About 200 people will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Excelsior Rugby Club tonight at a dinner in the Scottish Hall, just one event of a weekend of activities that started last night.
The club was officially formed and named on March 21, 1888 at a meeting called to discuss establishing a junior rugby club. Since then, it has grown to include other sports and build club rooms next to Centennial Park's back grounds.
Excelsior played its first games in a paddock on the corner of Orwell and Thames Sts, then at other venues, including the showgrounds.
The club added squash (1979), netball (1989), softball (1991) and pentanque (1989) in recent years, giving a selection of sporting options to its members ranging through a variety of ages.
Last night, about 130 were registering and attending a get-together at the club rooms.
This morning, photographs of the decades will be taken, then the club's senior side will get a lot of support when it takes on Maheno in the Citizens Shield game at 3pm.
Rugby jerseys and other memorabilia will be auctioned at the dinner tonight.
Tomorrow, there will be a farewell at 11am and a barbecue at noon.
Club stalwart Stuart Renalson has written a history of the club's 125 years, which took about two years to compile.
