Early Settlers - Call for Photos

We're planning a display of early settlers but are sadly lacking in photographs. If you know of a photograph of any of the following people (plus spouses and family), please let us know.

• Matthew Scott (owned all of Otautau and Scotts Gap, 1850s?)
• Henry Cassels (first postmaster)
• James Quin (wagoner)
• Jimmy Dodds (built first accomodation house, later postmaster)
• James Clark (had the mail run between Otautau and Riverton, 1862)
• Roderick McIvor
• Roderick Campbell
• Robert and Catherine Campbell (shopkeepers and postmaster, Main St, 1874)
• Mr and Mrs Daniel Lynch (blacksmith)
• Mrs John Swan
• James Henderson

We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!

AGM

Well, it's nearly that time of year again - time for the Annual General Meeting. We have had an abundance of trustees in the past - as many as 10 or 11 on the board at one time. One of the things I noticed when I came to my first board meeting was how well everyone got along. There has always been a strong element of goodwill and good humour on this board.

We've had strong leadership too. Under the guidance of our Chairperson, Muriel Brown, we created a Strategic Plan, completed a national museum Standards Scheme, completed a collection assessment and plan, and held a successful Antiques Roadshow fundraiser. More importantly she kept us on track in all the little things that keep a museum going. This year she will resign as chairperson but will remain a trustee. This will mark a slight change for the board but hopefully someone can step up to fill Muriel's big shoes. Two trustees resigned last year and have not been replaced.

So, we are looking for:

• New trustees - people interested in local history, or who possess governance and management skills (fundraising, publicity, putting on displays, cataloging, creating educational programmes). Or, people who would like to learn those things.


• New volunteers - people who might like to be an attendant for the museum on a Sunday or Wednesday afternoon (2 hours); or who would like to help with scrapbooks, transcription, family history research, fundraising, oral history, and cataloguing. Or, who might like to learn those things.


• A new chairperson - someone who has governance skills, can lead a meeting, keep people on track, oversee various projects and help keep us doing for the community what we are here to do.

So I would say this is the perfect time to see if the museum is your niche! Contact us now and tell us about yourself. The AGM is 8 June, 7:30pm at the Courthouse, but if you want to be nominated you need to contact us ahead of time.

We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!

Call for Soldiers Photos

As we prepared for our Military Memories display which started on Anzac Day, we noticed that one of our resources - a display book on men who served in WWI and WWII - seemed a little short on photos. If you have a relative who served in either of those conflicts, and would like to share a photo of them in uniform, please contact us.

Pictured left is Private William Flett who died at the battle of Messines, Belgium, 7 Jun 1917, age 30. He previously was a partner in the well-known Flett Bros bakery business in Otautau. The photo is from the Auckland War Memorial Museum's Cenotaph Database. It is one of only a handful of photos we have men who served.

We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!