Hosted by Rural Women of New Zealand, the woolshed on Rees Valley Station was transformed for the launch, with afternoon tea, and a selection of items made from A Good Harvest: Recipes from the gardens of Rural Women in New Zealand, which was also for sale.
However, nothing could detract from the woman of the day - Mrs Scott - whose story has now been published by Random House.
Speaking to friends, family, neighbours and supporters yesterday, Mrs Scott said she was "overwhelmed" by the number of people at the event.
She paid tribute to the book's co-author, long-time friend Geraldine O'Sullivan Beere, of Auckland, and Random House "for giving us the opportunity to give more information about life in the high country".
A university friend told those invited to the launch Mrs Scott was not only a "boundary pusher and trail blazer" as a high country woman, but was also one of the first New Zealand women to graduate from the Massey University veterinary science degree, as well as being one of the first female vets to work with large animals, such as cattle.
"She had to overcome a lot of scepticism ... when she turned up to help a cow in difficulty, [she was] the small lady vet, in her 20s.
"She was always quite determined; she just gets stuck in and gets going ... that's where the Rees Valley story began."
Long-time friend Mark Hasselman, of Glenorchy, paid tribute to Mrs Scott's late husband Graeme Scott and said he would have been "proud of seeing Iris here today".
Mrs Scott moved to the 150-year-old, 18,000ha farm in 1971 when she married Mr Scott, who died in 1992.
"The book is a real record of ... one woman and one valley and a community," Mr Hasselman said.
"I saw them [Mr and Mrs Scott] as a young couple with young kids ... then Graeme went and left us.
"Three kids and a big farm, but that really didn't deter Iris ... she got on with it and she did it all."
Mr Hasselman said Glenorchy had always been "a little bit ahead of its time" and while the community yesterday celebrated one trail blazer, the rural women of Glenorchy had always led the way for others.
"There have always been the girls, out there doing it - girls can do anything they like, you just have to get them to do it."
Mrs O'Sullivan Beere said yesterday was a "momentous occasion" and thanked the community for welcoming into the area - "the heart and soul of New Zealand"
