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Since it was a church-hall, festivities were required to end at midnight on Saturday nights, and groups usually gathered afterwards at the near-by homes into the wee small hours.
As well as their involvement in the social activities of the district, Dad was for some time Chairman of the School Committee, details of which I have no recollection.
As I write this, names keep popping up in my mind. The names then remind me of the vehicles they drove on the dusty shingle road.
Stan White and their huge American De Soto Station Wagon; Davie and Doris Malcolm and their Jaguar which Dave drove very fast; Donald Campbell and his Alvis; Lemin and Martha Cameron’s green Ford Consul; Tony Ronson in his Ford Popular; the Smiths, Buddos and Campbells in their large English cars. Les and Peggy Rich and their Model T Ford, and Jim and Dott Little’s Morris Minor. So the list goes on as I recall visions of the past, many over 50 years ago.
People I remember well are Mrs Rich (Peggy) and Mrs Buddo running the Sunday School, Stirling and Maureen Collison and David and Shirley, Doris, Dave and Rex Malcolm, Jim Curran – my first headmaster (I still see his daughter Zoe from time to time in Napier) and then Bob McKelvie who followed him, Margaret and Jocelyn McKelvie, Bob’s two daughters, Tom (Chocolate) Timu, Annette, Robert and Kevin Little, Joe and Mihi Hape, The Karaitianas, the Hapuku girls (June and Olivia), Kuini from Te Hauke who I later met again when working in Wellington in 1973, Tate Kupa, Archie and Mrs McDonald from the Poukawa Store on the Main Road, the Brownriggs, Shorty from Te Hauke who travelled regularly on Fred White’s bus, the staff at the 2YZ Transmitting Station at Opapa (Noel Ellison, Pont Wiffen and Ted Gawn), Barbara Smith (now Horn) who when she got tired of her lambing beat would sneak in our back gate for a cuppa and a chat without her Dad (Allan Smith) knowing, Jack Corless who ran the Post Office, Kathleen and Mr and Mrs Carter who lived in the old house across the paddock behind the railway house, Barney and Mrs Hennum, Margaret and Tom Lane, Lucy Douglas, Donald and Mrs Campbell, Ewen Campbell and Johnnie, and Mary, Simon, Elizabeth and Sally Stead from Horonui, Jean Chapman and Brough and Rachel, Jock and Mrs Shaw and Graeme and Barrie. One regular visitor to the district was Ned Barrett the county grader driver who attended to the needs of the road prior to it being sealed. I will always remember him towing his car behind the grader. All are characters I will always remember from my early days at Poukawa.
A memory I treasure is the night Donald Campbell, for reasons unknown to me, organised a roast bird as a prize at the Bowling Club function at the Hall. When it was presented on a silver meat tray and covered with a silver meat dish cover, there in all its splendour was a roast sparrow.
Perhaps the most famous of Poukawa’s meeting places was the Post Office, no longer there, but able to be located by the Railway Gates both sides of the railway and a widening inn the road for Post Office parking. Every week-day morning the problems of the world were discussed, and usually solved, and the district’s news was distributed by the large crowd who would gather to collect their mail. In the early days the green mail bag was thrown off a train from Napier about 8.30 in the morning, but, alas, when road transport took over it became much less reliable and one often had to wait for ages. Time however went quickly on those waits, and the district lost something marvellous when rural delivery took over. Being a “mate” of the Postmaster had its advantages. Stamp collectors were allowed to get a look at new stamp issues prior to their release, were allowed to postmark their own first-day covers, and even, if you were lucky, Jack Corless would allow you to help sort the mail. I even did it all myself one time when Jack was either away, or sick.
The annual school pupils fancy dress dance held at the Hall, with its best costume competition and dance routines is a memory which was re-kindled when looking through old photographs. Some of these I would rather not ever see again. These nights were always fun and enjoyed by all.
Thinking of the Hall reminds me of the huge working-bees which were organised by the Social Club to totally replace the hall floor, paint the exterior and the roof, and generally restore the building back to great condition. What a shame that the more recent restoration work which was carried out has failed to re-kindle an interest in the Hall.
When leaving Poukawa School some children’s parents opted to send their children to Hastings High School rather than to Waipawa District High School. This entailed a considerable amount of
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