C/- Tawa Community Centre, 7 Cambridge Terrace, Tawa, Wellington 5028 ; Secretary ph 232 5901
Website: tawahistory.org.nz
The Tawa Historian
Newsletter #62 – April 2024
Hello everybody from the Tawa Historical Society,
Firstly, a big thank you to all of you who have renewed your current subscriptions already. We really appreciate your continuing interest in Tawa’s history and your support of our role in promoting it.
This newsletter alerts you to some forthcoming events involving the THS, even if only on the fringes.
Anzac Day, 25 April 2024
The Tawa Returned Services Association has again invited all members of the THS to attend the Anzac Day commemorations on 25 April at 10am at the Tawa Memorial in Oxford Street. For those willing and able, there will be a march to the Memorial starting at the New World supermarket car-park at 9.30am.
Once the formal celebrations at the Memorial have finished, members are also invited to attend the morning tea in the nearby RSA hall.
U3A History Presentation – Monday 15 April
THS Chairman David Parsons speaks to the History Interest Group of the U3A a couple of times per year on topics of local interest. He will be speaking to the U3A group again on Monday 15 April at 10am and will cover the history of the railway lines through Tawa.
The talk will be in the Emmaus Centre behind the Tawa Anglican Church at 165 Main Road. Its duration, including time for questions and discussion will be about one hour. All members of the society are welcome to attend. The U3A group appreciates a gold coin donation for running the event.
Position filled and Situations Vacant
We are pleased to report that Karyn Lo has offered her services to be the Tawa Historical Society’s archivist. She will work with the Society’s modest, but growing, collection of records and memorabilia relating to local history, cataloguing what’s there and making sure that it is readily accessible to those who may wish to use it. Karyn is a professional archivist with the National Archives in Wellington and is pleased to be able to put her skills to good use in the local community.
We would also like to acknowledge and thank Lois Mexted, our first archivist, for the work that she put into the role over many years. Lois has now retired from the role and her position on the THS Executive Committee.
Ken Woodgate has indicated his intention to retire as Secretary at this year’s AGM. If you have the skills, aptitude and knowledge to be the THS Secretary please contact the Chairman (David) or the current secretary (Ken). The role is not onerous and Ken would be happy to guide you through the transition.
Another long-standing committee member has indicated his desire to step aside at this year’s AGM. We would also welcome more new members of the committee. New ideas and perspectives on what we do and how we do it are essential to keep our society relevant and active. Please consider how you might be able to help. Again, we do not consider that the roles are onerous.
Resources for Schools
The Tawa Historical Society has a range of resources that it can make available to schools to enable them to fulfil their obligations to cover local history under the current national History Curriculum. However, we have not been swamped with requests from the local schools. If you are a parent or grandparent of a student at a local school, please spread the word to the school(s) concerned.
Other dates in 2024 for noting in your diaries
AGM – Our AGM will be at 7.30pm on Monday 2 September at the Community Centre in Cambridge St (the usual spot).
Spring into Tawa – We will likely have a stall at the annual ‘Spring into Tawa’ event on Saturday 19 October – weather-permitting of course.
Wellington Heritage Festival – We will also be again participating in this annual event, with our walk through Tawa (tentatively) scheduled for Saturday 9 November. Look out for the large programme of events throughout the Wellington region that run from Saturday 26 October to Sunday 17 November.
Contacting the Tawa Historical Society
Please make contact with any member of the executive committee of the Society through the website (contact us page) if you have any queries or bright ideas.
David Parsons
Chairperson,
Tawa Historical Society