Boggabri Home and Community Care celebrates Christmas and 60 years of Meals on Wheels

Boggabri Home and Community Care (HACC) volunteers, clients, community members and staff celebrated Christmas and sixty years of providing Meals on Wheels to the Boggabri community with a delicious lunch on Thursday, December 14.

President of Boggabri HACC, Julie Heiler welcomed and thanked those present for their continued support.

“It’s wonderful that the service is still going 60 years after it started but of course it relies heavily on the generosity of volunteers and having clients who require the service,” Julie said.

“The client dynamics have changed over the years; however, we are fortunate to have dedicated staff and volunteers to continue the service.”

A presentation from NSW Meals on Wheels to mark the occasion was made by Maria Rummery, NSW MOW, network support officer to May Boxsell and Noreen Boehm.

Mrs Boxsell was a nurse at Boggabri Hospital and delivered the first meal in 1963 to Mick Sewell she was also a committee member for 32 years.

Mrs Boehm was the co-ordinator/manager at Boggabri HACC from 1997 to 2015 during that time the service was converted from a Meals on Wheels service to a multi service outlet, which includes, transport, centre-based-day- care, respite care, social support, aged care information.

Mrs Boehm is a life ambassador of NSW Meals on Wheels.

She first served on the board of governors for NSW Meals on Wheels in 2001 holding the positions of president for seven terms, vice-president three terms and treasurer one term.

She also served on the Australian board of governors in 2012 and 2013.

Meals on Wheels started in Boggabri in early 1963 when Reverend Harry Taylor called a meeting to form a group to organise Meals on Wheels.

Vida Eather remembers Reverend Taylor had been to Sydney to talk about setting up a committee and a lady flew to Tamworth and attended the Boggabri meeting telling those present of the benefits of providing hot cooked meals to those in need.

Present at the initial meeting were, Vida Eather, Betty Durrant, Daisy Boehm and Agnes Stivens.

In November 1963 Lillian Sewell, was admitted to hospital.

Mrs Sewell, health staff and members of the community were concerned for her husband Mick, and that he may not be eating properly.

That is when Mrs Stivens cooked a meal and she and her daughter May, who was a nurse at the hospital delivered it to Mr Sewell.

About five people started to receive meals.

A volunteer Dorothy Gill cooked the meals in her home during 1964, then the cooking moved to the hospital where Clarice Shepard was the cook.

In March 1966 the staff at the hospital were too busy to continue cooking the MOW meals, so Dorothy Bloxham was asked to do the cooking.

Mrs Bloxham was the first paid MOW cook outside the hospital, she had just moved to Boggabri with her policeman husband and was heavily pregnant with twins.

Mrs Bloxham cooked the meals on Tuesday and Fridays, with volunteers coming to her home in the mornings to help peel the vegetables.

The people of Boggabri were very generous and anyone with excess vegetables, fruit, eggs or produce would drop them into Mrs Bloxham.

When the CEO of the hospital returned from his long service leave later in 1966, he stated that it was too costly to have a cook outside the hospital.

Meals were provided Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Volunteers still went to the hospital in the evening prior to delivery and peeled the vegetables.

They returned the next day to deliver the meals then after delivery they returned to the hospital to wash up the containers which were used to deliver the meals.

Meals were served from the huge containers onto the client’s plates, unlike today’s takeaway containers.

Donations of fruit, vegetables, and eggs continued to be delivered to the hospital which made the cost of the meals very cheap.

In 1978 delivery increased to five days per week, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Tuesday was included in 1981 thus making a six- day service.

This six-day service continues today.

Since 2022 meals are cooked four days a week in a purpose-built kitchen in the HACC rooms.

The other delivery days are cooked at either at the hospital or at one of the local business partners.

Mrs Eather is the sole survivor of the original committee.

Ninety-four-year-old Mrs Eather lives in Tamworth has just celebrated her 74th wedding anniversary and said how proud she was that Meals on Wheels were still operating in Boggabri 60 years after forming that committee.

Two long serving volunteers present on the day were Elsie Jensen and Fay Sanderson who deliver MOWs for Willala CWA – they both started delivering in 1967.

Imagine the kilometres these ladies have travelled over the years driving from Willala, to Boggabri, delivering meals and then driving home again.

On top of this Mrs Sanderson was treasurer of the management committee for many years.

Those attending the 60 year celebration were able to take home a souvenir Boggabri Meals on Wheels 60 years placemat.