here were almost as many guests as candles at Bev Clementson’s 90th birthday late last month, but the woman of the hour reckons her family has never done things by halves.
Born on Pah Street during a raging storm, Bev’s arrival quickly became part of family lore. The local electrician, “Switch” Henderson, was sent up a power pole to restore the lights so Doctor Green could see what he was doing.
Bev lived on that same street – first at her family home at number 48 and then down the road at number 77 – for almost her entire life, just across from her childhood best friend, Betty Mickel.
She began Primer One at the site of what became the Motueka District Museum, and went on to attend Motueka District High School. In those days, school swimming sports were held in the river. “We went with the current, of course.”
She remembers sneaking cigarettes with Betty in their backyard pussywillow tree, only to be busted by the town’s policeman, Paddy Bourke, who happened to live next door. He never told her parents though, she remembers fondly.
She recalls being presented as a debutante at Motueka’s Memorial Hall, curtsying in a homemade gown to “some bloke with a red nose”.
Her father co-owned Glover Brothers Grocery Shop, where Tasman Bay Jewellery now stands. Bev helped out in the shop before starting work at a local dental surgery, a role she held for 40 years.
“I knew everybody in Motueka in those days,” she says.
A stalwart of the local netball scene, Bev spent many hours at the Motueka Recreation Centre and was also heavily involved in the town’s leisure marching group.
These days, she still keeps busy with two monthly dinner groups – one “unposh”, a jeans-and-T-shirt affair, and a “posh” one calling for finery and jewellery.
After all, she says, opportunities to dress up are few and far between.
The middle child of three, Bev went on to have four children of her own, and now has 12 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren, the youngest just one month old. Her 81-year-old sister, Helen, says Bev is “pretty savvy with the tech” and keeps up with everyone’s lives.
Her Pah Street home remained the heart of family life until she moved into Brown Acre about 13 years ago. Every Christmas, extended family would “descend on 77”, setting up tents in the backyard.
“And then the singing would start,” she laughs. With her mother and brother Trevor on the piano, the tradition carried on well beyond her own childhood.
Despite spending most of her life anchored to one street, Bev has travelled widely. She marked her 80th birthday visiting Helen in Canada and, shortly after turning 90 last month, made time to chat with The Guardian before flying north to visit Trevor, now 95.
