Tawa Historical Society Incorporated

The Tawa Historian

Newsletter #18 – December 2008

Dear members and friends of the THS,

It is high time I sent out a newsletter with updates as to where we stand on a number of projects.

Rails through the Valley

This book was launched at the recent “Railex” in Porirua and, thanks to the hard work of David Parsons and others, we sold about 50 of our print run of 150. Tawa College have taken 20 or so, so it’s selling well.

Best of Tawa Vol 2

This will be printed next week, and we are having a launch of the book in The Tawa Library on Thursday 18 December 2008 at 6.00pm. All members are cordially invited, and the book will be available for purchase. Fruit juice, tea, coffee, and nibbles will be available. We’d love you all to come.

Further, at our recent Executive meeting, we decided that we needed to have a Vol 3 of Best of Tawa for reasons I will explain on the 18th. It will appear in November 2009.

Bartlett House

Mike Steer is well under way with this booklet, which should appear during the first 6 months of 2009.

The Tawa Cemetery

The WCC continue to work with on this project. It now involves not only the placement of a large information board in the Cemetery, but also in the longer term, some landscaping. The initial work on the entrance and the board is supposed to happen before Christmas.
Once the work is done we will launch our booklet on the Tawa Cemetery 1861-1978.

Charles Duncan Reserve

It’s worth having a look at the work done thus far on this reserve by the Friends of Tawa Bush. We assisted them with material regarding the Information Board now in place, but they have done a good deal of hard work tidying things up.

Book Sales

Members will probably have noted the article and advertisement in this week’s Kapi Mana highlighting the publications we have for sale at the Library. They are selling pretty well, and a couple are now out of print (Streets of Tawa, Atlas). People seem to like our stuff as stocking fillers (as a local resident told me this morning!) so I hope you will all get down to the Library to pick up what you want.

The Ammunition Bunker booklet
There are only a few copies of this left. It has sold well.

Lest Tawa Forgets
It has also sold well, and copies are still available.

THS rooms in the Tawa Community Centre

The powers that be have decided that in addition to the storeroom we have in the Centre, our rental is sufficient for us to also have the office next to it. So we now have a place to both meet and work, at no extra rental cost.

Grasslees Reserve

An information board (our material, WCC money!) is now in place near the Oxford Street entrance to the Reserve.

Finally, can I say to you all that 2008 has probably been our most successful year. Three major books have been published this year (Lest Tawa Forgets, Best of Tawa Vol 2, Rails through the Valley) and booklets have been prepared. Information Boards are placed in historic spots; we are regularly consulted by, and give advice to, the WCC; we now have good accommodation; and we have finds enough to continue producing historical material on Tawa, especially if our material is purchased. We do not now rely on WCC grants to do our work – we are self-sufficient. So well done to you all, and thank you for your support.

All we really heed to make our year complete is

a Secretary
&
a Treasurer
HINT! HINT!

Best Wishes to you all for a safe and Happy Christmas