The club is the oldest in Canberra and the second-oldest business in the national capital, after the Cusack's furniture store
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00:20 So the Canberra Burns Club started on the 13th of October 1924, so when Canberra was what, 11 years old.
00:27 In 1924 there was about 3,000 people in Canberra, about 1,400 of those were building the city
00:33 and a big part of that 1,400 was Scots who had been brought ahead to build it.
00:37 So those Scots decided they'd form a club to keep their culture alive and their traditions alive.
00:42 The Canberra Burns Club was born out of that.
00:45 And so it's been in continual operation for 100 years, making it the oldest club in Canberra
00:50 and the second oldest business in Canberra.
00:53 The club actually built its first clubhouse, dedicated clubhouse and opened it in 1957 in Forrest
00:59 and it's right behind a Robbie Burns statue.
01:02 The statue actually was there from 1935, opened by the Prime Minister of the day, Joseph Lyons.
01:07 The club funded that, orchestrated the funding, built the statue, first public statue in Canberra.
01:12 Biggest ceremony that had been held in Canberra to that date, 1,000 people came to it, amazing.
01:17 So they were there from 1957, then the club went through some pretty tough times in the 70s and 80s.
01:21 There was a lot of demographic changes happening, consumer tastes were changing, the club was really struggling.
01:26 They decided they needed to move and they moved out to Canberra,
01:29 which at that stage was the fastest growing area in Canberra.
01:32 So they moved into a high growth area.
01:34 When they left Forrest, they had 300 members, but in a few years they had 14,000 members.
01:40 So the club, then there's a bit of resurgence going on.
01:43 Since then, this has been the main venue, has been at Canberra.
01:47 And now, last year we actually bought our second venue.
01:51 We bought a golf course on the other side of town, it was the Magpies Golf Club,
01:54 it's now the Burns Golf Club at Holt.
01:57 So as we turn into 100 years, for the first time in our history, we've got two venues
02:01 and we've got 35,000 members, more than we've ever had.
02:04 So one question I often get asked is, well, what's the secret to surviving for 100 years?
02:08 Because the club survived the Depression, the Second World War, changes in consumer patterns and everything else.
02:13 I think it's probably a mixture of good old Scottish resilience and tough DNA that the Scots are pretty hard to knock down, really.
02:19 But I think the club's just reinvented itself every 30 or 40 years, recognised that something had to change.
02:25 They had to change the way the place operated, they had to go to high growth areas.
02:28 So this last move, for instance, out to Holt, it backs onto Gin and Dairy, the fastest growing area in Canberra.
02:34 I'm very proud to be President. I've been President for 10 years.
02:41 I'm very happy to be President when we've got the most of the members we've got.
02:44 We've got two venues, one's a golf club, so a good Scottish game, it's nice to own a golf club.
02:49 So this year we've got a lot of things planned to celebrate that, because I want Canberras to know that the club's 100 years old,
02:55 but also understand the contribution it's made to Canberra.
02:58 So lots of events throughout the year. We've got traditional events, our Burns nights and Andrews nights,
03:02 Scottish concerts out on the deck.
03:05 But we've also got this year a major darts championship,
03:08 which is going to have the best darts players in the country coming along to the place.
03:11 There's world darts points at stake, a big snooker tournament.
03:14 I'm going to have a big President's Lunch with all the past Directors and CEOs and Presidents,
03:20 because I think the fact that we've got hundreds of great testament to their skill and their commitment,
03:24 it's not just I happen to be sitting in the chair at this point in time.
03:27 So I'm hoping by about the end of this year, Canberra Museum and Gallery are going to do a three month exhibition of all our old collateral.
03:34 So I'm hoping by the end of the year, a lot of Canberrans will know about the Burns Club,
03:38 will know the contribution it's made to the city, and hopefully come to one of our venues and enjoy the hospitality.
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