Newsletter - December 2003

Annual General Meeting

Business

Annual Report and Accounts 

Election: President, Treasurer, Committee and Hon. Auditor 

Norma McCallum, first president and Michael Kelly, heritage consultant will talk about the vision of the past and the challenges of the future 

Birthday celebration

Come along and celebrate the Society's 30th Birthday.

We will have a display of historic and contemporary photographs of Karori and if you have any you would like to show, please bring them along. 

The evening will conclude with refreshments (wine, fruit juice) and cutting the anniversary cake.

March Meeting

Dr Arvind Zodegdar senior lecturer in demography at Victoria University gave a very interesting talk about the changes which have taken place in the composition of New Zealand’s population - especially during the last 20 years. 

Oral history

The Society has received a donation from the Stout Trust of $2,200 towards training and equipment for oral history projects for which we are very grateful. Following the Trust’s suggestion we will contact Margaret Calder, chief librarian at the Alexander Turnbull library for advice and assistance before making any purchases. Anyone interested in becoming part of this group, please contact Daphne Sutton 476.9227.

Membership and subscriptions

We would welcome your subscription at this meeting.

Heritage Month

The opening function will take place at 2 pm on Sunday 1 June 2003 in the Board Room of the Museum of Wellington City and Sea. This year's theme will be Heritage and Architecture and Susan Maclean of Wanganui will be the guest speaker. This is an opportunity for those members who missed hearing Susan at our December 2002 meeting. 

Publications

The author of Terawhiti has withdrawn her offer to the Society to publish the book. However a group of people interested in getting the book published have agreed to finance the project. It will be available in July and members will be offered the opportunity to purchase at a pre-publication price. 

But don't forget the Society’s other publications which are for sale:

·      Karori Streets ($16)

·      Terawhiti and the Goldfields, ($39.95)

·      Back issues of our journal Stockade ($8-12)

·      The Wreck of the Penguin by Bruce Collins is also available for the special price of $25.

Wellington A Capital Century by David McGill published by Transpress New Zealand, Box 10-215, Wellington will be available in June for $59.59. It provides a very comprehensive history of life in Wellington throughout the 20th century.  

Calendar of Historic Photographs of Karori

The committee is working towards having a calendar for 2004 available this year in partnership with the Rotary Club of Karori. 

Situations Vacant

Treasurer

We are hoping that someone will accept the challenge of becoming the Society’s treasurer. Can you help? The accounts have been computerised, and so the job is not a difficult or time consuming one. You would need a computer with internet access and Microsoft Excel and Access. Contact Frances Sutton (476 3695) or Judith Burch (476 4400).

Web-site developer

Contact Frances Sutton 476 3695 if you are interested in helping. 

Visit to Makara

In April approximately 20 members visited the two historical churches of St Patricks and St Mathias, together with the old historic cottage which local enthusiasts hope to restore. We were grateful to Jenny Jorgensen, Sue Hawkins and John Mills for providing us with some of the history of these buildings. We finished the afternoon off with a ride and walk out to the gun emplacements.

The Society’s MARCH MEETING will be held on

Tuesday 4 March 2003 at St Ninian’s Hall, Newcombe Crescent, Karori at 7.45 p.m.

Dr Arvind Zodgekar, a Demographer from Victoria University will speak about: "The Changing Face of New Zealanders". Dr Zodgekar studied in India.  After completing his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania he came to a position at the Victoria University of Wellington in January 1973.  He is now a senior lecturer and teaches population studies and research methods at the School of Social and Cultural Studies; a lot of his work has been concerned with the New Zealand situation and the study of  migration is his particular interest.

A record crowd attended our Christmas meeting to hear Susan Maclean talk about Frederick de Jersey Clere and some of the churches he designed. It would be great to have as many people come to hear Dr Zodgekar - how about it?

The working party is underway and has a list of people we believe will make interesting subjects for oral history.  If you know of anyone you think should be included, please contact Daphne (04) 476 9227. An application has been made to the Stout Trust for funds for the project. In the meantime we are using equipment kindly loaned by Ann Beaglehole.  

Members are the life blood of the Society and unfortunately we seem to be losing them faster than we are gaining them. One of the consequences is we don’t have money to do the things we want to; but more importantly we need members who have the interests of the Society at heart and the ideas to stimulate discussion and action.   How about talking to your neighbours about joining -  bring them along to our March meeting. Incidentally, if anyone has not paid their subscription you can do this at the March meeting.
 

This is another very important area of endeavour for the Society. At the last committee meeting it was agreed the Society would publish a manuscript it had been given on Terawhiti: the land and its people. This project is in the early stages - so as they say - ‘watch this space’. We will need the support of all our members to make this a successful venture. 

We still have copies of The Wreck of the Penguin by Bruce Collins  available for the special price of $25. Also don’t forget the Society’s other publications: Karori Streets, Terawhiti and the Goldfields, Stockades etc. etc.  Prices available on request.

The committee is working towards having a calendar for 2004 available this year.

We are still URGENTLY SEEKING a treasurer. Can you help? Or do you know of any one who could? The acting treasurer does not want to continue in that role. She has computerised the accounts and so the job is not a difficult or time-consuming one. You would need a computer with Microsoft Access and Excel software.

Bob Burnett, an active member of the Society who worked for the Historic Places Trust, died in December 2003.

A group of 20 plus had an interesting visit and tour of this great facility. Transport was by vintage bus - enjoyed by all.

We will celebrate this at our AGM meeting on 4 June 2003. So come along and share in the cake, the wine, the lucky spot prizes and other surprises!

The Society’s CHRISTMAS PARTY and MEETING will be held on

 Tuesday 3 December 2002 at St Ninian’s Hall, Newcombe Crescent, Karori at 7.45 p.m.  SUSAN MACLEAN from Wanganui will speak on the life & church architecture of Frederick de Jersey Clere.

Previous Meeting

Oral history

 Subscriptions and Stockade

COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON TO EVERYONE

The Society's Annual General Meeting

This will be held on Tuesday 4 June 2002 at St Ninian’s Hall, Newcombe Crescent, Karori at 7.45 p.m.

Our Guest Speaker will be Stephen Russell of the New Zealand Film Archive. Stephen is visitor programmes co-ordinator for the New Zealand Film Archive with particular responsibility for developing the Film Centre’s public screenings, exhibitions and education programmes. He is also part of the team which contributes to the wider Archive public access activities. From 1990-96 he was Assistant Director of the Wellington and Auckland Film Festivals.

Stephen will talk about the establishment of the New Zealand Film Archive and its role in collecting, protecting and projecting New Zealand's moving image heritage. He will then illustrate how New Zealand's earliest surviving film ‘The departure of the 2nd Contingent for the Boer War 1900’ was restored. (Members will remember that the 1st Contingent trained at Campbells Farm).

This will be followed by a short screening of selected early Wellington footage from the Archives - including some Karori footage.

This should be a fascinating evening - do come along and bring a friend.

Have you thought about becoming a member of the committee? That way you can have an input into the life and work of the Society.

Members, friends and the ex Marsden pupils who attended the March meeting appreciated Rosalba’s lively talk about the school and also the opportunity to look at the memorabilia and photographs she had brought with her.

The two members of the committee Jan Heynes and Ruth Graham who are working on the collection could do with some help. Currently the biographies are being sorted and if you could help it’s an easy and interesting way to increase your knowledge about Karori identities and also assist the Society. Please let either Jan or Ruth know if you are able to help. Maybe we could organise a working bee on a specific night?

Jim Brodie recently conducted a workshop on "How to carry out research". As a result, four members of the Society will follow up some of the memorial inscriptions in St Mary’s graveyard. Margaret Alington has agreed to act as a mentor. The work will be published sometime in the near future. The group is very enthusiastic about the project but there is always room for more enthusiasts.

Because of the interest in this topic we have applied to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage for a grant to hold a two-day workshop and to buy the necessary equipment. Watch this space for further news.

The committee is keen to proceed with this project. However there are a number of matters, such as advertising, which need to be organised first. Therefore a small group will meet to work out a plan of action and strategy.

Jim Brodie presented the committee with a list of potential publications. This impressive list covered books, booklets and articles for Stockade.

Plans to publish a booklet on Deirdre Wogan’s "Penguin Walk" have been deferred until further discussions have been held with the manager of the cemetery .

The Society is becoming rather concerned at the delay with this project. We understand it has been caused because the Council has been negotiating with possible development partners concerning the 'Heart of Karori' project. In the meantime we still continue to receive material which needs to be housed. We badly need another filing cabinet and will be approaching the library about this.

Our grateful thanks to Frances Sutton for helping to computerise the Society’s accounts, which will make life easier for our treasurer.

Kitty Wood, who celebrated her 90th birthday this month, has been a member of the Society since July 1973. She became secretary in 1982 and held that post for a number of years. In addition Kitty has contributed a large number of articles for Stockade, and co-authored Karori Streets 1841-1991 (with Will Chapman). She remains an active and enthusiastic member of the Society and we wish her many more years of participation.

Stevenson, Annette, Wellington Hospital Nurses Memorial Chapel Palmerston North: Dunmore Printing Co. 2001.

Donated by the author. Contains information about Beverly Shore-Bennett.

Donated by Judith Burch. Contains personal recollections of Karori.

A selection of photographs and booklets from Mrs Edna Kitching. Received with thanks.

An account for the 2002/3 financial year for all members will be available at the next meeting and we would urge members to renew this subscriptions then. Individuals - $15; family - $20.