We love having visitors at Te Awaroa Museum, Helensville. It’s one of the reasons we’re here! What people don’t get to see is all the hard mahi (work) which goes on in the background. We’re talking about the mahi that goes towards saving the stories and photographs of everything from family histories and local organizations, the public events we are asked to participate in, the refurbishing of displays, the maintenance of several old buildings, dealing with the council and various government organizations, plus everything in between.
We get excited when a new item comes to us, but what truly makes it magic is the story which comes along with it. The challenge is to present those stories in a way in which they catch the imagination or send people on a trip down memory lane. Often these visits will provide us with further information, and all that information must be scanned, recorded and archived. If we are given little information, we have first to research the stories ourselves, before being able to use it in the museum.
Last month the Museum was working on an Equine display for the A & P Show. We pulled lovely old images of horses from our photo collection. Some of these were taken at a time when horses were the only mode of road transport. We put together a display for the centennial of the Makarau branch of Rural Women NZ. We had a visit from the Rapana/Hill/Thompson whanau, so out came all the old Parakai School, Helensville School and Kaipara College photos, Kaipara Dairy Company photos, as well as videos, and anything relative we could lay our hands on. We are still working on finding information about the SS Minerva, who plied the waters of the Kaipara. The Kerikeri Steam Trust are restoring her and are eager to gather as much information as they can about her . We have her logbook in our collection, as well as her engine bells. It turns out that one of her many jobs was to serve time as a brothel in the Chatham Islands!
Next up for us is a search through the archives and artefacts to find anything Pengelly or Keane family related. They had a reunion in April. It’s a hugely satisfying feeling when you find old photos of whanau which the current family didn’t know even existed. It’s even more exciting when we find videos. We’re connecting our past with our present for all future generations and it’s a never-ending ride doing the tedious bits like freezing, scanning and sorting, to finding the gems which make people so happy.
It’s always great to have more people on board to help the Museum, you don’t need to know our history, but if standing at a photocopier or putting names to photos is your jam, we have the job for you! Come and see us from Monday to Wednesday 10:30 to 1:30 and we’ll find you a job.
A group of Helensville people photographed on the stern of the T.S.S. Minerva, returning from the Pahi Regatta, February 1935.
L to R: Arthur West, Mrs. Guildford, Ida Edwards, Connie Nicholls, Mollie West, Wilfrid Jackson, Joan Guildford, Leslie Vercoe, Muriel Tucker, William Coutts, Freda Downer with Merle, Jack Edwards Hilton Venables, Claude Abel. In Centre: Charles West with Arthur Larkin
