Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 12, October 1969
Throughout the country, 1969 has evoked thoughts of 1769 and Captain Cook's discovery of N.Z. As our district holds a special place in this interest we feature the river explored by him as well as a picture of the fallen giant he measured in its majestic days. The Maoris afterwards regarded it as "tapu", though this failed to save it from the miller's axe and saw, which revealed that the lower section was hollow. It is a tragedy that so few of our giant trees remain here but Mr. Sexton's article on "Forests of the Peninsula" will give some idea of what N.Z. is endeavouring to do in the way of replacement. We have to thank Mr. S.W. Burstall for a complimentary copy of his "Notable Exotic Trees" mentioned by Mr. John Jensen and sent to us via a kind member - Mr. E. Longley.
We warmly congratulate one of our foundation members, the notable N.Z. Artist, Mr. Eric Lee-Johnson of Waihi, on the publication of his magnificent book "As I See It". This is a volume of Historical Drawings in which a cross section of our local background is given a prominent place. We quote from Thomas Esplin who wrote of Mr. Lee-Johnson - "He has been called a romantic painter, recording the passing of a way of life known only to the early pioneers and he has sensitivity and the vision to interpret". Also most evident, is his genius to express his comments with humour and poignancy which makes his short text a gourmet's delight.
Your Editor would like to express personal thanks to the Waihi His. Society for the additional assistance in the production of this Journal. Members have taken over the responsibility of collecting and forwarding articles typed on stencils by Miss Valder and Mrs. Harper and this has greatly reduced the Editor's work load, enabling her to carry on a little longer. Thanks also to Miss Buchanan who has undertaken reporting and preliminary typing and to Mr. and Mrs. Barron for their continued good work.
All members are urged to help to complete our story by research and in both word and picture.
We apologise for the misprint (in May) which recorded 50 instead of 60 years for the Waihi South School Jubilee [amended in Journal 11: Editorial - E] and now congratulate Mr. Owen Morgan on his excellent commemorative Booklet. The Karangahake 1959 Booklet has been revised and will be available for the 80th Jubilee celebrations at Labour Week End. There are likely to be spare copies for sale ($1) to interested members of Historical Societies.
Included at the end of this Journal are extra pages covering the "Contents" of our first 6 Volumes - (12 Journals) and these will help us to remember the variety of topics so far recorded. [these are the equivalent of the contents panel shown at left of this page - E]
In extending our heartfelt thanks to Mr. Rogers we wish him and Mrs. Rogers good health in their well earned retirement. May they have the leisure to pursue the wide interests which apart from their great lifework have made them outstanding members of every community they have served.