From the Mayor

People have short memories and things are quickly forgotten if not kept to the forefront of our memories.
This is most evident when you visit the exhibition currently showing at the ANZAC Hall in Featherston.  Farewell Zealandia, Forgotten Kiwi Songs of WWI takes visitors on a journey through the war as told by the music of 19 composers. 

All now forgotten, their music has been sourced from the music archives. The stories of the songs and their composers make compelling reading whilst the actual music can be heard through individual listening posts. They range from patriotic to haunting.

The interesting thought is that in days gone by all this music was probably commonplace.  The songs would have been sung in the home, the tunes whistled while people worked.  Without the modern recording industry though, there was no way of keeping them alive so as the memories of war faded then so did the songs.

If you’re interested in music then its worth a trip to the ANZAC Hall.  Farewell Zealandia runs until 25 April, 7 days from 10am until 3pm and entry is free.  There are also two associated concerts on the 10 and 24 April at 2pm.  Tickets are $20 each and available from the I Stites in Martinborugh and Masterton.
Adrienne Staples