If you would like to make a poppy for ANZAC day you can watch the video and download your poppy template here:
How_to_make_a_poppy.pdf
Looking for that unique gift to give friends, family and visitors created here in the Waipā? Te Awamutu Museum is proud to announce a new range of merchandise, now exclusively available at the Museum!
If you have been looking for something different that embodies our local history and tells the amazing story of people, places and events that only happened here in the Waipā, then look no further than our very own Te Awamutu Museum.
A unique merchandise range for sale has been created to showcase key items from the Museum Collection and their amazing associated stories. The Museum objects are: The Queen Victoria Lithograph, Te Hokioi Printing Press, a trio of kete muka and a trio of pounamu hei tiki. Each item sold is accompanied by a free bookmark outlining the fascinating stories of the objects. The idea behind the range was not only to highlight our amazing collection but also to ensure the use of local suppliers and all products had a functionality and use for all ages.
All the designs were created in house by Exhibitions Co-Ordinator Henriata Nicholas, who says “people often ask us for merchandise that really speaks about local history. Today, after a long time in development, we are excited to bring this range and its stories to life in everyday things you can use or buy for friends and visitors alike”. “We have utilised local printers who have sourced us products that don’t break the bank, but do have a function and perhaps will spark some enjoyment”.
Museum Director Anne Blyth says of the range; “we are always seeking new ways to share our collection and the amazing history of our district. Our new range of Museum Shop Merchandise provides another great avenue achieve this, when you purchase from our new range you are not only buying a unique and quality product you are also receiving a slice of our history and providing support to the Museum”.
The range includes neo skin notebooks in a small range of colours, 100% natural cotton re-useable tote bags, and twelve different types of postcards, magnets, badges and keyrings. For those who are into a deal, we have combo sets of each object range available that includes a notebook, tote bag, and three postcards.
You can purchase this range exclusively at the Te Awamutu Museum shop – Miss Jefferson’s Museum Shop of Curious. Come in and browse the shop, another reason to stop in and check out the Te Awamutu Museum.
The Te Awamutu Museum is proud to launch a fabulous kids club! The Tui & Tama Club is for children from 5 years up to 13 years providing exclusive invites to club activities and events. It’s FREE to register making it a must for all whānau to get involved. “This is a perfect opportunity for kids to get involved in their local Museum,” said Anne Blyth, Director of Museum and Heritage for Waipa District Council. “We’re making the Museum a kid friendly environment where you’re never too young to learn about local history and be part of history in the making.”
Join the Te Awamutu Museum mascots Tui & Tama for fascinating information, sneak peeks behind the scenes and more!
Download the form here and return it to the Museum to sign up today! Tui & Tama Kids Club Registration
All Club members are able to attend Tui & Tama’s Creative Workshops, held monthly at the Museum. Once you’ve signed up to the Club, simply register each month if your child wishes to attend a workshop!
Te Awamutu’s Museum has punched above its weight again, named for the third year in a row as a finalist in the prestigious 2016 New Zealand Museum Awards.
Impressive!
Our small museum is up against much larger museums from Wellington, Hutt City and Auckland in an award celebrating innovative public programmes.
Staff entered their home-grown school holiday programme, Dig It, into the award. The programme teaches children about archaeology, takes them on a simulated dig and helps them learn about artefacts.
Dig It ran for the first time in 2015 and again last month, involving 60 children aged 5-12. Both times it was fully subscribed with a waiting list of children wanting to be involved.
Director of Museums and Heritage Anne Blyth said the Te Awamutu Museum was lucky to have Collections Manager Haylee Alderson, trained in archaeology, as part of the team.
“It’s brilliant because the only way most young people will ever get introduced to archaeology in New Zealand is if they go to university,” Anne said.
As far as she is aware, Dig It is the only programme of its type in New Zealand.
Thirty-three finalists in eight categories have been selected for the ServiceIQ-sponsored awards to be announced in Auckland later this month. The Te Awamutu Museum has been an award finalist before; in 2013 for an exhibition about eels and in 2014 for an exhibition of artworks by prisoners at Waikeria Prison. The exhibition, We Love Eels, is being offered again by the museum from May 14 – August 20.
2015 is a special year at the Te Awamutu Museum, as it marks 80 years since the founding of the Te Awamutu Historical Society. Without their hard work and dedication to preserving Waipā’s history, we would not have such a wealth of information stored in the Museum archives or a collection to display.
The Historical Society was founded in February 1935 by a group of local residents. The inaugural committee meeting saw the following officers elected; Patron: Mr James Cowan, President: Mr. James Oliphant, Vice-president: Mr. H.A. Swarbrick, Secretary-Treasurer: Rev. E.G. Jansen, Committee: Miss C. Jefferson, Mr. G. Gifford, Mr. E. Thomson. This committee agreed upon six aims for the Society to achieve, including gathering of all historical data relating to the Maori and European settlement of the area, preserving landmarks and historical areas through photography and creating maps of the area to show significant sites and tracks. They also actively collected objects and specimens with the goal of eventually forming a local museum. This was helped greatly by the first curator, Mr. Gavin Gifford, offering space in his rooms on Alexandra Street for objects to be displayed. Mr Gifford also had a considerable private collection from all over the world which was later given to the Society and formed the basis for the collection still held today.
The collection of curios includes many items from the local area such as toki, patu muka and other Maori taonga. There are also objects from further afield, including a Chinese opium pipe, a dice shaker and snuff box from England and items from various Polynesian islands.
Two months after the first meeting, in April 1935, the Society travelled to the banks of the Waipa River to recover a printing press which had been abandoned. The story of the printing press is quite remarkable, as it originated in Austria in the 1860s. This printing press has been a feature of the old Museum on Teasdale Street, and it is currently on display in our Pioneering Times gallery.
The Society was very active in the area, giving lectures and researching local history as well as leading field days to explore archaeological sites in the Waipa area. The Rover troop from Te Awamutu was also enlisted to assist with field work, and are credited in the minutes for collecting objects and mapping areas of interest in the district.
The Society published their research, first as short bulletins, and then as the Journal of the Te Awamutu Historical Society. The journals were published between 1966 and 1975. This work is invaluable to anyone interested in the Waipa District or anyone researching local history. A project to republish these journals is currently underway. The Society also collaborated with the Otorohanga and Te Kuiti Historical Societies to create the Footprints of History publications which are available for sale at the Te Awamutu Museum.
The exhibition on the Front Porch gallery to celebrate the 80 years of work by the Te Awamutu Historical Society opens to the public on February 2nd.
Call in and see some of the first objects collected for the museum and how the work of the Te Awamutu Historical Society has shaped our museum today.
