, Jan became involved in Meals on Wheels, as he was in Rotary and organised it. She is still involved in Meals on Wheels and through being involved with the elderly, she is also a Senior Citizen committee member.

Jan then bought a house with her mother in the Waimate township and they lived together until her mother passed away. Both loved singing, so they joined the Savage Club and were in the Choir, she is still, involved in the Savage Club.

Since moving closer to Waimate, Jan has joined the church singing group, become a church Elder, has been church treasurer and is now secretary. She is also the church representative for Waimate Boys Brigade and for the past few years has been the treasurer as well.

Due to Jan’s love of singing, she returned to the Waimate Theatre Company and has sung in the chorus of a few of the company’s shows. In the last musical Mama Mia, she started volunteering in the wardrobe looking after costumes, as well as singing. Jan said her family is also in the Waimate Theatre Company and she really enjoys being able to perform with them. “I love using my talents to bring enjoyment to others,” she said.

If there is anything Jan is currently involved in, that you would like to know more about, feel free to contact her on 0272676480.

Jan said being able to meet new people, socialize, entertain, and help others is what she loves about doing volunteer work. She said Waimate is a very friendly town, a great place to bring your kids up in and you can say hello to people and they will say hello back.

“Waimate has everything I need; it has plenty of things for all age groups to do and there are lots of opportunities to meet people and socialize,” she said.

By Amelia King