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Bev Clementson, Leisure marcher and family lady

April 3rd, 2010
By David Armstrong

If anyone can truthfully say they were born, raised, bred and lived their whole life in Motueka, Bev Clementson can.

She's now living only a few hundred metres from the house in which she was home-birthed, and has lived 73 active years filled with fun, activity and the occasional anguish.

Family is the core of Bev's life, and this photo was taken against a living room wall which is dedicated to them. She has 4 children, all still living in New Zealand (two in Stoke), and 16 grand-children, and it is the desire to dedicate more time to her family activities that caused her last year to give up her long-standing netball umpiring and coaching role.

Bev was active in several sports in her youth and early adulthood, with netball, tennis and competitive marching the main outlets. She learnt piano, belonged to Girl Guides, and attended the Church of Christ.

She speaks of a very happy and interesting early life. With few cars around, they biked everywhere. No swimming pools so they swam in the Motueka River. No cellphones, so everyone worked to the rules set down by parents - sort of! Her father was a local grocer - part of Glover Brothers - but that closed down when the supermarkets arrived.

She wanted to train as a dental nurse, but had to stay home to look after ailing parents. As she moved into adulthood and she began having children, she had times working as a local dental nurse and other stints of hard labour in the hops and tobacco fields.

Her interest in netball carried on through her adult life. She gave up playing it in her early 40s, but has carried on for about 30 years since as an umpire and as the Umpire Coordinator for Motueka Netball. In this role, she worked with players, coaches and umpires in schools and during the senior season.

Her earlier times as a "marching girl" were echoed in recent years as the coach of the Motueka Veteranettes Leisure Marching team (see information here.) About 13 years ago, when leisure marching took off in New Zealand as a non-competitive recreational activity for mainly 50s-plus women, Bev was approached to form and coach a team in Motueka, a challenge which she took up and still performs.

She has also had years of service with several other community groups including Meals on Wheels and the Museum roster. She belongs to the Motueka Seniors walking group, does computer courses at SeniorNet, and regularly looks after grandchildren in Stoke. And she's doing classes in scrap-booking, using her new-found skills to building books of photos around her family life and history.

It was not all sunshine and roses. When she was 34 years old she was lucky that a bowel tumour was discovered in time and removed - it was nearly the size of a football. It took 18 months for her to recover fully, and she knows to this day how lucky she was and is to be alive 40 years on.

The other major life-changing experience in her life was when her husband died of a massive heart attack just 7 months after they wed (her second marriage). Since then she has lived on her own and become totally involved in her community and her family.

Bev says Motueka was "a wonderful place to bring up children. I'm always so pleased to return after visiting any of the big cities." She also loves the weather and the people. "I can walk down High Street and be able to greet and speak to dozens of people - they're all so friendly."

But she doesn't like some of the latter day developments. In particular, she's uneasy about the behaviour and attitudes of many young people nowadays. "I hate the drugs and the booze. I know it's probably everywhere and in other towns and cities, but I don't like it here."

She's also not a fan of the consistently crowded High Street, and having the large trucks driving down it. "Once it was just in summer, but now it's year round. I would like to see a bypass built," she says.

"High Street is now diabolical. We find ourselves planning trips that take us through left hand turns only. I'd like to see traffic lights down High Street. That would give traffic the chance to clear for times so we could get in from side roads."

 
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