Pakawau Memorial Hall turns 75
Cutting the cake at Pakawau Memorial Hall’s 75th celebration, from left, Edna Campbell-Heath, Kath Wigzell, John Davis. MC Paul Sangster looks on at right. Edna made the cake and it was iced by Barbara McKay. Photo: Gerard Hindmarsh.
Ladies bring a plate, come along dressed in period costume, and don’t forget your dancing shoes.
That was the message put out by the Pakawau Hall Committee for its 1930s-style shindig last Saturday night (16 October) to celebrate the hall’s 75th anniversary.
Around 90 locals, young and old, along with well-wishers from as far away as Wanganui turned up to help the night along. The modest $5 single or $8 for couples entry fee kept no one away. Tables were arranged around the side of the hall, and there was a big indulgent supper and an exquisitely iced home-made cake, just like it all used to be. Pakawau husband and wife musicians Ray and Anne George—aka Rayzanne—played for free, and Paul Sangster’s drumming and MC talents kept the evening ticking along nicely. Any profit made will go to the Joan Whiting Rest Home.
The star attendee of the night was 89-year-old Collingwood resident Kath Wigzell, whose father worked in one of the two Puponga coal mines. She was 14 when she attended the “Grand Opening of the Pakawau New Hall” on Friday 11 October 1935, and can still clearly recall the brown dress trimmed with orange that she wore that night. Admission on that occasion was “Gents 3/-, Ladies 2/- and Double Ticket 4/6”.
“I can still remember the wall lanterns, the lovely soft light they gave off. My brother played in the band orchestra. As usual for the day, the women sat around the edges and the men stood up the back. But once the band started, the men would come rushing down to ask a woman they had their eye on to dance. We all had a great time.”
Ivan Riley also recalled that by the late 1940s, social dances were being held every couple of weeks at Pakawau. “People would turn up from near and far to attend.”
Minty Henderson said that people used to sneak outside for a drink because alcohol wasn’t allowed in the hall.
“But even outside wasn’t safe; quite a few got caught.”
Peter Miller of Kaihoka recalled how the hall had hosted community events too, from indoor and outdoor bowls to badminton and the monthly Anglican Church services. His wife Marjorie said the hall had been an integral part of their big family occasions: it was a venue for their three kids’ 21st parties, a big family anniversary and oldest daughter’s wedding. Their daughter, Elspeth Miller, even made the hall the subject of her big research project back in November 2000, when she was in Form 4.
The two longest-serving committee members attending last Saturday’s “do” were John Davis and Edna Campbell-Heath, who along with Kath Wigzell, all cut the big iced cake together. Edna owns the few acres behind the hall and has been on the hall committee for over 40 years (continuously since 1970.) She received an Outstanding Community Award from TDC after 30 years. Her grandfather, Charles Flowers, donated the land so the hall could be built there. Three of his grandchildren and seven of his great-grandchildren turned up on Saturday to help celebrate the result of that original generosity.
Built by local builder Roy Duncan, with help from local settlers, the “50ft by 30ft” hall was originally planned to occupy a site opposite Pakawau School (now the Old School Café). Lack of support from Collingwood meant local residents got what they wanted, and sited it at the crossroads to Pakawau, Westhaven and Puponga. Landowner Alec Davidson provided money for its construction on the condition that the hall remained available for church services free of charge. This continues today.
It was constructed entirely of native timber (rimu and matai) milled out of Pakawau Bush by Donnelly’s Mill. The yellow pine piles were donated by Alec Davidson. The sawn timber cost 7/6 per hundred super feet, the total cost of construction coming in at just over £400. Many resident families donated £20 to make up the shortfall.
Before the kitchen was added, a big copper outside handled the hot water. Teacups would be carried in and out of the hall in an old tin tub. Safer Tilley lamps became the main lighting in the building before power was connected in 1951. The men’s toilets weren’t added until 1965.
Of renown is the hall’s superbly seamless heart matai dance floor, which prompted at least one big order for Pakawau matai from as far away as England. During the 1940s, Hope Harvey used to shine the floor up for events by using ballroom powder and dragging an upside-down sheepskin around on it all afternoon, while local kids all took turns to sit on the skin.
A community library started by Doris Carter in back room cupboard was later expanded into the front annex off the porch, another addition. Audrey Smith was the librarian there for 25 years. This community library was shut down in 1991 (as were libraries in Westport and Greymouth), with all the books given to Takaka Hospital. An outdoor bowls area once existed out the side too.
A glance through The Nelson Evening Mail archives comes up with some curious snippets. Like the 1955 headline, “Terrorism in Pakawau”, which reported a systematic attack on the community by vandals late one moonless Monday night, when they threw rocks at houses from their passing vehicle. Windows were smashed, rocks landed in lounges and residents were terrified, but the worst damage was at the hall, which had nearly all its windows broken. Drunken hoons were suspected, but never caught.
Today, the Pakawau Memorial Hall remains in constant use. It hosts all sorts of gatherings—garage and craft sales, games evenings, yoga and keep-fit classes, Rural Women meetings, wedding receptions, 21st parties, funerals, concerts and cabarets. Says Edna Campbell-Heath: “It’s been an amazing focus in our community, and so many people have had a good time in it over 75 years. I guess that’s what helped make this latest celebration so special.”
Gerard Hindmarsh
