Tuesday 25 February 2014

Rugby Roll of Honour?

The Otautau Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches and the Masonic Lodge made rolls of honour for their members who served in WWI. But I recently came across another possible relict - a rugby roll of honour.

In the Otautau Standard on PapersPast, the Western District Sub-Union had agreed in 1915 to make a shield in honour of the football club members who had joined the NZ forces.

The shield doesn't seem to be mentioned again in the succeeding years, so it's unclear whether they actually made it. Does anyone know about this rugby roll of honour or where it might be?

We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!

Autograph Quilt

On 11 June 1918, the Otautau Standard reported that the Otautau Red Cross had organised an autograph quilt to send to the men overseas in WWI.


Last week, we were given a newspaper clipping from 1976 (Southland Times, 21 April 1976) mentioning the quilt again.


So, we're wondering - why did they call it the "famed Otautau quilt" and does anyone know where the quilt is now? Your help is always appreciated as we try to unravel Otautau's past.

We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!

Sunday 23 February 2014

Devonshire Tea

Pam Booth and Margaret Gutsell serving customers.
We served scrumptious Devonshire tea at the Sports Complex for the Classic Car Show today. Unfortunately the weather was cold, rainy and occasionally hailing so there wasn't a big crowd and my pictures are few. Still, we had a steady stream of people who kept us busy all day. We owe a big thank you to Gretchen and Lester Wilson of the Main Street Cafe for running the show and supporting us in what needed to be done. I was new at sandwich-making, believe it or not, so it was very educational for me.

We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!