Port Motueka centenary warmly celebrated

February 15th, 2016
[by David Armstrong]

Caps and sun hats were the order of the day when over 200 people gathered at the Motueka arena under a blazing sun to celebrate the 100th anniversary of today's port.

Central to the celebration was the launch of an impressive book detailing the history of the port, written by Carol Dawber in collaboration with the Motueka and Districts Historical Association.

For nearly an hour after the event, Carol was still signing the more than 100 copies of the book sold on the day (photo, right).

The celebration opened with some mood-setting songs by two members of Jiggery Folkery. One of them, Paul Bond, then entertained and impressed the crowd with his own composition, which was commissioned by the Association for the occasion.

Paul deservedly received great applause for the way in which he related the history of the port through poetry and music, played on the squeezebox, that had a decidedly sea shanty lilt.

Kicking off the speeches, the Historical Association's chairman Tim Rich thanked all those who had contributed to the creation of the book, including the sponsors Lion Foundation, Pub Charity, Motueka Community Board and Tasman District Council.

The guest speaker was Robbie Williams, who was the last harbourmaster to serve at the port. He told of his experiences over his many years of harbourside work and crewing ships.

To continue the poetic theme of the celebration, Robbie read a poem he had written that included a huge number of people, boats and auspicious events that he was involved in over the years.

"I was the boss here for two years," he said to finish up, "but really the tide was the boss".

The second speaker was Carol Dawber, the author (pictured below). Although based in Picton, she said she knows Motueka really well now after many visits. She expressed her gratitude to the Historical Association for the work they did in gathering the material together, including sourcing of photos from the community.

She ended with her heartfelt view that while the book contained many details about people and places, the thing it could not express - and which she felt so often when writing - were the smells and sounds of work on the port.

The book, "Motueka Wharf 100 Years", is on sale at Paper Plus or from Association members for $45.00. The initial print run was for 1000 copies. See our earlier story for more details about the book and its contents.

Finally, here's a photo of just a small section of the crowd attending the launch.

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