Southland Rosarian Jocelyn Dobson has been honoured with the Frank Penn Memorial Award for service to a local rose society. The award, which is presented annually by the New Zealand Rose Society recognises outstanding service to one of the local rose societies around New Zealand. In the 51 years the award has been presented, Jocelyn is the 4th recipient from Southland following on from Dawn Chisholm (1995), William Morton (1980) and Dorothy McCorkindale (1971).
Jocelyn has been a member of the Southland Rose Society since 1993 and was made a life member in 2009. She has been a tireless worker for the local group and is involved with transporting and storing equipment, staging rose displays, pruning other people’s roses and organising events for members. “She has even been known to drive around town delivering Rose Annuals” says Ngaire Robertson, President of the Southland Rose Society”.
Jocelyn currently serves as Secretary/Treasurer, having first been elected to the committee in 1999. She has also been heavily involved with Southland hosting the 1999 National Autumn Show and the 2012 South Island Rose Ranfurly, both in Invercargill. She is also involved in the local Floral Art Society.
The motto of the New Zealand Rose Society is to “Implant the love of roses into the hearts and gardens of the people” and Jocelyn promotes this through sharing her knowledge and experiences with others. This includes showing her own roses and helping others to stage their entries and travelling to other rose societies in the Lower South Island to judge their shows. She is also a National Judge and helped with organising judging seminars in the south.
Due to the Covid 19 restrictions, the presentation of the award will be made to Jocelyn when the situation allows.
