Planning a book to record the history of the Waimarino region

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 1, 5 June 1984, Page 4

Planning a book to record the history of the Waimarino region

When anyone wants to know about the history of the Waimarino area, all they would have to do is ask Mrs Merrilyn George of Ohakune. Mrs George has an entire roomful of historical material on the area. The reason she has so much material is simple — she's writing a book about it. "I hope to have it ready for the centennial of the National Park Board which is 1987," she said. Mrs George has been gathering material for her book since 1978. For a person who holds a job at Ruapehu College — where she teaches art and clothing — it's hard to imagine that she could find the time to work on a book such as this. She agrees, but says that she uses school holidays and other spare time to compile her history. Not only does she find the time to teach, gather

Ohakune history, raise two daughters; Kerren, 15 and Maxine, 13, but she also paints. Her painting interests lie in religion and the Maori culture and she has a unique way of combining the two. It isn't often you come across someone who works as hard as she does and who shows the dedication and enthusiasm she has at the same time. Mrs George feels she needs to write the book. She says that someone should record the history for the people who worked so hard to develop the area. She wants to put a 'common-man' character in her book. A character who wasn't a mayor or a borough councillor, but just an everyday citizen. It was these, she says, who built Ohakune and made it what it is today. So far, Merrilyn George has traced the history of the

Waimarino as far back as the fourteenth century. However, these reports were based upon oral traditions given from the Maori people and the earliest recorded facts she has don't begin until 1869. It was about this time, she says, that the first European settlers came here looking for land to buy for the crown. But anything before 1869 is tradition, she said. Mrs George, who has lived elsewhere but is primarily a native of Ohakune says that the population of the town hasn't grown much at all. She says that the stable population has pretty much remained the same, but the

transitory and seasonal population have grown considerably. Mrs George said that she "couldn't put her finger on" the reason why so many people who were born in Ohakune have stayed here for most or all of their lives. "Quite a few have gone to warmer places," she said. But she doesn't think that it's necessarily because they don't like what's happening here, but more because they can buy a house elsewhere without the hassles. She cited the recent jump in housing costs in the last ten years as an example. Mrs George says that the major change she has seen in Ohakune is the progress in

building. "People now can see that this place has some stability in business and tourism and they are therefore building with that in sight," she said. Housing and business are the two greatest changes she has noticed in her 38 years here. But another big change has been the growth of the school. "The school has grown significantly," she said. It has certainly come a ( long way since Ethel Manson taught six or seven pupils in a slab hut. The AHI accommodation quarters now stands where that school hut was. In ihe next ten years or so, she can see the building carrying on. "There will be more houses and the empty sections will fill up," she said.. More people mean more business, but Mrs George doesn't see the population increase as a massive one. The back room of her home in Miro Street is her study, filled with documents, photographs and other historical information. Her photograph collection itself is something of a museum piece and it's obvious that she's worked long and hard to collect the history she has. Everything from recorded facts of 1869, to the great fire of 1918, to today, can be found in her study. She hasn't as yet titled her book, but she jokingly referred to the lack of information before the fire

as a possible one. It has been very difficult for her to receive recorded information before the fire. She has projected a possible eight chapters for the book with the first one totalling somewhere around sixty pages. Mrs George has about three years before her projected completion date, but with her pride and dedication, not to mention her enormous amount of material, it seems highly improbable that she will fail to keep to her schedule.

Mark

Russell