A genuine circus

A circus within a circus had Ōhaupō residents agog when it put on an unforgettable performance after the main show. The circus comprised 13 people and had been put together just the week before. It…

Meghan Hawkes reports on a time when Kihikihi was a town of “wheelmen” – in 1898. A ‘bike craze’ had spread to Kihikihi, and three or four of the popular machines were in use there. Two of…

Mr Watt, minister in charge of State Electricity, made a special trip to Te Awamutu to discuss power cuts with the Power Board. The Minister’s visit followed a threat by the Holeproof factory to dismiss 50…

Meghan Hawkes reviews the headline news – from Waipa in 1875. A craze sweeping the country was ‘pedestrianism’ – long distance competitive walking matches, sometimes carrying weights.  Mr Ross, of Pirongia, undertook the difficult task…

The three small children of Charles Innes were playing in the yard of his brewery at Te Awamutu while he was working upstairs on the third floor. It was May 1880 and Scotsman Charles had…

Meghan Hawkes continues her look back in time to recount the news making headlines in 1938. Te Awamutu was the thriving centre of a prosperous area, but it had an acute housing shortage. This was strikingly…

It’s 1945 – and Meghan Hawkes recounts news stories of bids for publicity, unwanted pines, a dance night – and a trio caught with liquor. More publicity for the camping ground at Te Awamutu was…

Rebellious young men behaving badly – and a community which would not take no for an answer. Meghan Hawkes looks back on the  news from 1900. A monthly meeting of Te Awamutu’s Band of Hope…

Meghan Hawkes looks back on Waipā  news from 1937. At Kihikihi a ‘children’s day’ was held to mark the special occasion of presenting school pupils with medallions commemorating the Coronation of King George VI and…

A proposal to rename Alexandra (now Pirongia) provoked a protest in 1894, one objector saying he had lived at the other Alexandra in Otago for nearly a year and it was a horrible place. In…