In 1935, a group of Australian and New Zealand businessmen living in Vancouver got together and formed the Australia-New Zealand Association. The purpose of the Association was to meet and welcome visitors from down under, and gather together socially from time to time. A Constitution and a set of By-laws were drawn up, and the group selected one of their number, Mr.Reis Hauge to act as ANZA's first President.

ANZA continued their meet & greet, and social functions, there being no Australian or New Zealand Government officials nearer than Ottawa, throughout the years, until the flow of visitors ceased due to travel restrictions brought on by the start of World War Two. The Association went into a long recess as the wartime demands on the time of Members precluded carrying on with enough social activities.

The war ended and in 1952 the ANZA was revived but the nature of ANZA changed, and it became primarily a Social Club for Australians & New Zealanders living in the Greater Vancouver area.

During this time, ANZA started holding regular monthly dances/ socials at HMCS Discovery in Stanley Park. These proved so popular that they were increased to twice monthly, and ANZA introduced their Annual Picnic, and held very successful Annual Garden Parties. Continued growth, aided by a considerable inflow of immigrants from both Oz & NZ, was causing an overflow on the capacity of the Discovery, and the dances were moved to the Polish Legion Hall in Southwest Burnaby, and later, to the Peretz Hall south of Oakridge shopping centre.

With such rapid growth, it was decided by the Members that ANZA should get its own premises, where all records could be stored, work performed and activities held.

In May 1961, during the reign of two-time, eight year President Graeme Robson, a Clubhouse fund was started, and grew with the presentation of a handful of fund-raising events.

In the meantime, the Constitution and By-laws were redrawn and registered with the B.C. Government, and on August 3rd, 1961, the Association became incorporated under the Societies Act of British Columbia. Also during this time, as many of our 700 members wanted their friends to be able to join us, a new type of Member was introduced. Associated memberships could now be purchased by those that were neither Australian nor New Zealanders.

After scouring the city, it was finally decided that ANZA would purchase the property that we currently occupy at 3 West 8th Avenue. After two years of alterations, renovations and acquisitions all of the many City, Fire and Liquor regulations were finally met and the club was finally granted a liquor license by the LCB.

The club now began to flourish. With ANZA Travel a part of the family, discounted flights/travel to Oz and NZ were a big bonus to members, and membership numbers increased astronomically. Bi-monthly socials became weekly, then twice-weekly. If you weren't here by 7:30, you probably wouldn't get in. Participation, special event groups, attendance, theme nights, The ANZA Players, Anzettes, Bar-B-Qs, Bowling, Bridge, the Camera Club, Car Rallies, Darts, Golf, Hiking, Picnics, Rugby, a Softball Team, and the Ski Club. The Ski Club proved so successful that the club purchased two ski chalets at Snowline on Mt. Baker.

In the 70's, we had 4500 members, 15 people on the Board, 6 other office holders. Immigration laws being more lax then, hundreds of young Aussies and Kiwis would flock to Van each month, with most of them eventually finding the home-away-from-home ANZA club. The Newzletter would be 30 pages or more.

Of course, this type of popularity couldn't be sustained. ANZA Travel split from the Association. Pubs started springing up across the city. Membership dwindled. The club started losing money, sold the chalets, and the downward spiral continued through the 80's into the 90's. At one point the Association had to look seriously at closing the doors. The club has rebounded in recent years and the future is looking promising to ring in 65 years and more, of business and pleasure.

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