Library News

Work is progressing fast on the new library now that the roof is finished.  I do a quick eye scan when I drive past every day just to see what the guys are working on and it looks like we may be on track for opening sometime round August – fingers crossed.

In preparation for the move I am doing a lot of sorting and tidying up so we have less to move and we will be in better order when we get there.  To that end we are making sure that all our customers have library cards.  Some of you won’t have seen your library card for 20 years or more so you may be taken aback if we ask for it – especially when you come in every week and we know you really well.  Do not despair, it is not personal, it is just that scanning a card cuts down on human error and someone else won’t get your books on their account.  We are human and sometimes we make mistakes but it is much easier to get it right with a card in front of us.

I am also tidying up the database and deleting anyone off the system who hasn’t used their card for over two years.  So please do come in and see us if life has got too much and you haven’t been in for a while – we don’t want to lose you.  My packrat instincts are also being curtailed and I am finally clearing out some of the older books that no-one has taken out for many years.   … Continue Reading

Magical Evening at Museum

Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, hosts a major auction on 13 April, to fundraise for the near 50-year-old institution and to showcase work by artists who have exhibited at the Museum, such as Milan Mrkusich, Gregory O’Brien, Elizabeth Thomson, Ans Westra, Robin White and many more including Martinborough residents Stephen Allwood, Crystal Chain Gang, Angela Busby & Dennis Handyside .  About 80 works of art – from under $500 to over $10,000 – will be available to view and purchase.

None of the art comes from the Aratoi Collection; the work has been provided by the artists themselves or by their dealer galleries. “Aratoi is our taonga,” says Dame Robin White, who is donating Tui and Magpie from her Bird Watching series, 2011, two screen prints framed as one for a prize to be drawn at the Auction. “The series – in which the birds are doing the watching – emerged out of my reflections on the social, cultural and environmental issues that were so effectively presented in the Wairarapa Moana exhibition at Aratoi in 2010,” says White. The birds “tell a story of invasion and appropriation.”

The Auction will be a truly magical evening. Art in an award-winning architectural space. Music from Barry Saunders of the Warratahs. Gourmet platters served by Friends of Aratoi. … Continue Reading

Hammers & Horsehair – Concert for Soprano, Square Piano and Cello

The Greytown Music Group’s  first concert for this year will be Hammers & Horsehair, at 4pm Sunday 22 April, at 57 Wood Street, Greytown – an innovative performance by Douglas Mews on square piano, Robert Ibell on cello, and soprano Rowena Simpson of music from 19th century Germany, Austria and Bohemia, linked by short readings reflecting the era. The instruments date back to the same period as the music, the square piano having been made by Broadwood in 1843. The cello Robert plays dates back earlier, from an unknown Italian or German maker.

The “square piano” (in fact rectangular) was a big step forward from the harpsichord in two major ways. Shaped like a grand piano, harpsichords took up a lot of room. The square, or “table” piano was much easier to fit into a drawing room, and was much in demand. It  operated with hammers and dampers, instead of quills plucking strings, enabling a performer to sustain notes, and to play softly (piano) and loudly (forte). Broadwoods, in London, produced the finest square pianos in Europe. … Continue Reading

Know your town

Meeting places

The district’s first meeting places were the Waihinga and Huangarua Homesteads as these had stables and a well so plenty of water and a canoe for river crossings. The first Bush Inns and Hotels also provided these plus accommodation along with a Public Room for meetings. These were used for everything from social gatherings to inquests and law enforcements.

The Presbyterian Church built in 1811 as a place of worship was also used for meetings and as the first school from 1872 until a permanent school was built in  1875. This school was also used for the Anglican service every other Sunday until 1883.

As Waihenga grew so did the need for a designated public building. Somewhere where auctions of goods and animals could be held, meeting rooms for the likes of the Rabbit and Highway Boards or political meetings. Or to organise the Race Meetings, ploughing matches etc. The Gent’s Club was meeting at Mr Campbell’s house and the Library was at Mr Green’s.

John Martin’s sections coming on  the market added to a town already on the move and an even greater need for a public hall. Meetings were being held in stores, barns and lofts. Mr Bright suggested that the old Smithy could be  rented and done up as a hall. This was tried with a Ball being held which attracted twenty couples and proved the Smithy’s to be too small.  … Continue Reading