Among the meat and two veg, the race calls and the noise of pokies, lunchtime regulars at the Palm Beach RSL Club were witness to an elite gathering yesterday. It was the inaugural meeting of the Shirleys Club Central Coast chapter, a Christmas gathering where everything was dealt with on a first-name basis and where those who find it hard remembering names were totally at ease. The only catch is your name must be Shirley. The NSW Shirleys Club State co-ordinator, Mrs Shirley McNeill, explained that the group, established in 1996, was started by Perth resident Shirley Brown.
Obvious confusion is met with hilarity - over again.
It is a one-joke crowd, where the average age of the 136 State members is 65. More than 1,000 Shirleys can now be found nationwide, meeting once every three months. I never had a sister. I just feel an affinity with all the other Shirleys - the sister I never had. Cromer resident Ms Shirley Tibbey attended her first meeting yesterday after a chance meeting with a Shirley member at her hair salon.