Glenis Whipp (75) was presented with a certificate to mark 55 years of leadership — she is the longest-serving person in a leadership role in New Zealand — and fellow Dunedin woman Jennifer Box (68) received a life member award for her 50 years’ service.
"I joined when I was 7 or 8, in 1951," Mrs Whipp said."I then got commissioned and it just went on from there ... I enjoy being with the girls and being able to teach them skills."
Sterling service meant she had seen many young girls, and later their children, come through Girls’ Brigade.
"It’s lovely to see the girls you had years ago come back and bring their daughters because they had a great time here," Mrs Whipp said.
Girls’ Brigade had taken Mrs Whipp around New Zealand and overseas, but not so far afield as Mrs Box — a former international vice-president of the organisation.
That role involved considerable travel, with Girls’s Brigade being an international organisation with a 90-year history in New Zealand and 125-year history worldwide.
"I joined when I was 10 and I’ve never left," Mrs Box said.
"It has taken me far and wide and I have friends right throughout the world ... I did a lot of travel in the Pacific training a lot of leaders in the islands; that was lovely going out there and helping."
Girls’ Brigade was "just something I’ve always done," Mrs Box said.
"It’s about doing something for the girls in your community," she said.
"If they joined when they were 5, you see them go through Girls’ Brigade, see them go through their training, and then see what they are doing today. It’s inspiring."
Area Commissioner Rachael Masterton said about 75 people attended the afternoon tea.
"We have two companies in Dunedin now, whereas once we had a lot more," she said.
"It’s hard to keep people, but it has an important role to play in the community."
