The president of the Kempsey Country Women's Association (CWA) is looking towards a bright future for the group as members celebrate 100 years of powerful lobbying, scone baking and learning new skills.
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Colleen Waterson joined the Kempsey CWA nine years ago and has been president for the past three years.
"I moved up here and retired and the first thing I wanted to do was join CWA," Ms Waterson said.
"For the future, I want the CWA to stay with our motto which is for country women, by country women.
"I would like to see us progress a little bit better into the 21st century because there's a whole lot of new younger women coming on board with different kinds of abilities."
The CWA is known for serving fluffy scones with jam and cream at community events, but passionate members also work as advocates for their communities and work tirelessly to ensure robust representation to all levels of government on the issues that impact rural and regional populations in their jurisdictions.
"We have members here in Kempsey who love the academic side of CWA, which is where we put policies up to the government. People would be surprised what has passed due to CWA," Ms Waterson said.
"We do it very quietly."
The 20 members of the Kempsey CWA celebrated the milestone 100 year anniversary of the group by holding a lunch on Friday, June 10.
"I can't believe that CWA is 100 years old this year," Ms Waterson said.
The celebrations in Kempsey also featured a display of all of the work CWA does.
Long-time member of the CWA and Kempsey branch patron Kath Lawrence said she joined 35 years ago to have something to do.
"I wanted to get to know people. I heard what CWA did for the community and I wanted to be involved," she said.
At 93-years-old, Ms Lawrence also baked the special Kempsey CWA 100 year celebration cake which took many hours.
When asked about why she has remained a member for so many years, Ms Lawrence said it's because of the friendships she has made.
"I enjoy the social aspect of it and what CWA stands for," she said.
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