Editorial: Loss of RSA is a sad occasion

The Rotorua RSA is closing.

It is with great sadness that I write this editorial, after hearing the news our RSA is about to close.

For many years, RSAs around the country - especially those in smaller centres such as Rotorua - have been the mainstay and anchor of their communities.

Rotorua's RSA, like many in New Zealand, was formed in 1916 by Anzacs returning from World War I and it's even sadder we hear the news less than a year out from its own centenary.

You'd be hard pressed to find someone in Rotorua who does not have a connection with the RSA, be that a family member who served in the armed forces, association members, if you spent an Anzac Day down there or just attended a function.

My personal connection to the RSA was my grandfather, who was president in the early 1960s during the association's heyday, when it was filled with veterans from both the first and second world wars and conflicts such as Malaya, Borneo and Korea.

I have seen photographs of my relatives in a packed Rotorua RSA, where there was hardly space to move.

Sadly, those days are long gone. I spoke to RSA president William McDonald a few days ago, when the writing was on the wall.

Mr McDonald has been as open as he can about the problems the RSA faced when the Rotorua Daily Post first broke the news it was facing closure just before Anzac Day this year, due to finances that were "significantly in the red".

He was wondering how he was going to break the news to his staff and was understandably emotional.

I believe it is our duty to do our best to make sure Rotorua continues to have an operating RSA, but in what shape or form is yet to be discussed openly.

The Rotorua Trust and Rotorua Lakes Council should also be applauded for their efforts to try to keep the association alive.

Let's hope these efforts will not be in vain.